Sometimes I'm just Sketchy...

I recently finished my small contribution to The Sketchbook Project. I had a lot of fun with it, and definitely appreciated having another outlet to spill some creative juices into from time to time. I can't wait to see this exhibit and checkout everyone's books!!!!!! If you want a preview of how mine turned out, scroll on down!

Copy: A little bird sits on a line, ready for a song.

But where are all his birdie friends he needs to sing along?

Are they snoozing in their houses? Are they snuggling in their nest?

If early birds get the worm what happens to the rest?

Copy: I think I'd like to live in a museum. I'd be taken care of, beautiful, inspiring, AND appreciated. I could be a painting you could feel yourself floating towards until you fall inside to escape the world. I could be a photo- a moment so important it couldn't be sacrificed to the laws of time and change. Or maybe a statue! A seemingly ordinary statue a young girl happens to notice more than any others- enough to sit, sketch, and imagine a life for someone she's not sure really ever existed... a life for me. 

Copy: A flower lives inside a vase-

Pretty, but alone. 

Does it yearn for garden friends

Whilst sitting in your home?

A shiny vase cages beauty, 

Unfolding petals glow. 

Protected and adored inside, 

She can no longer grow. 

Copy: I''m writing from a rooftop, 

Potted plants my company. 

I look unto a city,

And its rooftops stare at me. 

Fresh green grapes from market men, 

No shoes upon my feet. 

Pajama pants- a comfort blanket, 

Wooden bench- my seat. 

Prague is yawning, sun is setting, 

Clouds turn pearl to grey. 

A light breeze blows my smoky hair, 

And carries stress away. 

It's a funny feeling 

To forget how to be sad. 

To finally feel each moment, 

Is the best you've ever had. 

Copy: The plane ride was great. I love looking down at the shrinking squares of cluttered city life and seeing a million green blankets of nothing but breathing room. So often I feel like we are running out of space, like the planet is being weighed down by the mass of an overpopulated race. But a view from the sky tells a different story and I am comforted by the emptiness- an escape on the edge of chaos, waiting for me... to jump.

Extreme Makeover: Chair Edition

Years ago- maybe five or six- I read about this girl who lived in a cellar, tied to a chair. She wasn't allowed to stand, walk, or breathe in summer air. She couldn't speak and she never showered or wore clothes. If she had any understanding or comprehension of her tragic existence in that dark hole, she must have thought she was born into hell- an experiment of the devil, crazed by authority and power. 

If I had to spend my days sitting in a single chair, I'd want it to be beautiful. It would have to have soft, purple cushions with a micro fleece blanket hanging on the back, ready for snuggling. I'd need there to be proper lighting- enough to read or draw. And it would have to be facing a window. And a TV. And be in a room that wasn't too cold. 

So where is all this chair talk headed??? Meet my newest DIY project!

This Week's Cliff Notes:

This past week was a bit of a roller-coaster- started off great with 2 snow days filled with soup and sister bonding and then went downhill from there. Shout out to Mother Nature who saw fit to combine my first three days of my p-did, the coldest three days of the year, and my first three days of my (outdoor) job. That was awesome.

Today: I got to sleep in, but I woke up with a stomach ache. My hair was not working in my favor, but I dressed up in one of my favorite dresses to feel pretty regardless. My GPS froze, so I got lost a couple dozen times. I got my second (undeserving) ticket in a matter of 4 days. The light in my kitchen went out.  Someone hit my car in the parking lot, but they left a note. And one of my headlights went out, but -hey- the other one works!

Here's to making next week SPECTACULAR!

Craft it Out

As my oh-so-eloquent pop mentor would say, today I feel like a plastic bag.

I had this huge list of things to get done today, and none of it worked out. At all.

Having just moved to KC this week, I’m still in the midst of setting up shop. Which, here, means scrubbing floors, staring at unpacked boxes, making maintenance requests, having sketch maintenance men stare at my broken shower door with an idiotic ‘solution’, fighting with sketchy maintenance men about said shower, and having my cable/internet company screw me over 10 ways to Sunday (which may or may not be the correct expression I’m thinking of). Alsooooooo, just found out I have no garbage disposal (and no dishwasher), my trip to Walmart was unsuccessful (which never happens and is a bad omen in itself), my front tire has almost no air in it, I’m having a fat day, AND Oprah was a re-run. What. The. Hell. This sux.

Anywho, you know how after 500 things don’t go your way, there’s that tiny, frivolous, should-be-insignificant straw that breaks your crabby, fed-up back? Well, today, that was my mailbox. After receiving a bajillion letters addressed to the former tenants (and only one for me) having to stare at Mike and Justin’s name really pissed me off. So, naturally, I made a trip to my favorite craft store to buy the best kind of medicine: new scrap booking paper J

This is how I made my day just a little brighter. 

I FRICK'N *BUILT THIS!!!!!!!

* assembled, but come on! Give me a break, I 'aint no carpenter.

Blessings

Turns out that when God closes a PR door, he opens an advertising window. And what’s even better, is that when He follows you out of a Jack ‘n the Box city, He leads you into a land of Chipotles. Today’s lesson: God is good. God is great. Let us thank Him for burritos (the job offer was nice too). 

Happy New Year Everyone!

I gotta say, I’m super psyched about starting a New Year on 11:11 (1/1/11). It’s like the perfect day for making wishes which, ultimately, is the same thing as making resolutions; you know, I wish I’d lose twenty pounds, I wish I’d take more pictures, write a book, or get a paying job that’s not babysitting. This year, my wish-o-lutions come out to over 15 different ways I’ve committed to change or improve in order to become a ‘super-me’: eat more vegetables (recommended by my incredibly thin vegetarian sister), run outside, read the news every day, publish a children’s book, read the bible, blah blah blah… and so the list goes on.

Last year I came up with the idea to create a list of 12 things and on the first of each month I’d pick one. It seems like a cop-out now because when the month was over so was that resolution, but it was fun and took the pressure off of holding myself accountable for things I wasn’t sure would work out. I have to admit though, I ended up sticking to most of them for the rest of the year simply out of habit. Anywho, it might be something for you to try.   

Best wishes ;)