Making is in the Family.....

I think I have the most appropriate genetics for being a maker. My Dad is a pilot, an engineer. His family is Air Force all the way. My Mom is the one who inspired me to sew and always encouraged me to craft something. Her family is currently in it's third generation of owning a flower shop in Texas. Mix those two together and you get a fairly tech-savy maker! It's pretty cool. 

The family flower shop was a place I spent a lot of my childhood getting familiar with construction, aesthetics, layers, glue guns; not to mention all the entrepreneurial spirit I picked up there. Sometimes I just walk into another flower shop to let that wonderful smell wash over me and take me back there. It's actually pretty ironic, since I can't seem to grow anything to save my life, but I can arrange it like no one's business! When I was a kid I won a "Junior Arranger" contest!

So that side of my family, my Aunts and Grandmother, continue to inspire me to new places. Case in point, this drop dead gorgeous wedding that my Aunt designed the flower arrangements for that is currently being featured on the Style Me Pretty Texas Blog.

Thanks to the talented photographer from Alyse French Photography!

Go here to see the full gallery from the loverly post. And of course visit The Knapp Flower Shop if you're in the Galveston area and need something beautiful! (Make sure you tell my Aunt Nelda that I say "Hi!" and how very very talented she is!)

Make Monday

Hi Folks! I'm trying out a new regular posting theme today called "Make Monday' where I share something pretty cool that someone else made! I thought the idea was simple, but you be sure to let me know if it's not.

This video appears to be a joint effort from two different Japanese companies - Docomo and Drill Inc - where they created a ginormous xylophone in a forest that plays "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" to advertise a cell phone.

I am impressed. Enjoy your Monday!

Another Month, Another 30 Days

I can't stop myself! I love 30 day challenges. The 30 Days of Lists Challenge (I promise a full post on it soon) really inspired me to take challenges in small doses in an effort to "Catch Up" in a lot of different parts of my life.

I didn't go looking for a new one, it just came to me through my friend Amanda at Apple Blue. This one is much more personal as the subject is just me. This is a 30 Day Self-Portrait Challenge!

Amanda describes her desire to start this challenge as an exercise in honesty - by snapping a photo, drawing a little something, recording a video or any number of other creative portrait options she is being as truthful as she can be about her day to day life. Letting her friends know that it's okay to not be polished and put together everyday because even if she is in her favorite pajamas and has disheveled hair, she's still awesome.

I agree with her. I call putting on makeup and cleaning myself up 'playing the game'. I believe people will take you more seriously and maybe even respect you more when you're freshly manicured and coordinated. So most days I straighten my hair and get dolled for that reason. But sometimes I don't, that's life. And I don't think I've ever posted a picture ANYWHERE when I'm not all put together. Maybe I am internet lying or maybe I'm vain.

Should I be treated any differently with a ponytail and chipped polish? Nope. I'm not expecting that a revolution will start because some people posted pictures of what they look like on the good and the bad days, but it might help.

On the lighter side, the last reason I'm choosing to follow Amanda's lead is that I don't seem to have any recent memorabilia of myself! I like filling my home with pictures of family and friends, art made by the people I love and mementos from good times. This makes my home really feel like home. But in my spring cleaning mode I found that I am running really low on anything with me in it. I don't keep much of my own art and I am usually the one behind the camera. I'm hoping that at the end of April I might have a few more things around to remind me that I'm awesome.

So here we go kids...

This is me on a pretty standard casual Friday. You can find my portraits on my Flickr page or all the participants portraits in the 30 Day Self-Portrait Challenge Flickr group!