envy vs. enough

(tiny paintings to be used in a LARGE project, can't wait till it's finished!)

Creativity is life giving. It is generous. It is healing. It is beautiful, lovely, encouraging, patient, kind, hopeful and all of the best things you can imagine in your head and heart right now. There are very few things I claim to know...but I do know these things to be true.

I also know that envy and jealousy are a very real part of my personality. I have felt it for as long as I can remember and now, as a blog reader and creative person, there are times when I feel it everyday. However, while I can feel envy and jealousy with such intensity as I go through my daily RSS feeds, I can also feel kindness and gentleness and abundance with just as much intensity. And my choice, when those scarcity feelings start to creep in, is to direct my thoughts in a different direction. What if instead of focusing on lack we all started focusing on abundance? What if there is enough for everyone? What if there was no such things as artistic competition? What if ideas were "gifted" and couldn't be "stolen"? What if all creativity was available to anyone who asked for it? What if we shared and grew TOGETHER? Wouldn't our creative journeys be that much sweeter?

To all of my fellow artists and bloggers and creative folks....I am filled with such joy to be in this adventure WITH you. I learn about life and art and Essence and even myself from you everyday. I am proud of you and I want you to succeed - even if you do bring the ideas I have had swimming around in my head to the market before me. The gifts I receive from fellow creative bloggers far outweigh any gifts I could ever provide to the readers of my own blog. I feel honored to be a part of something so huge and beautiful and brilliant.

big dreams

Tell me I'm not the only one. Please.

that time of year again...holiday photo cards

I know its the day before Halloween and you probably don't want to hear about Christmas just yet...but it makes me so happy! My absolute favorite time of the year is the Holiday season. I think it is all of the good energy and visual stimulation that comes with the excitement of giving...and the pecan pie.

But the holidays will be here before we know it. And although I haven't started listening to Holiday music just yet, I have started designing Christmas cards.

These designs are being sold through Sarah Pay Designs....and if you place an order (you don't have to decide on your design yet, just place the order) before November 14th you will get 20% off your entire order! very cool.

Check out the Flickr site for more designs and email spay (at) carolina.rr.com for a rate card and more info. Or you can email me ashleyinzer (at) gmail (dot) com and I can help too.

Sarah and I are also willing to work on custom orders....if you have an idea in your head we can make it become real. We are good at that!













Sarah and I go WAY back (we met at summer camp) - she is super talented and we have such a unique friendship...when everyone else thinks we are "weird" we just get each other. I admit, I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to projects and getting things done well and right....and I have to say Sarah is one of the only people in the world that I would trust my life, my business, my art and any project imaginable to. She is a genius of all sorts. Like a real genius.

Please buy cards from us this year...it would make me SO SO happy!!

DIY bookcase

We searched everywhere to find the perfect bookcase that would fit behind our couch....to no avail. We didn't even find a "create your own combination" at Ikea that would work. So we decided to make our own (which interprets to... I decided what it would look like and Spencer actually built it). I really really love the way it turned out...perfect.


One of my favorite things to do, when i enter someone's home for the first time, is scope out their books. I feel like the books a person reads says so much about the life they lead...or at least the life they want to lead. Books are one of my most favorite things in the entire universe. Just before we moved I did some serious decluttering and got rid of about 75% of my books. It was SO hard to do! I have moved over 30 times in my life and my books have been the one constant in my life. I am so attached to them.

The photos are kind of small but here is a sneak peak into the books in my life....




Do you love seeing what other people are reading too or is it creepy?

linen bunting and a few favorites

Hello hello! Just wanted to share a simple little project I did that involves some of my latest obsessions....linen and buntings. I can't stop making things that involve garland or bunting. I know its a fad that is about to run it's course but I have always liked things that hang and I just don't think I will ever stop.


I cut the bunting shapes out of linen fabric, machine stitched them onto thin ribbon and then painted little hearts in various shades of reds, pinks and white on each one. Here is a closer look...

I think they would be fun at a wedding shower or rehearsal dinner.

Also, a few more of my favorite things of the moment....

My favorite magazine of the moment. BUST. They have a great website too.

My favorite book of the moment. CANT. PUT. IT. DOWN. Not everyone will be into this but if you are open to it it will change your life. Seriously. Any other type 4's out there??

My favorite song of the moment....Overjoyed by Christine Kane. This woman is phenomenal in so many ways. She is a singer/songwriter (as wells as a speaker and writer and serious butt kicker) and her music style is coffeehouse/folk/acoustic. And you should really check out her blog if you want to uplevel your life and learn how to live consciously creative.

We had a great weekend. We explored our new city and allowed ourselves a few hours to just relax and read and play music. Now off to make something cool.......

So glad to be back!

I've been gone for so long from the blog and I have missed the constant companionship and connection that it has always brought to my days. I have missed you!

We are still working on getting settled into our new house. It is so sweet, i wish I could invite you all over for a get-together. It would be nice to have some friends here. We love the city and especially the area that we live in. Every morning I get to run through the cutest streets with shops and cafes and little parks...i think it's the closest you can get to Park Slope, Brooklyn while in Florida (its a stretch - i know).

So much is going on in this little mind of mine and though I am loving this very moment on this very day in this very second, i am excited to see how life looks a year from now. For starters, Spencer and I have gone "complaint free" and it has already shifted the energy in our lives. It's amazing and I highly recommend it. Just try it for a week and see how you feel.

We have had a couple days of "fall" weather in central Florida....it has been unusually chilly and it reminds me of the early falls in NYC and Vermont. I love it! But I think we will be back up to 85 tomorrow. I enjoy that too.

I hope I still have some readers out there...thank you for sticking around during our move. I am SO glad to be back!

Here are a few photos from the week...






We are heading out to Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights tonight....are you doing anything fun to celebrate the fall season this year?

be gentle

I am still alive!! I am here! i love you!

I am just taking some time to get REALLY clear about what I want to be, do and have in my life.

For example, one thing I know I want is to feel as beautiful as possible. Since I hadn't had my hair cut in almost a year that meant a trip to the salon was in line. And since hair cutters LOVE to make curly hair straight (which really bothers me), I couldn't get out the door without a big fat round brush being taken to my head.

Ill be back next week with creative goodness, i promise.

As for today....be very gentle with yourself. Relax. You are probably more OK than you realize.

Go gently today,
Ash

still getting settled

It is taking me a while to get settled into a new house and a new city. I am loving every minute of it! But it has taken me away from the blog for a little longer than expected so i wanted to let you know that I haven't disappeared...i just can't focus on crafty and artsy stuff when my house looks like a tornado hit it. So a little longer and then I'll have lots of things to share!

Check out our newly painted door...

I know painting a door isn't really high on the priority list right after moving but I was so excited about it that I just couldn't wait.

I'll be back soon with lots of fun stuff!!

moving on

We are right in the midst of moving from the coast of Alabama to Orlando. And since I am really on a decluttering kick (i want to get rid of everything) Spencer and I have been having so much fun going through every single item that we have in our house. Check out some of these really funny things that we uncovered....

...before there was Gameboy I had portable PAC MAN!!!


You know you had this too....it's ok. I won't hold it against you.


I had every book in the series. My favorites were the vacation specials...they were extra thick!


Reece has found his own special spot in the middle of the moving madness.


And at night...when I was too tired to pack anymore, I painted a special little zebra for my friend Jana who had sweet Drew 16 days ago....


I wont have access to the internet for a while during the actual relocation process so Ill see you back here in a few days....I am SO excited to get moved and settled in to our little house on the brick road. I can finally start selling my art online!!

See you in 500 miles!

i love you

I've been feeling the love big time lately. I made this for my sweet Spencer.

note: I realized after I created this illustration that the concept is similar to the poster that says "I love you more than blogs and coffee". I wasn't thinking of that when I was designing this so I hope it doesn't appear copied.

change is the best

I think I am going through a time of quiet reflection right now. I am feeling the ebbs and flows of life intensely and I love it. It really is so good to be alive.

I am learning so much right now and I want to share it all with the world but for some reason I feel the need to just let it sit in my head for a while. There is so much change happening right now and, honestly, I love it when I am in that type of place in life. Although it feels very uncomfortable and scary, I have finally recognized that these exact moments are the ones that are filled with faith and trust, hope and longing, excitement and fear - the best parts of life. These are the really good times.

I realize now that nothing makes me feel more alive than stepping out in faith when I have no idea where I will land. As comfy as "knowing" feels, its no where near the life I want to live.

So here are a few photos from my week.

I am LOVING freehand embroidery! And yes, I spelled it wrong. How is it possible that I spelled my most favorite word in the whole world wrong? I don't get it.

Very simple gift wrap made out of materials I had on hand. Happy Birthday, Sharee!

I love my cats, obvious I know. I am one of those crazy cat ladies who doesn't have "real" kids.

My hair has been the same since I was 18 years old....I am 32. It is SO time for a change. The trick is to find someone who actually knows how to cut curly hair....not easy at all.

I have been pretty slow posting lately, but after the move (we are moving to Orlando in 2 weeks) I assure you that I will be around more often. I can't wait to share about all the plans that are in process!!

One more thing....

"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." - Andre Gide

rehersal dinner invites

A very dear friend of mine, Carolyn, is getting married next month. She is doing pretty much everything for her wedding herself and has put in a ton of time and creativity to make sure every detail of the event is perfecto. Check out her amazing wedding blog for step-by-step details of all her crafty projects so far.

I was lucky enough to get to help her with her rehearsal dinner invites. The event is going to be at a beautiful historic apple barn in the mountains of North Carolina. She wanted to set the tone with the invites and she already had an idea of what she wanted.....

By the way, somehow this girl pulled this design together in Microsoft WORD. What??!!

Carolyn was also open to new ideas so I sent her a couple of completely random designs that were stewing around in my head....


In the end she settled on the doily theme and I printed them on Kraft paper to give them a bit of a rustic, earthy feel.

She ended up printing a banner design (using WORD and clipart - what??!!) on vellum envelopes and punched out circle confetti to make each invite special. Check out her blog for step-by-step DIY details on this and many more really cool wedding projects.

faith

Something happens in the mind and heart of a person who stares hell directly in the face yet is able to defeat it. Such a deep and raw beauty emerges. After such an experience, life carries with it a sweetness and a peace no matter what challenges may arise. I don't know that I can really explain this concept with words, it might simply have to be lived, but I think this quote does a pretty good job conveying the message. (I found the quote today on one of my favorite blogs, Apples for Poppy Anne - thank you Erin!)

I'm back from vacation and I have a lot of catching up to do. Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday....they really do keep getting sweeter and sweeter every year.

stuff from the week + vacation

I am going on vacation tomorrow (well technically today since it's already Sunday)!!! But first, a few things from the week......






I'll see you all next week!

Belgium train station

ok, this is just way TOO COOL not to post about. You might have already seen it and I am late to the game, if so, watch it again cause it will make you smile big time.

I want to do something like this!!