[i] LoveLife

The idea of permanent.

So. Let's just pretend that today is last Thursday. There were lost of questions about how Elise and I picked the prompts for GOventures. It took about 24.5 seconds. She threw out some suggestions - I threw out some suggestions and then we quickly, quickly, quickly narrowed it down from there. Not rocket science. Not pre-meditated. We picked broader ideas than last time. We knew were we asking others to play on Thursday and wanted that day's prompt to be especially challenging. Because challenging usually throws the doors WAY open to solutions that are varied + great. PERMANENT.

So if today is actually last Thursday - let me tell you about the solution that I was really working on for PERMANENT. I've been working on it for a decade. I've been thinking about a second tattoo for years - 10 years. I knew I wanted one - I could just never nail down what would be that PERMANENT in my heart - and I am not the type to pick something unweighted with significance. Don't get me wrong - I love Dan with all my heart, but a significant other is a choice we enter in to - and, unfortunately, can exit from. If you look at current divorce rates - it's not certainly permanent. That's not to be cynical. He's the most amazing thing to ever happen to me and that's no joke. That is to say that I feel like we are solid and forever and he feels like we are solid and forever - and I bet every single person who has ever experienced an earthquake felt the ground beneath themselves was solid and forever, too. But, when Pilot and then Penn came into my life - there was a significant shift in who I am. My love multiplied - for Dan, for the two new people that had chosen us. No matter what happened - they would always be my babies. If they lived. If I died. If they died. We will always be connected... and I am honoured times a million. They will always be those two complete and perfect miracles that changed my life - no matter what happened or what they did or what I did or what transpired in the pages of our stories. Our bond was permanent and it would be - on family trees and legal documents and memories and fibres and stamps of time - and within me. Why on my arm? My right forearm is the one that I see the most when I am painting. I often get covered in paint in that spot and I often leave the paint there because it reminds me that I was lucky enough to paint that day - and I am blessed with a gift. Perfect spot.

  Was this seriously for GOventures? Definitely not. In the past 6 months - I've made three tattoo appointments and bailed each time because the tattoo artist couldn't do EXACTLY what I wanted. I was very, very particular about the font and size. Last week I went to a shop based on a hunch the day before the PERMANENT post - thinking that if there was someone that I got a good vibe from, that could do EXACTLY what I wanted and that could do it that day - oh, what a sign that would be! All of those parts panned out except for the THAT DAY part. They could only do it THE NEXT DAY. Which was sign enough because it wasn't for GOventures. It was for me. (Big thanks to Cadence for bring the moral support I didn't know I needed and taking these sweet photos.)

What font is this? Ministry Script.

Did it hurt? Maybe a little.

Do I love it? It's hardcore - of course.

Today: Back to the TO-DO lists and the getting-it-all-done stuff. My goal is to empty my inbox completely by Saturday and that is a monumental task. I intend to finish the laundry and whip out the lists I made yesterday so that I can get back on top of things around here. First stop - COFFEE.

GO!

P.S.

Hey lazy-sort-of-hectic Saturday morning. [This photo was from our day on Thursday.] We're hanging out and running errands so that we can get ready to host a celebration of Penn's first year tomorrow (eventhough her birthday was on the third). When Pilot turned a year - I was pretty against the fluff and circumstance of a party for someone who won't remember. And I have not changed my stance on the fluff part. BUT, I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing our friends and seeing our small people interact like two big fun worlds colliding. I'm definitely not good at balancing the two worlds and at first I felt guilty - but I'm over it. These two awesomely wonderful people have stolen my heart and I love being able to give it to them - WHOLE.

If any of these comments are you - you are a winner. Email me with your ADD-LOVE print choice AND your address. I can't guarantee you'll get it in time for Valentine's Day, but I will do my best. Congrats! I'm also going to send a print to Elise for encouraging me to do the GOventure again because it was worth it. TOTALLY.

GO!

WHOLE (GO/venture2 : day5)

Today's prompt was WHOLE. When I think of the word 'whole' - I have for 2 decades immediately thought of the word GESTALT: the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. I love that. It's in my top 5 phrases of all time. I think it sums up all and everything that whole is. If you have a whole orange in your purse - that is entirely greater than having a whole orange cut up into 10 pieces sloshing around. A whole car is better than just a bucket of nuts. A pile of random bricks is way less cool than a nice warm house. But, better than that - I am not only my lack of laundry motivation or my guilty conscience or my shoddy math skills or my unfinished sandwich or my poor grammar or my mediocre brushskills or my short temper or my obsessive nature - my whole is greater than my parts will ever add up to. I didn't go to GESTALT for this challenge because I feel like I ALWAYS go there. I live and breathe GESTALT. I heart it. I love it. For this prompt - I tried to think of whole as something physical. Whole bottle of wine came to mind because I was emailing back and forth with Maile and thinking about our great conversation in October over Ethiopian food and how we should have TECHNICALLY only ordered a half bottle of wine - but, we had the WHOLE and in and around that supper - we shared the conversations that made us truly friends. That made me think of all my friends and all the wine and the people I love and the times I have shared over a bottles and bottles of wine. The friends I have made. The loves. The memories that have been created - BY GOING FOR WHOLE. With love and wine - go whole. ;)

*I have thoroughly enjoyed this GO/venture2 series (thank you Elise!). I think IT WAS epic. So many people shared and participated. I felt like I gained a lot of momentum in my own self. I felt pleased and satisfied to have created art when I might not have otherwise. I also felt that my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday solutions were strong and my Thurday/Friday - not so much. But, there's a tide to it and that's what I needed. I also feel a little pooped. It's been a busy week around here with the ladies. (My new bus roll should be here in a few days!)

Check out Elise's solution. Check out the FLICKR group. Super awesome thank you to the SUPER MEGA STARS that played yesterday. That was EPIC. Let's do this again some time soon. Like in April. Deal?

Thank you for leaving comments about the solutions - I love reading through. If this is your comment below - you are the random.org winner of the ADD-LOVE UNCOMMON iPhone case (it's your lucky day!). Email me. If you don't have an iPhone - then we will draw again!

*AS PROMISED - every day is a give away this week! Leave me a comment about what you were inspired by from GOventures2, or a question about GOventures2 or an anything-related-to-goventures and I'll draw for a couple more ADD-LOVE prizes - I'll pick a winner tonight at 11:59pm CST and post tomorrow. Happy weekending!

Today: It's a bona fide circus so coffee up! A super casual maternity shoot. A date with my inner abdominals. A shower. A chance to try Thursday's prompt all over again. A trip to the grocery store and after a week so full - I am sitting my tired butt on the couch tonight to hang with Dan and cuddle the dogs (it was a big week for them - Crash got his tongue stuck to a frozen pole and Normie got SERVED by a Scottie). We have a busy weekend ahead complete with Penn's big first birthday bash. Hello weekend.

GO!

PERMANENT (GO/venture2 : day4)

Today's prompt was PERMANENT. I had a nice little plan all worked out and then it just sort of sucked. But, whatever - that's how it goes and this was a tough word. I like 'em tough. PERMANENT made me think about tattoos and my babies and perennials and jail time and hair-do's and my larger-than-life Sharpie marker collection and species that are permanently extinct... but, then I realized that my smallest baby just turned one and took her first steps unassisted - and everything started spinning. Oh, I know she'll always be MY baby - she's just not a BABY anymore. Boo. But, back to my list... Tulips die. And poodle perms eventually straighten themselves out. And my Sharpie's dry out. Oh, yes they do. And I could almost hear my grand schemes and plans falling taking a dive. I was surprised by how sad I felt that Penn is growing up. Which was totally in contrast to Dan's WHOO-HOO because Penn is growing up. Weird. And right there I realized that it's not so much that elements or pieces change - it's that we are constantly and forever changing the way we feel about what becomes different. Change is constant + permanent. Of course.

Whew. A little too deep for a Thursday, I know. Check out how Elise did. And the rest of the FLICKR group.

OH. AND A COUPLE OF SUPER STARS PLAYED ALONG TODAY, too. So cool. For me, part of the GO/ventures magic is seeing how everyone does something different. There's no single answer and the more creativity you share - the more there is floating around you. So happy and so honoured that others wanted to be a part of it, too.

You might have heard of a little someone awesome named Ali Edwards. Here is her solution...

(Thank you Ali - I love how this looks like layers of earth.)

*

Oh! This is Tara Whitney's take on the prompt PERMANENT. (Even with a thrown out back she rocks - thank you Tara!)

This is what she had to say about it: All I could think, when I thought of the word PERMANENT was how UN-permanent everything really is. I was struggling to find something to photograph, and I didn't want to stoop to the very permanent stain on my white quilt. But I knew there had to be something. And then I thought of it. The connection we have with each other. We may not always be together, and we may not always like each other, but there is a permanent line of connection and love and knowing that runs between us and always will.

*

Paolo Liloc's take on it is right here. I LOVE what he wrote about the challenge pushing him forward. That's EXACTLY why I love GO/ventures. (I also LOVE that we found creative MEN! Thank you Paolo.)

*

The ever-awesome, ever-fashionable Jessica McDougall was game to play, too. I love it - thanks Jessica!

*

Jeope Wolfe is a mega-talented illustrator/creative-type and I knew his solution would be the perfect compliment to the rest of the GO/ventureres. He has an amazing style. He also rocked it. Check in on Jeope's blog for more of his reall great illustrationsand witty, witty wit. Thank you Jeope!

*

AND LOOK!! More! Very awesome CD Muckowsky is playing, too! I love what she did. This is what she had to say about it:  I got thinking of "permanent" and what I ended up thinking about  was everything that changes, everything we have NO control over...life situations change, friendships change, interests and schedules change, uuuunfortunately clothing sizes change....and so does almost everything in this life; but then I had to stop and smile as I was reminded of my personal motto, my outlook...THAT is permanent! It is mine; No matter what life brings my way- when life is incredible, and when it is a big pile of sucky yuck...I have the freedom to choose how I want to face it...whoot! Everyday a choice, everyday I see the light and feel the warmth of my Blessings and choose to spread that warmth in my world.....well, most days anyway :)
the piece is a little crazy and more visually noisy than anything I usually create but I just let go and let it do itself, and in the end it all holds meaning every little bit...

The messy layers upon layers of the background is kind of like the messy layers that make up me, the wings- obviously- my freedom to choose to shine and rise above whatever may come, and I chose to write the words in old book text because sometimes I feel like this life is throwing me the same old story. This project gave me time to think as I puttered and time to be super thankful for my outlook....my permanent "Shine Brightly" attitude.

Thanks CD. AWESOME.

*

ANOTHER ONE! Creative and beautiful Coralee Penner ALSO played and this is what she came up with. Love it. Thanks Coralee! Check out her blog and leave her some love. She said this about PERMANENT: I was watching Charlie & the chocolate factory and thought that so little in life is permanent these days. Relationships end, loves are lost..even houses can burn down (all of which I have been affected by in the last two years). Watching that silly movie that reminded me so much of the bittersweetness of life's lessons, I realized that no matter how old you are or how much money you have in your wallet, we all have dreams. They can be small or large but they belong to you and you alone and in my mind, that is permanent. All that Charlie wanted was that last golden ticket so that he and Grandpa Joe could see the mystery behind the closed factory gates and have a swell time at the amazing factory of wonders made by Mr.Wonka. So, there it is..gazing into that shop window, wondering what the possibility of finding the last golden ticket is, is Charlie Buckett, a boy with a dream and for me...dreams are permanent. 

*

Also MORE awesome going on at Elise's blog! She has a cool solution by Stephanie Howell! Be sure to check out the other awesome players and what they created. Marta Dansie & Rachel Denbow! (Nice to e-meet you and THANKS for playing!).

This was so cool. Thank you to everyone. Seriously inspiring.

TOMORROW'S PROMPT IS: whole. Play along! It's the last day of GO/venture2 (thank goodness because I'm feeling FAT + FULL!). It brings inspiration. I promise.

Thanks for the COINCIDENCE comments, birthday wishes for Penn and sites to check out. If the comment below is yours - email me (me at kalbarteski dot com) because you are getting an ADD-LOVE SIGG water bottle. We're STILL 3 bottles shy of raising $200 for the Red Cross and Haiti. COME ON. The randomly generated winner is...

If you are Maria Kurylo or Jaclyn VandeGraaf - you were the random winners from the list of people who already bought ADD-LOVE SIGG water bottles and you both get your own custom ADD-LOVE print. Email me!

*Every day is a give away this week! Check out all of the blogs and solutions for the prompt PERMANENT - post something to the FLICKR group, leave me a comment with some conversation about which ones stood out for you - what does PERMANENT look like to you and I'll pick a winner tonight at 11:59pm CST FOR AN ADD-LOVE iPHONE CASE from UNCOMMON. Sweet. (I realize that not everyone has an iPhone to cover so if you don't want a case - I will send you an ADD-LOVE mini print set instead. Or maybe Norman. Kidding.

Today: is all about a morning tea party and trip to the riverwalk. We have some odds + bits to accomplish, but nothing more pressing than laughing our butts off at Crash and trying for the umpteenth time to get a few photos of ourselves enjoying the start of Penn's second trip around the sun. Yay Thursday. I hope to get started on tomorrow's piece (whole) during afternoon naps WHILE I SIP GREEN TEA AND SIT IN THE SUN. And eat chocolate. Nice.

GO!

COINCIDENCE (GO/venture2 : day3)

Today's prompt was COINCIDENCE. This prompt came at me from all over the map (and I have to say that the original piece is so much nicer than the scan - that I just might frame it). But, whatever. I was thinking of coincidence yesterday. The dictionary says it's chance or fate. Two instances coinciding. And that just got me to thinking about Dan. And this life of ours. And how we met at a dog park less than three and a half years ago and if we hadn't - so much awesome would be missing from my life my heart aches just imagining it. Coincidence? Who knows. At the same time I was brainstorming COINCIDENCE I got an email from someone I don't know saying I could be Maya Rudolph's sister. Except I'm not half black. WHAT? It was so random that it sent me off on an internet image search. And that stumbled me on the movie poster for AWAY WE GO and that poster is so pretty and so warm and so much dream-meets-sketchbook-meets-tall-grass-prairie that it made me think of Dan again. WHAT A COINCIDENCE! And away I went...

[Alternate photos of the original.] The photo that I started with is by the very talented, very lovely Maile Wilson. She took this awesome shot of our little family unit in October when she was visiting (our connection was a total coincidence, too). Thank you Maile. I love them.

Check out Elise's solution for COINCIDENCE. She's crafty - I love it. Check out the FLICKR group and add your creation, too. If you've been following along with GO/venture2 - play along and stay tuned for EPIC AWESOMENESS + happy surprises. TOMORROW'S PROMPT IS: permanent. 

Oh, thanks for the comments about INVISIBLE. I wish I had hundreds of things to give away. Today's winner gets a HELLO BABY SIZE SMALL. I only had one and it was breaking my heart. If you didn't win - you can always order a HELLO BABY book of your own. If this comment is yours - email me (me at kalbarteski dot com). The randomly generated winner is...

*Every day is a give away this week! I've got a ADD-LOVE SIGG water bottle up for grabs. (I am donating my profit - $2 from each bottle sold to Red Cross Relief for Haiti.) Leave me a comment with a great site to check out and one lucky randomly-drawn winner will receive an ADD-LOVE SIGG water bottle so you can stay hydrated and ready for coincidences. I'll pick a winner tonight at 11:59pm CST. Sweet. ALSO. As a thank you for those who have already bought water bottles: I will be drawing for two custom ADD-LOVE prints from the list of names that purchased a ADD-LOVE SIGG water bottle already (yes, I know who you are). We're still 13 bottles shy of raising $200 for the Red Cross and Haiti. COME ON. I'll pick a winner tonight at 11:59pm CST.

Today: It's Penn's first birthday! I'm sad and happy at the same time. I'm all over the place finishing up some work and then getting some small things ready for us to celebrate tonight as a family (and on the weekend as a larger group). I'm off to write in her HELLO BABY book right now. I love you, Penn. (SHE JUST TOOK HER FIRST STEPS THIS MORNING. Triple Arm Pump.)

GO!

INVISIBLE (GO/venture2 : day2)

Today's prompt was INVISIBLE. This one stuck with me in a few ways and since GOventure2 is about prompts + art I'm going to talk about where I start and where that leads me. INVISIBLE started for me with the things I know I can't see. I started to think about obvious answers... snow storms and snowy owls and invisibility cloaks - and that made me think about magic + spirits - but the tender parts of me kept thinking about how I feel a little invisible around here sometimes, too. I'm the picture-taker and the plan-maker. The bottle washer. And that made me think about how photographs and written words and cards and the things I can see - make me believe in the things I don't always notice. Love. Appreciation. Trust. Comfort. All of which got me thinking about what how the key to what I notice - IS LOOKING - because when I saw a photo posted by the famous + radical Tara Whitney last week on her blog - I SAW LOVE. And comfort. And happy. And truth. And I saw history + future at the same time. And awesome. And I saw all the things that sometimes seem invisible.

But, they're not. They're the things we see best.

Tara's photo made me want to draw the invisibles. The truths. For fun, I scanned my drawing and layered it over her photo to see how close I was to seeing what was there. I was really close! My GO/venture2 solution for INVISIBLE is a digital creation - that started out as a moment of truth in a life 3000 miles away - that validated my own feelings and became a chapter in a short story - that told itself through a series of Photoshop layers and introspective moments AND INVISIBILITY. Starting with Tara Whitney's photo. That's a cool collaboration if you ask me. Thank you Tara.

Check out Elise's solution for INVISIBLE, too. Leaving her mark. Awesome, eh? Check out the creations people are posting in the FLICKR group. Play along. Challenge your self. It's good. TOMORROW'S PROMPT IS: coincidence.

PS. THANK YOU for playing along with the vintage bus roll idea. I loved reading through all of the answers. If one of these comments is yours - email me so I can send you an ADD-LOVE mini print set (me at kalbarteski dot com). Read through if you get a chance - it's inspiring. I got a bunch of emails about printing custom pieces like this and when I get back the printing quotes - I will seriously consider it.

*Every day is a give away this week! Leave me a comment with your invisible experience and one lucky winner will receive a copy of HELLO BABY - SIZE SMALL so you can make sure the truth is in visibility around your house. I'll pick a random winner tonight at 11:59pm CST. Sweet.

Today: me and my girls are going to run around and be silly. We should go get groceries and be practical - but there are plenty of days left for stuff like that. We're going to take hundreds of photos to remember the day before Penn turned ONE. Wow. If you ordered an ADD-LOVE print and you haven't received a proof - drop me a line today because if naps are good - I will be attacking my inbox with a vengeance.

GO!

WANDER (GO/venture2: day1)

Welcome February! Welcome GOventure2. Welcome week-of-giveaways*.

Today's prompt was WANDER. What an awesome word that took me on a mind-mapping journey. Not all who wonder are lost... I love that quote. Let me tell you where I started - so I can talk about where I ended up. I started by sketching an old pair of boots. I did a continuous line drawing and then added watercolours. And then I beat myself up for a while for being TOO LITERAL and going to my very predictable paints. GOventures are about challenging creativity. So, I wandered... I kept thinking about traveling. And I couldn't shake the idea of getting on a bus and then transferring to a different random bus and repeating and repeating and seeing the sights and experiencing a new path in an old city. I thought about doing a cool bus transfer collage - only I couldn't figure out where to get my hands on enough bus transfers. I wandered around the internet and stumbled onto vintage bus rolls. WHICH ARE SO COOL. (There are a zillion sites about them - google it.) Vintage bus rolls are long rolls of canvas with different bus routes written on them that the driver would scroll through to identify his tram. Typically they are black with light coloured type which is right up my alley. I thought about what a bus roll might look like based on the locations I've visited in my life - but what really stood out for me were the lessons I learned - not the destinations. What routes did my own bus take? My GO-venture solution for today is a digital creation of a vintage bus roll of my own experiences. I love it so much I'm going to order a ten foot tall giant version for our house. [Thank you GOventure2 for the inspiration to learn and do something new. Booyah!]

Check out Elise's solution. She rocked it - I love her globe. I also love that she created a FLICKR group for GOventure2 so everyone can play. VERY cool. TOMORROW'S PROMPT IS: invisible. Play along.

Today: I AM NO LONGER ACCEPTING ORDERS FOR ADD-LOVE prints. Sorry - the deadline has passed and I have work to do. I am going to put coffee in one of those beer helmets and just GET TO IT. I might even paint my face or something really tailgate-like. I feel a lot of love and a lot of GO and I like it like that.

*I have something different to give away EVERY DAY THIS WEEK. Leave me a comment with a couple of the words that would appear on YOUR OWN PERSONAL BUS ROLL for a chance to win an ADD-LOVE mini-print set. I'll pick a couple of random winners tonight at 11:59pm CST. Sweet.

GO!

GO forth.

Hello big, full day. LOTS OF GO. Lots of give. Lots to do. Lots of LOVE.

----------------------------------------------------------------
The GO part. Last week Elise Blaha asked me if I was up for another GOventure Challenge. And I said Heck ya, but let's make it EPIC.

Starting Monday we will be challenging each other to create outstanding works of art-of-some-kind to shake up our creative chakras and get inspiration flowing in the right directions. Paper crafts, paintings, photos, videos, interpretive dance, scrapbooks, layouts, sculpture, anything goes. I so love Elise. She's a crafty kinda gal and she got all techno-into-the-future and invented a FLICKR group and we are officially encouraging the rest of the world to play along. That's the EPIC part. Involving people. SHARING creativity. Being part of something bigger than just one brain. Appreciating differences + perspectives + souls + crafts + ideas. And GO. It works like this: we will announce a WORD PROMPT - and then the following day post our best and most inspired solution. Easy. Some will be grand. Some may be simple. It's simply about getting yourself to GO somewhere new - anything goes.

We challenge you.I wonder if the world's creativity quotient was increased - what amazing solutions could be found. Elise told me Monday's word is WANDER. I love it. Let's do this. Play along with us - post to the FLICKR group. Add something to your week. JOIN us and check back often. We have a week full of surprises in store.

----------------------------------------------------------------
The GIVE part. Every day next week I will ALSO be giving away a little free love. I have an awesome iPhone case to gift - courtesy of Uncommon. Especially don't miss that.

----------------------------------------------------------------
The DO part. I am doing everything in my power to make the yoga mat from yesterdays post (yes, it was a yoga mat!) and a couple of other cool yoga mat designs available to order. When I know something - you will know something. 

----------------------------------------------------------------

The LOVE part. I can only take orders for the customizable ADD-LOVE prints until Monday February 1st morning at 12:01am. (I need to make sure I can get them done + shipped in time for Valentine's Day). That means there are only a couple of days left to get your order in - which means you should do that soon. LIKE TODAY. The prints are lovely. Actually, they are better than lovely - they are awesome, awesome, awesome and make the perfect gift/keepsake/memento. (If you've received your print already - could you leave a testimonial so others might believe me?) You can find out more about them here.

The ADD-LOVE SIGG water bottles were selling like hot cakes and then they cooled. We're stuck at $158 worth of proceeds OF WHICH I AM DONATING 100% TO THE RED CROSS Relief Fund for Haiti. I wanted to be able to donate $200. Let's spread love.

The ADD-LOVE iPhone case over at Uncommon is available AND THE PROCEEDS GO TO THE RED CROSS RELIEF FUND FOR HAITI. 

----------------------------------------------------------------
Today: I'm working away on the ADD-LOVE prints (expect a proof in your mailbox this morning if you haven't received on yet). I'm tackling yoga mats. I'm working on a painting AND I'm percolating my creative masterpiece for Monday's GO-venture Challenge with Elise (and you). Our WORD PROMPT is WANDER. I'd like to pretend that I'm not drinking coffee, but I definitely, definitely, definitely am - doubles today because I have two little girls with sad winter colds, coughs and long nights and snorty noses. Oh, thank goodness it's Friday. (GO ORDER YOUR PRINTS.) Happy weekending.

GO!