I’ve been faithfully watching movies about art/artists and checking them off the list.  Screenshot of the latest seen and added to the list?  Helvetica.  (Also the typeface of choice for true nature, ahem.) So good.

… at Pike Place Market.

Over the span of my blog’s life, I’ve received so many emails from readers asking for advice or creative help – & I feel like those emailing me might not suspect how much I’ve benefitted from our exchanges.  Speaking from experience, I know that it takes a lot of courage to reach out to someone with the risk that they might not reply (that feels so crummy!) especially when you are exposing a part of yourself that desires help of the artistic kind.

I’ve enjoyed this behind the scenes aspect of blogging so much because I define things that I wouldn’t normally have a reason to, and I feel it reaches into another personal level.  I love the one on one mentorship that all of my favorite artists had, I would love to recreate that on both ends of my life too – the giving and receiving.  Maybe not everyone is comfortable cold emailing when they are a perfect stranger, but that so many of you brave readers do so lets me know that you trust that I will give good advice and I feel that I am approachable.  I have someone to give.

All artists wish for validation.

I think that is why I am so enthusiastic about the questions.  They give me a forum to define things that I might not think of, and I get to know myself as an artist.  If there is one aspect of my blog that I love the most, it’s when I feel like I’ve touched another person’s life in even the smallest way.

I received an email this weekend and it occurred to me that since the simple question of style/technique is one often asked, I’m delighted to share it with you… (Published with Lora’s permission.)

(more…)

My friend Geninne recently conducted a little fun survey, and I thought I would follow suit. Color me curious! If there’s some other reason you like to come here, you can comment below. (Of course.) Happy weekend!

Harshness vanished. A sudden softness
has replaced the meadows’ wintry grey.
Little rivulets of water changed
their singing accents. Tendernesses,

hesitantly, reach toward the earth
from space, and country lanes are showing
these unexpected subtle risings
that find expression in the empty trees.
- Rainer Maria Rilke

Seattle is boasting signs of spring already, and I can feel my spirit lighten to a whole new spectrum with such bright days.  My garden plans are beginning to bloom.  Garden necklaces too.  If I can make just one person happy with these, like when Kat was happy enough to take a polaroid of her necklace, well… then I go to bed happy!

You’ve been asking a lot of interesting questions at formspring and I’ve added a link on my sidebar—-> if you want to ask me any more.  I look forward to those moments in the day when I can get to answering them.  I like that it feels like a little ongoing interview.  Not that I’m famous.  But I think everyone is interesting enough for an interview, don’t you?

So now its my turn:  If you had one wish this spring, what would it be?

Coming off of Valentine’s Day, of course I’m still seeing hearts everywhere.  Walks are brilliant for scavenger hunts.  We often pass this lock on the Burke-Gilman trail, with a heart on it.  And yesterday, I squealed and stopped my jog still when I saw this little red heart hedge at Green lake.

My boys and I, we love taking long walks.  Seattle is called the Emerald city for how green it is all year round, but you could just as easily call it the topaz, sapphire or lapis city.  I often find myself drawn to the all those blues and I love being surrounded by water and sky that defines our city.  Waking up to the sound of boat horns, seeing the birds soar in the sky and understanding what it means when “the mountain is out,” I feel so lucky to be a Seattleite.  I need my long walks because they are so essential for clearing my head.  As I’m out moving my body, I know my mind is working quietly in the background while I’m distracted by all the beauty created for you and me.

I’ve got stacks and stacks of artwork and jewelry to share/add to my shop, but I’ve been really slow at posting them. (With good reason though: I’m spending most of my time making them!) This pretty gold vermeil and sterling silver necklace is new.  I’m also bringing back a favorite print.

Has anyone else been browsing through the new fall collections? I’ve got a lot of favorites so far, but it’s hard to concentrate on while packing for our spring getaway that involves summery clothes…

Happy weekend, Valentines…

It’s things like this weekend that make me feel more of myself and truly happy.  I didn’t organize it, I didn’t set it up, very little effort was required on my part.

But it had me thinking of how being a part of it makes me feel more alive, hopeful, here for a purpose… and I want more.

We do have a lot of opportunities to help others, within our church and among our friends… I think there is a difference in feeling when you do convenient kindness for others (like a mother tirelessly helping her children all day) and then inconvenient kindness.  The last kind feels bold, exciting, even a little bit scary, in the best way.

So our family is going to start a new project together.  We’re calling it RANDOM ACTS.

We are really inspired by many people we know who already do a lot of this from a day to day .

And by this man and his message.

By this book.

By this foundation.

We won’t post all the things that we will be doing, but I hope you won’t mind if we share some as a motivation for ourselves.

(The photo above was taken when our Max was just a wee toddler.  He’s almost eight now and I think I might just stare at his baby pictures every day to remind me of how fast they grow up!)

I picked this tote up back in January, and I’m still feeling it’s awesomeness.  It’s absolute madness how much a woman needs to carry with her when she has more than one child.  Madness!  Sometimes I feel like it takes more time to pack us up than be out.  But with this Mary Poppins number, I’m never without a thing. It’s just grab the bag the size of my torso and go.  In fact, I almost feel like I’m living out of a carry-on and I like it. Now I can just as resourceful as Michelle Pfeiffer in One Fine Day.  Remember when when her son accidentally gets ice cream all over her work attire before her big presentation, and she pulls on that child size dinosaur shirt from her bag and throws a scarf over the rest? Or the raincoat she just happens to have with her as it starts pouring at the soccer match? Or the best use of the bag: when she constructs superhero costumes for the kids at the the 9th street drop-off because it’s hero day and the kids can’t go inside without costumes, right?  And that’s when George Clooney turns to her and says, “W-Where’d you get a bag like that?”