five {really} good things

1) I snapped this photo just after I finished recording the "poem of possibility" that is the list of 2013 "one little words" over on Ali's blog. This is the third year I've done it and each time I enjoy it all the way to the tips of my toes. I really try to think about each word as it's own little one word poem. Makes me so happy. You can listen here.

2) The Seafoam Project Life Kit is here! Love Elise's aesthetic so much (she designed this kit). I dove in right away when the box from Amazon arrived, and I can't wait to use it this year. I'll be pairing it with some favorites from the Clementine edition I bought last fall (it isn't important to me that every layout be from one kit). And I'll be sharing some layouts and ideas and how it's going here on the blog. I loved working with Project Life last year and am almost finished. Just need to do the last two weeks of December. [This is the first time I've ever (almost) completed any kind of big creative project like this for my family. Not kidding. It gives me hope for the unfinished quilts and other good things hiding in my studio AND is proof that this kind of memory keeping really is that easy!]

I share my approach to Project Life in this post and will be sharing more next week. And if you are new to it, head over to Becky Higgins' site to watch an adorable really short video and learn more.

3) Next month, Vivienne is running a new course called "Be Your Own Beloved." I love the premise behind this course: It is a 28 day photo adventure designed to cultivate self-reflection and self-compassion through the practice of taking self-portraits. I am really looking forward to this one. Viv's having a giveaway on her blog right now for one spot, but even if you don't win, I hope you will come along.

 

4) The newest issue of Sprout Magazine (an adorable online e-zine) is all about inspiration. So many inspiring contributors. And I'm delighted that Amanda featured my Soul Mantra jewelry in this issue (there is a free shipping coupon code inside).

5) I've been wearing a lot of headbands lately (as evidenced by my self-portraits on Instagram). I never was really a headband person. My head is not small, which means headbands often squeeze my head until I have a headache. But when my late summer hair cut went a bit awry, I started to look for ways to get through it. Enter the headbands from Specifically Random, a shop I came across last spring. They come in sizes. Yes. Sizes! I've been adding some crochet flower pins to them that my mom sent me. I don't have a link for the pins, but these, these, and these on Etsy look similar. They would also be easy to crochet.

And you? What are five really good things over in your corner of the world? I would love to know.

Happy weekending,
Liz 

five (really) good things

I've been living in my "love makes us brave" shirt over here. It is so soft and it makes me take a deep breath every single time I read it. My friend Jen designs shirts to be worn when you are the thick of it... in the deep living and creating and loving parts of life. And lucky for us, the shirts are 20% off today and tomorrow when you use code 2DAYSTOSAVE.

Curvy girl note: This shirt really does run true to size. I have an XXL and I love the fit. It is actually a bit more scoop neck than this photo shows.

In fact, everything over at Jen Lee Productions is 20% off, which means you can also get my home retreat kit, The Gift of This Moment, and my poetry collection, Five Days in April, on sale today and tomorrow by using the same code 2DAYSTOSAVE. I'm so proud of this work and deeply thankful for the space to share it.

For a few months now I've been using Anna's oils and sugar scrub. Sometimes my c-section scar really aches, and I was looking for something to use when that happens. It brings up a lot of emotion for me, and I want to tenderly take care of myself. Anna was wonderful to work with and I love how everything I have smells and feels. I use the "I Create" second chakra oil along with the Root "I Connect" oil and the Wise Woman scrub. I'm adding a few more good things to my "If I was buying myself a Christmas gift" pinboard to help Santa out when he goes to fill my stocking this year...

Tea. Tea. And more tea. Ellie now says, "Time for Mama's tea" when she sees me reach for a mug. Yes, sweet girl, it is time. Right now, tea really does feel like a deep breath in a cup. Currently loving: Trader Joe's winter tea called Vanilla Cinnamon Black tea (if you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, Harney & Sons Holiday Tea is wondrous) and Republic of Tea's Twenty Herbs Tea.

And twinkle lights. I've been saying I want to put them up forever. But each year they only go on the tree. We now have them in the bathroom and across the mirror that is on the fireplace. I love it. There is just something about that soft light that makes me smile. Planning to add a few more sets throughout the house. I'm sharing this because if you are like me and have been saying you want more twinkle lights in your house but haven't done it yet...well...TODAY is the day. Make it happen dear one. Yes.

five (really) good things :: this week

  

1. Amanda over at Kind Over Matter has created a gorgeous new book called Zen & the Art of Being a Work-at-Home Mama. I am honored to be one of the women interviewed in this book and was lucky enough to read a sneak peek this week. 

And as I was reading, I kept nodding my head and thinking about how the experience was like being curled up on the couch with a dear friend sharing stories about all that being a work-at-home mama means. Amanda holds nothing back as she shares glimpses into her real world paired with accessible tips you can implement right now. I loved every word! If you are a creative mama who needs to be reminded you are not alone in this crazy, real, awesome, hard magical work-at-home world, then this book is for you.  

2. Washi tape: So this is most of my ever-growing collection. I'm working on a project that has me playing with paper + words + color over here and washi tape is playing a big part. When I posted this on Instagram, people asked a few questions, so I wanted to share some of my resources. My favorite online shops are: Pretty Tape and Freckled Fawn. The birds on wire and in birdcages, the arrows, and the silhouette tapes are from Michaels (they have them right now). There is some Tim Holtz tissue tape in there too.

3. Oh my goodness how I love Molly's blog over at Orangette. And her post about granola bars had my stomach rumbling and then had me looking at several of her granola recipes,which caused me to begin to feel nostalgic for something I've never even experienced (aka home made granola baking in the oven while I sit at the counter doing a crossword puzzle). This weekend, granola in some form or another will be made around these parts.

4. Have you seen Jennifer Louden's new Creating Your Own Mastermind Group course? I've signed up and can't wait! 

5. Remembering this simple truth: When I get out of the house alone, even if just for a few minutes, I feel like I reboot and come back to center. And reading Andrea's blog post this week (and her link to this article) had me really feeling like I'm not alone (or crazy) in wanting and needing this. 

*****

Every now and then I make a list of five (really) good things. Sometimes I make this list just because I want to make a list (like today) and share some good things. But other times I do this practice because even on the days when there seems to be more crappy stuff than beauty, the beauty, well, it is still there. And finding it is how I keep my heart just a bit more open these days...

five (really) good things

the buddha in the messy garden (playing in Swan Dive)

It's been a while since I've made a list of good things, and as things feel a bit busy as Ellie and I get ready to travel to my mom's for a while this week, I thought it might be fun to write in a list today. Might do it every day this week in fact.

1) Picnik closing this month has me pouting a bit over here. But through Viv's Swan Dive class, I discovered PicMonkey and am having a wee bit of fun. (And spending time with Viv and her kind, inspiring teaching style makes me so so happy.)

2) I attended Rachel Cole's Well-Fed Woman Retreatshop in Seattle this Saturday. Rachel is so genuine and real and open-hearted in person, and I really enjoyed her workshop and her approach. And I can't stop thinking about this question: What are you truly hungry for? It was a new lens for me to use to look inward and unpack things a bit in there. Good stuff. She has three more cities left on her tour (Chicago, Minneapolis, and LA), and if you live near those cities, you should get thee to her workshop!

3) Ali's 52 Creative Lifts newsletter is full of juicy goodness every week. Last week, she wrote about the idea of thinking about your creative army. LOVE THIS! You can read it here (and then be sure to sign up for her newsletter here so you don't miss any of these inspiring must reads).

4) The students in Poem It Out are inspiring me so much with the poems and poem notes they are writing in this course. And I am having so much fun sharing my love of poetry with them. (As in I am basically dancing over here as I share this content with them. I.love.poetry.)

5) And if you would have told me three years ago that watching a 22-month-old little girl find 12 plastic eggs each filled with two M&Ms would be just about the most fun a grown-up girl could have on a Sunday morning up much earlier than she had hoped to be...well...maybe I would have believed you but I don't think I would have ever known that it would make my heart feel so big. 

*****

Every now and then I make a list of five (really) good things. Sometimes I make this list just because I want to make a list (like today) and share some good things. But often times I do this practice because even on the days when there seems to be more crappy stuff than beauty, the beauty, well, it is still there. And finding it is how I keep my heart just a bit more open these days...

a poem and t-shirts (and other good things)

an in this moment photo from my 365(+1) self-portrait project
(and, of course, my smash journal yet again)

I am pretending we are having tea this evening as I want to share a few things with you:

I keep meaning to tell you that I wrote a poem and shared it at Roots of She earlier this month. I love poetry (big). 

Bella's video has me simply delighted. Every bit of it. The shadows. The music. The simple moment captured. (Of course, I also love that she mentions that she likes her One Word Girl necklace...but...really, I am inviting you to head over there to watch her video).

Speaking of Bella, she interviewed me this week over at 52 Photos Project. I so enjoyed her questions and sharing about self-portraiture and other good things. And I love that this interview pushed me to continue to own that I am indeed a photographer. (I tend to think of myself as a person who uses my camera as a tool to capture the moments of my life and sift through them, but I seldom use the word "photographer" when describing myself. Working on this one.)

I have so enjoyed this recent session of Emerge over at Live It to the Full. Teaching with Jenna and Viv is so much fun and deeply inspiring for me. And both of them have some incredible offerings right now. Check out Jenna's writing workshops and ecourses here (her intimate MFA-style writing workshop looks awesome). Find out more about Viv's photography ecourses here (and I am so so delighted that she is bringing back Swan Dive this Spring as I am so ready for it).

Have you seen Jen Lee's new t-shirts as part of the release of The Iconic Self? Oh my goodness that girl knows just what her kindreds need to hear (and wear). I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of her "Gentle Spirit...." tanks a few weeks ago and I have been known to wear it for several days in a row when I most need to be reminded of my hidden badass self. I am going to snap a photo of me wearing it soon. And I will also be sharing more on The Iconic Self next month. (Jen is sharing such good good things with the world.)