Instagram-ing

The Overlook at Pipestem State Park - Pipestem, West Virginia

SO Much To Explore In 2012!

The Road Ahead

About the Images: I have found a neat way of photographing "every day" life - with the Instagram Ap for the iPhone. (these are both iPhone pics.) Some come out pretty cool. These are two of my faves taken on New Years Eve. "The Road Ahead" was taken thru a dirty windshield at about 55mph - but I still like it :)

We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.

~John Franklin

And if you didn't see it earlier - a FREE January Calendar download is HERE

Gypsy Chronicles: Indianapolis IN

Hello Creampuffs! We're onto another installment of Gypsy Chronicles: itty bitty photo essays on places I've been to gather inspiration. Traveling, even if it's one city over, gives you perspective and an opportunity to gobble up new ideas. My latest Midwest Road Trip extravaganza brought me (accidentally) to Indianapolis for a few rainy hours:







[1] Vogue Theater and Moon [2] Side of the pub [3] grave of famous bank robber John Dillinger Jr. [4] Boho neighborhood of Broad Ripple [5] historic Crown Hill cemetery



Where do you wander these days, my pretties? Is there a place you're trying to go?

Gypsy Chronicles: Louisville KY

Hello Sweettarts! When it comes to kick-starting your creative juices, there is nothing like travel: new food, new buildings, new art, new people to bother. Roadtrips and train rides are where my brains do their best cooking--it brings out the gypsy in me. This last week, the Muffin and I set out to see what there was to see with a pack of smokes, a box of glazed doughnuts and a borrowed car. Here are a few peeps of our adventure!





[1] downtown Louisville [2] Cherokee park [3] nighttime wanderings [4] Cave Hill cemetery [5] supplies [6] swan at Cave Hill cemetery [7] King Louis



Where have your wanderings taken you this summer?

Craft Time: That Voodoo That Yoo Doo

Hello Sugar Plums!* The moon is getting FAT and I've recently felt the push to putz around with my household shrines. The latest edition to my goddess-goodness altar is this Lakshmi Mojo Jar I created.

Muffin and I took the train to Memphis, TN this spring and the entire city is dripping with bottle caps, folk art, glitter and voodoo supply shops. After our visit I was excited to make some of my own good southern-fried-inspired voodoo with a HerSpeak twist!

This particular jar was made with Abundance in mind--There are a lot of beautiful people in my life who could use a little boost! First, I cleaned out an emptied spice container and decorated it with gobs of glitter and trinkets. Next, I filled it with all kinds of good Juju: cloves, gold leaf, little prayers, lemon oil, gems and scented oil. Then I sealed it up with a kiss and a lit birthday candle with the intention that the light find everyone who needs it.

As soon as I finished, I found a $5 bill in my pants pocket--She will provide. ;)


This was a treat to make! What would you wish for with your Mojo Jar?

Gypsy Chronicles: Pittsburgh + Philidelphia + D.C.

Me becoming better aquainted with a tree in a Pittsburgh park...

Hello Friends! I have returned from my wanderings with empty pockets, aching feet, a camera full of pictures and best of all--brimming with new ideas! It was five days full of paint, pavement and big ass sandwiches! Here are just a few of the many highlights from the Spring Break Train Extravaganza!:

Pittsburgh

Philadelphia: Washington D.C. :

Now, onto other business!

12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women:

Secret 11: Subtracting Serenity Stealers

This last week McMeekin asks us to hone in on what it is that distracts us and zaps our energy, as well as gain a better understanding of our creative style. When I reviewed the list of Burn Out Warning Signs I had to giggle—welcome to University Life. However, I did find the Body Signals challenge, in which you identify how your body reacts to intense stress, to be extremely helpful. So often we wait until it’s too late before we pay attention to what Body is telling us! Personally, when I am overbooked or overwhelmed I begin biting my fingernails. I nibble them down the wick almost manically. Now I know that this is one of my Burn Out red lights—when I start biting, it’s time for a break!

McMeekin also introduces the Magic Wand, a tempting instrument that allows you to envision what your life would be like without unnecessary stressors. What would we wiggle our noses, tap with a wand and Poof! say Good Bye to? My list of expendable pressures took up an entire page of loose leaf. I know what that means:

It’s time to prioritize and Bibbity Boppity Boo, Bitch.

What unneeded distractions and demands would you erase with your wand?

Until Next Time,
Merry Making and Many Blissings, Friends!~*

Wishcasting Wednesday: Train Holiday

***It's Wishcasting Wendesday, My Pretties!*****

This week our Wishtress Jamie asks us, "Where do you wish to go?"

I wish to go on a spring break holiday with my Muffin! He’s been planning an east coast train trip for the two of us for months—showering me with maps, Amtrak schedules, art museum pamphlets and virtual hotel tours. This boy is a junkie. Mix up a degree in political science and the pursuit of a master’s degree in urban planning and POOF you get a travel companion with an encyclopedic knowledge of every crack in the sidewalk. I like to tease him about returning the girly magazines I got him for his birthday in exchange for subway schedules. :)

So, now that I have a job (Yay!) our train holiday is a Go Go! There are only a few weeks left until spring break, so I’ll be squirreling away cash to spend on Philly cheese steaks and circus tours! (Cheese steak.....*drool*) I always find inspiration when we're off on our wanderings and come home with a notebook full of new scribblings and snapshots. I'm looking so forward to exploring the cities with my lovely Muffin.

I wish to go on a splendid City-hoping-Adventure for two!

Where do you wish to go?

Ode To Dirty Toothbrush

Oh! Grubby toothbrush! How I missed you!

It was a brisk stingy-windy weekend in Chicago, but as always I come back with a brain FulL of interesting image ideas and a tummy far too full of deep dish pizza. That town just drips art, whether it be a dazzling window display, politically saturated public sculpture or exquisitely executed graffiti you happen upon on an underground L stop. I feel so privileged that this world class city and inspiration bank is practically in my back yard! Though Chicago is always a trip, Milwaukee and her beautiful lake suit me just fine and I'm glad to be back in my own parlor. I had to hit the studio and begin preparing new backgrounds before I barely even had my coat off!

"Lilith after The Garden" by Molly Roberts 2008 Vine charcoal on Stonehenge

While sitting on the train on the way out of town I was thinking about some smidgen to submit to June's wicked Darkside prompt when I remembered this drawing. I'm bending the theme a bit--as it is not a fairytale necessarily, but more so a retelling of a myth I find particularly interesting. The parameters of this assignment were to create a completely fabricated environment at life size and insert yourself into it. I chose to be Lilith. I always wondered what the post-Eden spat aftermath was like. What really happened to her after she said "to Hell!" with Adam? In my mind, I like to imagine Lilith the way she (I--we? Whatever...) am illustrated here: in a brief moment of brooding, taking leave to the brush on the outskirts of the garden to blow off some steam before collecting herself and returning to her usual cool, confident demeanor. I like to imagine owls are good listeners. :)

What do you do to talk yourself down from a tizzy?~*

An Altar for Us: Art for My Muffin

After a quiet moment in the closet staring at the blank space, I set to work our "US" altar. I shuffled through the candy tin that serves as my photo album and found a blurry snapshot of the two of us from high school--both of our eyes are closed. Then I found the "CONEY ISLAND IS FOR LOVERS" postcard from our trip to New York this past summer and a wrinkly ticket stub from "Edward Scissor Hands: The Ballet" which we attended in St. Paul two springs ago. While I looked at the glossy ticket I smiled as I recalled crying when the music swelled and snow suddenly started falling slowly from the auditorium ceiling. I realize it was only lights and costumes, but I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the moment. I placed a few glistening snail shells on the shelf--shells we found while shifting through wet sand at the cottage. As I arranged the scraps of paper, trinkets, string and travel artifacts I thought about how much we've evolved since we were scared seventeen-year-old kids, how many strange cities had seen us stumbling around in the wee hours of the morning, and fancied where we might be headed. I lit the candles and stepped back to view the work, savoring a small, silent celebration for us.