Thursday, July 31, 2008

make a difference thursday - support local art

Just in case you somehow missed it...Thirty One! is tomorrow night. We just hung up the art and the show is going to be totally awesome! Just $31 for an original piece of art!!!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

thirty one -- this friday

It's here! The Thirty One show is happening this
Friday, August 1st.
For all the information you could possibly want go to the
Thirty One show blog
.

Hope to see you all there!

As promised, here is another of the pieces for the Thirty One show:


once upon a time
7" x 7"
Acrylic and Kilnformed Glass on wood

tip tuesday - getting a little help

Asking for help is rad. I have the best friends and supporters who are always offering to help. I am a helper of friends and am always happy to receive help as well. Sometimes the hardest part is finding things that can be done that are helpful and something that the helpee likes to do.

Tonight my dear friends Courtney and Ben came over and helped me name all of the 31 pieces of art for the thirty one show. It was like doing improv associations (oh man I miss improv). So, one more big task done in no time and virtually painless.

So, for those of you out there building empires, make sure you put the word out when you need some help...you're sure to find someone who would love to lend a hand ... and it's always so much more fun.

Thanks again Ben and Courtney! As you can see from their blogs they were the perfect pair to help with this project.

Friday, July 25, 2008

give joss some love



So Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog was pretty hilarious. I especially dug Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible. Even though my heart belongs to Nathan.

My friend Diane over at Craftypod posted this call to action from the craft world to Joss Whedon! So read her post, and then read the original post by Kim Werker over on Crochet Me, and then do your own post, and link it all over the place. Pretty please with sugar.

Joss Whedon is rad.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

make a difference thursday - no more plastic bags

Ok, I'm ready to pledge that I will NEVER again use or accept a plastic shopping bag. I was at a shop today and the gentleman in front of me bought two items that were of course put in a plastic bag and he went on his merry way. I didn't have my enviorsax with me, but I had few enough items that I could carry them, so I did. And now I promise to never, ever, ever again get another bag under any circumstance. Please join me and make a pledge...no more plastic shopping bags!

Next on the list will be plastic bottles...just got to figure out how to replace my Crystal Geyser Sparkling Mineral Water for something in a glass bottle.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

new work

Here's one of my new works for the Thirty One Show. It's 7"x7", acrylic on wood with kilnformed glass. Hope you can come to the show...I'll be posting more pictures of my work soon.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

tip tuesday - walk away

Sometimes it's a good idea to just WALK AWAY! I'm working on the last few pieces for the Thirty One show and I am starting to force it a little bit. I also have the large 20x20 piece to finish. I decided to walk away today, and work on some other stuff to give myself some time to take a breath so I can come back refreshed and ready to rock it. I'm on the home stretch.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

there's a mouse in my house


There might be TWO actually...if there are more than two I'm going to totally freak out! This little mouse moves quick, I can only just barely glimpse it out of the corner of my eye as it streaks around the kitchen. I can hear it though....It was in my oven -- having a little mouse party in there.

I'm totally terrified of it. Totally T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-D!

Where does the completely irrational fear of mice come from?

The first time it charged me (or ran by me, depends on your point of view) it had a look of "I want to eat your eyeballs" in it's eyes -- or possibly "Aaaaaaaah, SUPER HUGE MONSTER ... RUN AWAY!!!!". It was hard to tell it all happened so fast.

So, now I'm off to bed, where I'm thinking of taping off the cracks in the door so I can sleep without the fear of my eyeballs being eaten out by the mouse in the house.

Makes me wish I had a cat...almost.

Friday, July 18, 2008

thirty one show - artists feature

Last night we had a potluck for the artists in the Thirty One art show (thanks Flora & Kira) to get to know each other. It was fun to meet the artists that have created these amazing works. I'm so excited about the show! Here's a list of the artists and a piece of their work. For artist statements and bio info check out the Thirty Shows Blog. Each artist is creating 31 pieces of art for the onnight only show, we have 31 days to create them and they will sell for $31 dollars. Sweet!

Thirty One - August 1, 2008

Alisha Wessler
www.alishawessler.com



















Anna Todaro

www.annatodaro.com
www.astarchild.etsy.com
www.myspace.com/ohdivine
www.corepdx.com





















Brett Bowers

www.brettbowers.com















Carrie Hardison

www.carriehardison.com





















Chris Biegun























Chris Burtch














Cvita Mamic






















Elizabeth Schuppe

www.elizabethschuppe.com




















Emily Katz

www.emilykatz.com
www.love-menu.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/lovemenubyemilykatz





















Erika Sears

www.atinyrocket.com

















Guenevere Schwien
www.gueneveres.com









Jamee Linton

www.jameelinton.com





















Jennifer Mercede
www.jennifermercede.com





















Jeremy Okai Davis

www.jeremyokaidavis.com
www.flickr.com/photos/jeremyokai/sets/72157594338275373/





















Julia Skerry

www.skerryart.blogspot.com





















Kelly Neidiggity

www.kelcan.biz





















Laura James

www.laurajamesdesigns.com






















Lynn Yarne
http://users.easystreet.com/yarne/





















Mark James Gunderson

www.flickr.com/photos/markjamesgunderson
















Marshall Leggett

www.marshallleggett.com






















Melissa Wenzel

www.mesart.com/mwenzel






















Michael McGovern

www.mempdx77.com

















Randall Tipton

www.thinkingfree.net





















Samantha Hodgson
http://web.mac.com/sfhodgson/samricca/










Sarah Goodnough

www.sarahgoodnough.com












Seth Neefus
www.sethneefus.com
www.togethergallery.com
www.fartminusf.com





















Tamara English

http://www.tamaraenglishstudio.com














Terrence Gasca

www.terrencegasca.com





















Theresa Andreas-O'Leary

www.andreasartstudio.com

















Will Bruno

www.wlbimagery.com
www.wlbimagery.blogspot.com





















Zach Tobias

Thursday, July 17, 2008

make a difference thursday - plastic trash

I was stumbling around the internet and I found this awesome page by Greenpeace. It shows the trash vortex in the Pacific Ocean. Whoa. Please be responsible with your plastic consumption and more importantly with it's disposal! Here's the article from Greenpeace. Click the picture to see the animation.

The “Eastern Garbage Patch”


The North Pacific sub-tropical gyre covers a large area of the Pacific in which the water circulates clockwise in a slow spiral. Winds are light. The currents tend to force any floating material into the low energy central area of the gyre. There are few islands on which the floating material can beach. So it stays there in the gyre, in astounding quantities estimated at six kilos of plastic for every kilo of naturally occurring plankton. The equivalent of an area the size of Texas swirling slowly around like a clock. This gyre has also been dubbed “the Asian Trash Trail” the “Trash Vortex” or the “Eastern Garbage Patch”.

This perhaps wouldn’t be too much of a problem if the plastic had no ill effects. The larger items, however, are consumed by seabirds and other animals which mistake them for prey. Many seabirds and their chicks have been found dead, their stomachs filled with medium sized plastic items such as bottle tops, lighters and balloons. A turtle found dead in Hawaii had over a thousand pieces of plastic in its stomach and intestines. It has been estimated that over a million sea-birds and one hundred thousand marine mammals and sea turtles are killed each year by ingestion of plastics or entanglement.

Animals can become entangled in discarded netting and line. Even tiny jelly-fish like creatures become entangled in lengths of plastic filament, or eat the small plastic particles floating in the water.

Chemical sponge


There is a sinister twist to all this as well. The plastics can act as a sort of “chemical sponge”. They can concentrate many of the most damaging of the pollutants found in the worlds oceans: the persistent organic pollutants (POPs). So any animal eating these pieces of plastic debris will also be taking in highly toxic pollutants.

The North Pacific gyre is one of five major ocean gyres and it is possible that this Trash Vortex problem is one which is present in other oceans as well. The Sargasso Sea is a well known slow circulation area in the Atlantic, and research there has also demonstrated high concentrations of plastic particles present in the water.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

stumble upon

Oh my...I've found Stumble Upon and it's pretty rad. For those of you stuck in a cubicle with high speed internet, you will LOVE this.

You sign up and when you click "stumble" on your toolbar (that you have to download) you can just dive right into the internet and find the greatest stuff.

Can't write more -- must stumble!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

tip tuesday - books

I love books, especially the ones that motivate and inspire me!

What books have inspired you? Leave a comment with your favorites and tell us why!

Monday, July 14, 2008

dr horrible's sing-a-long blog

Ok, I know it's a little geeky but it's JOSS WHEDON (!!!) behind this web-series. Check it out July 15th - 20th because *poof* it'll be gone after that!



p.s. I have a HUGE crush on Nathan Fillion

Friday, July 11, 2008

hot stuff


My friend Courtney came over the other day and picked this awesome pendant out of a bunch of new ones hot off the presses...I just finished it off and it's ready to go. I really love this one, as I do so many of them. There's a depth just beneath the surface that I can get lost in for hours.


I've been working bigger after the feedback from the the Los Angeles trip. This one is 2" wide and 1 1/2" long. Not to worry, I'll still make the other sizes...but the big ones are such fun!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

make a difference thursday - eat well

Do you know where your food comes from my friends? I just watched another illuminating documentary about food, this one specifically about corn (it looks like the corn on the cob you eat, but it's non-edible), how it's produced, and more importantly where it goes. The documentary is called King Corn. Watch the trailer:



For more information about the adverse effect (of which there are MANY) of feeding grain to cows instead of a grass, check out this link: http://www.foodrevolution.org/grassfedbeef.htm

Another great documentary about food (more specifically genetically modified food) is The Future of Food an absolute must see. It's scary, and you should watch it anyway. Here's a little bit of it...



I know there's been a lot of talk about eating organics and cutting out high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated fats, and with the rising cost of food (and everything else) it's getting harder and harder to make those good choices, but I urge to to feed yourself and your loved ones well. Take care and know where your food comes from!

You can make a difference!

Check out the Food Revolution.

And by coincidence Rocket Boom did a bit on the food crisis today. Click here to see.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

etsy favs

i'm a joiner...

Social networking via the internet. Quite interesting and TIME CONSUMING. I almost wish I had a 9-5 job so I could keep up (kidding!).

You can find me on My Space: www.myspace.com/laurajamesdesigns

Or you can find me on Gaia: http://laurajamesdesigns.gaia.com/

I haven't gotten around to Twitter or Facebook or Linked In...maybe down the road. So if you belong to My Space or Gaia, let's connect and be "friends".

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

tip tuesday - learn how to listen

For some of us listening comes naturally. For others it's a skill that can be learned.

Listening is underrated and very powerful. It requires a bit of self control, and a dash of stillness. To be fully present and engaged in all of your interactions is ideal and achievable with practice so be aware of your next opportunity to take the focus off of yourself and place it exclusively on the person you're talking with. You can learn a lot about others by listening with your whole self, you can learn a lot about yourself too.

When you learn to listen better, you can find the stillness that allows you to hear those opportunities that cross your path everyday.

Share your listening tips, leave a comment.

Monday, July 7, 2008

artist feature - nathan sandberg

Nathan is a good friend and an amazing glass artist.

I have always been in awe of his work and his latest show was totally inspiring. Not only does he work at Bullseye as an instructor full time, but he also managed to create another impressive body of work.

To view the pics of his show On the Move, click on the link and then choose "events". Here are a few to wet your whistle!

What you can't see in the photos and what is so impressive when you see the work is the depth of pieces, some are more than an inch thick. The art that he creates is innovative and very different from any work in glass that I've seen. I'm looking forward to what he does next.

Nathan (left) at the opening.

If I had to pick a favorites...

Friday, July 4, 2008

4th of july


Independence Day, the only holiday that celebrates the United States, is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays. Similar to other summer-themed events, Independence Day celebrations often take place outdoors. Independence Day is a federal holiday, so all non-essential federal institutions (like the postal service and federal courts) are closed on that day. Many politicians make it a point on this day to appear at a public event to praise the nation's heritage, laws, history, society, and people.

Families often celebrate Independence Day with a picnic or barbecue, and take advantage of the day off and in some years, long weekend to gather with relatives. Decorations (e.g., streamers, balloons, and clothing) are generally colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. Parades often are in the morning, while fireworks displays occur in the evening at such places as parks, fairgrounds, or town squares.

+ + + + + + + +

In 1778, General George Washington marked Independence Day with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute. Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.

In 1791 was the first recorded use of the name "Independence Day".

Thanks Wikipedia!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

make a difference thursday - the four agreements

One of my favorite books is by Don Miguel Ruiz. If you haven't read The Four Agreements it's worth a look, and if you've read it or have it, pick it up and give it a fresh look.

I love the simple agreements you can make with yourself to make a huge difference in your life and the lives of those around you!


The Four Agreements®

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally

Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

"Be the change you want to see in the world" - Mahatma Gandhi

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

tip tuesday - make it happen

Only you can make it happen. So whatever you want to do...go and DO IT! If there's something you're afraid of -- just suck it up and go for it. Come on, you can totally do it!!!

Say YES! to the opportunities that come your way, say YES! to the dreams in your heart, say YES! to living your life to the fullest.

"Follow your heart and your dreams will come true." Anonymous