shetoldstories

simplicity:

Simplicity. For Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

a beautiful Monday:

I'm enjoying a spicy cup of tea on this beautiful afternoon. It's beautiful because I am home from a busy day at the office and getting ready to settle in with my feet up & a good book in hand. God, Mondays have been a drag lately.

So before I go, I wanted to share 2 exciting things with you!

This week at 52 Photos Project there is a fantastic line up of creative artisians featuring their made with love products.  Today's featured artist is: Liz Lamoreux.  I love what this lady creates. I also love that a portion of the proceeds from her heart.full collection go to two hospitals to help families who have children in the NICU/PICU. Go on over to learn more about the message behind her collection and to have a look at her featured showcase.

~Also~ My print shop is open again!  I try to rotate my prints seasonally so this time it's all about winter. There's a big selection of 5x5's & some other goodies, as well as 5x7's & 8x10's that I'll be adding tonight.  Right now you can save 15% off your entire order by using the code: WINTER  That ends on Wednesday morning.

Happy Monday, peeps!

The Long Road Home: available in the shop. Click for a larger view.

new jewelry & a video!!

Can you believe how beautiful this piece is by Liz Lamoreux and Kelly Barton? I asked them to pick a word for me. I love my word. I love the colors. I love my badass pigtails chick. This is my absolute new favorite bauble to wear. Thank you ladies, so - so much!!

A little something to keep you warm. To you, love me.

our everyday:

they were supposed to be doing homework...

Snow

Cafe. This is what my everyday looks like.

the pages of my story:

This I know for sure.

 

Texture: Ben's Collection #2 (my fave!) Head over to Kim Klassen's blog to see more beautiful texture submissions. There's a giveaway this week!

Photo of me by: Jen Lee.

weekending:

one of my favorite views

Weekending. I do love me some week endings.

The highs: Snow. Playing in the snow. Trying to build a snowman. Faux snow boarding on our sleds. (Every muscle in my body is in pain now, thank you very much!). Cocoa with my best friend. Movies. A birthday party at the ice skating rink. (Totally reminded me of the weekends I spent at the roller skating rink with my friends back in grade school). Shopping for fluffy, soft sleepwear & robes. New candles, vanilla frosting scented.

The lows: Oh. M. G. my house on snow days. It's like a tornado barreled through. Not to mention, my Christmas tree just came down and all that extra light outside gives the dust on my furniture an extra glow. Wipe down, vacuum, spray, light candles, and two hours later, the place was sparkling. (I don't like cleaning much).

More highs: My creative work. I did a lot of photo editing work this weekend (which I so enjoy) for my girl Jen Lee. I love how we work together. It just flows. She totally gets my creative process just as I do hers. I'll write more about my time with Jen (and Liz Kalloch) in another post once Jen introduces her new work <---tomorrow!!

I'm back at my office (in my slippers) on this cold, grey, rainy Monday. I want nothing more that to be at home & under the covers with a book right now. Well, maybe some sun. Some sun would be nice :)

where winter has brought me:

This season seems to have brought two opposite extremes to my days. I'm either out enjoying the bitter cold winter, cavorting with friends at coffee shops -or- inside cooking, nesting, and relishing inside the calm of a quiet evenings.

Over the last couple of weeks, the topic of my creative business has come up over conversations with friends. I found myself sort of floundering when trying to explain what the business end of what I do looks like. 

And so I've been sitting with this for a while, trying to figure out what changes I could make that would polish me up a bit.

What I've come up with is: nothing.

I don't know how to box and package what I do. My work is so very personal and from such an organic place. I can't see myself saying 'stand this way' or 'look off into the distance like you're deep in thought'. I just don't work like that.

I don't have a stack of paperwork for clients to sign or catalogs to order leather bound photo albums. What? What is that? I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing when I imagine what 'professional' looks like.

I just know that I feel pulled to create & capture the essence and aura of another ... and I can't put that into a package. I do it the only way that feels right to me, from inside, from the purest place. That's really the simplest way for me to describe my creative process.

Now.. how do I put that in a shiny box with a pink bow on top? I have no idea so I'm leaving it be. The way I work doesn't have to look like or measure up to anyone else's.

That's the truth.

Sometimes it means I'm not the right fit for a client. And that's ok.

How did I even get to talking about this?

I guess maybe because I feel like in some ways it humanizes me. That it somehow relays that I don't have my shit together. And maybe that I don't like associating the words 'professional' or 'business' with my work.

And that sometimes it means saying NO so I can recharge my batteries because when I do that I work from a much better energy space.

I do have some definite goals for this year. I'm about to share those (if only to stay accountable to myself). These are big creative dreams of that I could lose an entire afternoon thinking about... 

-I definitely would like to have my work published. I'm halfway there. My work will be featured in a magazine this coming Spring. I'm really excited about that.

-Beyond that goal, I would love to have my work published again .. and again ... and again. Because I don't want to keep it all to myself, I want to see - experience - capture - and share so, so much. The world is so BIG and sometimes I feel so small in comparison (in size, not value). I feel like maybe I'm not alone and photography allows people to engage, to dream bigger, and to desire more. 

-I want to publish one or more of a series of photo books, like coffee table style. Something that you would keep close and look through while you're curled up on the couch with a cup of coffee for inspiration or for no reason at all. I will most likely self publish these books or keep myself open to the idea of some fabulous company wanting to publish it on my behalf.

I don't have a clue how to make any of this happen, by the way. But I'm definitely open to exploring how to.

What I'm really digging is seeing my work in my hands and putting it up on the my walls. Oh my God, what a good feeling. I only recently started putting my art & work on the walls. (I know!!) Some of you leave lovely comments on my posts & my photos ... and that has been so gracious and kind of you. It's why I keep a few prints for sale on rotation.. just in case you want one.

I'm excited to share what I've been working on this winter. My print shop will reopen on Jan 30th with a very special collection of images that pull you deep into this season. There may or may not even be a series of photos on bamboo, ready to hang on an empty wall. We'll have to see. Here's a small peek of what will be available in the shop.

So this piece of writing went places I never imagined it would...! I'm gonna press publish now...

kitty Kat came over:

Kat stayed with me last weekend.

When we connected online last year, I *knew* we would meet one day.

photo by Kat

I didn't have expectations. I opened up my heart & door to this girl who 'got' me just as I 'get' her. The weekend flowed. She blended right in with my family ~ she is now one of us. Easy, comfortable, yiny & yangy. The kind of weekend I've needed for so long. The kind of real life connection I've been craving.

me by Kat

Thank you Kat for getting me.

For seeing me.

For hearing me.

For a lovely weekend.

For being you. Love you.

open to it all:

Texture: Grey Day Stone by Kim Klassen 

I open my heart to your life and your stories each time I sit down in this space and allow myself to breathe in your words.

I lift up the blinds and sit next to the window. I watch the sun expand her paint across the sky as she rises, and I am open to the possibility that this day will bring me.

I open the door to my home and envelop you with love, with food, with blankets, with me as your companion.

There is an open room in my heart that will hold on to your sadness when you let it spill. There are also jugs of laughter on reserve, waiting for when you need a good belly laugh.

I look for open doors and new passageways because this is the only way I know how to live.

Heart. Eyes. Home... Open.

around the block:

Totally excited that the 1st of 4 arrived in today's mail:

I'll be unplugging for the weekend because a lovely Kitty Kat arrives tomorrow. Hopefully I will convince her to stay for 2 days instead of 1. We'll be frolicking around NYC & wherever else the breeze decides to take us.

Happy Weekend, peeps!