Beautiful....

I haven't done this in so long.

But I set aside a few minutes the other day.....

and I made something.....it is inspired by connections, links..........hearts



I began with one hearted item



and then went into their hearts to find the next



and so on and so forth.



Its a link of hearts....




(click on photo to go to Treasury)






I enjoyed making it and so I turned right around and made another based on a different kind of connection - and inspiration:



This treasury showcases members of the

BEST team.

I'm a member of BEST and am greatly inspired by

the talent

and the knowledge

and the overall activity

of this group.




(click on photo to go to Treasury)

Please take time to view the treasuries and click through and leave a comment. It is really encouraging to the artists!

I can't, I won't, no........

I was all set to post today about my surprise upon discovering I'm featured in an Etsy Treasury; and then I was just going to ramble on about 'nothing'. But then I was reading something on the internet and had a flash of awareness.....which we'll get to in a minute.

First the treasury - yay! Purple is my favorite color - though green is quickly encroaching on purple's #1 status....So this treasury made me smile - big! It was curated by a member of BEST . :) Check out BEST: http://www.baltimorecraft.com/

SO happy to be included!

Moving on to my internet experience - so I have been confronted lately with a recurrent sort of theme - reading about people who are living 'counter culturally'.

Those who have decided to shuck 4 year degrees and/or conventional lifestyles in one way or another. . . . and some of them are downright cool, but all of them seem to have this 'liberating' quality about them. AND, they are making it work! My initial thought is always, 'wow', 'cool', 'looks like they are so happy', 'looks like fun'...........and then right behind that comes...

" I can't........"

"I can't..........'xyz'"

"I can't 'thus and such'"

and then I had a sudden awareness of how I often I say "I can't". I think I am going ot BAN those words from my vocabulary. They stink!

Now, I am a big proponent of learning to say 'no'. Or even - "I won't".

Some people have a hard time saying 'no' but I have learned that it is essential. And I really do know how to say 'no' now - without added qualifiers, excuses, or ancillary comments. "No" can stand alone. No is no.

And "I won't" is great too - I won't allow this or that or I won't stand for this or that....etc.

But - "I can't" ..... hmmmmm, I don't like it so much. Its so.....umm,powerless?
Maybe that is what I don't like about it. It seems to be full of a sense of powerlessness. What happened to the days of "I can do anything!" ??

Can I do anything? (could I ever???)

I am speaking apart from the idea of "all things are permissable though not beneficial" as in 1 Corinthians 10:23 -- certainly I'm not debating that.

I'm speaking of ability, abandon, drive, devotion, freedom......TRYING.

I'm thinking of norms, expectations, responsibilities, committments....DARING.

Can I do anything? Am I able to make a radical change in my life if I so chose? Would I choose it? What holds me back?

Is it that I can't...........or that I won't?

And what about things that aren't radical? What about more commonly acceptable changes - little dreams - is it that I can't? Or that I "don't"...or that I "won't"? And what holds me back?

Do you ever wonder about these things?

Are you living your dream? If not, what parts are missing?

What would need to be different?

Why not make some changes?

WHAT IS HOLDING YOU BACK?

Lately I am wondering.

A lot.

TGIF?

~Janice

Addendum - before I hit post, I got lost in another endeavor and I got to thinking about dreams and life -- and Randy Paush came to mind. I haven't thought about him in quite a while. I never met the man, but he tends to leave an indelible mark on one's memory. He lived a rather conventional life but he lived it with an unconventional passion. He lived his dream in many ways - he took chances and was unperturbed by hearing 'no'.

I want to be more like that. :)

Friday Fave & Friday Five - a twofer!

So today's Friday Fave is also going to be a Friday FIVE. yay! ;-)


I want to share 5 new Favorite Etsy shops.


Mary Judy - I stumbled onto her shop and was immediately mezmerized - the colors and patterns just made me so happy. So today I bought this:
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=17734750
as a little birthday pressie to myself. :) YAY!



OnaRoll - there is just something so cozy about her items, oh crap - they ARE cozies. But you know what I mean...well, maybe you do. I think as I grow older I appreciate softness....-which I know seems in stark contrast to the bright WOW colors in the first shop.....so I'm a gal with lots of facets - want to make something of it? hmmm, I thought not. ;-) I love that her items bring a little gentleness into one's day - on your ipod or on your cofee cup - ooooooooooh, I know why I like it. I'm tactile. Texture girl, remember? uhh-huh. I want one.



UnderthePlanet - lush, fabulous handbags. Need I say more?



Amy Giacomelli - Fabulous bright paintings....



Joshua Craig art - metal bowls -- really really NICE metal bowls. :)




There you have it - ENJOY! :)

~Janice

Treasury Snag!

YAY! I've only gotten one before.

Since making the 'asteroid' ring I've got space on the brain, hence my treasury:

To Infiity and Beyond!

Enjoy!

Am I maundering?

Am I?

Did you have to look that one up? I would have! Until last week I had never heard that word. My Mom and I have come up with the silly idea to learn a new word every week - so far its been more like one a month, but its fun. I grab the dictionary, you know, the old fashioned paper kind, and I open it at random and skim til I find a word I don't know. Last time the word was 'fatuous', let me tell you we had fun with that one. The challenge is to use the word as often as you can in complete sentences til we pick a new word, so you can imagine. And actually, maundering is doing quite well in our house too....we're a chatty bunch and oft find ourselves maundering.....

I was lucky enough to snag a treasury - I've never gotten one before, not that I've tried REALLY hard, but I've tried!! I used to have a 'poster sketch' done for one but I am quite sure those expired LONG ago. You would not believe my surprise when the little title box popped up - I was so surprised that I typed in the first thing that came to my mind:



"no way jose"



haha. Subtitle:


Curvalicous



Here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=54158



and a screen shot















It was a lot of fun putting this together. :)

I don't have an update on ANYTHING else unfortunately. I thought that I would have time last night to work on some finishing and taking some pics of things, BUT, my son had a friend spend the night, so I was a little busy with the boys. :) They are just too cute. Running around, hooping and hollering, playing Nintendo, and FBI (which my son has dubbed the federal building of icons), and then they watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua (which I would have loved to see but I just couldn't sit still last night). They were asleep by 10:45pm, BUT........they were up at 6:10 this morning!! That seemed oh so early.




Court went fine yesterday - thanks to all who have asked and held us in prayer. She has two more court dates to go, for two different cases...and really has a very long road ahead of her to get her life straightened out. She has an IQ of 140 which is dubbed "highly intelligent", or 'very superior intelligence'.....but borderlines on 'genius' and so she can turn her life around anytime she chooses -- she just has to choose it. Being a parent is so hard! You want to fix things, at least I do...but I can't - she's an adult and has to choose her path. At this point her choices have left some severe consequences.



We have a little league game tonight which I'm looking forward to and then I'm really hoping to get to the bench. Hope everyone is having a good week!


Later!
Janice

Present to me, from me!

I have long admired etsy seller Shoshana Snow. I just love the patterns and the colors she uses on her pottery and I have had her 'hearted' for some time.

I was visiting someone elses blog (can't recall who right off the top of my head) and they had purchased a couple of small pieces and with my recent sales online I had some money in my paypal account and soooooooooo, I ordered!

Two small pieces, both 'misfits' meaning they have tiny flaws and they were discounted in price. This gave me a chance to purcahse two pieces and see the work in person.

They arrived yesterday and I was SO excited! I opened the package immediately! The box was FULL of bubble wrap and each item was individually cocooned in bubble wrap. They were very protected and arrived safe and sound.

Aren't they lovely!!??

I think I am hooked. I never thought I'd be a 'collector' but I think I will be collecting her works...I have my eye on a couple more items..maybe a Valentine's Day gift to myself. :-)