9.30.12 ... photography fun on a night long ago

i am so far behind on organizing my iphoto library and blogging that today's post is a blast from the past. i took these last fall on an evening visit to the state capitol grounds in austin. this was shortly before we moved. we loved to go walking there. scout would people watch and fill sketchbook pages. and it is just a beautiful environment for photography and your soul. we usually photo the grounds and buildings but on this night i was playing around with the low light challenges. these are two of my favorites. they both capture scout's spirit which always brings me great happiness and inspiration.

i've been pondering the differences between last year's blogging and this one. i went from one extreme - posting 365 days in a row - to another - so far this year i've accumulated a mere 18 posts. i have so many topics and photos waiting for this blog. i plan to post more often this last quarter of the year. which is why i started with this one. happiness and inspiration encourage me to keep moving forward. what are your inspirations? please leave a comment below and share your joy and triumphs over your personal challenges with my readers. have a beautiful day today. 

thanks for stopping by. until next time. happiness to you. from me. with heart. 

ox joon

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11.22.11 ... last days in austin

still working on the portfolio and ev snapped this photo of scout and i looking over her current sketchbook after a sketching session. ev took these next two photos, too. i love them.

all ready to sketch bystanders....

silly in the sunshine

and this one i took. i love this sign. and the ice cream is good, too.  it was a beautiful day.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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11.13.11 ... austin texas

we have about two short weeks of our residency here left to go and walking the capitol grounds will be one austin favorite i will miss.

can you spot ev?

it's wonderful experiencing lovely weather after that summer from hell. literally.

i did sew on the good things handmade booklet button, but lost the sunshine before i could grab a photo. still need to sew on the loop anyway. so busy with purging, organizing and packing. the days fly by. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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9.28.11 ... recycled laminated map package

i can't show what i worked on today so ... the other day i made this package out of a laminated map. it works so nicely because it is strong like a box but a lot lighter. this one is going to australia and the postage was a factor. inside this package is the item safely padded and tucked in a tea box, which is then wrapped in a thick layer of giant bubble wrap.

plus, it has the added factor of sending a little bit of texas sunshine and personaility across the globe. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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6.27.11 ... we love love love love our doctor

...scout had her check up today. our beyond fantastic doctor uses the word absolutely and we love the way she says it. so i made this treasury tonight. it was inspired by her. you can see it here.  she is absolutely one of the best reasons to live in austin. we are so very lucky. i hope you all have a doctor you love, too. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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6.17.11 ... reclaimed texas state puzzle piece magnet

i was sorting through my fred finds today and couldn't resist turning this puzzle piece into a magnet for our fridge.

isn't it a hoot? and, look - austin! woo hoo.

charlie brown says "that's pretty good." even johnny deep is happy. everyone needs one of these, don't you agree?

ps. the grapefruits here are usually amazing i will say. sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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5.22.11 ... a sweet recycled packaging idea

i found this giant texas wall map at a thrift store. it is laminated and cost me next to nothing so i decided to take it to see if i could use it as an envelope for large items. and i sold some vintage sheet music and this worked out perfectly. what i didn't count on, but am especially thrilled with, is that because of the laminate, the package creates an air pocket - since it doesn't fold perfectly flat. so this is wonderful because it protects the contents even better without any extra material , time or effort. i will be using the rest of this map with enthusiasm. now i have to keep an eye out for more. i created this on friday but i saved the photo for today. i did some mending but think this is a much more interesting creation to share with you - as much as i do love my mending. you know i have a thing for it. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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5.15.11 ... flower photos

it was a pretty day and we went on a short walk. i took these two photos of flowers we have never seen before.

i worked on some other creative projects most of the day. i'm sure when i finish them up you will see what else i've been up to. i hope you all had a lovely weekend doing things that add to your sense of well being.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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5.5.11 ... frost tower photos

i love this building and i love frost bank.

today i was downtown and brought the camera along. i was happy this was the view we chanced upon.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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3.16.11 ... the spring fair day

we had a nice time. it was peaceful and quiet and we met some wonderful people and i had a surprise visit from a friend. i mean it was a surprise to both of us. how whimsical is that? i should clarify that i would be hard pressed to think of 20 people i know here. and it was right at the start of the day. a good omen. i only sold a few things but i did not expect to sell a thing. it isn't the reason i went. one of the best parts of the day was ...

... when scout had a young gentleman go crazy when he saw these three pokemon drawings she'd made last night for the heck of it. and he decided he wanted to spend his birthday money on them and both she and he were so happy. i wish you all could have witnessed the exchange. i think she is inspired now to make some for her etsy shop which has been languishing for a while. it is always encouraging when you connect with someone who appreciates and loves your art.

i am so glad we went. oh --- i did not get a chance to photograph my display. it was very dark in there. and i spent a large portion of the day cleaning up photos for my etsy shops. the photo above is one i chanced upon. it's a little slice of my art table life. from whence all the creations i made both today and everyday come. so i thought that was a fitting introduction for today's entry.

ps. the leftover apple pie is so delicious. what a treat.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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3.15.11 ... apple pie and completed tower

all three of us are not feeling well but the show must go on. today i finished up the repurposed display tower. i added some groovy vintage trims. we also made a pie. ev did the apple part. i did the crust.

we had to go outside and catch the last bit of sun for the photos.

the pie is delicious and cheered us up. hopefully we will all sleep better tonight and have a nice day at the show.

i added more after this photo was taken. there's still more to do but que sera sera.

i may have a hard time taking this apart. i really like this thing. i put a rock inside for stability.

i take a simple view of life. keep your eyes open and get on with it. laurence olivier

i'm telling you this thing is one handy display. here's to a good night's rest. i'll see you after the show. i'm sure i'll have at least one crazy tale to tell.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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3.14.11 ... display tower and einey's birthday

on wednesday i will be in a spring fair and i have been thinking and thinking of an easy and space saving way to display my items. it is quite a challenge because my table will be quite small. i came up with this wooden tower idea and when i was preparing to try it out i ran into the glitch that the one panel - which is actually the box top but becomes a side - needed to be fastened to the other piece. so i got out some trusty rubber brands and they worked great.

i never dreamed of using them for yet another purpose and look how great this will be. i originally thought of using little rolled up pieces of tape on the backs of the cards. but this is so much better. tomorrow i will make more cards and put my jewelry and pins on them. and voila' - i'll have a display tower. and recycled - just the way i like everything.

and i can utilize all four sides for my pins, jewelry and recycled corner bookmarks.

this view includes one of my favorite einstein quotes: imagination is more important than knowledge. and it's his birthday today. did you all celebrate by using your brains? do tell.

i'm still under the weather so this tower made me happy. now we'll see what else i come up with tomorrow. i wish i felt better but it will just have to be what it will be. i'm sure we'll enjoy the day regardless of my organizational status. time for one last cup of tea tonight.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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3.12.11 ... visiting the sketchbook project

we've been looking forward to attending the traveling sketchbook project exhibit as it made its first stop here in austin. it was not what we expected.  but, as we so often do, we made lemonade out of lemons and i did get to photograph scout at the event. here you see scout with her card.

 we managed to get scout's book - on the left - and a random choice. you could only see two at a time. and there was no time to see more than that. at least not for us.

it was fun seeing scout's bio in the adorable owl pocket.

it came out exactly as we'd worded it.

here are two pages from inside her book.

on the way back to our car we enjoyed the gorgeous, warm and sunny afternoon. i snapped a few photos...

this groovy building...

this funky sign issue...

and i love this half tree but the composition of this photo came out surprisingly appealing to me. not feeling well this evening and it is late so ttfn.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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3.6.11 ... getting ready for spring fair ... button making process

i set up a small batch of word collage buttons today. i'm really slow at this activity because i enjoy obsessing over the combinations. so these are not even glued in place yet and may change tomorrow. who knows? but i like them so far.

i have had these words for a long time and i have circles cut and filed by style or color. naturally, i am using recycled papers, as always.

these include magazine papers ...

... and envelopes...

and here's the first batch all ready for the next steps before old tess (my tecre machine) and i get to button making.

and there's more mixing and matching that will be waiting for me in the morning.

tomorrow's another day. to be continued ...

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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