Sophie and her Pink Piggy
12″ x 9″, acrylic on canvas
prints available in the shop

With swine flu hysteria making headlines, Sophie decided to step up to my canvas with her very own pink piggy sweetness, ready to defend those snuffling snouts and squealingly cute curly tails.

From Wilbur to Babe, pigs have long been one of the most popular barnyard critters – as long as they stay small and cute, that is. Like the puppies that become dogs and get sent to the pound, we prefer to anthropomorphize piglets, not their grown-up counterparts (we prefer to enjoy those as bacon!).

When I was 7 or 8 years old, my dad brought a baby pig home from work. I got to keep him for the weekend, wrapped up in my fuzzy yellow baby blanket, cradled like a doll. There’s a very cute (and now faded) picture of us probably languishing in a shoebox somewhere that I would love to unearth and scan.

Of course it didn’t occur to me until much later that my dad? Worked at a slaughterhouse back then. My very own Weekend With Wilbur was probably just a preview of what would end up on my plate later on.

I should probably note for the record here that I’m not vegan or even vegetarian. In fact, it’s highly dubious that I get anywhere near my 3 to 5 recommended daily servings of vegetables. I like me a bacon-wrapped Twinkie as much as the next gal, but I can’t help thinking that pigs are getting a bad rap these days (pun TOTALLY intended). So, I put my brush where my mouth usually is and Sophie sprang to life.

I need to shoot some pics of the canvas before I list the original for sale, but she’ll be looking for a new home soon enough!

Since I’ve already got all my craft show boxes hauled out in the open after last weekend’s show (which reminds me, still need to post my recap of the show & pics!), I started doing a little spring cleaning this week. Going through old clothes to donate, digging through my summer stuff & finding more clothes to donate (if I don’t fit into my skinny shorts now, it ain’t gonna happen), generally making giant piles & messes everywhere! I realize this is the storm before the calm, but it’s my least favorite part of cleaning. And one of my main excuses for procrastinating. My parents are doing much of the same right now as they just sold their house and are packing up to move out to BC. It’ll be great to have them closer to me & I’m sure my mom wishes I was closer right now so I could help her through the process of letting go.

illustration by Matt Muhurin via Reader’s Digest

We have such strong attachments to our stuff. Even the stuff that isn’t being used or making us happy I still have a hard time letting go of sometimes. I’m constantly doing the “yeah, but what if I one day?” rationalization. And the thing is? One day I very well may look back & think this would be the perfect time to use those old scraps of fabric. Or that dress that didn’t quite fit that I never quite got around to altering. Or those books that have been on my shelf for years that I’ve still never finished because I just can’t get into them.

Let go! You can always get more stuff. How many thrift shops & garage sales are there in your town? Plus Craigslist. And Freecycle. And eBay. Chances are, if you discover down the road that you might’ve been able to use that thing, you’ll be able to find a suitable (or better) replacement. But in the meantime, it won’t have been taking up space for all that time!

photo credit: Jen Siska, Jess Chamberlain via Sunset

When I actually started pulling everything out & seeing how much physical space it takes up, it kind of shocked me. How different would my office/studio FEEL on a day to day basis if everywhere I look I see something I love? Not something I don’t really like, but I keep because somebody gave it to me for Christmas 9 years ago. Not something that reminds me that “oh yeah, I never did finish making that quilt”. Not something that lays a guilt trip for not using it. Just stuff I use. Just stuff I love. And a whole whack of clean clear space. Ahhhhhhh!

My closet is the same story. Jeans that make me feel guilty for not going to the gym? Gone.

Shoes that are super cute but kill my feet? Gone. With a sigh, but still, gone.

I waste so much time eying my closet & mentally discarding the majority of it. Wouldn’t it be easier to see less stuff, but all the things that you actually wear?

It helps to think of the cycle of all of this stuff as just that – a cycle. Let it go & maybe someone else will find it & absolutely love it. And that will open up your home, your closet to make room for something that you absolutely love.

I know some people who will actually sing a little mantra as they go through this process, saying:

As I clean out my space, I’m cleaning out the closets of my mind.

I’m opening up my life for wonderful things.

I’m making room to receive only the things that bring me joy.

Cheesy? Yes. But it sure beats cursing & sweating under a pile of boxes! At the very least, get yourself some good music going. And when you’re all done, here are some resources to donate your stuff:

Clothing Swaps – either set one up with girlfriends or see if your city has one coming up. We just did the Swap O Rama last weekend & it had a great turn-out.

Women’s Shelters – WISH in Vancouver is a great organization

Thrift Stores that support a charity you believe in. I like the SPCA one in Vancouver.

Websites for selling or donating your stuff:

Freecycle.org – if you feel up to listing your stuff one by one, Freecycle is a popular way to find local folks who need exactly what you’re ready to get rid of.

Craigslist.org – you can try selling it for a price first & then move it to the FREE section later if it doesn’t sell

eBay – I kind of hesitate to mention eBay here since there are so many costs involved that it may not be worth it. You need to pay a listing fee, a percentage once your item sells & then if you didn’t calculate your postage properly, it can end up costing you money to sell there. Not good! On the other hand, something you were planning to give away could end up getting a bunch of bids & sell for a few bucks. If you do decide to go this route, I suggest starting small & buying a few things to build up your reputation score. People are cautious to bid on items from new sellers with no feedback.

BookMooch – Kind of like an online swap combined with a library. List all of the books you want to get rid of plus make a wishlist for the books that you want to get. When you send someone one of your books, you get points. When you request (& get) a book from someone else, you spend your points.

SwapTree - same as BookMooch but expanded to include games, DVDs & music. I believe SwapTree is US only currently.

And if that’s not enough to keep you busy, check out my fave organization site The Unclutterer. Happy decluttering!

Kaila
12″ x 9″, acrylic on paper
original for sale

As the cherry blossoms and magnolias begin to bloom all around me, I’m feeling inspired to paint beautiful girls with a bit of an anime influence. Kaila’s wide eyes and white hair make her feel like she’d be just as at home running around the pages of a graphic novel in shiny boots as she is in this simple portrait.

We have a white magnolia tree in front of our house and though the flowers don’t last very long, they’re so beautiful when they’re in bloom.

I’m loving life today. The flowers are blooming, the sun is out & it’s warm enough that even when it rains it’s that misty beautiful sort of rain that makes everything smell fresh and green. The smell of wet woods and damp leaves underfoot is a powerful one for me, conjuring up wonderful memories of spending time walking in the woods with my mom and building tree forts with my neighborhood girlfriends. We’d spend all summer building a fort and then pretty much abandon it for the long winter months. Once the snow melted, it was always an adventure to try to find the fort again. Was it still there? Did we remember where it was? Once the leafy green trees filled in, the fort was impossible to find – which was exactly the point, of course!

The puppies would’ve loved spending time with me as a kid. These days? Too much painting and working at my desk, not nearly enough fort-building. The pug did get a chance to take his favorite pig out for a spring time stroll though. He was so good too. Brought the pig to the backyard, ran around for a bit and remembered to bring him back inside too.

And yes, I realize that pig is looking a little worse for wear. He’s been a long time favorite toy of the pug’s and has been stitched back up a couple of times. Funny how the $2 toys end up being more popular than the expensive dog store toys, isn’t it?

One of the things I love about Vancouver is how everybody takes advantage of the sunny days & gets their butts outside. Bikers, rollerbladers, people playing tennis, soccer, kayaking…you name it. People flock to the sea wall & people with dogs flock to the leash-free parks & beaches. The White Dog loathes cameras, so this was a sneak attack shot. See how she’s veering from the path? She veered way off it immediately after this. So cute in her little slicker I couldn’t resist, despite the fact I knew she’d skulk away as soon as she spied the camera in my hands.

Just one of those strange neuroses that makes you wonder what her story is! We adopted her from the SPCA when she was around 4 years. She’d been living on the street for a while and was all skin & bones, but after having a vet check her out they could see that someone had obviously owned her and taken good care of her at one point; she’d already been spayed and had some dental work done. I’ll always wonder what happened to her original owner (& if he was killed in some kind of crazy papparazzi incident).

Have a great weekend! And if you’re a local Vancouverite, come visit me at the Foux de Fu Fu on Saturday!

new Bee Girl pendants for sale in the shop

Yay! After several requests, I finally got a new batch of Scrabble tile pendants made and was sure to include a few Beegirls. They’re deceptively simple looking, these pendants and their persnickety nature is exactly why I haven’t exactly hopped to making a new batch. It takes several layers of sealant, then glue, then resin plus sanding & a different glue for the bails…then going around the edges again to make super duper sure they’re not going to lift. Fighting dust & bubbles & fingerprints brings it to a whole ‘nother level of anal.

That being said, when they turn out this cute? So totally worth it.

How freakin’ cute is Murray as a pendant?!! I wasn’t sure if the white background would work for the pendants so I’m totally thrilled to see that yes, yes white totally does. I can’t look at Murray without doing a little squealy happy dance.

Now if only I could farm out the making of these pendants to some helper monkeys! Their time-consuming persnickety handmade nature + low cost = no profit margin. Probably not the best business or artistic use of my time, but they’re so sweet & I really love the idea of people being able to wear my art out in the world. You just can’t keep a Bee girl cooped up! Nor a Murray (whatever a Murray is exactly).

Click here to see the pendants section of the shop >