Fame

It's unbefitting to be famous

And say fame elevates our souls;

It's unbefitting to trouble over

Your notes and manuscripts and rolls.

The way of art is self-surrender,

Not born of praise or great success.

How shameful when your name's a byword;

Your labor-vain and meaningless!

Oh, live! Not as pretenders live-

In emptiness, with many fears,

But give your heart to vast horizons

And hear the call of future years.

Censor the contents of your books,

Not your destiny. Deliberate

And mark the matter lying near

Your vital themes of life and fate.

Then pass into your deep seclusion,

A man alone and unespied,

As vanishes in evening mist

And sudden dark the countryside.

Another, step by step, will follow

After, and enter your retreat,

But you yourself must not prefer

your victories to your defeat.

You must never violate your purpose

One jot, one atom, to survive.

But be alive-this only matters,

Alive, to the end of ends alive!

1956

Boris Pasternak

Carson and I hit the local library this week. I have a stack of new books to read and after digging through one of the poetry books, I found the above.

It felt inspiring!

I have some new projects I'm working on. I am excited and nervous to see what I am capable of. More details to come.......

image: Fan Ho, via Amateur Couture

Beth Hoeckel

My favorite thing about these:

'All collages shown are made with found paper and archival paste (not digitally created)'

If I was gonna create collage, that's how I would like to do it: paper, scissors, photos, glue, glitter. The old fashioned way, my hands and not a mouse.

Something about a messy studio seems more respectable then a computer on a sleek desk....... More romantic and so on. Thoughts?

all images: Beth Hoeckel

Custom Coach DIY

This is my very first designer handbag folks, a Coach cross-body bag circa 1989.

I was insanely proud of it when I got it. Of course I haven't carried it forever, but I have never been able to let it go. I got it for Christmas in middle school, and I seriously freaked out! I guess I haven't had the heart to give it away and Coach leather really seems to hold up, so it looks almost as good as the Christmas morning I opened the box.

Fast forward a hundred years and here I am still holding on to it, never carrying it. Somehow I got this idea about painting old handbags to freshen them up. I think I am being influenced by all the neon and neutrals stuff out there.

Off to the craft store I went. In the end I chickened out on the fluorescent colors I had in my mind. Gold seemed like a much safer choice, plus it will go with so much more. I love gold! I already owned the stencils and they ended up being the perfect size, I wanted something big.

I am super excited about how it turned out! I think it will look amazing with chunky sweaters and boots and fits just what I need running in and out of Carson's school and the grocery and such.

If you don't have an old bag that will work, check out Ebay. I'm sure there are tons of great old leather bags, I found a bunch of old Coach ones that would work great (here, here, and here) I plan on finding just the right little purse for my Carson and adding her initials, she will love it. Maybe I will save it for Christmas.

What do you think? Easy and cheap project, let me know if you try it out.

all supplies: Hobby Lobby, (go with paint pens, makes it super easy and fast drying)

Local: Music Midtown

Cuyler and I went to Music Midtown on Saturday and had the MOST amazing time!

We tried very hard and could not remember the last time that we spent that many consecutive hours without child just the two of us. Pretty sad!

We LOVE seeing live music and it is always our first choice when sneaking in a date.

The weather was AMAZING! The crowd was plenty large, but not overwhelming. There was lots of great people watching and tons of great music!

The Lineup:

• The Postelles
• The Constellations
• Walk The Moon
• The Joy Formidable
• Band of Skulls
• Manchester Orchestra
• Young The Giant
• The Black Keys
• Cage The Elephant
• Coldplay

Indulgences Included:

• Cold beer and fresh squeezed vodka lemonade
• BBQ brisket sandwiches
• Fries with salt and vinegar aoli
• Jalapeno tofu corn dogs

Popular Trends:

• Lots of denim, tons of cut offs
• Lace and crochet
• Fringe, Fringe, and more Fringe
• Lace up booties and shoes
• Cross body bags and extra small purses
• Printed skirts and dresses
• A surprising amount of body con clothing
• Face paint
• Belts on EVERYTHING!

Additional Entertainment:

• A group of teenage girls desperately trying to score beers......eventually succeeding.
• 10 teenage girls sharing 2 beers.
• A college student sitting next to us studying her Art History notecards, in the middle of the show. Her parents would be proud!
• Cuyler offering to put me on his shoulders, um?!
• After leaving before Coldplay with no regrets, we heard Jay-Z blaring and for half a second considered running back in. Dirty trick, Chris Martin!

If I had to pick a favorite.......Young The Giant. Although, you might notice above that I had a total moment of lameness and jumped up to bother Band of Skulls walking past our blanket.

Anyone that knows me is aware that I hate being in front of the camera, so this is definitely abnormal behavior! It might have been the drinks that gave me the nerve, or just plain confusion, since it all happened so fast? Regardless, Pretty hilarious!

I had THE best time with my hubby! I sure am a lucky girl to have such a great guy, he really knows how to treat his lady right!