Dispatch From LA

norwegian dust motes

this will be my smallest travel journal ever.   i'll be on the move!  gotta travel light.  my sister doesn't seem to think i'll be able to do it.  she is wrong.  she will see.  i will show her!

omar left me a note pasted inside the front cover.  okay!  thanks!

i want to come home with a smattering of sketches inside my red & white viking journal.  though, they will have to be of super tiny things like dust motes or paperclips.  i have trouble scaling down the sizes of things.  but they will be norwegian dust motes.  norwegian paper clips.  so, see, that will be okay.

going outside this second to read my norway travel/history book!  there are things to learn.  and i will learn them. 

{a very kind norwegian reader contacted me and gave me her phone number should carol & i run into any sort of snafu while in norway.  her husband is a police officer. isn't that just the nicest thing? } 

he was just the right one

i scavenged in my library for a proper book.  one that was just asking to go on a trip.  to nnnnnnnnorway!

this is a spanish speaking book.  but very amenable to learning new languages.  an older gentlemen...much older.  with a poetic sparkle.

he was just the right one.  and well...i'm a book whisperer.  i should know!

i can hear the secret longings hidden deep inside of every book.

so even though this fellow was very old, and water-damaged, and falling apart.  i knew he'd be the right one to make the journey from book of poems to book of traveler tales.  from a dusty bookshelf in los angeles all the way to the fjords of norway.

flip-top love.  i'm feeling it!  if you like "i like to cut & paste stuff"  i posted HERE, you can have it.  just drag onto your desktop, upload into PS, adjust the size and the color, print, cut, and paste!

goodbye long weekend.  it was nice knowing you.  let's be dignified and not cry.  okay?

a dose of cute

happy birthday maru!

 

now that cute overload is on my flipboard i am powerless to resist clicking every play button i see there.  this one is ESPECIALLY fabulous.

foundation hosiery

i found this postcard last summer in kansas city on a coffee house bulletin board.  i accidently put it in my purse.  on accident!  i knew i would use it for something.  sometime.

i went back and collaged things on the top part of the pages.  this particular orla kiely book can be found HERE.  {in the unlikely event that you should want one.}    my friendy got mine at tj max for a few buckeroos.

i sewed one of my large labels to a piece of ledger paper.  which gave me the idea to sew more to pages in my norway journal before i stitch the signatures to the binding.  i'm so crazy about the flip-top that i am thinking i will make my travel journal a flip top too.  ideas are unspooling one after another.  right up here in my very own nutcracker.

!!!

by the way...i mentioned this already dearest label customers, but if you want your colors on the labels to be as rich and delicious as possible use matte photo paper.  the velvety finish just soaks up the color and they look exactly like my originals.  i use THIS kind.

hey... guess what?!  i've had flipboard since i got my ipad and had NO IDEA i could add material that i want to the pages.  duh.  i immediatly added cute overload, npr picture show, instagram, apartment therapy, nat geo travel, and other things.  lots of other things.

guess what #2 - free online sewing class - it looks great and it never expires.  i'm hoping for some machine cleaning tips.

guess what #3 - i always enjoy reading alternative views on blogging hive mind.  good article.  i don't agree.  i don't disagree.  but i appreciate diverse viewpoints on the culture of blogging.

okay.  my work here is done.  back to cutting & pasting.  maybe a nap

yes i do!

that's the truth.

i rescued a birdy from my fountain in the back patio.  he was splishy splashing around and couldn't get out.  poor little tweeter.  i scooped him out with one of the cat dishes!  it was in the drainer and easy to grab.  ha ha

perimeter was secured and catboy & catgirl wrangled inside.

tweety hid for about an hour under a geranium then took off to parts unknown.

non-stop catch & release over here at moss cottage.

plus non-stop cut & paste.

cause that's how i roll.  on a cool & sunny day in the little cottage on the little hill in the big city.

happy day to you!

cat figurines & new underpants

blustery & cool here in LA.  i headed out of my house early this morning and made my way to school on rainy streets.

caught these small street scenes as the city was waking up.  sipping my coffee.  driving.  window down a couple of inches to let in some drizzle air.

my bossy camera with a mind of its own.  pointed it up and this is what it wanted me to see.  crooked morning.  pale light.  i love this drive.  looking at the other people in their cars.  wondering where they're all going.  the people waiting at the bus stops.  extra 3-day weekend smiles.  hiya!

made the return trip 8 hours later.  all the way back to here.  home.

started building little collages in my little book.

just an excuse to use my little labels.  little little little.

these dancing robots remind me of tina fey & steve carell in date night.  the robot dance scene in the strip joint.

i think this 4x6 is going to be my quickie cut-um-up-and-stick-um-down book.  a good method of rounding up the stray bits of paper spread across my desk.

my sister and i just had our first squealing facetime ipad yack it up.  i think we showed each other everything.  from new underpants to cat figurines to actual cats.

screams & squeals

a friend gave me the little orla kiely journal.  it's just the right size to have some more fun with my new tape!

my regular camera battery was dead so i grabbed my ipad and used hipstamatic for these quick snapshots.  it's one of the apps that i use the absolute most. 

another one i love is the i-Qi clock alarm i wake up to every morning. worth every one of the 199 cents i paid for it.  and then some!

my sister got an ipad!!!!!!!!!!!!

we talked today on her way home from the apple store.  basically a series of screams and squeals and exclamation marks.  one after another.

pretty patterns

an exhausting day.  whew.  i just wanted to come home and do something purely visual that didn't involve speaking or being spoken to.  or listening to anyone yammer on.  about anything.

in other words.

i wanted to unwrap more of my new tape and stick it onto a white surface.  don't  these patterns just put big old stars in your eyes?  it's a combination of japanese washi and MT. {little happy things on etsy}

and make little paper vignettes.  and think about my norway travel journal.  that i'll be needing in about 4 weeks.  i told you we're going right?

thank you for the BIG quirky label love.  wow.  um.  wow.   it felt like a great big summer party with sparkly streamers and crazy hats and my best pink leather party pants.  the ones with the big 70's foxy script written across my tuckus.  those.

sarah from Yup came over on saturday morning and delivered a whole round of cs5 In Design education.  she'll provide the same door-to-door service to you if you live local and need a sweet patient quiet someone to navigate you through any dicey digital passages.  thanks sarah for shining your high-powered flashlight on my dim brain.  it feels much brighter now that it's been unscrambled.

Quirky Handpainted Labels Are Here!

i've been busy busy busy all weekend getting these babies ready.  they're an instant download so that took additional brain power to figure out.  oh boy!  

all the nitty gritty details down below...

$9

The Details:

• Instant Download
• 15 page high resolution PDF
• 8 red & 8 blue labels 
• 4 sizes {64 total}
• 7 plain sheets + 2 extra sheets with words
• 5 pages {of the 15} of photo pdf with inspiration & suggestions for use
• Transparent PSD files included separately so you can add your own words in PS or Elements, use in digital layouts, or to decorate your blog. (this requires an extra bit of know-how on your part)
• link to download expires 1 week from date of purchase or after 5 attempts whichever comes first
• To download, simply click the link to download, rather than trying to do a right-click > Save As, which will not work. 

Make Sure Before You Buy That...

• you know how to download files from the internet and locate on your computer
• your email address does not have an "OUT OF OFFICE"  filter on it which prevents the email from reaching you
• your email address accepts all incoming mail -no spam filters which require the sender to fill out a form to send you anything

 

hope you have as much fun using as i had making!!!!!!

xo

almost ready

horse blinders on.  blocking everything out except the sound my scissors are making cutting out each label.  if i had a staff of elves i would sell them cut already.   alas, i do not.

but cutting is fun.  {not lying}

oh...the tape is there because i ♥ all the reds together.  i'll stick labels down with my tombow adhesive.

and there will be png files of the plain labels so you can add any old words you want!

or use in digital layouts, or on blogs, or WHEREVER!

almost ready to put them out into the world.  almost.

thanks for the encouraging comments & emails.  makes me feel warm and jumbly inside.

back to work!

that's what my brain told me to do!

up to my ears in making piles of reject labels and love labels.

i started out weeks ago wanting to make myself a hefty stack of labels that i could have at my disposal.  i have zillions of labels, but i wanted something hand-drawn and quirkier than the standards. 

but then something happened.

and i couldn't stop making them.  but... only in red & blue.  because that's what my brain told me to do!  

i'll have them ready for their close ups within the week.  finishing up some last minute details.

the blossoming

they open.   one by one.  night after night.

this particular epi only stays open for 24 hours.  then those many serrated petals close in on themselves.

collapse.

you have to wonder about the utility of such a plant.  the scientific hemisphere of my brain wants to know WHY.

but the poetic hemisphere just wants to watch the opening and closing of every petal.

at night, this white one has the sweetest freshest scent.  in the day the scent is barely noticeable.  WHY?  

and who, besides me, are they trying to attract with their sprawling lush blooms?  a particular kind of pollinator?  maybe a super bat?  winged racoons?  WHO?

{clicking on any photo will transport you to a world of detail}

getting shaggy

yard work anyone?  my front yard is getting shaggy!

i attached my tunnel vision goggles to my head bright and early and got crackin' on building my label empire.  the path was fraught with distractions.

emails!  phone calls!  cats! 

doesn't mama moss look spiffy and up for anything in her new mother's day shirt?  2 birthdays and 1 mother's day within the same week.  it was a trifecta of celebration in kansas this weekend.  wish i could've been there.  i imagine sometimes living in the same town as my sisters.  wish they'd hurry up and move here.  then they could mow my lawn!  and make me dinner!  i am the youngest child!  i have needs that must be met!

alas and alack i stayed at moss cottage under the big shady umbrella out back and put tape in my old ledger. 

don't feel too sorry for me though.  it was fun!

i marveled at how the old pages were held together with 90 year old tape.  tiny tears patched up.  i did the same thing.

with brighter tape.

i hope someone patches me up with bright tape when i get old.

also, because it seemed quite necessary and important, and also because i was curious, i painted on some of the pages.  they held up just fine.

this is going to be my Fast Fool Around book.  as in do whatever i want and try stuff out.  today i tried out some watercolor brush pens on a few of the pages {not seen here}.  a few splishy splashies and i was done.  super fast.  versus my Slow Fool Around book.  which is my regular visual journal.  FFA & SFA.

it's sunday!  i have 2 hours left to fool around on my ipad, make a fruit smoothie, and watch t.v.  OH BOY!

p.s.  this post has over 10 exclamation marks in it!  sorry!

morning has broken like the first morning

i ♥ liquid sunshine!

and pink flowers...

and painting shapes in an old ledger...

i'm cutting up the vintage paris poster...

from where i sit...

i spy a napping spot for later...

i enjoy every single comment.  yes i do!

happy birthday sister!!!!

i am sitting here sipping spicy christmas coffee.  mmmmm

getting ready to sit down at the art table and put the finishing touches on  my little project.  handpainted labels if you hadn't already guessed.  

it's gonna be a late night here at moss cottage.  music's on.  night sounds are drifting in the open windows.  paint & ink are flying.

i've been in the deep end of the photoshop pool ever since i got CS5.  these little frames are called:  real simple shaped masks by jen allyson.  i got them a little while ago, but hadn't used them.  don't know if they're still available or not, but they're super easy to use.  i added the thin grey outline.

happy friday.  i can't say it enough.  it never gets old.

xo

p.s.  today is my sister's birthday!!!!  monday is my other sister's birthday.  may babies.

sunday evening

a grand day.  made grander when my neighbor hollered over from her yard to see if i wanted her to go pick us up a stack of carne asada tacos from the truck down the street.  huh?  hello.  do bears poo in the woods?  OF COURSE i want that.  yes!  make that hells yes!

while she was out hunting and gathering i cleaned up the outdoor studio and got everything spiffied up and brought inside.

apparently i am obsessed with forks & spoons.  you eat with them.  so figuring out why is not really not too big of a mental leap.   art, furry animals, sunshine, a nice carne asada taco with a double corn tortilla stuffed with meat, onion, cilantro, lemon juice, dash of salt.  these are the things the cat lady up at moss cottage digs.

now it's evening and i'm getting ready to take ipad to the couch and watch more videos from lynda.com.  i highly recommend if you have any techy nerdy genes and enjoy gobs of information about how your new CS5 (or other software) works.  i'm learning so many things i don't know if i can fit them all in my nutcracker.

i am a self- taught photoshopper for many moons.  there are major gaps in my learning core.  but now i'm patching them all up thanks to lynda.com.  they aren't paying me a red cent to say that, but i appreciate good business with good customer service.  when i find a place that treats me right i like to crow about it.  when i find a place that stinks, i slash tires .

~

i am always grateful for the nice people who pop in on this blog to say hi from time to time...like ellen from growing gills.  she sent me the coolest email about william stafford.  i posted his poem yesterday.  anyway...she gave me permission to share:

Life moves in mysterious ways!

When I was in high school in Honolulu, I had an English teacher who opened up the world of poetry to me. Miss Durbin was her name. She was rather formidable, but poetry ran in her veins and she planted the seed of poetry love in my little brain.

 Now, comes the amazing part. I left home in 1960 (yes, I am that old) to go to school in Portland, Oregon...Lewis and Clark College to be exact. One of my professors in Humanities was none other than William Stafford. Oh, how I loved that gentle, gentle man.

Oh, Mary Ann, what a gift. I can still see him. He wore blue chambray work shirts, unassuming ties, and baggy pants. Soft spoken, calm and reassuring, that was William Stafford. I think that I have all of his books of poetry and some of Kim Stafford, his son.

If we are at all fortunate in life, we have tucked away in our hearts and memories a small number of precious jewels. The jewel that is Dr. Stafford shines brightly for me. 

It is actually sunshiny today here where gills grow by leaps and bounds with the relentless mizzle that is spring in my patch of Oregon. I am picturing you outside of Moss Cottage, surrounded by all the beautiful flowers and the cat posse.

Oh, the joy of it all. 

 

p.s.  kim baxley your passwords were sent and returned.  twice.  i have a carrier pigeon if that would be better for you...?  just let me know.

the white sky

The White Sky by William Stafford

Many things in the world have
already happened. You can
go back and tell about them.
They are part of what we
own as we speed along
through the white sky.

But many things in the world
haven't yet happened. You help
them by thinking and writing and acting.
Where they begin, you greet them
or stop them. You come along
and sustain the new things.

Once, in the white sky there was
a beginning, and I happened to notice
and almost glimpsed what to do.
But now I have come far
to here, and it is away back there.
Some days, I think about it.

sometimes i like to swallow poems whole.  but that one i kept going back to nibble at it.  i've featured poems of william stafford here before.  they're all good.  edible even.

like the epis blooming out back.

even the ones that are wilted are still luscious.

this week i got some ultra inexpensive acrylic craft paints from the martha stewart satin line.  lots of pretty colors!  they have a matte finish when dry which is kind of a nice change.  the periwinkle purple color is one of my usual liquitex brand paints. 

 i started this visual journal below in january 2011.  i just have a few pages left.  it's been left alone to fend for itself for months at a time while i was off galavanting with other lovers.  like my travel journals or sketchbook or inspiration journal.  i also have a stack of wood panels out in the garage i've been wanting to dig into, but that means i would have to drop everything else for awhile.  NO CAN DO.

i saw this quote today and it spoke to me.  screamed at me actually.  i took notice and wanted to share.

happy friday!

walked in the door after school.  i'm settling in for a quiet evening at the art table...

happy friday.  

whoever you are.  

however you got here.  

wherever in the great big world you happen to be...

sparkly

 i'm here at moss cottage on a grey cool wednesday.  

with my twinkly lights on in my art room.

 just moving little piles of paper around on my table top.  

and thinking that aqua and orange and red and blue sure are pretty

that's all.