the big reveal

the time has come
i am on my way
to the post office
to ship off
not one
not two
but six
yes, six
collages.
my second ever commission!
real life, somebody is paying me to make them something, commission!

so fun!

later, i will share more about what this
project was all about
along with more pics!
but right now, i am off to the post officino!

some things that are making me smile

things i have been working on . . .
things i have around me that bring a little sunshine . . .

one of my favorite flowers was in fully bloom last week!
i love peonies!
they are like the ecentric, edgy cousin of the rose!


a canvas i am working on for kelly's studio


a little motivator . . . good words



a little thought that rolled out of my head when i should have been sleeping


this sweet little "curly girl" card . . . if you don't know curly girl you must immediately open another tab and check her out!!!
(but come back and finish reading my blog, okay?)


and finally, some pics from my beautiful red book
where i keep little tidbits and snippets that
inspire me!
you could call it an inspiration book if you like.
or george
or stella
whatever.
she's not picky
but she IS pretty!

modge podge: not just for pre-school anymore

collage workshop over the weekend!

On Our Way

The flight is at 11:40am.
The plan is to leave at 9am.
Guess who was ready at 8am with bags packed and a "can do!" attitude?!?!?!


Tell you what, if you leave a comment while I am gone with your name and your fave vacation that you've been on, I will draw two names when i get home and send out a little souvenir from mexi-co-oh-my-goodness-we-are-going-to-have-so-much-fun!

(BTW- my post about the weather not being perfect a few few days ago was totally cheeky . . . not at all actually complaing. oh no, this girl is quite grateful for all of the little treats and luxuries I have been given!)

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year . . .

Things that make me happier than Day Light Savings Time:
1. Jesus loves me
2. Herb loves me
3. um, yeah, that's about it.

What about you?
What just THRILLS YOU???

Counting Down

Today's snow storm seems like as good a day as any to say . . .
Two weeks from yesterday, we are getting on an airplane with the masses of high school juniors and seniors who are allowed to leave the country for spring break (still don't understand that one) . . . flying to cancun . . . saying "peace out, homies" to the high schoolers . . . hopping a ferry and . . . landing at this sweet place for 5 nights and 4 long, sunny days of lounging, exploring, snorkeling, and making out on beaches!!!!!!

There Are Others

This is a piece in our new art museum addition.
I told herb that if i was in the third grade again, i would have felt like seeing this huge striped canvas was a sign that i was not alone in the world . . . . it would have meant that there were others out there beyond the windows of my mom's station wagon that were also tired of trying so hard to pay attention in school and being bad at sports and pressed ham on white bread for lunch everyday.

It meant that one day i could be glamorous and silly and wild and free.
Oh, and eat McDonalds Chicken Nuggets whenever I felt like it!

It meant that there were people that would say, "If you want to paint big flowers on your bedroom wall, let's make that happen!" "If you want to wear striped leggings with plaid boxer shorts over them to school, go for it - you will not be mocked or chided in any way!" "Sure, it makes sense that when you lay on the edge of the couch in the living room with your head hanging off the edge that you could spend hours contemplating what life would be like if we had to live on the ceiling." "Go ahead and throw a little temper tantrum if somebody is mean to you just because you tend to be a little backwards . . . they are a bunch of boring jerks who will grow up to work in middle management! When you are done crying we will go throw eggs at them!"

So, here's to you Mr. "Big Striped Canvas For Absolutetly No Good Reason Other Than You Felt Like It" Painting Guy!

My first official commission.
So wild.
Does this mean I am an artist now?
I have green paint smeared on my table and everything!

Paint, handmade papers, dictionary page, ink, found objects, wrapping paper, oragami paper, metal, tissue paper, and a whole lot of Modge Podge!

20x20 inch wrapped canvas

The other day I asked Kelly, "What do you think your signature shot is for wedding photography?" To this question, she replied, "I have been told that the couple kiss where the wedding party goes nuts is MY photo."
I do LOVE that picture from our wedding. Here is how I would narrate this picture . . .

Top Row (L to R): Sarah, Latonya, Mikki, Kelly, Megan, Craig, Russ, Dave, Libby
bottom Row (L to R): Amy, Cara, Herb, Matt, Andy, Jake

Sarah: "Oh my . . . now THAT is a kiss. Looks like they have done THAT once or twice before!"
Latonya: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dawg, you are going to LOVE sex!"
Mikki: "YEAH! You are going to love sex!"
Kelly: "Cara! You are in public!"
Megan: "Yeah! You are going to love sex!" (see a trend here with the married girls!:)
Craig: "I would rather not act silly, i need to have as many sexy poses as possible for my modeling portfolio!"
Russ: "But she is so innocent. You can't kiss her like that!"
Dave: "Look! I'm JUMPING high! I must have trampolines in my shoes!"
Libs: "Come here, Andy . . . it is going to be alright."
Amy: "Sis-ter!"
Cara: "Ahhhhhh!"
Herb: "MMMMMMMM!!!"
Matt: "Um, herb. Excuse me. Um, that's a girl your kissing. Herb?"
Andy: "That's my SISTER he's touching like that!"
Jake: "I will play along with just about everything. but i am not doing this. i will just smile."

I LOVE my new . . . .

HOT PINK GLASSES! Life has never been so good! All of my 11-year old dreams have FINALLY come true!

Now This is MY Kind of Class

In high school one of my "other mothers", Deb, often assured me that if I could just get through the next couple years, I would be fine. "You were MADE for college", she would say. Deb insisted that once I moved on from the high school scene I would finally find like-minded people who had similar goals and *gasp* understood my sense of humor. And as all good "other mothers", she was right. In college, I finally found my groove.

And last night, after years of randomly trying various dance, aerobic, and step classes, I found my groove again. NIA is to that first week of college as step aerobics is to the required daily 35 greuling minutes in the high school cafeteria. A mixture of dance, healing arts, and martial arts, it is about freedom and moving according to your body's own beat. It is about exploring and healing. There is some structure, but within that structure, there is a freedom to let your body move however it needs and wants to. And the music. Oh, the music! Latin, middle-eastern, african tribal, R&B and deep-gutsy slave spirituals. After an hour, I had laughed, smiled, punched, slithered, pushed, yelled, rolled, cried (but just a tiny bit), cha-chaed, did snow angels on the floor and danced a big beautiful dance of victory and strength. In a one hour exercise class. If you can deal with the occaisional weirdness (I just prayed when we "bowed" to each corner of the room), you must check this out!

Wedding pictures are up on our web site! www.herbandcara.com

Mad Hot

This movie leaves me with one question . . .
"Herb, will you dance with me?"

It's stuff like this . . .



and this . . .



and . . .
an eleven year old girl named Emma who says things like "It has been scientifically founded that women are superior creatures to men. That is clear!" and "Studies show that eleven year old girls are the primary target for kidnapping . . . you know - kidnapping. Those sickos that LIKE little girls!?!?!?" . . . .

that give me cause to throw up two big thumbs up (or in the words of my husband, two big"Schwap Daddies" . . . he told me today that he made this phrase up to go with a thumbs up. He is currently beta testing it for coolness) to this sweet little documentary . . .



Other favorite documentaries . . .

Born into Brothels
Super Size Me

What are your suggestions? I would love to incorporate more docs into my life.

Big grin and Schwap Daddy!