Giddy with Hope.

This fabulous print is available HERE.

Could it Be??

I think I'm in love...

with all things Hambly!

Would it be wrong to make out with a piece of paper...a softly shimmering, hand screenprinted, luscious piece of paper? Maybe I'll just caress it gently for now.

Papercuts, you know.

Every now and again...

we need to know that we're not alone...in our struggles, in our successes, in our everyday activities. This is a post from a fabulous design blog, Decor8, that I read regularly. It is beautifully written and very inspirational-- please take a moment to read it. This particular post really struck a chord with me, as it speaks to exactly where I'm at in finding

my creative "place"
in the world. I find myself getting resentful towards the unfavorable circumstances before me, every obstacle small or large, and discouraged in general because of the amount of responsibilities pulling me in all directions. But **hello**, that's life! Life is full of hurdles, responsibilities and obligations that must be attended to. But it is also full of joy, magical moments, and blissful contentment if we choose to see those things. I think that if we could spend more time being thankful for all those wonderful things we have in our lives right now and less time wishing things were somehow different, perhaps that peace can wash over the chaos. I need to let go and focus on fostering creative activities in my daily life, and creating an environment that will allow my artistic career to develop, as opposed to trying to control every detail and getting completely overwhelmed in the process. My careerIS moving forward, and I truly believe that things will fall into place, but in the meantime, there are 3-year-old princesses to play dress-up with and a hubs that could use an extra smooch (or two).

~artwork: "we all flock to ruby" by Marisa at Creative Thursday~

Wednesday Finds

This week so far has been a whirlwind of day job, family time and creative inspiration! Several artistic endeavors and projects are in the development process [including the tushy tags]. I can't wait to share details, but for now let's just say that I am making baby steps toward launching a more creatively fulfilling career! ** EEK- so excited!**

Part of the fun of this journey is becoming familiar with the work of so many amazing artists! The internet is such a fantastic tool for this-- hundreds of artists at your fingertips. Technology is a beautiful thing. One artist that has absolutely blown my mind is Jennifer Khoshbin. Her work feeds my current obsession with patterned papers, vintage books and botanical imagery all in one delicious package. It is at once whimsical and poignant, contemporary and completely timeless.

The decoupaged insects were my initial discovery of Jennifer's, as I was searching for "painted bugs" (research for a TOP SECRET art project!). As I continued my navigation through her exhibitions, I was dazzled by her paper cutouts and detail in each piece. Her artistic statement for the first book series was something that really struck me-- "In these experiments I am trying to delve into the books, into facts and knowledge, as a way to understand my world. Using the surface space to express what I 'dig-up', I seek some resolution between the organic and the inorganic, hoping for the authentic. " Amazing.

[all photos from Jennifer Khoshbin's site]