"If you don't die of thirst, there are blessings in the desert. You can be pulled into limitlessness, which we all yearn for, or you can do the beauty of minutiae, the scrimshaw of tiny and precise. The sky is your ocean, and the crystal silence will uplift you like great gospel music, or Neil Young."
- Anne Lamott
I saw this quote on Facebook today and it exactly nailed my relationship with the high desert - especially the New Mexico high desert. That image of the sky as your ocean is so perfect. The allure of that deep blue may be universal - but as you know, I really don't like water in any form except as an ice cube. My ocean-loving relatives are horrified by this - but this makes sense to me - the sky is my ocean.
That's my squirrel moment before today's project. Ann Lamott has some great stuff. For some reason, in the last few years, a few books that are about the process of writing have been really appealing for me. Even though I find Stephen King to be way too crude - he's like a talented toddler that stops being a prodigy every now and then to talk about poop - his book On Writing - is spectacular. It's somewhat painful in the audio version, because he is the narrator, and he describes that terrible accident he was in in such a stark and terrifying way - it's a bit of a heartstopper, and you'll find yourself grieving with him for his pain and anger and lost time. But his advice on writing is extremely sound. Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird is also great if you enjoy these books about the writing process. She is funny, and the narrator was fantastic. That was one of those books I came across randomly, through a Facebook friend who started a book club group on it and I joined knowing nothing about the book in advance.
This is one of the great blessings of social media - that fast moving stream of cats and randomness contains a lot of things that are really charming and memorable and useful.
Guess it's one of those weeks. I have no idea how I found these adorable anime plushies on Deviant Art, but I fell down a rabbit hole, ended up on Allyson Dean's project and fell in love with those little guys.
The second I saw them, I knew exactly how to make a paper version. That's right - with the best die ever invented - the Curvy Keepsake Box framelits. My team knows how completely obsessed I am with this die, and I don't even DO 3D unless it's just amazing. And these are amazing.
SQUEE!!!
How cute are those????
OMG I had so much fun making them.
Here's a little video of how they go together, and all the supplies are linked above.
Don't forget - my new online class is available - featuring 24 fun & unique color combos for the multi-step Picture Perfect stamp set.
Hope your lead-up to Christmas is peaceful and fun. Hard to believe it's just all a week away.
Loveyameanitbye.
I usually don't like things like this, but I feel a sudden *need* to have that die (and way too many things from the Occasions catalog)
ReplyDeleteThese are so sweet. It's good to fall down a rabbit hole every now and again.
ReplyDeleteOh dear...these boxes just keep getting better and better. Amazing how easily adaptive that die is to produce these charming little creatures. Of course, we'd need your imagination to even come up with the concept.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly adorable! Love them so very much.
ReplyDeleteI love Ann Lamott. And a good narrator can make an audio book, am I right?
ReplyDeleteSo freaking adorable! I need that die just to make Pikachu for my kids. My adult kids. They would LOVE him! Thank you so much for perfectly captioning your video! I was so happy to know what was being said. ❤️
ReplyDeleteOh I'm so glad it helps Shannon! <3 Happy Holidays!
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