mojo fuel

Danielle Laporte's new bible book of kick ass motivational wisdom + it's stunningly designed

Bonjour 2012 ! first there was the amazing e-course Hello Soul, Hello Business which lit my fire & got my creative business mojo a cookin', now Danielle LaPorte's gorgeous, orange, beautifully typographic, bold, in your face, kick ass, mojo fuel has arrived here at the teak topped desk (via Amazon.ca). I heard about Danielle first at Dana Barberi's blog & now she and her mojo credo have gone completely viral + she's Canadian !

Watch out ... 'cause you might get burned ;-) - hot, hot, hot here at the 29 Black Street Creative Empire headquarters

action = motivation =  more action

Dr. David Burns from his book the Feeling Good Handbook

= even more action = more motivation = bigger, better, more challenging action - this equation is so true

Danielle's most excellent manifesto- typographic version  & full on video

omg fashion !

June 2012 Flora & Fauna Cavallini - I must have at least 2 of these gorgeous calendars every year

I've been so very inspired lately by current fashion & fashion magazines. I subscribe to Vogue, Elle & now Harper's Bazaar. Oh my the colour palettes, the prints, the patterns - graphic, floral, pastel, black & white, neon brights. The combinations, compositions, mixing & oh my the accessories all just breathtaking & tres inspiring. A few favourites at the moment Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade, Prada & Mui Mui 

I've been very busy working on a variety of freelance design & illustration projects that have me tied up most of June but I'm getting ready & inspired to do a brand new bunch of purely creative larger paintings & collage pieces - can't wait !!

eighteen

eighteen snippets from some recent moments in & around 29 Black Street 

thanks for all the fantastic book recommendations !!

libraries, books & social media

Hooray! my most recent weekly pile o' books ordered from out public library 

To say I am an avid library go-er would be an extreme understatement it would be like saying I sorta of like listening to CBC radio or I take photos of flowers and/or cats. If I love something, I L-O-V-E it in a big way and throw myself into it whole heartedly. I never ever just waltz into our library looking for something to read (listen to audio books-  or watch DVD's) Oh No, no ... I work les system to the nth degree. I use the online county & Nova Scotia library sights to look up books I hear about on CBC radio (uh huh !!) or books I read about in magazines, on blogs, that friends mention. Thursday is book deliveries day at the library here in our little village - and probably my favourite day of the week because of this almost always thrilling event. Rarely on those days would there be nothing in for me, because I hunt for stuff and am ordering new things constantly. If you don't use your library I can't help but say - shame on you. We need to use it or we might lose it ... I fear. Find out your own library system's web site, set up your library card and start ordering up books, movies, magazines & audio books to your hearts content. Search by subject, words or phrase, author, title ... have a passion ? cooking, knitting, puppy care, gardening, biographies ... libraries truly are a wonderful gift.

Speaking of books & libraries the other book related site I love is Good Reads and I wish more of my reading friends (Hey John, Pamela, Rachel, Norman ... I'm talking to you !) would sign up and then I could friend them to keep up with what they've been reading & what they thought of the books they've read -  Good Reads a kind of Facebook social media for book junkies. Amanda & Andee & Claire are current Good Reads friends + it's a great way to keep track of your own reading lists. Books you have read & the always growing to-read list. So whattya say ?? Want to sign up ? Or if not at least tell me 2 or 3 of your favourite books from the last year. & a big thank you for that.

I'm currently reading The Happiness Project a second time it's a fantastic book & one I may actually buy to add to the Black Street bookshelves (thanks Amanda!) Nerve, all about fear & anxiety (a favourite topic) I'm sure I heard this author interviewed on Q and finally I just started the novel Cost (have no idea where or why I ordered it in - but I did) though I'm still looking for fiction that would compare with the amazing State of Wonder by Ann Patchett my favourite novel in a very long time - if you haven't yet read it rush out and find it (at your library preferably). Would LOVE your great book recommendations please. Summer time is for summer reading ;-)

And oh yes ...   & a particularly fetching photo of sweet-as-can-be Missy Darn D - I love her more than words can say !!

annuals

On the top 10 flowers list here at the terracotta gardens - lobelia - the bluest blue, pale blue, a touch of mauve & white

The night before last I planted all my hanging baskets & window boxes now we patiently await les riot of colour & love ! 

bonjour neat & tidy

 

one lil' blot- the homely grey rectangle which is the vintage refurbed wall hung radiator ... oh well

more tucked away storage space than a girl could dream of - Bonjour always Neat + Tidy !!

& I love to clean with my homemade, aromatherapy, all natural, almost anything cleaner - recipe here

untitled No.2

 9 from this morning's early morning walk around the village with Miss Winnie D.

pangs of envy

flowering crab / tulips / creeping phlox - a few things blooming in the terracotta gardens here at 29 Black Street

Envy aims very high

Ovid

It happens often, those pangs of envy. As I stumble, too frequently I suppose, around the wonderful maze of blogs & web sites of such amazing & talented creatives and there are so many of them. The competition is oh so stiff out there. It's design week in NYC and everyone who's anyone is there at Surtex & the Stationery Show. I'm having NYC & Surtex envy - it's a show I've been to (Spring 2001) and I've wanted to show at since I started my own business in Fall 2001 (wow 10 years ago!). The other day I was stung by some particularly sharp pangs of envy, extremely impressed by the young, tres talented illustrator Sarah Watts - not only by her talent & ability, but by her togetherness & her incredibly well thought out & beautifully made marketing & promotional materials. It's a tough field I'm playing in. It's the best time ever to be a creative person & it's the toughest time ... in that there's such a stunningly vast array of extremely talented work happening out there. When stung this day by the big envy bug I did something I rarely think to do. I stopped and asked myself what exactly I was envious of ... what specifically was causing the sting ?? Smart questions, I thought because it was difficult to pin point exactly what I was envious of. I am pretty content at the moment with this year's progress & I'm still figuring out what exactly I want to do & where I want to go with my creative/work life and that's OK. Thankfully May & June are chock full of projects heading me in the right direction + I'm making some money & paying some bills doing what I love while I sort out in my ever active head ;-) what comes next.

Nothing sharpens sight like envy

Thomas Fuller

untitled No.1

lovin'

19 squares from the last few glorious, warm, blue sky, summer like, sunshiney days. Lovin' my camera*

If you truly love nature,

you will find beauty everywhere

Vincent van Gogh

I want all you Passionate Observers to know that I use a Canon PowerShot G12 currently always set to automatic. I barely ever look through the viewfinder & use instead the back viewing screen to frame my shots (it takes some getting use to but trust me this habit will change your photographs) because it allows me to hold my camera out and away from me, underneath something, on top of something, low to the ground & very often I just snap away without visually framing at all & see when I get home & upload was surprising shots I may have taken. I especially like seeing how close I can get to my subject and I love experimenting with my vantage point.

That is my secret in a nut shell, nothin' fancy, certainly notta technical note to be found & oh yeah !! natural light ! natural light ! natural light !

If anyone's thinking of purchasing a new camera I LOVE my Canon G12* ! & I don't even know how to use it yet  - the colour and light tolerance of this camera is amazing and it has a billion bells & whistles (if & when I ever get to try some of them) - like this switching to this square format which I did completely by accident & haven't figured out yet how to get it back to the rectangle format. I hope to have the Passionate Observer site up with our first lesson/topic & challenge by June 1.

* & ya know how attached I was to my beloved 10+year old Madam Olympus C5050

Heard this song on fav CBC show Q & loved it ! & yes that's Doobie Brother's ;-) Michael McDonald