Six Possible Things

While Alice may have had trouble believing six impossible things before breakfast upon her arrival in Wonderland, most of us who live in the real  world  actually have a harder time believing in the possible.

This weekend as I traveled around reading all the posts from my party guests, I was astounded at what creativity and talent everyone had.  Everyone quite put me to shame.

But I learned an important lesson from those posts and also my own trials with my project.  All too often we get caught up in our heads and talk ourselves out of what we have the ability to make possible.  We let things like fear, full schedules, over thinking it or even laziness sometimes keep us from our full potential as creative beings.

I thought about all the secret dreams I have, and why I haven't done them.  I also thought about the ones I have done.  That first step really is the hardest, it's what keeps me from beginning all too often.  But it's also possible if I just make my brain shut up a little and get off my duff and do it!

Like with the new bunny pattern, once I got started it just all began to fall into place.  So why have I always needed so long to design a pattern or make a really fancy piece?  Can you imagine if those first astronauts didn't take that first step on the moon?  I am sure they were terrified when they strapped themselves into the rocket and waited for lift off.  But they did it anyway and it was a giant success.

I have made a little decision, instead of waiting for the blog party next year I am going to make those secret dreams a reality more often.  What am I waiting for?  I have already had the flash of inspiration when I got those ideas.  What's the worst that can happen?  Maybe a project fails like it did with what I originally intended to make.  If it fails it's not the end of the world, I will just begin again.

A long time ago my Mother gave me an unfinished wooden box.  I am going to make it all pretty and write all those secret dreams of things I want to make or do down on little pieces of paper.  I am going to put them in the box, and periodically pull one out and do it.  I have a lot of things I have been wanting to make for years...and now is the time.

All the creativity I saw this weekend inspired me so much.  Hopefully it inspired some of you too!

Hugs, K. <3

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

We are all born with talents. Those things we don't seem to have to learn because they are inherent. Some of those talents can be pretty obscure. Some of mine include being able to mix the perfect shade of paint on the first try nearly every time. As an artist that one is pretty handy. I can belch at will. That one I don't use unless I have a trapped gas bubble because it's pretty disgusting. Another gift I was given was that I have always been able to do that high stepped catwalk strut that runway models use. I can still do it.

One afternoon when I was 15, my Mother and I went grocery shopping. A man had been following us around the store staring. I assumed he was interested in my Mother. She had forgotten something and sent me back to get it. He approached me at that point and started taking stock. He said I had excellent posture and carried myself well. He grabbed my face and went on to say that I had great facial features and perfect bone structure. I stood there like a deer caught in headlights because I had been rigorously taught the pitfalls of talking to strangers. Also because I was really shy at that age.

But all he did was hand me a business card for a modeling agency and tell me to give them a call. My Mother didn't let me do it. I don't know why, maybe she thought I was too young, or maybe she didn't trust it, or maybe she simply didn't want to deal with the whole thing. Whatever the reason, I didn't care. As much as I loved clothes and fashion magazines I never aspired to be a model. It's probably just as well, I doubt I would have "made it" because I have never been very photogenic and at 5'7" I was barely tall enough for runway work. I cherish the fact that I was asked though.

However a few years later, through my job doing singing telegrams I did get offers to model locally, which I did a few times. (I also got a strange offer once to mud wrestle, which I did NOT do despite the crazy amount they pay for that.) One of the things I did was a lingerie show. It was tasteful and pretty, and along the lines of what Victoria's Secret offers. Back in the 80's you didn't have to have a negative number for your dress size to model. At any rate I know how those girls feel. It doesn't matter how tasteful the lingerie is or how confident you are, you are still out in public in your underwear and it's a bit disconcerting, especially since everyone is staring at you.

I recorded the show from two nights ago. I really like to watch it. I get a lot of inspiration from the show every year. The wings and extras they put on the models are fun, and I really loved the steampunk inspired wings in the enchanted forest part this year. I always tuck away a few ideas for bears. I know...lingerie show to bears...quite an odd pairing. But I have told you before that I get inspiration from everywhere.

They said that these are the most beautiful women in the world. While I don't dispute that they are pretty, I think there are beautiful women the world over...most of whom never make it into ads or on TV because they lead ordinary lives. Besides I think aside from Doutzon Kroes, most of them have gotten too thin. You need a little meat to pull off lingerie properly. A bone bag wearing lacy undergarments isn't attractive, and some of those girls looked as if they were nothing but sinew with zero body fat. I do like the fact that they encourage their models to show personality though. I get tired of watching models with a blank expression on their faces.

All in all though it was a pretty show this year, and there was a tweed teddy that I really fancied. (Not the corset shown above, I couldn't find a pic of that one.) If you missed it, you should go check it out on their website. You might get a little inspiration too!

Monday Inspiration: Meandering Along

I have always had a love of meandering along pathways, especially if I don't know where they go. It's fun to see where it takes you.

I spent a summer in Canada with my aunts, uncles and cousins when I was 13. My Uncle John had a farm with woods on it. I spent many hours wandering along to see what I might find. I discovered huge toadstools, ferns, a broken fence covered with moss and a rock large enough to lay on in the sunshine and daydream.

That summer we went bike riding on a dirt road, and found wild blackberries, a lovely old church and even a bear cub. The latter scared us so bad for fear it's mother might be lurking around that we rode home the 8 miles so fast I think we set a record.

On this last trip to Montana, my Mother took us to Reeder's Alley. (Shown above.) It was a very old, lovely little winding walkway that led us to hidden shopfronts. Unfortunately the shop we most wanted to go into was an antique store called Cinnamon Toast, and she had a sign on her door that said she was away at a show. It was still fun to peek in the paned window and see what treasures lie within. We also discovered an old mining shack behind it, and a tiny place to get drinks that had a huge walled lawn in the back with tiny chairs and tables to enjoy your iced teas and sodas.

Even in Tokyo when we went shopping, the main street was fun and we found an amazing shop filled to the rafters with enough exotic buttons, beads and ribbons to make any bear artist's heart happy. As intriguing as that shop was, it was the alleyways crammed with tiny establishments that set my mind soaring to new heights with flights of fancy as to what they might contain.

Even online, I still like meandering along. I found a blog tonight when I was searching for something that was interesting and had lovely pictures. When I was done perusing her posts, I decided to click a link she had posted to another blog from her list...that led me another link from that blog and so on. I followed the links until I finally hit a shop instead of another blog and decided to end my journey.

As I traveled along virtually, I gained inspiration just like I do on any real trek. Sometimes it's fun to just follow an unknown path, deciding which fork in the road to take as you go along...and just let fate lead you where it will. The discoveries make those trips memorable and inspirational beyond measure.