this and that

breathing in all of it (for the august break)

a few bits:

thank you for words and emails lately. i truly feel so blessed to be cocooned in so much support. i am happy to report that ellie continues to be doing well. the medicine she takes is working, and she is beginning to smile and coo and reveal a bit more of her personality each day. i wish you could come over for tea to meet her. she really is the bees knees.

we are having more days that feel like summer here. love getting out and soaking up a bit of sun and remembering that there is life outside of our little house.

i am participating in susannah's august break over on flickr. i really love this idea and am looking forward to trying to capture a bit of summer each day. some days i will be sharing the photos here too, but i know i will also be posting some other things in this spot (like [finally!] the cover of my book and some thoughts about the experience writing it, a little video i am working on, a collaboration or two, and a few other things). luckily, susannah is all about no rules (you should join in on the fun too!).

while the little one sleeps or entrances her daddy with her smiles, i have been working on some more jewelry for the shop. i am really loving the longer locket necklaces and the new soul mantra designs and have made a few for myself. a bit like betty in the above photo, i have been inspired to layer them with other soul mantra necklaces and a few others i have (especially my favs from jen, kelly, and the black spot books). new items listed can be found over here. if you are interested in a custom locket, just contact me through an etsy conversation or email (the email page is in the sidebar of this blog).

and here are a few links to things catching my eye:

maya's on the road with ten-line tuesday kickstarter project

viv's tease about her upcoming project

jen lee's poem "held." (each time i read it, i read it aloud. each time i read it, i cry. next week, i am taking it with me to the oregon coast and will add it to my pocket of poems i am collecting for my early morning walks on the beach.) oh and jen's new merch page pretty much = awesome.

really enjoying notes from the edge (a new to me blog)

this delightful blog of mila's daydreams (this link fluttered around twitter last week and made me smile)

playing along at exquisite corpse was all kinds of fun last week (thanks kristen! this project simply rocks.)

teuxdeux.com (thank you jenna...this just might save my sanity)

and since i just ordered this (and this) as my "the book is really done!" gift to myself, i am more than a little excited about dar's photography ecourse.