I'm thinking about becoming a morning person.

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This is it. I'm growing up and stuff and I want to be a morning person. I want to be one of those people who get up early, motivated for the day, who get things done before they go to work and are happy to do so. What am I thinking!? I don't know why, I just want to so bad, I love the idea of getting a work out in before alot of people are awake, I love sunrises, and the idea of morning having so many possibilities. Mornings just seem to be great always, no matter how the rest of your day goes, the morning is always a mystical time (sometimes with real mist). Maybe its a Colorado thing, but the mornings there are always so calm, no matter what the rest of the day will be like, you can count on the morning being the same shade of light pink with the clouds drifting perfectly across the sky. I want to see that everyday. I want to be a morning person.

There's only one problem: I'm a night owl. I stay up late, I always have. The night is when my mind works it's magic. I stay up late pondering the essential facts of life: creating endless lists in my head, pondering when to do my laundry, deciding if I'll be on time for work, what to do to finish my projects, you name it.. I will think about ALL of it right before I go to bed and forget it as soon as I fall asleep.

So there's the dilemma. I love the mornings, but I do everything at night. So how do you BECOME a morning person? Is there like a 4 step program that I am not aware of? Or is it something that you can just jump into, both feet first: wake up early. Is that it? I have an inkling it's not. I feel like there needs to be some type of self-help seminar. Do I need to mentally prepare to live in the morning? How is it possible? I could work on some type of strategy and hopefully I'll see you in the morning!

Portrait Personalities

There is something about portraits that makes me love the way that a person's personality can emerge from a single moment capture in time.  Their surroundings, the way a person dresses, a certain pair of shoes or a shirt, or a facial expression, can all say something small and meaningful in a picture that is observed over and over again.  I love that a picture is something that can spark a memory to be replayed many years later.   The photographer John Huck captures people and what I can only assume to be their favorite breakfast. There were some of your standard "cheerio people":

And one man who's breakfast is a little...unique?

Beans on toast? I'll pass.

It's so fascinating to look through these pictures and evaluate these people's lives based on their breakfast choices.  Mine would be a picture of messy bedhead (since breakfast can't wait until after a shower, of course) with a big plate of Saturday Morning Waffles piled high with strawberries, whip cream, a dash of cinnamon, and a splash of homemade syrup.  What is your 'signature' breakfast and what does it say about you?

Perfectly Cloudy Colors

Here's a look at all of the Perfectly Cloudy colors available!

From Left to Right
Black
Plum
Navy
Aqua
Emerald
Shamrock
Mint
Lemon
Peach
Poppy
Hot Pink
Raspberry
Gold
Silver
Champagne
White

not shown:
Rose Gold
Antique Gold
Granite

Perfectly Cloudy Packaging

As an Etsy shop owner, it is so important for me to create an entire product.  I spend almost as much, if not more time figuring out how to package the items I sell  than creating the items themselves.  I don't advertise it much because people don't typically buy packaging, but it's what makes an item in the mail special.  These origami boxes that I use to package my earrings, necklaces and hair pins are actually one of the most time consuming in my process to create, but they are most definitely one of my favorite things about sending out perfect little packages!

 

 

Leather Earrings and Words on Perfection

Sometimes I feel that I'm not qualified to be a jewelry designer.  I usually don't follow the rules.  Actually, I'm not even sure that I know what the rules of jewelry are.  All I know, is that before I started selling jewelry I could never find any pieces that were just right for me. Now that I make my own, I wear it every single day.  Other pieces were always too big, or too small, or too much going on.  I'm a huge fan of simple things.  My mantra for this jewelry shop and everything I try to create follows something I've read that has stuck with me ever since: 

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."  

It is a struggle to keep clean lines and uncluttered ideas.  When you create, there is so much information at one time in your head.  Being able to edit things down to the one core idea takes a substantial amount of fortitude.  It's so easy to keep adding things to cover other mistakes or weaknesses.  But when there is less to observe, you appreciate what is really important and necessary.  And after all of that, I've created these leather earrings which are nothing like I've seen before.  They are hands down my favorite piece of jewelry yet and I can't wait to see what comes next.

 See these, and all of my other colored leather earrings HERE!

Dove Beauty Campaign

A friend of mine shared this video on Facebook.  It's part of Dove's beauty campaign.  Some volunteers describe themselves as a sketch artist draws their description.  A stranger then comes and describes the same person.  The contrast for some is startling.  It's pretty inspiring, and makes me want to tell everyone how beautiful they are!

Anna Sun by Walk the Moon

I can't get enough of this song. I've listened to it at least 15 times today so I finally watched the music video and I have to say, it was a little disappointing since the sound is gets off more and more the longer it plays and it drives me crazy.  But look how fun it is! Apparently it was released in 2004 and is now a hit. Honestly, I used to be one of those people who would find songs like this and bands that I knew would go big.  I was really into it.  I listened to all of this random music that no one knew about.  I loved finding talented people who are creating musical magic and being a closet fan of their genius.  There's just a unique sound to an artist who is doing something for their own joy.