“At birth we are red-faced, round, intense, pure. The crimson fire of universal consciousness burns in us. Gradually, however, we are devoured by our parents, gulped by schools, chewed up by peers, swallowed by social institutions, wolfed by bad habits, and gnawed by age; and by that time we have been digested, cow style, in those six stomachs, we emerge a single disgusting shade of brown. The lesson of the beet, then, is this: hold on to your divine blush, your innate rosy magic, or end up brown. Once you’re brown, you’ll find that you’re blue. As blue as indigo. And you know what that means, Indigo. Indigoing. Indigone.”

-Tom Robbins

"For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."

-from The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

At Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest

This was early one morning before Colorfest began.  Sometimes, it is important to sit quietly in nature.  Observing.  Listening-inwardly and otherwise.  

"To dance, put your hand on your heart and listen to the sound of your soul."
- Eugene Louis Faccuito

"Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings.” 
-Rumi

Introducing leather diaries with heart locks...and just in time for Valentine's Day.

“The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains.”
― Josephine Baker

Perhaps you would like to note a few secret reflections for only your heart to hold or perhaps you are drawn more to the symbolism of cherishing and holding close certain thoughts, prayers, quotes...If so, this small diary would be a perfect fit. It comes with a heart shaped lock and two small heart shaped keys. Maybe it is an extra key in case you lose the first...or maybe it is a key you give to your love so the two of you can share love notes and memories. May this diary assist you well as you write and/or draw those parts of yourself that you want to hold particularly close.

If you would like a custom color and size with a different lock, here are the other lock and key options.  Please contact me with any questions.

She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self
which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.
—Kate Chopin, “The Awakening”

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?” ― Rumi

I was asked to create this journal intuitively. I kept getting the image of a partial tree and a subtle spiral. In the midst of creating it, the guy I was creating it for told me that it was going to be his mirror journal--a place for him to reflect on his strong responses to others and what those responses were showing him about himself. The partial tree signifies that we may only see part of a the picture until we take time to sit and be quiet with what is happening. Also, trees symbolize reaching to me--reaching upward for help and higher expression and reaching down and inward towards centering and rooting. The spiral represents the path we are on and how we keep encountering the same lessons, but from a different perspective because we are further along the path when they come back around. I hope this journal assists him well as he continues this work.

“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words "make" and "stay" become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.”

― Tom Robbins, Still Life With Woodpecker

So much of my business has been changing and growing.  I've been expanding my wholesale and am in lots of fun galleries and boutiques around the U.S.  It is not only my business that has changed this year.  There has been a lot of growth within myself.  One goal this year was to not slip into a “work trance” and to stay more balanced.  Do you know what I mean by this?  It is so easy since I work from home and have a lot to do to simply work constantly…like all the time.  I made this a habit for years.  I would literally get up in the morning and begin work within half an hour and work non-stop until I would collapse into bed.  Sometimes, this is necessary.  However, I don’t want making books to be my whole life.  I want to be more balanced than that.  Annie Dillard wrote,

“How we live our days is of course how we live our life”. 

I love this.  Making books and filling orders is definitely a large part of my life…but it is not all of me.  I’m learning balance and the continued importance of rest and play and dance and reading and simply being with people.   It has made it all so much more fun, including the “work”.  I’ve even begun to look at “work” as more “play”.  It lightens up the load and the pressure…it lightens me up.  When I feel the stress of deadlines and upcoming shows, I’ve found myself saying “I have all the right problems”.  I am so thankful for continued work and support and creative opportunities.  All of these slight changes in perspective allow me to take deeper breaths and relax into my days so much more.

“Let silence take you to the core of life.”
― Rumi

It is all too easy to get swept away with business and constant going, going, going...especially when you are growing something.  This year, I had a wholesale show in January, February, and will attend one in March.  I am keeping up with orders, but am working long hours and seven days a week.  One of the things that keeps coming to mind is that these are "growing pains".  I am growing and am learning how to push myself to more capacity as well as keep other aspects in my life in some sort of balance.  For me, it is necessary to take a time out now and again.  It is particularly helpful if I can get to the woods and just sit.  Being still and quiet helps me ground and re-center, enabling me to work again with renewed energy.

I found this fortune on one of my hikes in Berea!!  So true!

All it takes is a little faith and a lot of heart...

-The Weepies

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony."
-Thomas Merton

This was a custom order from last year.  They are matching refillable
notebooks that are meant to be a reminder of balance.

Some days, I can feel myself beaming with aliveness.  Today is one of those days...

"Words can travel across thousands of miles. May my words create mutual understanding and love. May they be as beautiful as gems, as lovely as flowers." –Thich Nhat Hanh

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”
― Rumi

This is a custom-made labyrinth journal that is refillable.  It is made from remnant leather, has a handbound journal inside, and hand-stitching on the front. 

Taking a bit of a breather from the internet, but am sending you all peace-filled New Year wishes. I'll be exiting this year softly and welcoming this new year with an open-heart. Here is an excerpt from my new journal:

"Very little grows on jagged rock. Be ground. Be crumbled, so wildflowers will come up where you are." -Rumi

"You are like a candle. Imagine you are sending light out all around you. All your words, thoughts and actions are going in many directions. If you say something kind, your kind words go in many directions, and you yourself go with them. We are ...transforming and continuing in a different form at every moment." -Thich Nhat Hanh

Happy Winter Solstice!