Weekly Love October 22

ART:

Still on hiatus. 3rd trimester is full of sleep. Once I start a digital design I can't stop so I haven't found the time to start. But I don't feel bad, I need the rest. 

INSPIRATION:
"Me Centered Nesting" I got crazy with nesting which for me involved organizing all MY stuff so I would be streamlined when baby comes and ordering a bunch of books. No not baby books, I have a ton of those and don't read them! I'll figure it out as I go, right? Books for me. Apparently being an only child really comes out when you have a life change ahead. Books like:

Yummy Mummy Manifesto
Bringing Up Bebe
and more. Reviews/thoughts to come.

FAVORITE THING:

Tea. I'm in love. I'm learning about it. Any suggestions?

FAVORITE QUOTE:
Your hair looks delicious.


Photo credit 1 Photo Credit 2 Photo Credit 3

Self Activism - What am I here for?

On a more serious note, I want to explain a little about why art and this blog are important to me. As a kid I was praised for my creativity -sometimes. Usually I was scolded for doodling in the margins, not paying attention, getting distracted, and on and on.

Well what those parents, teachers and girl scout leaders didn't realize was doodling in the margins was the only way I could pay attention. I have to be doing 2 things at once, to 'calm the mental noise' as I've heard it called.

But no one was there to defend me in that, I just thought I was wrong. I hid my drawings, tried to quit altogether, if I wrote any story or poem I'd destroy it and dreaded parents' birthdays when they'd say "oh, just make me something, you're creative" when every other day of the year I was taught to kill the creativity.

I thought I was wrong in that I couldn't do detail work, so much so I tried to get into accounting in my early professional life. It was my husband who actually explained to me that I'm not wrong or bad (as he tried to console me after a long day at a job that shouldn't have been that stressful) I just wasn't good at that kind of thing.

And that I am good at other things.

Whaa-? I had never heard that before. I'd never even considered a person was allowed to be not good at those things. They were the signs of adulthood and I'd better learn them or fail as a person.

People would say I was a good drawer, but that was exactly the same thing as hearing I was a good mud-pie maker, absolutely no use in the world. I couldn't believe it. My next job wasn't a great job, but it was face paced, people-centered and I love that I was GOOD at it.

So eventually I learned that there really are different character strengths, where one is lacking another shines. That's the whole motivation for me behind New Cardea art and blog, where my drawings and ideas are not hidden, destroyed or lied about. Where I learned about being productive and efficient in my own strengths and where I can share and honor that with others, helping you learn to love yourself for your strengths as well, not for how well you hide them.

photo credit

Weekly Love Oct 13

Art:

Taking a break from any new art right now. Just. So. Tired. 

Inspiration:

I am totally inspired (nesting) by the "ten-item wardrobe" philosophy and various tag along themes. Jennifer L. Scott at Daily Connoisseur is queen of the TIW and she's adorable. Check her out.

Favorite Thing:

Podcasts anyone? I'm in love with them. Right now I can't get enough of :

Even though I'm not a Halloween kind of person, his creepy tales of October are exactly what I'm in the mood for and unlike other people who just really like books, this host has vocal training. In the words of my boo "Don't fast forward the intro, his voice is nice no matter what he says"

So there you go. 

Favorite Text of the Week:

"I mean 'hippy healthy'"

Weekly Bust - October 1

Art:

Inspiration:

The inspiration for the stamps is obviously Fall! The mornings here are cool and everything smells amazing. If only I could get my hands on a case of apples... Pie, applesauce... I even throw some in my mini crocpot with cinnamon and allspice for an all natural air freshener. 

 Also Fall-ish:Grey wool skirts. So Fall. So timeless. Want to hit up every thrift store in the greater bay area, horde and alter to maternity skirts.

Favorite Thing:

Check. This. Out. Coolest thing I've seen on Etsy for a whiles. 

Spiderwood Hollow makes spiderweb decor. I can't explain the coolness if you don't get it. It's.... what you clean up around your house, but with intention looks awesome. What an amazing idea. I hate spiders/webs/halloween, all of it. But this, this is beautiful. They have a shopfull! Check them out.

Favorite Text of the Week:

Well now I know how Rocky ends :(

Mental Inventions

A big part of New Cardea is that I need to get what's in my head, out there. Why is that so important? Well, I have invented many very profitable things, some you probably use everyday. I just didn't get around do doing them before someone else did.

It's kinda heartbreaking when you know you have a good idea and  you watch that same idea receive love and praise, all to another's credit.

Here is a rundown of things *I* mentally invented before they came to life through someone else's hands:

• The Movie PS I Love You - I had come up with an idea for the next great American Novel, or screenplay and when describing it to a friend they said "Yeah, that's pretty much PS I Love You". Now, I hadn't seen the previews, I don't watch TV and I hadn't seen the movie because I'm not a romantic, (My version was not so sappy) I'm more an action movie kinda person. So, that was sad. 

         I've still never seen the movie. 

• Yelp.com - 

Yup. Yelp. I remember saying for a while "There needs to be a review site, and not like what we have now EX:"Chili's, The entity, 3 stars". But "Chili's on 5th and Lamar, food is ok, service is terrible and parking is great". And then Yelp happened,  so I can comfort myself in knowing my ideas are really good. Sometimes. 

• Rocket from Guardians Of The Galaxy - So in 2010 I was working in corporate America and I made up my own little comic strip about a kind of sour Raccoon guy that lived as a human with funny observations on the way us 'humies' do things. Imagine my shock when I watched Guardians and my own little creature came to life on screen. 

Even better than I had planned: Voiced by Bradley Cooper. 

This book: Journaling Throughout the Liturgical Year- 

• Unlike some of the above where I was pretty close to mentally inventing those things, this is the EXACT thing I was thinking of. Ugh. I should have jumped on it!

If there are any investors out there just waiting to see what's floating around in my mind let me know. Apparently it's chalk full of gold. 

Can You Say Kolyva? Or Bouboneira?

This Week's Bust is full of sugar.

ART RELEASED:

These are all things common to an Orthodox Christian. Kolyva, at the top is wheat and lots of sugar we use in memorial services, the cup is possibly a communion cup, or a common cup used in weddings and then the classic 'favor' of jordan almonds wrapped up in tulle, called  a bouboneira in Greek. 

Can't pronounce some of these things? Really? Just try. Come on, do it. It is so cute when people mispronounce Greek words, they are words invented to make people sound adorable when trying to say them. In fact, when someone is trying to learn Greek they don't get annoyed snaps from native speakers, like other language groups, they get "awww, that's cute, but that's not how you say that".

INSPIRATION:

This all started as wanting to make Orthodox greeting cards but the digital stamps worked out so much better, (I'm more of a drawer/painter/imager than a maker/creator) but I still wanted to offer Orthodox art so the resources for cards and such are available. 

The bouboneira was done by looking at one keepsake from my own wedding sitting on my desk as I drew. 

Kolyva, as used in memorial services is on my mind for those I've recently lost....

Other inspirational images and fun can be found at my Pinterest page. Check. It. Out.

FAVORITE THINGS: 

Can we just take a moment and think about this:

My baby shower is fast approaching and candy, apothecary jars and pastel shall abound. 

FAVORITE TEXT OF THE WEEK:

"Well he doesn't seem to be too much like Rasputin"

So Excited About The New Fall Girl

I just finished my "Fall Girl"Stamp:

Cute huh? I had so much fun drawing her, and so much fun making her become digital. I think I will list her ONLY TEMPORARILY on Etsy and then re-list her once I've colored her. I'm sure I'll have a ton of fun doing that too. 

What would you make with this fall girl? A few small changes or with the right coloring and she could be a winter girl pretty easily huh?