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It's V Day! I love any reminder to grab the ones you love the most and squeeze them tightly. And eat cinnamon hearts till you sweat.
Today: If you're interested in helping a good cause - please visit the LINKwithlove.org site today and take part in the Pinterest Project. I am so grateful. (Proper pinning post to follow.)
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[ DRAFT of what I envision the Pinterest Project to look like.]
I have a side project called LINKwithlove.org. It's about helping people understand the best way to share intellectual property online. With kindness. With respect. Remember this? When things like art, photography, music, film, poetry, and ideas get shared without links to the source (creator) things can go very bad very quickly. With art (where I can speak from experience), it seems too much of the internet feels art is free to use, print, reproduce, sell, miscredit and alter. Which is not the case.
Sigh...
So I need your help.
THE PINTEREST PROJECT.
I have a little idea that if I can get a large group of caring individuals to pin a big meaningful/impactful/beautiful graphic to their pinterest boards over the course of one day - we could collectively get the attention of a bigger audience AND HOPEFULLY THE GOOD FOLKS AT PINTEREST.
Truth: I LOVE PINTEREST. I think it is brilliant + beautiful. I am a fan + user. I picked Valentines Day because I truly LOVE them. BUT. I feel the last few months on Pinterest have exploded with new users and suddenly it feels URGENT to educate about proper sharing ettiquette. When you know better you do better... (Maya Angelou said that). Right? I met with Ben Silberman (the creator of Pinterest) and we talked candidly about this very issue. He knows it's real. BUT I want it to be a PRIORITY to them like it is to each one of us who share our intellectual properties with the world. It's very real to me. I want Pinterest to RISE ABOVE the junkiness of Tumblr and Facebook - to be SUPERHEROES that make the internet BETTER. Not worse. I want them to use their brilliance and DO THE RIGHT THING: to fight for the intellectual property that Pinterest helps us share.
WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO:
That's it. It will take less than 10 seconds. It will look something like the black graphic from above - but it will be more fabulous (gulp)... There will be a handy 'pin it' button the work is done for you. If you wanted to pin it fourteen times or post about it or tweet about it or share and encourage others to do the same - that would be amazing to the enth degree - but all I'm asking you to do is pin it. If you don't participate in Pinterest - THAT'S OKAY TOO - you can still share the idea with your friends.
Let's do it. Let's try it. MAYBE nothing will change... but if we do nothing then MOST CERTAINLY nothing will change.
[ A 'proper pinning' post is coming this week. ]
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Today: I'm still catching up + trying to get my groove back. (The MOO.com business card winners were published earlier today.) I will be reaching out today to ask for help with the PINTEREST PROJECT tomorrow. We can do this.
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Here are the winners!! If you are one of the three commentors here - you're going to be making some MOO.com business cards! Richelle Wiebe is the grand prize winner and gets business cards AND a sticker book. Email me and I'll get you in touch with the nice folks at MOO.com. (Thanks MOO + thanks for playing along.)
Today: new post on the way - THE PINTEREST PROJECT and how you can help.
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I have fabulous business cards. I'm one of those terribly fussy people who cares about size + paperweight. I am also, very admittedly, a paper snob and although I try not to - I definitely judge people on the business cards they sport (and OMG their font choices). Over the years I've found myself drawn to MOO.com for all kinds of different reasons - but mostly the paper. I print my business cards, postcards, and labels at MOO.com. For years. It's easy for me to do in the middle of the night. I can upload different images. I can see online proofs. And what they call 'PRINTFINITY' I call super coolness. I've used both the UK and US sites and found the quality to be consistently awesome (but shipping to Canada to be a mystery - cheaper from the UK if you factor in duties from the US).
A couple of weeks ago a happy MOO.com guy named Dan emailed to see if I'd like to try a sample of their stuff and review them for this blog. BLERG. I don't really like that kind of thing but since I already use + LOVE them - we decided a giveaway would be more awesome SO THAT YOU CAN SEE IF YOU LOVE THEM, too.
My business cards are printed as MOO.com mini cards. I have uploaded three different black+white backs that I have ordered with two different fronts. I have pretty minimal information on my cards because I'm pretty minimal. I don't have a phone number or street address because to be honest - I don't want anyone to phone me or come to my house. That's the beauty of MOO business cards - you can put whatever the heck you want on your cards. That's what makes the world awesome.
So here's the happy Friday-weekend MOO giveaway...
GIVEAWAY PRIZES:
Grand Prize: 100 MOO Business Cards and a MOO StickerBook (180 stickers)
Runners Up: 2 sets of 100 Business cards for 2 separate runners up.
HOW TO WIN:
All you have to do is leave a comment below and tell me how you would could use MOO to make your business cards amazing?
The winners will be randomly selected from the comments below by a super-scientific method called pick-out-of-a-hat. I will make Dan pick a winners at 11:59pm on SATURDAY FEB 11 and then I will post those winners here on Monday morning bright + early (FEB13/12). Please remember to enter a real email address THAT YOU CHECK so MOO.com can get a hold of you + send you the details you need to get your free stuff.
Simple?? Awesome.
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LINKwithlove.org. HEY! I desperately need help on FEB14. I have an idea to make a splash and SPREAD THE WORD on Pinterest. If it works the way I'm hoping - it will make a ripple of awareness that will hopefully, hopefully, hopefully get through to folks AND GET THROUGH TO PINTEREST. Would you help? It will only work if there are lots of people on board. More info on Monday.
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Today: Friday. YES.
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This is something I shared mid February last year... but it popped into my head last night because EASYvsHARD has been a crazy theme around here right now. I was very surprised when I found last year's post that it was almost the EXACT SAME TIME of year that I was feeling this way. Nearly to the day. That's plum crazy!
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EASY: getting answers
HARD: believing it took so long
EASY: loving pinterest
HARD: seeing the wake of miscredited + creditless art
EASY: being short tempered with the ones I love
HARD: blocking everything out so I can be in the moment with them
EASY: cheering for little girls that hit milestones
HARD: pain in my heart because they are coming too fast
EASY: making appointments
HARD: making it through the day when it hurts
EASY: joking about painting with my mouth
HARD: accepting the fact that it may soon be a good option!
EASY: coffee
HARD: a day without
EASY: taking painkillers
HARD: holding a hairbrush
EASY: complaining
HARD: changing
EASY: blaming people
HARD: not blaming people
EASY: watching from the sidelines
HARD: taking hits for doing the right thing
EASY: getting in a rut
HARD: changing my attitude
EASY: hindsight
HARD: foresight
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What are your EASY vs HARDs today?
Today: I am juggling a doctor visit, a big painting, two ad agency projects, a few extra kids in the house, an uncooperative right hand and a long TO-DO list. Blerg. On second thought - maybe this day calls for extra Instagraming! Watch the side feed. COFFEE!
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This is Penn last week at her birthday party. BEACH. SWEETIE. Dan's mom + stepdad arranged a boat so Penn could have her party on the ocean. With all of her Florida aunts, uncles and cousins. AND a dolphin or two! Which is pretty cool, if you ask me. It wasn't the hottest or sunniest day Florida has ever seen, but while the adults complained about the whether - this sweet girl rocked around in a tutu and a life jacket. HAPPY. AS. COULD. BE.
She hiked that tutu up to her armpits so she could play in the waves - and play she did. The look on her face is something that will stay with me all the rest of my life. ESPECIALLY the moment when a dolphin swam up beside her on the boat and casually squeaked out a happy birthday. Just for her. It was pretty amazing.
Because she's pretty amazing.
Good memories. This is us at the start of 2012. (photo by Jessica Kostenchuk.) I love seeing us together as a family. It reminds me that this is real. Oh and the above beach photo is a great contrast to this photo!
LINKwithlove. Go download a pretty desktop wallpaper to freshen up your screen. It's FREE and it's nice. AND there will be a new one available every month over there.
Today: Girl tribe day. We're going to the chiropractor. Seems that Penn's spine needs a little TLC after her fall. As does mine. We're on it. And maybe some cupcakes, too.
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[ Cirque do mon Esprit. ] K.Barteski 2012
It's been a busy + odd start to 2012 so I feel like this is where REAL LIFE begins. The trips are done. The laundry is done. The lists are made. The squeaky wheels are out in full force and as much as my pea brain is being pulled in the regular 50 directions - I have my eyes on the prize and three rings full of goals.
The above image is the view from my grey matter and a little practice I was working on yesterday to break out of beach-mode and get back into a studio groove. It roughly translates to the 'circus of my mind'. It's a small edition - available as an easy 8x10 in my ARTshop.
Vacation: we are back from a relaxing + warm week in Florida visiting Dan's family. What a nice getaway! What a great adventure. Three cheers to warm + sunny places and a big whoop-whoop for coming home to our own beds + happy wintering. There's an Instagram feed on the left sidebar so you can see what happens around here - as it happens.
Today: I'm catching up in my office and hauling paints and canvasses to the forefront. February is about planning. March is about making.
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I inked an art show for APRIL. It will be one of 2 art shows this spring. A quiet, exclusive, intimate live-art + show event has awesome written all over it. And then to kick off summer a big scale, charity-loving two artist MAJOR PARTY. I am committed + driven. I am making this part of my fierce year of fixing myself up and reinventing my inner strength. It's official.
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I'm going to try to record my fierce moves of 2012 - when they happen. Why? Because I forget. And when I forget about stuff like that I start to leak courage. I forget that I've got it in me. I've tried gratitude + inspiraton journals and let me tell you THEY WORK. They cultivate gratitude + inspiration like a grow-op. SO. Every once in a while I might share a FIERCE MOVE here so I remember that I am very capable of being fierce.
Want to play? Share some fierce moves of your own...
Today: paint + organize after a week away from home. How fierce is that?
Happy birthday, middle one. Today is Penn's birthday - the last in our hectic parade of winter birthdays and I am honouring the sweetness we call Penn. She was a scheduled c-section that decided to come early. She was THE SWEETEST, QUIETEST, CALMEST baby. So much so that I forgot her places more time than I should admit. The flip side of the baby sweetness is that she's now our bravest, wildest, funniest child. She's got the comedic genius of Tina Fey, the sweet face of Pippa Middleton, and the daring of Evil Kenevil. She's dangerous. She's clumsy like you would not believe. She's also the first one to give hugs, to say sorry, to need a lift, to share her stuff, to clean up, and to spread the love. She fascinates me in that magical way that makes you want to always be around her. LOVE.
Dear Penn,
You're three years old today. That's a miracle. That means you've been keeping us on our toes for over a thousand days. And I am so glad. You know what I love about you? You're your own person. I love how you style your day with tutus and princess-phenalia just so that you can throw on rubber boots and jump off the couch or make up super dangerous games like hopping from bar stool to bar stool on one foot. You ask for what you want. You go about your business. You are like no other kid I've met and now that your words and manners are amazing - you've totally stopped hitting people. That's awesome.
This year was huge for you. You talk!! You move! You have really become a little person and can do everything yourself. You rock. You do everything in your own time. Of your own will. YOu build playdough like a rockstar.
Just a note: You fell off the couch a month ago exactly and it was the scariest moment of my life to see your little body tied on to a stretcher surrounded by guys in uniforms. You made my heart stop. You made me bargain with the Universe. You made me want to trade my own space here if that meant you'd be okay. Don't do that again because it was heartwrenching and terrifying. I can't imagine our family without you so as much as it prides me to see your brave little heart. Please, please, please be more cautious when it comes to jumping on the couch. Or off the couch. Or off the stairs. Or the sled. Or the benches. Or the swing. Or the deck. Or the bed. Or the car. Or the piles of teetering books. Please. I desperately need you strong + healthy + here so I can see what your life unfolds to be... because little girl - you amaze the heck out of me and I can't miss a minute.
Love you long time, Penny.
Love, Mama.
Today: we're heading out on the ocean to find some mermaids, dolphins and starfish to invite to Penny's very outrageous party. Pirates need not apply. Adventure ahoy!
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I like routine. I like patterns. I like keeping a good thing going when I can. FEBRUARY: To me, you are all about CALM-THE-HECK-DOWN! (Which is funny to me because we're currently on a sunny vacation with toddlers!!) That's what I need. The aqua breathing space. The neutrals. February has a few recurring themes - LINKwithlove.org. Please go check it out - like us on Faceboook, follow us on Twitter, tell your friends - help us educated the internet about how to share beautiful things online. Cool? Thanks.
Today: relaxing. Meeting up with a special friend. Beaching. Awesome.
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