The Illustrator's Wife

UPDATE (Or Why I'm A Slacker)

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:46:00 +0000

I hope you all don't feel like I'm stringing you along. I post for a week and then take three months off, then post again and sort of die off...

I apologize.

Here's the thing. As I think I've mentioned vaguely on the blog a few times, Jake and I are working on starting our own cottage industry biz - which I'm super excited to get going! - but it turns out, these things take a LOT of prep work. Who knew?

So... since we're both still working our regular jobs and trying to get our new business launched during our free time, it's kinda slow going, but that's where I've been. I haven't abandoned you!

Well, okay, and to be honest, I don't know that I'll continue this blog once The Page Shop opens (yes, that's what we're calling it - it'll be an LLC on etsy - cat's out of the bag!), but I am working on getting a fancy new blog up and running that'll be connected to The Page Shop, and I promise all of you wonderful, faithful readers will be the first to know about it. I might even throw in a promo code just for you guys.

So. Bear with me.

You guys are the best!

- The Illustrator's Wife

*Oh, and just to update you guys on Jake's illustration, it's going great! He's completely booked with jobs currently. Hallelujah! lol

Weekend Wanderings

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:55:00 +0000

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

I know I did. Even though it rained pretty much non-stop.

On Sunday morning it slacked off a little, though, and the sun even came out for a bit, so after teaching four-year-old sunday school (which is a riot! We love it.), Jake and I headed over to Festival in the Park.

First things first, lunch.

There were all kinds of delicious fair type foods to choose from - gyros and funnel cakes and giant turkey legs and kettle corn, mmm mmm.

I indulged.

And there were all kinds of people out, too - mingling, sitting on blankets in the grass, enjoying the live music, playing around with the clowns (or running from them and avoiding the clowns at all cost, whichever), riding the ferris wheel, waiting in a line full of moms with strollers for the pony rides, and ambling booth to booth, taking a look at all the different arts and crafts that vendors had on display.

The arts and crafts booths are always mine and Jake's favorite part. We love seeing all the incredible creativity people have in coming up with their wares, from jewelry to woodwork to pottery and fine art. It's such a fun atmosphere, and most of the artisans are more than happy to talk with you and explain their process, their inspiration, funny little personal stories behind this piece or that. I always leave with a smile on my face.

Here were some of my favorites this year:

(At least, these are the few who's names I've managed to remember!)

The fine art photography of L.A. Brown,

The mixed media paintings and illustration of Yvonne Miller,

The leather and felt do-dads of Once Again Sam,

And for all you dog owners out there, you simply must check out Tree Parlor!

There were so many more wonderful artists and crafters there, I wish I could remember them all. But alas, just as Jake and I were rounding our way back to the first booths where we had started, the bottom dropped out of the sky. We're talking torrential downpour. Flash flooding type stuff. And somewhere amidst the mayhem Jake and I got separated and I ended up taking shelter under a giant oak tree. There was an elderly black gentleman who'd likewise sought refuge under this tree and we kind of squinted at one another through all the rain pouring down our faces and laughed at ourselves and swapped stories and watched the black ants that were inches from our faces travel up and down the trunk of the tree, seemingly unfazed by the giant raindrops. And then after a while I decided there was no indication that the rain was going to let up any time soon, so I said my goodbyes to the man and went sprinting several blocks in the tremendous pouring of rain to the lot where we'd parked, and sure enough, I was reunited with Jake at the car and all was well.

We went home and got dry and made coffee and caught the end of the Panthers' game with the cat sprawled out over both of our laps and the rain beating at the sliding glass door and... I have to say... it was a perfect Sunday.

Dreaming in Paper

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:42:00 +0000

There are times in my life when I don't fully have words to describe things I've come across, and it appears this is one of those times.

Today I discovered the artwork of Mandy Smith, and I found it so... delightful. I simply must share. It's like an otherwordly dream - beautiful, slightly strange, and haunting. But in a blithe sort of way.

Enjoy!

The Move, Paper Animation from Mandy Smith on Vimeo.

And here are a few still shots of the pieces she made for the film. It blows my mind that everything was created entirely out of paper!

The detail is just exquisite.

Jake has mentioned to me before that if he wasn't an illustrator, he would want to create paper sculptures for a living - houses, trees, whole villages. After seeing this little film, I think that would be amazing.

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Hope.

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:03:00 +0000

Yesterday, as usual, I started my morning coffee in the coffee-maker, fed my cat as it percolated, and curled up with my laptop to catch up reading on some blogs I follow. One of these blogs is hand-made-love, a kind of online journal kept by Dawn Tan, an artist based in Melbourne. Although I've never met her, I feel like I know her. Maybe you have people you feel that way about. After reading her blog day after day for a while now and tagging along in her life, I feel I can accurately describe her as an upbeat, energetic sort of person. She's quirky and silly and paints colorful representations of milk cartons and sugar packaging and talking french fries. She's also a teacher, and she helps kids have fun expressing themselves with these same sorts of projects.

Dawn Tan's image, found here.

So. It was very unusual to click onto her blog yesterday and find a post drenched in discouragement. For the sake of brevity (or at least, attempted brevity), I won't rehash the whole thing here, though I encourage you to read her words as she said them. But basically, yesterday Dawn was lamenting the life of the freelance artist.

And I knew exactly how she felt.

She spoke of never knowing where your next job - read "paycheck" - is going to come from. Or if it will come. Will there be money for rent next month? Hard to say. How can you plan for the future or budget money that, at present, is little more than hope? Dawn talked about watching her friends go out - you know, the friends with the 9-5 jobs, complete with regular salary they can depend on, 401K plans to which their employers contribute, newly bought houses and really cute clothes - those friends. She spoke of watching them go out and have fun while she sits at home, working. Making art. Always making art. Because she can't afford not to. She can't afford to not be constantly seeking out commissions, advertising her work, encouraging people to buy it. Tweeting, blogging, bombarding people with promotions. Constantly racking her brain for new ideas, things to create, ways to make a living from them.

I know what that's like. It can start to feel like a never-ending fight upstream. My husband and I are artists - he's an illustrator, I'm a storyteller - and we both believe passionately in the value of what we do. And we desperately love what we do. You could even say that we lose ourselves in it. There is something mystical and electrifying about the process of creation. Making art enriches your inner spirit in a way that few things can. So I don't think, suffer as we do for it, that either of us could give it up.

But we do suffer for it. It's a quiet suffering. Most artists love what they do so we're willing to take the punches, brush ourselves off, and keep going without saying much about it, because, well, suffering is part of the job. But that doesn't mean it isn't a struggle. And there's the rub, that making art can drain you to the point of white-lipped exhaustion. It requires you to give out of the very essence of who you are, to be willing to go deep, all the way to the marrow, and ask the hard questions of yourself and wrestle with the inner demons in order that you might surface at the end with something of meaning to offer the world, something true, perhaps of beauty or hope, or something at least that can make a tired person laugh. And this can be especially difficult when the world, it would seem, is perfectly willing to let you starve in return. When it gets down to the wire, art is expendable after all. Right?

It can be a painful pill to swallow. It can mess with you if you aren't rooted and grounded in Someone's unconditional love. You can start to feel resentful. Undervalued. Bitter. And if you let these feelings go on too long, you can even start to make hollow art - art that isn't about anything but a paycheck. You start to live in angst about your financial situation and your lack of productivity and in that anxiety you begin to pounce on ideas and projects that don't actually have any Life in them. And the downward cycle continues.

I know because I've almost gone down that self-pitying path a few times.

It's only great Love that has saved me.
...my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:20-23)

And I know I don't often explicitly talk about my faith on this blog, but this is one area where my relationship with God is so tangled into my ability to keep creating that I can't discuss the topic without bringing Him into it. (Hope you won't tune out.)
I find that as I turn my eyes to the cross, I am humbly hit with the reminder that in order for this hope to be offered to me, Another was pierced. And this Other is well acquainted with suffering. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)

My church recently completed a study of the book of Revelation. It's a weird book, but for the first time, my pastor has helped me to love it, and amidst all the strange, psychedelic descriptions, I cannot get away from the image of the innocent slaughtered Lamb, who is Christ himself. Pierced for our transgressions. Crushed for our sins. The God who made himself nothing to suffer alongside us, to be wrongly accused and put to death by crucifixion, all for love, for the love of us. The God who draws near to the suffering. Because he knows what it's like. And He will not turn away. It's the greatest comforting I've found.

Jesus, the Other of our souls, is the only one who can draw mystery into the ashes of our suffering and breathe life into our dry bones. Jesus is the only true Artist, and I find that the more time I spend with Him, the better my own art becomes. I can't explain it logically. I can only say that when I show up to Him with all my brokenness and frustration and questions about being an artist and whether or not the hardships are worth it, my Father smiles at me and invites me instead to, "Come up here". He carries me heavenward and shows me a new perspective entirely. I am lifted from my narrowly focused world and all things which seem to matter most begin shifting around within me. I start to feel hope. And with that bubbling of hope comes joy. Spilling laughter. New openings in the world emerge . Cracks of possibility where the light shines through. Like a resurrection, a rolling away of the stone, a movement from death into inspired life, transforming the old earth into the New Earth.

And suddenly I am aware of beauty all around me, and a hunger for more of it. And hunger to co-create with it. And God, in his mercy, allows this. He chooses to use my childlike scribbling, created in faith, as a conduit for the transformation to come. Heaven coming down, an invasion of the kingdom of light. Apparently, we can learn to create backwards - not out of our limited humanity, but out of our full humanity to come. We allow God's Life, both here and not yet, to invade ours, to mold our expressive hearts, so that our future (perfected) humanity can flow through our art now.

I hear what some of you may be thinking as you read this - wonderful for me that I've found this source of renewal, but that still doesn't pay the bills. No, I suppose it doesn't, directly. But honestly, the change in perspective is worth it. To be able to give the burden away. Celebrity culture tempts us to be the center of our own creative acts - it's all about me me me getting the credit I deserve, but when the center is "the still point of the turning world" (T.S. Eliot), true creativity is birthed, unleashing future grace into the eye of the storm.

We artists have to keep living on and being stewards of the old earth and its systems, but we also get to be imaginative conduits of the New. And in my book, that's worth being a part of. That's worth suffering for.

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Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches...

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:26:00 +0000

I was listening to NPR today and the weather person mentioned that it might actually start to feel like the end of summer this weekend (as opposed to feeling like, I don't know, the inside of my oven).

It has been an unbearably hot summer, hasn't it?

And that's saying something for me. I usually welcome the heat. I guess even I have a breaking point.

Well, so I was thinking about the end of summer, about September specifically - my anniversary month - which led me to thinking about our wedding, and the North Carolina farm where we got married, and that led me quite naturally of course to thinking about peaches. (Georgia peaches may be famous, but the Carolinas will give them a run for their money- as Stephen Colbert himself will tell you.)

Yes, there's something about peach season that sends a lot of people into reverie, and I think I'm one of them. My summer would not be complete without the pure pleasure of peach cobbler, peach delight, peach jam on my biscuits in the morning. Mmmm....

Last weekend, Jake and I visited my grandmother in South Carolina. She is a true southern cook and one of the best, and for dessert she whipped us up some delicious peaches and cream. It's amazing how something so simple can be so amazing. Yes, I just said 'amazing' twice.

I loved my grandmother's peaches and cream so much that I was inspired to play around and come up with my own recipe. It's a little different from hers - she serves her peaches chilled, which I highly recommend, but I thought I'd change things up a bit and try them heated.

Y'all are gonna thank me for sharing this. That's all I'm sayin'.

This dessert is a total breeze to make (I don't do complicated.), yet it's wonderfully impressive and good. I think the warming spice blend nicely compliments the sugary sweetness of the peaches, and the coconut ice cream is a total must - the temperature contrast is key.

{And speaking of ice cream, apparently peaches and September are a recurring theme for me, because last September I shared with you all a recipe for homemade peach gelato. And it doesn't even require an ice cream maker, so you have no excuses, people.}

So, anyway...

We may or may not be getting relief from this steamy, sticky heat any time soon (I hope we are!), but I say, look on the bright side and take advantage of the peaches while they're here! Gather some friends together, pull up chairs around the table on the back patio, listen to everybody chatter away as they devour some good ol' fashioned Peaches and Cream, and smile to yourself at how good it all is.

Peaches 'n Cream Deliciousness

The yummy stuff inside...

4 or 5 ripe peaches

1/2 c. water

2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

2 whole cloves

1 Tbsp. vanilla

pinch sea salt

sprinkling of blueberries - optional

coconut ice cream to serve

To make...

1. Wash and pit the peaches, then slice into wedges.

2. Add the peaches and all remaining ingredients (except ice cream, of course) to a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer on low for ~ 20 minutes.

3. Let cool slightly. Ladle peaches into bowls and add a scoop of coconut ice cream. Serve immediately and enjoy!

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A hallelujah morning

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:02:00 +0000

Image found here.

Woke up early this morning, made coffee with cinnamon-bun creamer. Sat on the sofa and felt the chilly house begin to warm up as I watched the sun rise and read my novel. Oh, the glory of early mornings, awakening to watch the breaking of the day! Autumn is coming - I can feel it like a secret whisper on the wind - hang on, a reprieve is coming from this sweltering summer. Respite is on its way, before the skeletal fingers of winter arrive, a respite bringing with it pumpkin spice lattes and hay rides with friends, bon fires with marshmallows and sweet music offered around them, cozy scarves and mountainsides of painted trees.

Yes, I love the fall. In some ways, it feels more like a new beginning to me than the new year that January brings. I always find myself most reflective in the fall, turning inward to take stock of where I am and who I am becoming and whether or not I like it, recalibrating, and at the same time experiencing a strange draw (for an introvert like me) to be with those I cherish, to gather round large pots of soup and build tents in the living room with blankets and lots of pillows all over the floor and laugh the hours by doing nothing in particular and yet feeling at the end of the day that something magical has taken place.

These are days I love.

And I'm blogging again. Look at that. After a long summer - in which I never intended to take a break from all the friends I'd made on this blog but somehow the craziness carried me away and suddenly it's been three months since I've posted anything - here I am. Back.

And giddily happy to be here.

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Beauty. Photographs. And old paint.

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:06:00 +0000

Sometimes beauty comes to you on unexpected avenues, and thus was the case yesterday. I was "upcycling" a table lamp with a fresh coat of paint. I was out on the back deck area, I'd just popped open the can of blue paint, was about to stir it up, and - suddenly it hit me - how beautiful it was. And this was a very strange thing for me to think upon re-opening an old can of paint because I usually hate the look - and smell - of paint that hasn't been used in a while. It has this translucent, slightly greenish film over the top; it reminds me of something you've left in the refrigerator too long and when you finally open up the container, the smell just about knocks you out and you wonder, "What in the world was this?" (I mean, ahem, I've heard of this happening to other people. I of course always keep my fridge in tip-top shape.)

So, anyway, I opened the paint can and did a bit of a double-take, surprised by how beautiful the unmixed paint was. I decided to get out my camera and snap a few pictures before I mixed it up, and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of the photography job I did.

Not bad, eh?

(They're much better at a higher resolution, btw.)

Now, I don't claim to be a photographer, but I enjoy playing at it, and it's nice when every now and then something kinda cool comes out.

And speaking of photography, for all those of you who actually are talented photographers (whether or not you make your living at it), National Geographic is holding a contest right now that I'd encourage you to look into. There are some seriously good prizes.

You can enter in four different categories - travel portraits, outdoor scenes, sense of place, or spontaneous moments.

I'm not going to enter (most of my travel photography involves cheesy poses in front of famous landmarks, not the artistic, local flavor candids I imagine they're looking for), but if I were to enter, I'd probably submit this photo I took last summer on our family trip to San Francisco. We were with my parents, getting a tour of the Fisherman's Wharf area. The guide was talking, giving us the history of something or other, I think maybe he was telling us about the Ghirardelli Chocolate company at that point, and I looked to my left and happened to notice a cute little girl wearing a bright red coat, walking with her mother by the water. She was pushing a baby doll stroller along, happy as could be, and her mother strolled beside her, attentive enough, but obviously deep in thought. She kept staring pensively out to sea.

Well, I was so intrigued by the two of them that I momentarily stopped listening to the tour guide and, uncapping the lens from my camera, proceeded to snap a few inconspicuous shots of them with my camera held at my side - a travel photography technique I learned from my friend Courtney. Makes you look less like a tourist.

Anyway, all that to say, I was proud of the way the photos came out. Here's my favorite:

So, if you have any travel photography you're proud of, check out the NatGeo contest (link above).

On another note, but still relating to photography, my friends Mason and Michelle Murchison have started their own photography business, and I couldn't be more excited about it! I am just blown away by how talented they are, and you couldn't meet funnier, more genuinely wonderful people. I'm really glad they're launching into what I know has been a dream of theirs for a while. And hey, if you live in the Charlotte/Rock Hill area and need upcoming portraits done for any occasion - engagement, wedding, graduation, what have you, check them out! They're seriously amazing. And I'm not just saying that because they're my friends.

CITYSCAPE OF YESTERYEAR

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:08:00 +0000

A quick post today.

I apologize for my brevity (and for the quality of these photos - they're awful!), but I realized I hadn't shown you all what Jake has been up to in quite a while, so here's a little peek into one of his many current projects.

I absolutely love these old buildings, and the illustration style in which he's drawing them is awesome. I was oohing and ahhing over the whole thing yesterday while Jake worked on it, and he said he was channeling his inner Tommy Kane, who's another illustrator with a style that Jake and I both think is just so cool. I pretty much fall in love with everything Tommy Kane posts to his blog. In my imagination, Jake and Tommy Kane are going to be friends one day and collaborate on a project. They are both so uber talented.

So anyway... there's a little taste of what Jake's been up to - along with several other projects that I can't post about yet because they're for clients who want things kept under wraps. But tell me, seriously, do you guys love those old buildings as much as I do? I've been playing around with an idea in my head of creating a series of drink coasters based on these city building images. Maybe one building per coaster in a set of four? Colored or that sort of sepia style? Thoughts? Would anyone want to buy something like that? I'd love your feedback!

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AH, THE DRIVE-IN MOVIES...

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 01:24:00 +0000

Images found here.

Yes, today is National Drive-In Movie Day.

(Yet another fun fact you only know because you follow my blog.)

And something else you may or may not know about me:

I adore drive-in movies.

In fact, the local drive-in movie theater has been one of Jake's and my favorite dating spots. Two summers ago, we were there almost every weekend for our tried and true $4 double feature. We'd back Jake's Rav in backwards into the spot and arrange the trunk with a bunch of pillows and blankets, buy some really salty popcorn from the concession stand and snuggle up together to people-watch until it got dark enough to show the first film. The place was always buzzing with families - kids running around, playing chase. Moms calling after them, spraying them down with bug spray. Lawn chairs and blankets would come out of trunks. Guys would throw footballs around, sneak a pizza box out of the car (no outside food aloud). The air was alive with the sounds of summer. I can't describe how much I love that place.

So I was thinking, in honor of the day, why not show you guys a movie of my own?

Alas, I can't put it on a big screen and provide you with all the sights and sounds of summer, but perhaps the fact that I'm in the film will be of some consolation?

(I play "Ruby".)

This was a low-budget indie film I shot last summer. The director has uploaded it to vimeo for a limited time while he shops it around to festivals, and ever since I slipped in the mention of my acting career when I guest blogged for Lauren Holgate (here, if you missed it), so many of you have asked me about it that I figure, what the heck? Why not just show you one of my films.

It's really, really silly.

But maybe that's just perfect for a blue day like Monday.

So go grab a snack, sit back, and without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, enjoy today's

feature presentation.

Happy Drive-In Movie Day!

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WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LIMES

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 21:27:00 +0000

Oh, how I do love Sundays!
Especially ones like today, which was a true "sun" day. I wore a light cotton dress and went to the park and wrote in my journal at a picnic table, with the warmth of the sun on my arms and the birds as a kind of ambient soundtrack.

Glorious, I tell you.

I also made homemade Ginger Limeade today.
It just seemed appropriate, given the summery nature of the afternoon.
And it's really not as difficult as you might think. At least, not when you're stocked up on lime juice like I am. As many of you well know, my little sister recently got hitched - an unexpected bi-product of this was that I came home with a boatload of limes. (I used them as an element in the centerpieces I designed, and they looked beautiful in their little white bowls, next to kermit-green button mums and delicate pink roses. However, at the end of the day, I walked away with enough limes to feed a small country.)

Which left me with the quandary - What does one do with a boatload of limes?

I started by giving a bunch away.

I used one or two in some homemade guacamole.

But still, every day they would stare at me from their massive bowl on the counter, like a vast army of tiny green, tropical-smelling invaders, and I could almost hear them screaming, "We're going to go bad soon. Use us! Use us!"

I ended up simply squeezing the juice out of 'um and refrigerating it until I could decide what to make. It was kind of a fun process, actually. And the post-squeezed limes turned out to be unexpectedly pretty in their own right, almost like flowers. Like miniature peonies or something.

Well, of course, pretty though they were, the limes got thrown away, but I kept the lime juice and today seemed the perfect day for pulling it out and making some limeade.

I have to admit, this was the first time I've ever attempted to make limeade from scratch, complete with heating water and sugar to make simple syrup and all of that. But boy was it worth it! Like summer in a glass. As you sip it, you can close your eyes and almost feel the salty wind blowing and the sun on your skin and the sound of waves...

Anyway, as you all know, when I discover something I love, I share it with you!

So here ya go, my recipe for what I'm calling "Ginger Limeade":

First, make the limeade concentrate.

To do this, simply combine 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan (or double it - I actually used 3 cups of each because I had so much lime juice). Heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Let the syrup cool, then add 1 cup lime juice (or 2, if doubled!) and refrigerate.

Next, when your concentrate is good and cool, combine it with ginger ale in a 1:2 ratio. So, for example, 1 cup limeade concentrate to 2 cups ginger ale.

Stir to dissolve.

Serve over ice.

Enjoy!

Mmmmm.....

{Thanks, OnceWed!}

I also discovered that you can make Limeade Pie super easily from the concentrate, and who wouldn't want a slice of this?

To make:

Ingredients

1 graham cracker pie shell (or make your own)

1 8-oz. container Cool-Whip

6 oz. of limeade concentrate

2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream

green food coloring (optional)

Directions

Mix together the cool-whip, ice cream, and limeade concentrate.

Pour into the pie shell.

Freeze for 6 hours.

Yep. It's really that easy.

And then, tah-dah! Deliciousness.

Oh! And I also added a little hint of green food coloring, since the limeade isn't very green. How much you want to add is entirely up to you!

(As a side note, I took a slice of this to my downstairs neighbor and he was thoroughly appreciative. Thanks to all of you who commented/emailed me and encouraged me that doing those types of things isn't totally outdated and weird. I really can't say how wonderful you guys are! Because of you, I got some beautiful words of encouragement, and Dave got a slice of homemade limeade pie. And you get the recipe. Everybody wins!)

Like I said, I love Sundays.

I feel thoroughly refreshed and rejuvenated and alive.

And I've found the answer to my quandary -

When life hands you limes, make limeade!

Now if only I had this dress and these shoes (in lemon glow), I could coordinate beautifully with all my cooking endeavors today!

Haha, be blessed, friends. The summer cometh...

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TO BE... me

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:38:00 +0000

I am an old soul for many reasons.

At the baseball game Jake and I went to with some friends on Memorial Day, I couldn't have been more delighted that the National Anthem was sung, not by some pop-y Lady Gaga-esque entertainer, but by a barbershop a cappella quartet of graying old men. I love a cappella groups! And I love old things (and old people!), and sometimes I feel very out of place in my generation for being this way.

I admit it, I'm a strange bird.

Yesterday, I was early to pick up Charlie from school, so I sat on a bench in the nearby park and watched a squirrel for a full twenty minutes. It occurred to me then, as I was watching the scampering, bushy-tailed creature fully submerge himself in a pile of leaves and go tunneling through them, like a curious toddler beneath a blanket, and then as he playfully popped his head up with a sudden jerk and I laughed out loud - yes, it occurred to me then what a peculiar sort of person I really am. I mean, truly. How many women in their mid-twenties, when presented with an extra few minutes to kill during the day, would choose to spend it on a park bench watching a squirrel?

Not many, I dare say. Not when there's a Starbucks a block over and an iPod in your purse. But whatev., this is the person I am and I kinda like myself for it.

I like that I still actually bake cookies to welcome new neighbors, though apparently that's unheard of these days. I didn't realize just how odd of a practice this was until recently when I happened to mention it in passing conversation with a friend and she stared at me and then snorted and said, "Really? Who does that?"

Uh, I don't know. I do? Guess that's not normal?

She laughed and said maybe in the 1950's.

So there you have it, friends. I was born in the wrong era. But all joking aside, I really do lament the fact, at least a little, that modern life, with all its undeniably wonderful advancements and opportunities, has also in some ways stripped us of appreciating the simple pleasures. Or often even of noticing them.

The beauty of a handwritten note.

The plumpish squirting of cherry tomatoes in my salad.

Sitting on the porch as the first rays of light emerge, hazy on the horizon, surrounded by plants that I myself have tended from seed.

A cup of tea in a hot pink thermos with a drop of local honey.

The tinkling sound of the bangles on my wrist.

Walking barefoot through slightly dewy grass.

Today is National "Go Barefoot" Day.

(Don't ask me how I know these things.)

And I encourage you, at some point before the day is through, to consciously slip off your shoes - and socks, too, if you're wearing them - and feel the ground against the bare souls of your feet. I'm not a hippie. I'm not going to tell you to "connect with the earth", but there's something to be said for taking a moment to be exactly where you are. And just breathing.

That's right.

Breathe.

And appreciate wherever you're at.

TODAY, MAY 26, I TURNED...

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Thu, 26 May 2011 17:33:00 +0000

Happy Golden Birthday to me!

Some other fun facts about the number 26:

1. A Rubik's Cube can always be solved in 26 moves or less.

2. In 26 BC, Cleopatra Selene got married, so Augustus Caesar made her the queen of Mauretania as a wedding present (not a bad gift...)

3. In 1926, Route 66 was established.

4. Scientist Heinz von Foerster predicted that on November 11, 2026, technological singularity will occur - the point where we will reach a level of technological progress previously unknown to man. This includes the ability for machines to make themselves smarter, and, you know, finish off the human race.

5. 26 is the only positive number directly between a square number and a cube number.

6. Precipitevolissimevolmente has 26 letters and is the longest word in the Italian language. A bit ironically, it means 'as fast as possible'.

7. There are 26 letters in the English alphabet (Yay for letters, the building blocks of words!)

8. 2 + 6 = 8, the number of facts I have to tell you about the number 26!

There ya have it, folks.

I think 26 is gonna be a good year!

TODAY IS...

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Mon, 23 May 2011 20:42:00 +0000

...National Taffy Day!

I kid you not.
It's on my calendar.

And how awesome is that? There should be an official day of celebrating this sweet, chewy, happy-colored candy. Taffy always reminds me of summer. Probably because I grew up in Myrtle Beach, where every bargain beach store on every corner sells it. And there are specialty shops that sell it, too. I remember as a kid walking in and watching the big machines pull and twist it and shoot it into wrappers, and then they'd usually let you try a few pieces for free, too. I always had the hardest time deciding what to pick - there were barrels and barrels full of every flavor imaginable... yum!

You're craving taffy now, aren't you?

Well, the good news is, if you don't happen to live near a quality taffy store, you can make it yourself!

The talented Abi of Vanilla and Lace has posted a delicious recipe and all the instructions you need.

Thanks to her, too, for the beautiful photographs above!

Happy Taffy Day!

SOCIAL T-SHIRT INVITATIONAL

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:40:00 +0000

A few night's ago, Jake attended one of those artsy-fartsy gallery reception things that I'm always super jealous when I have to miss (I had to work late that evening). I love the vibe of those events.

This one was a Social T-Shirt Invitational, presenting a curated collection of 10 limited edition t-shirts designed by artists around the country, all unified by a common theme. Jake is friends with one of the artists whose work was being featured (Brandon Oxendine), so he went and checked it out and said it was a lot of fun. It looks like it was, apparently complete with a dj and a host of craft brews.

Ah well, maybe I'll make it to the next one.

At least you and I have the pictures to enjoy, right?

The different designs on the shirts.

Brandon Oxendine's design.

Thanks, Social Design House, for all the fabulous pictures! And happy first birthday!

Like this sort of thing? Subscribe to my Blog Feed or sign up for Email Updates. Both are free!

CH-CH-CHANGES

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Thu, 19 May 2011 17:04:00 +0000

Life is a beautiful thing. And one of the things I love most about it, though it is paradoxically also one of the more difficult things, is that life requires change. We must always be changing, stretching ourselves, growing, evolving - changing. At least, I know that is how I am as a creative person. If things become too mundane, if things start to stagnate and get repetitive and stiff, something starts to feel like it is dying inside of me. I need room to ever be expanding my arms, moving my legs, crawling and falling and discovering and seeing new possibilities in my surroundings.

That said, I am very excited to announce that there are some changes up ahead for Jake and I in terms of our artistic endeavors. I'm still grappling with exactly what that looks like, so I won't let the cat out of the bag prematurely, but I'll just say that I've been doing increasing amounts of research on cottage industry business, and I'm loving the stories I've been discovering along the way.

One in particular I had to share with you all.

This couple - Andy and Ellie Stager - are actually local acquaintances, and I find their story so inspiring.

The Cordial Churchman Story from Jay Grant on Vimeo.

As the above caption mentions, my friend Jay Grant filmed this piece. His company, Istoria, is really taking off, too, so I'm sure I'll be mentioning it here more in the future.

And, undoubtedly after that video, you're all wondering where you can go to purchase your very own Cordial Churchman bow tie. You're in luck; just click your mouse right here. And tell them I said hello!

I have a favor to ask all of you as well. I have been trying to convince Jake for years now that bow ties are, in fact, stylish for guys his age to wear. I don't think he can get past the mental image of white-bearded college professors who wore them.

So.... it would be awesome if all of you would flood his inbox (jakepageillustration@gmail.com) with emails encouraging him to "give bow ties a chance".

Heehee, I'm evil, aren't I?

But it's totally for his own good. Wink.

Anyway, if you love these cottage industry success stories as much as I do, I've discovered you can find more of them on the etsy blog. Just search "Quit Your Day Job + (the craft of your choice)". Here are a few suggestions:

Quit Your Day Job + Art

Quit Your Day Job + Jewelry

Quit Your Day Job + Vintage

Be inspired, friends!

MAY FLOWERS

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:15:00 +0000

~I'm back!~

Miss me?

I know I have missed this place, missed the therapy of blogging, and mostly, missed all of you!

But the wedding was this past weekend, and I expect things will start to calm down a lot more now that that's over.

It was beautiful, by the way.

My sister looked like a princess. Or an angel. Or something extremely gorgeous and ethereal.

And the southern plantation where she got married - also gorgeous.

Just look at this pic of the site:

Beautiful, right?

And let me just say, people don't realize how many roses it takes to cover an aisle. You are looking at 350 roses. Crazy, I know. But it looked so pretty.

All the flowers at the wedding were amazing. My sister is a huge flower person, so that was a really important element to her. And I lucked out too with that, because guess who got to take a bunch of the bouquets home after the fact while she's off on her honeymoon...

Yep, my house is now littered with fresh flowers.

Everything smells so sweet and springtime-y, I love it!

And this square bouquet that I've displayed on the kitchen table is my favorite.

I've never been a huge flower person the way my sister is, but in the course of being her matron of honor I ended up arranging some floral centerpieces, and it's actually a lot of fun!

Here's a technique I picked up:

1. Holding one flower stem, add two more stems so that you make a pyramid shape, with one stem slightly higher than the other two. The tops of the two flowers should touch the base of the first bloom (you don't want to see any stem).

2. Add three more stems around the base of the two blooms, again, being careful not to show any stem. Then add another five or six below the three in the same fashion.

3. Secure them with florist's tape or a rubber band.

4. Clip the stems about two inches shorter than the vase you're using so that the bouquet sits on the bottom of the vase (flowers should cover the edge of the vase).

5. Finally, randomly add in groups of two or three varying flowers to the bouquet (for example, if you were using pink peonies, now you might add in some green ones). This makes it more three-dimensional and gives it that slightly crazy, not-stuffy look, which I LOVE!

And that's all there is to it. You can even buy cheap flowers at the grocery store or farmer's market and use this technique to make your own stunning arrangements with them.

I am all about do-it-yourself projects!

So glad to be back in the land of the blogging again!

What have you been up to lately?

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Mon, 09 May 2011 03:54:00 +0000

Birch bark vase, available on etsy

WORDS IN THE CITY

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Wed, 04 May 2011 14:33:00 +0000

Came across these installations by artist Robert Montgomery and found them refreshing.

According to his website, "They are intended to be encountered by commuters who don't know they are art, and an attempt to describe in public space what it feels like to live now."

I enjoy the fact that he hi-jacks advertising space and alters signs to tell us something true, or at least thought-provoking. To get commuters jolted out of the screensavers that they go to in their mind. And his poetic style reminds me a little of Julio Cortazar.

Anyway, it's nice to not be told you need to buy something for a change.

You can read more about his projects here.

Enjoy your Wednesday - and be fully alive in it!

IT'S OFFICIALLY MAY!...

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Sun, 01 May 2011 22:11:00 +0000

...the best month of the year.

(My birthday is this month.)

Don't forget to change your desktop calendar!

Here's a cute one from Anne Bryant:

It's gonna be a busy month... I'm excited!

AN ETSY WEDDING

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:34:00 +0000

My sister's wedding is right around the corner now, and all the women of the family are hustling and bustling to get the final details and embellishments finished up perfectly.

My personal table setting at my own wedding

I've spent a large part of this week running around buying fabric and flower vases and whatnot, and I've also spent a fair amount of time on etsy. Let me tell ya, there are some cute wedding-related shops on etsy!

And, of course, when I discover these marvelous finds, I always like to pass them along to my faithful blog readers, so here ya go!

First off, check out the wedding gowns by Joan Shum. There are so many I'm in love with, I can't even pick a favorite!

And these personalized lanterns by seller Hannah Nunn are just adorable.

My sister is a huge flower person, so she would never go for paper flowers, but I love these, maybe to liven up a guest book table or along a buffet.

And I think this butterfly mobile would look sweet above a cake table, especially if the bride were someone like me who loves girly, romantic things... and words!

(The butterflies are cut out from dictionary pages.)

These votives are simply breathtaking.

I like this pretty ring pillow.

These birdie paper napkin rings are just too cute, and this pair of earrings has nothing especially to do with a wedding, but maybe for the unconventional bride? Or bridesmaids? I dunno, but I love them so I threw 'um in.

And I saved my favorite for last. This purse. Sigh...Oh how I love it.

So there ya go! A few of my recent etsy faves. If you're engaged (or expecting to be!), be sure to check out the links. And even if a wedding is far from your thoughts, it's still fun to ooh and ahh a little.

Well, I know it's a day early, but I'm going to go ahead and wish you all a wonderful weekend.
In a few hours, Jake and I will be heading down to Beaufort to his aunt and uncle's house. I'm so ready for a little rest and relaxation, and their house really is the perfect place for it, as you can see:

I can already smell that salty air...

Hope your weekend is equally relaxing - or fun! - or whatever you're hoping it to be!

ZOMBIES AND JESUS AND EASTER, OH MY!

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:31:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter!

I definitely enjoyed mine.

This is after-the-fact, but I did promise to post the illustrations that Jake did for our church, so before I forget... here ya go!

(And yes, that really is a zombie. Our church didn't go with the "traditional" Easter themes this year, lol.)

You probably figured out that it's a series of consecutive images.

I really love the concept.

And check out this intro teaser that my friend Jay Grant made!

And if you're wondering - why all the zombies? - you can listen to my pastor's explanation at the beginning of this series. (You may want to move the video timemarker to about the 3:00 mark - he does announcements until then, but I think it's an interesting explanation.)

So... anyway, zombies.

Jake did an awesome job, right?

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:44:00 +0000

(Yep, that's me casting the shadow there.)

DOUBTING THOMAS

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:13:00 +0000

Easter is less than a week away now, and Jake is busy putting finishing touches on some artwork he's doing for our church's Easter service.

(It's waaayy cool - I'll post that soon!)

But in the meantime, I was remembering a project Jake did a few Easters ago - a collaboration with several other talented artists from Warehouse242. It was a graphic novel, with each artist's entry highlighting a different moment in Jesus's life, much like the renaissance panels on the walls of the Sistine Chapel, which were painted there as visual explorations of Jesus' life for the illiterate masses to "read" and understand more deeply. The graphic novel that Jake worked on with these six other artists follows this same sort of idea - storytelling based on a sequential art model - with a more modern style.
It turned out pretty cool.

Jake was given the story of Thomas to depict.

Probably a lot of you have heard of "Doubting Thomas", but just in case his story is new to you, I'll give you the rundown.

Basically, Thomas was one of the 12 chosen disciples of Jesus. He was very devoted to Jesus, and yet, after Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, he ran and hid from the authorities, just as the other disciples did. However, the Bible doesn't say why (that I know of, anyway), but when Jesus appeared to the disciples who were hiding in a locked room, Thomas wasn't among them. They later told Thomas all about how they had seen Jesus, that he had risen from the dead! I'm pretty sure Thomas thought they were all going a little batty, though, because he's quoted as responding that unless he could personally touch Jesus and stick his fingers into Jesus's crucifixion wounds, he would not believe that Christ had risen.
Well, about a week later, Thomas was eating with his fellow disciples in the same locked room and, lo and behold, in walks Jesus through the wall. I imagine all the blood drained from Thomas's face as Jesus turned to him and offered Thomas the chance to place his fingers through his nail-pierced hands. Thomas then cries out in belief, "My Lord and my God!"
To which Jesus responds with that wonderful line, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

And that's pretty much the story of Thomas.
So, now that you know the premise, go check out how Jake took that story and fleshed it out in graphic novel form, here.
(Just look for the tiny "next" button above the first image to scroll through them all.)

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:31:00 +0000

{Illustration by my husband, Jake}

I'm waiting to pick up Charlie from school, in my car, at the very front of the line. It's about ten 'til three. I'm looking around, out the right passenger window, out the back right window, too. I'm trying to catch a glimpse of him.

There are children lined up all down the sidewalk, talking to each other excitedly, goofing off, showing one another this thing or that, waiting for their parents. A few of the older kids wear neon vests over their Catholic uniforms. They are in charge of helping the younger kids into their respective cars and are doing this behind me. Cars start driving around me, out of the parking lot. Still no sign of Charlie.

A teacher taps gently on the hood of my car, getting my attention. I look, and she points to the piece of yellow cardstock on my dash. I slide it closer so she can read Charlie's name. She nods and turns away, saying something to the other teacher who is standing about ten feet away, this one with a walkie-talkie.

I watch her lips mouth the words of Charlie's full name and hear her voice echoed on the loudspeaker a moment later.

"Second call," she adds.

The first teacher smiles at me and asks me to pull up a little, around the corner and out of the way. They'll send Charlie up the hill to me when he comes out.

I obey, beating out a little tune with my thumbs on the steering wheel as I pull around.

Outside, the sky is growing increasingly gray.

The trees are blowing.

Where in the world is that silly boy? I wonder.

We have things to do. People to see.

I crane my neck around, back toward the teachers and the throngs of children.

No sign of Charlie.

And then I do catch a glimpse of him, coming up the hill. He's trudging steadily forward, like he always does, never in a hurry. The hair along his forehead is standing straight up from the way he's run his sweaty fingers through it.

He sees me, and immediately, there's a mischievous grin.

In the end, who knows what kept him late.

But when I see that smile of his, I know I'm not going to ask. It's Friday, the clouds overhead are quickly blowing in the weekend, and he's a nine-year-old boy.

Let the kid hold a few secrets.

A BEAUTIFUL BEDTIME BOOK

noreply@blogger.com (The Page Shop) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:26:00 +0000

With Mother's Day just around the corner, I've been thinking about my Mom lately, and all the different little gifts that my sister and I gave her as children. I remember one year, we served her breakfast in bed.

Breakfast in bed - I don't think I fully appreciated the glory of such a concept as a child. When you're a little girl, you want to jump out of bed and play and do things and explore. What's so great about having your muffins and milk while still under the covers?

Now, of course, I get it.

Breakfast in bed is a fabulous idea.

And while, in my household, it's rather a rare treat, reserved for birthdays and other such special occasions, I do know the regular joy of sipping warm herbal tea at bedtime. Jake and I read in bed together almost every night (different books - we have vastly different taste in them, but a shared activity nonetheless). I'll make myself a mug of chamomile tea or chai or sometimes ginger tea, crawl into bed, open up my book, and I can't explain why something so simple can be so delightful, but it is.

And apparently, I'm not the only one who enjoys this sort of thing. I was just over at the Kingergallery and discovered that Meredith Gaston has a new book out, entitled Tucked In.

According to the website:

"Whether you are young or old, nimble or wobbly, tucked into bed on the doctor's orders or on your very own whim, you can use your time in bed to explore your creativity and heal your soul.

Meredith Gaston, artist and passionate lover of all things bed, encourages us to discover that our tucked-in time can be as creative as it is restorative, enriching our days and bringing joy to our lives. We learn how to analyse our dreams and find out what our sleeping positions reveal about our personalities, as well as creating our own tucked-in haiku poetry, comfort foods and dreams catchers."

Now this is just what I need, right? A pretty little book that encourages me to stay in bed all day (there's a word for that - I believe it's sloth). But still, I do believe this sweet little book has a point when it says that, like all creatures, we humans have our good and bad times, and sometimes it is simply so that the best place to be is in bed.

Apparently, it even comes with its own bookmark, "tucked in" to the jacket of the book.

Precious.

And the illustrations are truly beautiful, don't you think?

I'd buy it for the artwork alone.

{Thanks, Holly Becker}

Well, I just glanced at my on-screen clock and I need to leave for work in twenty minutes, so I suppose it's time to go out and face the "real world", but if you get the chance today, put on your most comfortable socks, snuggle into bed with a cozy pillow or two, and do a little dreaming. Every now and then, I think it's downright good for the soul.

Oh, and while you're lounging about, you can check out more of Meredith Gaston's artwork here.