I’m not gonna lie: this summer has been the opposite of relaxing for me.
But I’ve had an abundance of work opportunities and pet-sitting jobs, which I’m so grateful for. Because of the multiple-week jobs, I was able to save enough money that I shouldn’t have to worry about paying car insurance and taxes next year 🎉
As a small business owner who’s never had a traditional job, it’s always an extra big sigh of relief when I confirm that my work is continuing to financially sustain me.
When I was young, I heard so much about being a child/man/woman of God but then I grew up and all I ever wanted was to be of wildflowers, of willow, toad, and bone, of swallowtails, sow thistle and cedar, of birds.
When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Living in New England, I think that March might be the most dramatic month of the whole year.
On the third of March we went “hiking” and ended up clumsily tripping through three feet of snow, but by the end of the month the ground was clear, and flowers were blooming.
It’s official: winter is here and Christmas is almost upon us! And believe it or not, I’ve watched almost all of my favorite Christmas movies, and I’m done making gifts. Done making gifts before the last hours of Christmas Eve, truly a miracle.
Under our tree is looking fullthis year, and the tree itself has a total of five strands of Christmas lights wrapped around it. At night it absolutely glows, and Dad has said on multiple occasions that it looks like it belongs in a movie.
I’m working on using every last day to post Christmas content on my YouTube page, because this seasonal aesthetic must be taken full advantage of!
One of my newest creative projects has been shadowbox making.
I knew I wanted to make some as Christmas gifts, and I had already had this idea (and had pinned a whole bunch of inspiration onto a secret Pinterest board!) before we went on vacation.
I also knew that vacation would be a perfect time to collect some items; down by the coast there’s plenty of lovely pieces of nature, and of course the cherry on top is that much of it came from some of our favorite places.
Exciting news: I’ve partnered up with Riley Mae and Mom to design some bird merch for Riley Mae’s YouTube channel, and yesterday we official launched it 🎉
I was excited to get to design some simple, straightforward birds that are now being printed on t-shirts, mugs, pins, hats, and more.
All of these designs were drawn directly from some of Riley Mae’s photographs, and then painted with black acrylic paint before I scanned them onto my computer and turned them into transparent PNG files that can easily be uploaded to all of our projects.
Usually while I eat breakfast I like to scroll through the daily news articles, because there’s always something interesting mixed into the boring stuff. A new fossil discovered? An octopus that’s been recorded punching fish? Red carpet photos from an award show that I didn’t know was going on? All good things to read, look at, watch, and (when it comes to fashion) judge while I eat my homemade sourdough bread, and start my day.
But lately almost every article has been political, with a certain orange-faced idiot and his moronic toadies plastered across all the news story.
As expected, it’s all been not only depressing and scary (exciting news: it’s almost time to try to enroll in healthcare that I’ll probably be denied! 🥂), it’s also been so blatantly and disgustingly hypocritical that it just about makes my blood boil.
As you can imagine: not a great way to start my day. So I decided to take a little break from the daily onslaught of terrible news, and take that time to get back to my Pinterest scrolling instead. After all, tis the season for new inspiration and creativity 🍂
No one can stop me from getting excited about making Christmas ornaments.
my Pinterest feed has been full of vintage-autumn photography vibes, and when I saw the yellow maple leaves falling, I knew I had to get out for a morning photoshoot
art by jordan rae 