mini flea!

well all fleas are mini, but this one is something you've surely never seen! remember to come by my sister's house for her mini design flea where she and some of her design blog friends will sell their very chic homegoods.  perhaps an even greater incentive to come is to support the forge. it's a foundation in 3rd ward that supports kids who need great role models, fun activities, and good love. my sister decided to give 50% of her earnings to help the founders with their own mini home makeover. they give so much of themselves and their home to others that linsey felt inspired to give something to them. there will also be an opportunity to put your pennies in a jar to send a kid in need to camp this summer. so come on out, rain or shine!

exchange

i've been thinking about this for some time. this idea of intersecting lives and crossing boundaries. we all live in our own little part of the world to which we become accustomed (be it under a freeway, in a 2 room shotgun, or a 20 room mansion). and unless you stay inside all day, doing a whole lot of nothing and talking to no one, your life intersects with peoples' about whom you know nothing about...even if it's only through media like books, news, or internet.
i drove to 3rd ward the other day in my yuppy car to a meeting at project row houses - an organization you should know about if you don't already. i had caleb with me, who is the best meeting baby EVER, and i observed the people who were doing the work in my neighborhood as i drove out. although my neighborhood is somewhat diverse as neighborhoods go, it is largely middle class and white. most of the laborers, however, are working to lower class, black or hispanic. most of them probably live in places like 3rd ward. i thought about how everyday for 4 years i drove to south houston to teach kids whose parents were mostly painters, housekeepers, contractors, etc. in other words, they came to places like my neighborhood to work while i went to theirs. and no matter how uncomfortable i am with some of the implications of that, i know enough to recognize that we are teaching the kids in the hopes that they can one day move OUT of their neighborhood. or at least out of the cycle of poverty and lack of higher education.
driving that day it suddenly struck me as so...ironic (channel alanis) that we work in each others neighborhoods, but that we don't live in the neighborhoods in which we work. some of us because we can't afford to and some of us because we don't want to. it also struck me that people who work as housekeepers or child care takers probably know so much more about their employers' lives than the other way around. as in they fold their underwear. scrape their dirt. come to their intimate abodes and feed their children. i want to acknowledge that there are so many conversations about race, class, education...that could come from my observations.  i have my own thoughts about each topic and more, and i am in no way intending to judge this observed "exchange," but it has most certainly wormed its way into my consciousness over the years. maybe the main point is to notice. notice others and how our lives intersect with so many who aren't like us and have different experiences just as relevant as ours. maybe if we notice more we will open the walls of our hearts more and begin to live with "loving kindness and compassion," in the words of my greatest spiritual teacher. in order to do that though, we must also begin to tackle the great inequities in our society and world - a topic so uncomfortable for those who have gotten so comfortable.  so first just notice...then maybe the rest will unfold.

who needs fleas?!?!?

what do this:

and this:

have in common?

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click here for details!

take #2

based on some great feedback and my own determination to give this piece a little more depth, i went back to cloud machine (which i really think i'll call made with love) and made some improvements. check out the original on my june 10th post and tell me which you like better!  there is all willy nilly a line from perhaps my favorite ee cummings poem straggling down the collage. can you make it out? a little sorpresa for you if you can! just leave it in the comment box and i will draw a name.

btw - all of my digital collages are available for purchase on my etsy shop. 

cloud machine

the latest digital collage

there are so many things you can't do digitally that you can do by hand, and vice versa. i don't think you'll see it on this lower res image, but there is some nice subtle stuff going on the background with layers and scratching up the surface with a thin pencil shape. i think it needs more, but i don't know what....

any suggestions?

the sweetest thing

i love birth stories...be they about adoption or biological births. i didn’t always love them, but ever since we started the adoption process, then got pregnant and especially since i had caleb, any story remotely related to giving birth makes me cry. big drippy continuous tears. i would probably even cry about a horse giving birth. definitely an elephant.

today i read the birth story of a 6th child on design mom’s blog - yet another site my sister turned me on to. my fabulous sister. from the first line tears came, and it reminded me of caleb’s birth. since that day i knew he had a mind of his own...suffice to say 9 hours at 9 1/2 centimeters, 3 1/2 hours of pushing, oh and throw some back labor in on top of that. he teased us for quite a while. but my favorite FAVORITE moment was of course holding his squirmy little body in my arms. i cried and croaked, “it’s you! you’re finally here!” caleb cried. even josh cried. at that moment, i grew my second heart. fast forward, and yes, i am already saying it - time goes by so quickly. 3 more blinks and he’ll be 18. i just want to drink it all in. every moment, every noise, every new expression. 

i can’t believe that 8 1/2 months ago i was struggling to get him to nurse (jaundiced and really lethargic), and now he is grabbing the spoon from my hands and sticking it backwards into his mouth. as i am sitting here (yes, crying) saying to caleb, “i love you. i just love you!” i can’t believe he’s performed his first crawl, pull up, and clap all in one small weekend. he’s getting tooth #3 & 4 and he bops his head like the talking heads on that one music video i can’t remember just now. he ooches forward in his peggy leg style then sit backs and does a little bouncy bottom dance and claps.  

he’s my treasure. my very special one. my extra limb. my second heart. and by far the greatest creation to ever come from these two hands. though he’s not really mine...he’s already his own little person who flings his arms around my ever-loving neck with such almost 9 month old intensity. i can’t wait to get more. 

THIS is the sweetest thing and exactly where i want to be. 

p.s. - to see other hand made goodies like caleb's VERY practical oilcloth bib, visit my etsy shop! i am uploading new items regularly.