Year of the Tiger

New Year. New Inspiration. I have actually put some of these in the mail (in years past, it was all I could do to cut the year stamp and make the card). I have piles of unmailed Chinese New Year greetings. I am now getting very fast and confident about carving into the butter-like speedball rubber stamp material. The tiger is from a set that I bought back in the '70's when I was first discovering stamps. The character that is resist-stamped in the spritz of spray ink is "strong." Gung Hay Fat Choy!



Thanks to my BFF Mikki, I participated in my second private class with Angela Cartwright and under her tutelage and inspiration, created a layered collage using family photos. The transparent overlay is actually Dad's visa (postage stamps, red chop and all!) from 1936. The nest is one of Angela's vellum Stampington products - I am ecstatic at how Dad's family photo fits perfectly under the eggs, and that is Dad in the left-most egg!

An added inspiration to get back on track with this blog: I just signed up for Mary Ann Moss's "Remains of the Day" online shabby journal class via http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/dispatch_from_la/. This is bliss. Just tell me that I don't really need to work for a living!

Halloween ATCs

2009

2008

Soul Mate

What's a gal to do when she's both analog AND digital? I can identify only ONE soul mate who is both (and I think you know who you are!!!) - who loves the hands on adventure of stamping, calligraphy, bookbinding and more, and who is also Blogging, Twittering and Facebooking with regularity.

These are crazy times and we are all so busy, but there is also an opportunity to make choices. If we don't make those choices, the choice is made for us. Sticking to the old routine and trying to "keep up" can be deadly. But shifting into a new gear can be lonely. I'm all hyped up and that's a good thing. But there truly aren't enough hours in the day to do all that I want. The joke about cloning has been around for a long time. But I've started cloning myself. Actually, I'm creating an alter ego.

I'm so excited because I found a resource online to make my DimSumGirl image (postarized on Adobe Photoshop) into a rubber stamp (http://www.picturemystamp.com/). I ordered DimSumGirl postage for my analog Artist's Trading Cardss which I will mail (http://www.zazzle.com/). I also made a Stamper Pen (http://www.stamperpens.com/) for my ATCs. I have a Stamper Pen with my business info on it, and it never ceases to surprise and delight my friends when I whip it out (it doesn't get dog-eared like business cards). Check it out!

I finally watched "Helvetica" last night and got a huge kick out of Michael Bierut talking about branding yourself...So stay tuned!!!

25 Random Things

What a concept. Is it for the writer or for the reader? For the writer, I think.

My friend Geoff tagged me first. How lucky is that! Geoff is one of the most eloquent and humorous writers I know. He wrote more than a list. Hilarious. Descriptive. Heartbreaking. And because I had this example, it took me three damn weeks to write my list. Does it qualify as "Random Things" if I really worked the list over, adding and subracting and ruminating on the effect my selection of personal disclosures might have on each individual whom was tagged? Okay - so it wasn't random after all.

It was, in fact, better than a therapy session. I was forced to choose what is important. What sticks in my head. What I want to be remembered for.

Geoff warned me that it would be challenging because it seems, well, ego-centric. But, oh, isn't this a lovely opportunity to lay out our guts for all to see exactly as we wish to arrange them?
I do not assume that everyone struggled as I did with this list. But, then again, I know that some did. For example, my awesome son told me that he purposefully did not read my list until he wrote his own - and then told me he felt "selfish."

But I did not experience "selfish." Rather, it was a gift that brought a tear to my eye to read that baseball feels "second nature" to him (just like his Dad - how did I not know this?), and to read how he views his inner machinations. Yes, a gift, to add a few brand new notions to my understanding of the one human being on this earth who is composed of my own flesh and blood.

Okay - I just contradicted my opening line. For it is from the perspective of "reader" that I am reflecting on my son's list.

But the reflection inherent in this act of compilation is powerful nonetheless. Much the way when interviewed about what I do for a living, I come to understand better why I make my choices, this act of listing is a very profound way of knowing ourselves and others.

Renewal

2008 marked the sixth year I have taken the entire month of July off for what I call my annual "sabbatical." For 31 days, I do not respond to email or answer my phone and limit my social interactions to my nuclear family. This notion is shocking to most when I first mention it. The first question is always, "where will you go?" And my response is always, "I will stay at home." The next response is invariably, "I wish I could do that!"

This reminds me of the first time the concept of time off like this was brought to my attention, nearly 20 years ago. Herb Kindler, a consultant resource to the firm I was working for, shared with me that he and his wife, a psychologist, took every fourth week off. This seemed both outrageous and intriguing, and I obviously filed the thought away and retrieved it when the time was right for me.

I started my own business, and rewarded myself after seven years by creating time for myself that was different in every way from my regular existence: nothing scheduled, no obligations, minimal social interactions, and with the very specific objective of working on my crafting projects without having to stop. I set some rules for myself about what I CANNOT do: respond to email, "work," clean out files or closets.

It is nothing less than intoxicating to wake up in the morning, get out of bed when I am ready and have complete freedom to do whatever I feel like doing. Even though I have a beautiful, zen-like loft-office in my home, I set up sabbatical work-space two floors down in a light-filled room with a view of the canyon: lush green leaves and hummingbirds.

Truth be told, it takes practice to relax when I've been trained to be productive every minute. Note that my rule mentions "responding" to e-mail; given the prospect of wading through 31 days of email upon my return, I do read and purge my email daily. The good news is that by now my clients know about my ritual, and they respect my boundaries. This year I hardly heard from any of them.

The other discovery I made, much to my chagrin, is that the artistic impulses didn't just start on command. There were many days when I would sit staring at my art supplies and nothing would flow for me. Sad. But it underscored the need for me to work my right-brain more into my daily routine throughout the rest of the year. And I am seeing a payoff! but more about that below.

A year ago, in January 2008, I returned to work after two weeks off for Christmas and New Year, and decided that I would try to take four weeks off this year: in other words, add a winter sabbatical. Now that I am halfway through, I know that this is the right thing for me to have decided. I have been enjoying a creative surge like I have not experienced for years and years - this is the "payoff.

I'm going to go play with my Caran D'Ache Neocolor II water soluble color wax pastels...