[i] LoveLife

Elise in the house!

She's here! Elise is here. We picked her up at the airport yesterday afternoon and in true girl-tribe style there was crying, personal injury, balloon disaster and good times. That's how we roll. And SHE ROLLS SO NICELY WITH US. Seriously. We're having so much fun - I am trying to convince her to stay for the rest of the month. The girls love her. Dan likes her. Norman thinks she's rad and we just might send Frank home with to to keep her busy until Paul is back from his deployment! Thank you internet. Thanks.

Oh, and she picked some random winners! If this is you - send me your address details so I can send you a coveted SCRIPTED mini print set.

Life is awesome.

Today: Elise is going to be officially knighted to our Girl Tribe. Lady Blaha Cripe. We have fun things and work things and a whole day of just girls + Elise + real life + loving it. That's cool. We might drag her to DAVIDsTEA! If you're in town and you might want to meet up with Elise + I - keep your Thursday night open and we will let you know which patio we'll be on AND HOPE TO SEE YOU. ART ON THE HORIZON for Thursday. Joint efforts. So cool.

GO!

Let's be Frank.

Seriously. Wouldn't it be great to be Frank? He's 9 weeks old. He's a seal brindle French Bulldog. He's officially been 'mama's little doggie' and Norman's best buddy for about 10 days. That's what Penn calls him. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't in love. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a wee bit tired getting up every two hours to let him out to pee. BUT - this too shall pass. I know that. And for the record - it will probably pass too quickly and in a blink I will be pining for his soft puppy body to cuddle with. He's a charmer.

Normie LOVES him. Frank is settling in well, ALTHOUGH when he has had 'enough' of us he squeezes his body underneath the couch out of arms length. I don't blame him. It can get a little intense around here.


French Bulldog note: his ears will eventually stand up on their own. I'm DYING for them to do it because I love that look. He's a gem. I am officially smitten with this breed.

Did you see me featured on Brené Brown's blog yesterday??? HOW COOL IS THAT?

Today: I'm puttering and painting and watching the clock until it's time to GO GET ELISE from the airport. We are all pretty excited to have her here + the rest of the week will be laid back and rolling with the good-times. Watch for fun things. I will let Elise pick the winner of the SCRIPTED mini print set giveaway so make sure to leave your comments on yesterday's post if you want to win.

Good times ahead. GO!

You know it.

Awesome is. To many times it occurs to me that somewhere along the lines - people just didn't know they were awesome enough to take that leap, take that job, take that chance, take that bus, be that gal, go for more, do that thing, demand the best, trust their guts, make it happen, be the man, do their best... it's crazy. Maybe they forgot. Maybe no one told them. Maybe they just never knew. It's one of my goals, as a mama, to make sure the three wee ladies of mine know they are awesome. That they are loved. That from time to time they are going to fail and they are going to be scooped up and hugged regardless. My daughters were the inspirations for the YOU-ARE-AWESOME posters.

Awesome is. The stars aligned last night - as we sipped wine on our porch watching the kids of the neighbourhood race and laugh. Our bellies were full and our hearts were floating. There is much goodness in this world. Enough to share. Enough to note. Enough to be overwhelmingly grateful for. So much goodness.

Awesome is. SCRIPTschool. I am loving getting this class ready. What to learn the tricks to brush script in all of its lovliness? It's going to be challenging and fun and interesting and informative. Looking for something new + inspiring? Are you registered? Go for it.

Awesome is. The internet. I've never met Brené Brown in person, but through the power of the internet I feel like I've made friends with an amazing woman. Not for all the mega-things she's done... but because she's all the things she says. AUTHENTICITY is a treasure. She's the real deal. If you are here via Brene Brown - welcome.

Awesome is. Twitter. I was a hard sell on this fact, but over the weekend it has helped me communicate with a friend in the eye of hurricane Irene, with a friend in Alaska, with a friend about to have a baby in Australia. What an amazing thing technology is. Follow me here. (@kalbarteski)

Today: I have lots to do. So much work. Happy work. September is upon us. I love the Fall. We have a house guest arriving this week and I am excited to share and learn and be present here. Elise is coming! I feel strangely like my little sister is visiting - eventhough that is silly because I don't have any sisters and we have never met. But if I had a younger sister - I would want it to be her. ART WILL HAPPEN HERE. Register for SCRIPTschool. YOU-ARE-AWESOME.

Leave me a note about what YOUR AWESOME IS and I will get Dan to pick a couple of random winners of the very exclusive SCRIPTED mini print set. This set is so pretty (and only available until the end of September). What is AWESOME TO YOU? Liberate your inner awesome.

GO!

Shine.

[This dreamy image by Rachael King Johnson.]

I have an art show coming up where I will be displaying (for the first time) some original brush script work - and some brush script departures that I have never shared before. Not even here. With all kinds of twists. And it's lovely. And it's creating itself in my head so quickly that I am struggling to keep up. I'm working out the display shakedown. I'm working out the art breakdown. I'm inventing a new way to make it possible. I'm formulating the event in my head and every time I get a little bit worried that it may be too big of a departure or 'maybe people won't like it' I get another email from someone nice who has seen another stolen piece of this type of my work being used without consent or credit. And as UNCOOL as that is - a little bit of my heart smiles because the truth always comes to the surface and I would rather be the one rolling out new and original art (that people like enough to snatch) than the ones dogging behind me stealing it.

So I paint.

LINKwithlove.org has been quiet over the summer, but come fall - it will be in high gear. Please help spread the word. Tweet it. Blog it. Facebook it. Pinterest it. Believe it and love. We're almost at 2000 "likes" on Facebook and that's about thirty-three million short of what I think we need. Please share + display your badge. Please give credit + link to the things you like on the internet - be it art or whatever else brings you joy.

Today: I am painting + finding my centre. I really want to be ripping the carpet out of my studio. But, I will be painting instead. Oh, and moving things around on the blog. A happy painter. A peaceful putterer.

SCRIPTschool starts in a couple of weeks and it's SO FUN. I will be sneaking peeks at the twist on my new work and teaching you how get your script on. Don't miss out.

GO!

Shift.

Things will be moving around on the blog a wee bit. Head's up.

Runway instant.

Instagr.am. These photos are from my phone - from the Instagr.am app. You may recognize a few of the faces. Originally, I was totally against the photos that are "filtered" to look like film and all that jazz. Because it's kind of messing with the actual moments' information being recorded. But since iPhone photos are junky anyways - I gave it a whirl and LOVE THE SHARING capabilities. I love that in one click I can share it. I'm also a sucker for squares. It's made iPhone photos more fun. And a little bit dreamy.

And check out Photojojo's 10 Totally New Ways to Play with Instagr.am. Very cool.

YESTERDAY: I had a flash of brilliance and we packed a picnic. Okay, maybe brilliance is a bit of an overstatement. My girl tribe and I went to lay on our backs in the big open field just shy of a runway at the airport. My backup was the play structure - but WE DIDN'T NEED IT. We had a blast. When the planes roar in over your head - it's pretty effin' cool. We had a blast and the looks on their faces when the F18 fighter plane landed were hilarious. Oooops, I mean priceless. It was awesome. I think I'll be making that a regular stop in our repertoire.

Today: I am in my studio today and suddenly inspired by the fact that I have a special guest coming next week, a toddler starting school + an online class the next week, an in-person workshop the following week and an art show a week or so after that. And a happy husband, three cute small people, two French Bulldogs and a stray cat I'm trying to get rid of. The heat is on.

GO!

Circus outtakes.

OH MAN. I grabbed my camera yesterday to attempt a couple of photos of our new tribe. I sang and danced but I picked the wrong hour. Plain and simple. 30 minutes before dinner is not a good time to expect cooperation from hot, hungry, squirrely kids. OR DOGS. No one really wanted their photos taken. No one really wanted to stop eating the big carrot chunks we use as snacks. No one really seemed concerned with documenting our monumental family change. No one really seemed as worried as I was that either Poet or Frank were going to hurl themselves off the couch at any given moment. I snapped. They lost interest. We gave up and called it a day. I think it was probably safer that way.

And all's well that ends well. No one fell off the couch. No puppies got squashed. No babies were harmed in the making of these gloriousy chaotic shots. No harm no foul, they say. (I love that last shot. Frank is totally whispering in Poet's ear.)

***In other news: I am seriously done with summer. Good bye August. Hot is fun for a couple of weeks and then it's just yuck. We are melting and wishing the breezy Fall weather to come our way. Five out of five girl tribe members agree. And that's definitely UNANIMOUS because there are only 4 members.

Today: We are going to head out on an adventure somewhere. I am not sure where. Maybe to check out the zoo's new baby tigers or to horse around at the Children's Museum. Either way - we are off to enjoy what, we hope, is the last muggy, humid, hot, sticky day of summer and give thanks that we live in a nice place that is neither under attack from a tropical storm nor experiencing earthquakes nor famine nor locusts nor severe drought nor alien invasion. Oh, Canada!

GO!

Why the world needs more puppies.

This isn't a particularly great shot. But it's what I'm talking about. THE WORLD NEEDS MORE PUPPIES. Gadhafi - he needs a puppy. Angry rock bands - NEED PUPPIES. The prissy misses of the world need puppies. Stodgy folks need puppies!! Because puppies make everyone into soft, blubbering, nice-people. It's true. This photo is Dan about 5 minutes after he met Frank. IN LOVE. His brain was exploding after a week at a nerd conference. (It's actually called IN-DEPTH TAX or something fancy-smart like that.) But, enter FRANK - and voila! The stoic, silent guy becomes animated + affectionate. It's perfect. Everyone is loving Frank. Our neighbours. Our friends. Our kids. Our families. Baby-talking dog-lovers ALL OF THEM. It's hard not to love a wee smash-face with the very definition of puppy-dog-eyes. Frank is at hit. (Even Norman likes him!)

I spent the day yesterday learning how to implement a puppy training element into minding the ladies. It went better than expected but NEEDLESS TO SAY I needed a bit of a drink when the day was done. I know I will find my rhythm. I know it will be worth it. Already the Norman vs. Frank wrestling matches are epic on the awesome side. And don't get me started on Penn's pure joy over what she refers to as "mama's little doggie". Amazing. I love it. Thanks Frank.

Today: I AM BACK AT WORK. Finally. Happily. Feverishly. If you're waiting for an email or a file or a job or a call. TODAY IS THAT DAY. I am going to hack small chunks away from my TO-DO list in hopes of getting it through SEPTEMBER alive. No. FLOURISHING. Extra coffee + a frenchie or two in my office means LET'S DO THIS. I love my life.

GO!

F is for...

This is Frank. He's new. And he's very, very cute. It's no secret that my heart was hurting in a bad way after losing our beloved Crash last month. It was incredibly hard to say goodbye to a friend like that and as much as I'm going to carry the loss around with me like the emotional packrat that I am - I've learned a vaulable lesson in my 35 years on this earth:

Sometimes it's okay to do what the heart wants... because the heart wants it.

It might look like I am replacing Crash with a new buddy. And that's kind of true because this little 8 week old French Bulldog puppy will be sharing a dogbed with Norman. But Crash will never be replaced or forgotten. Frank will snuggle himself into a new space in our hearts and in doing so he will add to the chaos + laughter + camaraderie that makes this life a patchwork of good things. Old + new. He's making himself at home already! And yes I know, I know. Just when one baby is sleeping better I signed myself up for a new one. But if Frank is anything like Crash or Norman - I know that our investment of time right now - will pay dividends later on.

JUST LOOK AT THAT FACE! The stars aligned and Frank found us. That's the story. He happened to be available in the Vancouver area the day that we were flying home from a week in Whistler. The timing was perfect and I fell in love with him a couple of weeks ago after meeting the incredible woman responsible for him and his brothers + sisters VIA SKYPE. So great. We packed him up and carried him on to our plane ride back to the girls.

And couldn't be happier.

Now when I slip up and say 'Let the dogs in' - my heart smiles.

Today: we are getting back on track with a day full of laundry, groceries and puppy cuddling. And coffee. I need to try to get more photos! Tomorrow is back-to-work.

GO!

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