the. best. time.

fabric (new and from my stash) to be made into Natasha (reversible) aprons and other things, 22 october 07

I had the best time at artfiberfest. The. best. time.

I want to tell you about the incredible people (old friends and new) I bonded with. I want to tell you about all my classes. I want to tell you about the feeling of having someone really get my prayer flags and the moment when a person looks across the little table holding creations I made by hand and says, "This is meant to be mine." I want to tell you about my epiphanies and ideas and a very special moment I had all alone in my room at the B&B. I want to tell you about all the joy and truth that has been setting up camp in my head and heart.

And, I will. I really will.

However, I have spent the day catching up on work, mailing out a swap package, talking on the phone with a couple of friends, and trying to keep these feelings present while in the back of my mind so that I do not just get swept back into being the person who forgets what she knows to be true. And, I am a bit sleepy. But I knew, after Kelly's (insistent) gentle proddings, that I must check in here a bit.

And, the truth is that I also, of course, spent a bit of the day at a fabric store before picking up Miss Millie from doggie camp. You see, my aprons, the six aprons that I brought with me for vendor night…well, they sold. Fast. I didn't even take any pictures of them. And, lots of people asked me about them. So, I plan to make a few more to put in my shop. Which, of course, means that I had to get some fabric to supplement what I have.

And, I don't think a person can ever have enough gigantic rick rack, so I had to get a bit of that too.

to artfiberfest i go

Off to the land of fabric, connection, laughter, walks on the beach, fiber, and friendship. It feels like a bit of a solo journey this time without my partner-in-crime Kelly. Last night was full of trepidation (that first day of school feeling) and questions of am I good enough (are they gonna like me).

But, I've got the Indigo Girls, Paul Simon, and the Dixie Chicks to remind me of what I already know to be true about me, about this creative journey, about all of it.

I. am. so. blessed.

While I'm gone, I hope you'll share what you know to be true in this moment in your life.

(And, if you live in the area, I hope you'll come over to Port Townsend on Friday night to see everyone - including me - at the Artist Market Place in the Commons at Fort Worden at 7pm.)

simplicity

jonny will check in with me before heading home from work, and if he senses that i am the "i am so overwhelmed and i forgot to eat today" me, he will suggest, "chicken, rice, broccoli for dinner?"

"yes, yes, yes," i will respond.

i love how this meal always fills me up with its simplicity and goodness.

see more food-related self-portraits over at self-portrait challenge.

(this is also a photo that shows you a pretty good angle of my new nina necklace. oh how i love it - the color is THE color...)

(this photo is also in exercise in letting go of all vanity as this angle of my double-chinned neck just makes me sigh. but here, in this little corner of the world, my little corner of the world, i invite myself, in this moment, to just let it go...)

mountain views and stories

mt. rainier, 10.13.2007

yesterday, jon and i went walking along ruston way. a much-needed break from creating, sewing, cutting, brainstorming, freaking out, smiling, squinting, and all the other good stuff that comes with getting your "stuff" ready for a vendor night.

and, when we headed up the sidewalk, i paused to look at the scene in the photo above and thought to myself, "i can't believe i live here." i love the pacific northwest.

in the weeks after artfest 2006, when the friendship between kelly and me was growing via email and phone conversations and meeting up in portland, we both began to notice how we were pulled toward artwork with words and stories, and that when we were creating ourselves, we were drawn to using words.

before artfest that year, i had started writing short little bits of stories, usually beginning with "she..." i felt close to the idea of giving voice to the pushes and pulls and joys and sorrows within a moment in time in a woman's life. it was then that i started carrying a notebook around with me full time. at some point last year, i started carrying the paper covered moleskine journals.

these journals are my idea journals. it is within them that i write and sketch and plan and hope and dream and list and live within serendipity. it is within these journals that i write my little stories when they come to me.

yesterday, (after a quick "does this sound crazy conversation with kelly) i decided to create a few smaller flag sets and wanted to create them around a few of these stories. but my older "notes from the little room" moleskine was nowhere to be found (i had moved on to another one in the last few weeks). so, i tucked myself into bed and called on the spirits of all that is creative and wrote about being courageous, remembering your wings, and sitting in the quiet before drifting off to sleep.

this morning, as i got the flag sets together and ready for embellishing, i turned to a spiral notebook i use for scratch paper and found a few pages that included some notes that would usually appear in my idea journals. there were notes for a couple of custom flag sets, early sketches of the anya tote, and two pages of little stories that must have demanded to be written that day. it is so interesting to peek into my own mind at times as i was able to do when i stumbled across these notes today.

this was the one that made me grin, as i want to live inside that last line every now and then:

she dried her tears,
slipped on her dancing shoes,
and twirled until
she spun her world anew.

*******

i am so enjoying your responses here and on your blogs to "five really good things." if you haven't already shared yours, please do. reading them has made my heart smile. (thank you)

five really good things

1. the grey's anatomy i know and love is back. finally. as of tonight.

2. when millie lays her head on my knee and sighs i actually feel my heart grow just a bit more.

3. slowly, at a turtle's pace slowly, beginning to like my much shorter hair. (and resting in the frivilous yet true knowledge that it is already growing.)

4. lighting candles throughout the house as evening begins. then whispering blessings into the world as i blow them out before i go to sleep.

5. playing with patchwork makes my soul jump up and down with glee.

i dare you to name five really good things of your own.
right now.

lately late

I have been a few days late for a lot of things lately. A few days late watching the Notre Dame football game (finally watched the Irish win today). A couple of days late wishing a friend a happy birthday (and going on over a month late wishing the same to two other dear friends). A few days late sharing the joy that was my weekend in Portland as I crashed the party that is Art & Soul …

I am still getting over the bug I had a few weeks ago as it seems to be hanging out in my system and rearing its head every few days. That, combined with hardly sleeping Friday or Saturday night has turned this week into one where I seem to work and nap and sew and nap and add more items to my ways to procrastinate list and then take long hot showers.

But, on to the goodness that was my 36 hours in Portland.

(I wanted to tell you details, all the little details, but as I tried to write those few paragraphs, I kept coming back to wanting to just tell you the following.)

I spent my 36 hours in Portland surrounded by goddesses with names like Kelly, Judy, Diane, Tonia, Stephanie, Nina, Misty, Jen, Joyce, Sharon, Carla, LK, Katie, and others.
I spent my 36 hours in Portland laughing my way to wholeness.
I spent my 36 hours in Portland learning from every person I talked with.
I spent my 36 hours in Portland with a brain crackling with ideas and dreams.
I spent my 36 hours in Portland so grateful for all that has happened to bring me to this moment.
I spent my 36 hours in Portland soaking in the wisdom.
I spent my 36 hours in Portland believing in possibility.
I spent my 36 hours in Portland thankful for every gift.
I spent my 36 hours in Portland high on the high that is knowing you are on your path.

And, I spent 10 minutes on the drive home from Portland taking a few pictures* that summed up how I was feeling as I sang and drove and reflected on all of it.

(check out Kelly's post and Judy's post and Nina's post for a few more about some of the fun had by all)

*Don't worry, I really was paying attention while driving. I was. And if you look closely, you can see just a bit of my new Nina necklace. Oh how I love it!

ways to procrastinate*

*or how I am finding ways not to spend time in the little room this week or how I am finding ways not to keep cleaning and organizing this darn house

Play minesweeper

Work for another two hours even though you are done working for the day (but, when you are, afterall, always in your office that is your home, you can just keep working and working)

Watch an episode of Charmed

Check bloglines

Organize email

Watch a bad movie on HBO

Look for new blogs to read

Watch CNN

Check bloglines

Talk on the phone (specifically talk on the phone to Kelly. a lot.)

Go see Harry Potter for the third time in the theatre

Play Shape Shifter

Brainstorm the next six projects you want to make instead of starting the current three you need to finish

Do laundry

Work another hour

Watch a DVR'd episode of Oprah and develop a crush on Benicio Del Toro (he watches the Discovery Channel ladies…I want to be his friend)

Get a haircut (and totally regret it)

Browse a few favorite etsy shops

Check email

Take a long hot shower and think about your to-do list

Write a blog post

Take a long hot shower and think about what you can add to this list

Laugh until you cry watching D.L. Hughley's comedy special on HBO

Look for odd things on ebay (like this and this)

Think about all the things you are going to make with the supplies down the hall in your studio

Plan vacations you might never take

Plan a vacation you know you will take

Go to Portland for the weekend to crash the Art & Soul extravaganza to spend time with some pretty incredible artists and friends**

**so if you are in the area, come to Vendor Night tomorrow and find Kelly and her assistant who is me at her booth!

tea and flannel {self-portrait challenge}

After I turn on my laptop and feed the dog, I fill the teapot with water, choose my cup of the day, choose my tea (probably genmaicha), and take a moment to just look out the window until the water boils. Already in my office clothes, I brew the tea and settle in for the day.

Fall is here.

(see more self-portraits here)