The Story of Stuff

" Our enormously productive economy...demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption...we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever accelerating rate"

My friend Anna posted this link on her blog and she wasn't kidding, it will change your perspective! Please try to watch the whole video, it's worth it. (About 20 min.)

Dan and I have have started to experience some of the benefits of "unplugging" over the past two years. At first it was from neccessity as he went back to school, but I think we'll keep it up after he has a "real job" again. It's a great feeling having more money and less stuff hanging around that I didn't need anyway. And now I see a bigger picture after watching the video.

Have always wondered about the people who make our stuff, where are they and do they like what they're doing? How huge is the system? Because there's a LOT of stuff everywhere. Let me know your thoughts after you watch it.

a little sketching

keeping careful watch of the squirrels behind our neighbors magnolia

Lucy is our neighbors cat who has also claimed our yard as part of her territory. When we first moved in I think we were both a little leery of each other but now we have an understanding. She hunts and keeps watch of the yard and we get to be entertained by her. She's a sweet little cat and knows the best neighbors keep a little space. Her and I had a moment this past spring... I was in my studio painting with the windows open and pounce she landed on my window sill outside! Scared the heck out of me, but we shared a mutual respect for each other that afternoon. She likes to sit in my window while I'm creating and I enjoy the company.

pencil sketch from a picture, practicing my expressions. This is my Conde sketchbook Kelly, thank you! I use it all the time!

Dreaming...

Oh beautiful, glorious weekend!

Looking forward to resting and wish it could be in this dreamy place.
I tore this page from the spring Anthropologie catalog and tucked it into my home binder. Doesn't this duvet make you want to curl into bed and sleep forever? I love it, alas not a part of our budget right now. I've thought about sewing one myself but I'm a bit intimidated by all those kissing pleats. It would be worth it though....

Have a wonderfully relaxing weekend!

Focus

I'm a list maker. It's my way of staying focused because there are a million different directions I'll let my day bounce if I don't remember my goal. Marta over at m.writes always shares her very inspiring lists. A couple days ago she found a list of things she wanted to remember when she becomes a mom, fitting since she'll be one very soon. Congratulations Marta and good luck! I love her idea of making the reminders way before life gets hectic and you get in the middle of it and forget you had these great intentions to be more creative/ loving/ thoughtful/fun. Instead of my To Do list for today what is my To Do list as a mother? Wife? Adventuress? I'll be jotting down my lists and sharing sometime. I hope you will too. Let's take all that clutter, shake it out and decide what's worth keeping and doing.

The picture above is from the paper adventure project Elise is hosting. Each week she presents a thought and you create a page based on it. This page was "balance". Like you, I struggle with balancing my time, it just slips out of my hand! This little note was pasted to the page because I had {proudly} just completed everything on the list. Only took two months....

Happy Birthday Luke

This adorable little man is my Godson Luke and I love the heck out of him! In this picture he has just finished wiping all the smurf blue icing from his cookie cake onto his shirt (front and back). Like all good children he was having more fun playing with his food than eating it!

Posing behind Luke for a quick shot! He's fast and not interested in sitting around all afternoon taking pictures!

Me trying to lure Luke close enough for a picture, the old Dumptruck-Over-The-Shoulder trick should catch him! And it did :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Luke, Auntie Jen loves ya!

Good times...

God has blessed us with a great, no, fantastic group of people at our church. I love these people.

We have become what the Bible wants the church to be- honest, uplifting, supportive, learning, praying for each other and sharing the joy that Jesus announced was ours! We are celebrating Jenna and Aaron in this pic- they're headed to Dallas and we'll miss them like crazy!

Finished Projects

I looove this journal...

My friend Casie asked me to make this for her to write down all the funny things her daughter says. Her little girl is three and is turning out to be just as funny as her mom and dad. It turned out as spunky, bright and fun as the ladies I made it for!

This painting is for Kara's nursery and it was stunning last night when we hung it on her LIME green walls! So fun!

Found

Found this beautiful image via Black Eiffel, isn't it gorgeous? I feel like this all the time!

In the middle

Cookin up some really fun stuff...


...will show the finished projects soon...