I take a lot of pictures. Mostly with my iphone these days. Some are snapshots of daily life with my kids, but many are just quirky images that strike me. Not pictures to show or sell, just a little creative outlet for my own joy. (My family is generally annoyed when I make them stop so that I can take a picture of a random cloud, sign, 3 legged dog, etc... See photo above that I took while chaperoning a 6th grade field trip!) So... I cannot tell you how surprised and delighted I was when one of my creative heroes, Lori Anderson, picked a few of my shots for her new blogging ebook. FOLLOW THE PATH: Ideas and inspiration for the creative blogger. 

Lori is an amazing writer and artist. I'm always in awe of how brave she is in sharing her own journey.  I HIGHLY recommend FOLLOW THE PATH if you're looking for blogging prompts. It would be a fantastic tool if you like to journal off-line too or just need a creative boost! Don't we all need that some days? :)

JANE
www.mjanedesigns.com
facebook.com/mjanedesigns

My daughter turned 13...

My oldest child turned 13 in December. Tina Fey's "Prayer For Her Daughter", from her excellent book Bossypants (which coincidentally is the nick-name that my daughter's younger siblings have given her) seems like the perfect way to sum up my thoughts on this event:

Prayer For Her Daughter by Tina Fey

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half and stick with Beer.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels.
What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, too dammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.
 
And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.

www.mjanedesigns.com

Goodwill Hunting

Ok, not Goodwill hunting - more like Goodwill shopping! I had a great sales day last weekend at the Littleton Friends of the Museum craft fair and almost sold out of my collage pendants. I use vintage images from books for the base of my collages and I needed some fresh material. Off to Goodwill to see if there were any treasures hiding in the book section. Here's what I found:

A great picture filled biography of John F Kennedy with a lot of beautiful pictures of Jackie. A 1950s parenting book filled with sweet line drawings of children and great text snippets. Another1950s book filled with terrific line art called "The Ape in Me" (?!) Huh? No idea what's up with that title.

Scanned a bunch of cool images, here's a few of my favorites:

Feel free to right click and use whatever you like. Enjoy!

www.mjanedesigns.com

Are You Too Old To Do What You Love?

If you're looking for my bead soup post, here's the link: http://mjanedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-bead-soup-party-day.html

Have you heard of Marie Forleo yet? If not, listen up! She's a fantastic motivational speaker who's also sexy and hilarious. I get her email newsletter and had to share today's post and video. In it, Marie talks addresses the question, "am I too old to do what I love?". Great topic and one that many of us face, whether you're 24 or 54. My favorite part is a quote from Julia Cameron "Do you know how old I'll be by the time I learn to play the piano?" Answer: "The same age you'll be if you don't." Here's the link, enjoy!



Link to Marie's blog post.

www.mjanedesigns.com

What You Missed at the Creative Connection Marketplace

If you're looking for my bead soup post, here's the link: http://mjanedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-bead-soup-party-day.html

I've been so busy since I returned from The Creative Connection in St Paul, that I haven't shared any pics of the event! Here's just a small sample of the wonderful vendors in the marketplace. You couldn't turn around without bumping into amazing creativity! It was a little intimidating. Although, I've done many shows, both indoor and outdoor, I'd never been in one quite like the Creative Connection Marketplace.

For starters, it was out of state - far out of state. As in, the distance between Denver and St Paul is over 900 miles! Driving 14 hours by myself didn't seem like a good use of time, so I flew. This meant figuring out how to get my show set-up to the event. Another blog post for another day . . . let's just say it was a learning experience. Secondly, this was a "pole and drape" show. This means the space is divided up by a series of metal poles with fabric hanging from them as dividers. This booth set-up is merchandised differently than the indoor shows I've done in the past. I'll switch some things around next time I'm in one of these to make better use of the drapery "walls" behind the displays. Here are a couple of pictures from my booth.  

Fabulous Silver Flowers

Earrings and Silver Collage Pendants

Pics of some of the other fabulous vendors at the show:

This organization redecorates the bedrooms of children in shelters - all through donations.

Enchanted Makeovers

Do you see the drapery swags in the background of this booth?
They drew all of it on kraft paper with sharpies!

Tinsel Trading

This is a very small part of Amy Barickman's triple wide booth. Gorgeous! I've been a fan of Amy's for several years and was so happy to find out that she's just as nice in person as she is in print.

Vintage Notions

Like I said, just a few of the many GORGEOUS booths at the show. There was also a Simplicity Sewing Lounge in the middle of everything - complete with cushy armchairs. Never could get a good shot of it because it was always filled with happy, crafty, gals. Nuff said - it was all fabulous!

www.mjanedesigns.com

It's Bead Soup Party Day!!!

 Today is the big day for the Bead Soup Blog Party! If you haven't read my previous posts and are scratching your head, "what the heck's this crazy lady talkin' 'bout?", here's a link to my Bead Soup Party post to catch you up. Lori Anderson, posted this map on her blog of all the participants locations:

This is a BIG party!!

I was lucky in the partner that I was given for the swap. Geneva Collins, of Torque Story, was very kind and sent lovely beads. Some of the colors and textures were different than what I usually work with, but that's a good thing and part of the reason to participate in the event. Even creative people get stuck in their ruts. Working with materials that you haven't chosen is a fantastic brain stretcher. It's reminds me of when a group of my friends went to get pedicures together and the nail tech suggested that the group choose everyone's individual polish color for them. We ended up with toes we might not have picked out ourselves but were mostly perfect for us. My friend Kathie has been wearing dark purple/black polish on her feet ever since!

Here's the beads that I received from Geneva:


For the first set that I made, I used the focal piece and clasp that she sent, some of the turquoise beads, and some of the silver spacers.

I created big fun silver loops for the turquoise beads in both pieces. My way to insert an MJane detail!

 

Geneva sent so many gorgeous beads that I had plenty left to make a second set. For these I used the light wooden beads she included and added my own silver heishi  spacers and toggle.

I'm really pleased with how this second pair turned out. They're very light and simple. I can see wearing them regularly as "go-to" pieces:

Great fun being part of the Bead Soup Party Blog. Can't wait to do it again!!

Look At These Gorgeous Beads

Remember a couple of weeks ago I told you about The Bead Soup Blog Party ? Here are the beautiful beads I got from my blog party partner Geneva Collins of Torque Story! 

First, can we talk about the GORGEOUS packaging?! Love!

 

Here are the beads. Love all the blues and greens. Reminds me of summer and the beach. Geneva was also so generous with the quantity, this is only a sample of what she sent. I can make a BUNCH of pretties with these! What would you make?

Have a great week!

Jane

M Jane Designs