I've started a craft that I love doing, but LOVING something does not equal being GOOD at something.  I'm just not sure how to figure out where I fall on the spectrum.  I'm asked people like my parents, friends, husband, other family members; I feel like all of them may feel required to say that I'm a lot better at something than I actually am.  But, maybe they're telling the truth -- may I am good at what I love to do.

Who knows.  The more I do it, the better I am anyway, so at least I'll get in some good practice, haha.

These aren't the best photos of some of the cards I've made, but use your imagination.  Creating these bring me so much joy, and isn't that what your life should be about: finding what brings you joy and doing it?!  Obviously there are other things I like to do more like travel and work events, but my health doesn't always cooperate.  (Hopefully I WILL get to travel in a few weeks, so yay for that.  Astana is gorgeous, and the people and arts are beautiful there.  I can't wait to hear those magical words "Yes, you're healthy enough to leave the country!")  Please, please, please.  Making these are something that's calming and pretty unaffected by my health.

 

I'm a great collector of quotes, which means I don't give many worth much myself.  Anyway, I always feel like signing off with a quote, so I'm going to seize the day.

"The strange power of art is sometimes it can show that what people have in common is more urgent than what differentiates them." 
-John Berger  

I love what this power of art says about not art, but people.  We WANT, we NEED to be brought together and what we choose to help us do just that is art a lot of times.  A beautiful thing.

xoxo,
A

Inspiration Board - Spring Wedding in pinks, lavender, greys, & cream

Inspiration Board - Spring Wedding in pinks, lavender, greys, & cream by asebourn featuring set of 4 mugs

Industrial home decor
dotandbo.com

Set of 4 mug
$47 - heals.co.uk

Floral home decor
$42 - very.co.uk

"It's time to take a risk, sweetheart"

Adventure (after tea, of course)

Adventure after tea by asebourn on Polyvore

Art As A Vehicle For Change: "La vie est chère et les temps sont dure"

Could And Would It Ever Be Integrated Into An Early Childhood Educational Curriculum Praising A Political Or Social Outcome As Its Purpose?

This is by no means a new concept.  We accept art as social commentary even when that purpose is unintentional by the artist; we search for it, grab it and gladly reappropriate a work to serve our cause(s) as the viewer.

It still never ceases to amaze me how much awareness can be brought to an injustice through the work of an artist or team of artists.  I would even go so far to say that the belief in the ability to change or shed light on an unfortunate situation through using artistic talent and skill is the driving force behind more artists than any other force to create works.  Here's hoping that we can recognize that fact and use it in our education system to give students the chance to use art as something more than singular expression - it can be an acceptable form of communication of the need for change in an area to which they'd like to draw attention.

Check out this excerpt from EndingHunger.org:

EndingHunger team recently received a powerful music video from a team of Cameroonian musicians. The video starts with a couple’s quarrel about rising food prices. “How can I live on so little money?” the wife nags and her husband gets angry.{READ MORE AT THE LINK BELOW}

Ending Hunger | Rapping against high food prices

 "The producer and the cast of this video clip are all from Cameroon where political unrest spilled over into protests over food and fuel prices."  - EndingHunger.org

“La vie est chère et les temps sont dure.”

Oui. Read more on EndingHunger.org & follow the cause @EndingHunger on Twitter.

Kerouac quote

Kerouac quote by asebourn on Polyvore

American Dream - Fashion Editorial - Profile with models, designers...
fashionmodeldirectory.com

Lost Highway Kati Nescher and Garrett Hedlund Go On the Road
vogue.com

Change your thoughts

It's true, ya know.  Your world is not reality.  I'm not talking Matrix-y stuff here, I just mean that how you see the world is based on your thoughts of how things are, as opposed to how things ACTUALLY are.  Your thoughts play such a huge role in your life; so much so that they produce a world.  So if you're in a rut, things aren't going well, etc., yeah it stinks, but change something.  Change something you're thinking about negatively into a positive, and all of a sudden you've taken a huge step toward changing you world!

And it doesn't mean that something upsetting hasn't happened to you, or that you should deny a major life change or setback.  It just means that you can acknowledge it, think a little differently than you would normally think in this situation, and everything around you changes.  You can make that happen.  I've always wanted to change the world someday, just like everyone else wants to change it.  I'm taking baby steps, though...I'm just trying to change my world for now. :)

Ciao,
A

Change your thoughts by asebourn on Polyvore

Think happy...Be happy!  (great sign from Altar'd State)

A sneak peek into my next post.  If you're guessing it's about an obsession with blazers, then you're right!

My Mixtape

  I love a good mixtape. . . 

Hello, there!

The first post is always the most difficult, isn't it?  I have to decide how exactly to introduce myself, this blog and its purpose.  Introducing myself, well I'll just leave that up to my blog.  What someone loves defines the person, or at least gives a roundabout definition.  To know what I love is to know me.  Now, on to what this blog is about: what I love.  I've always been an overly involved person.  I love watching, wearing, reading, listening to, and being with a myriad of things and persons.  It's a little bit of a problem, because loving so many things makes one exhausted at the end of the day.  I can't keep these loves to myself and they've always spilled into conversations with friends.  

Life is a mixtape; this blog is playing my tracks.

After becoming sick, I've found it harder to go out and spread the news about a new designer, an exciting book or a great nonprofit that's getting started.  What good are your loves if you can't share them?  If you love something on here and you don't see a link to where you can find it, let me know and I'll try my hardest to help.  I give credit whenever I can to the the people who are or create the things I love and post here.


For those around in the mixtape 'era,' you can understand when I call this blog my own personal mixtape.  I'm recording it for my own benefit as much as anyone (if anyone) else.  The point is in the constant recording.   

Ciao for now.


 

Retro Poster Quote art print design poster music print mixtape art for... (clipped to polyvore.com)