california jane... the girl who inspired something new.

meet california jane...

{she is the lovely lady without the hat... if this photo was labeled correctly}

a few years ago my granny gave me the honor of becoming the keeper of the family history, she handed me a shoe box, few envelopes and a couple of barely held together black tar paper photo albums, filled with magic.
 i get lost in old photos, pictures of smiling faces trapped in time at a wedding reception, or those strange baby photos from the 1800's, with little chubby scowls, cheeks tinted pink.  i love them.
  one of the envelopes contained a copy of a family portrait taken in the very early 1900's. my grannys brother had painstakingly gone through records and wrinkles in time to try and name each face in that large 20 to 30 person gathering, and wrote them in chronological order on the back.
  {i really wish i could show you that photo, but it didn't get scanned into my computer before we moved, so its tucked away in storage. insert sad face here.}
 one of those faces in that photo simply jumped out at me, this awkward, smirky smiled girl, maybe 18, maybe 20... standin all sassy in the back row sporting her straw hat and pants and blouse.  i turned the picture over to officially meet my alter ego, {who clearly i got my attitude and fashion sense from ;) } and to my udder joy her name, was California Jane.
  no one can tell me much about "jane" {as she was labeled in the photo above, that was taken with "jenny"}.
 my great uncle john passed away long before i was given these photos, and i think he took the secrets with him, my granny may have known a few years ago, but lately she spends most of her time sorting through her sparkly ear rings and forgetting who i am.
 so i am left with just her face. this california jane.

as i have mentioned before {& im sure you are all getting tired of hearing it} i'm at a strange new adventure in my life, i have been given this amazing gift of time, to rest my mind and recharge myself. and my creative brain is taking advantage of it to the fullest! it began slowly at first, a soft tickle in my finger tips, and has finally come into reality.

i may never get to meet california jane, in so many words, but i feel like she has given me a new idea as to who i am, and want to be. its like that hundred year old smirk is telling me, who cares what they say! just do it! be genuine! be california jane!

so here it is.

a little silly, a little vintage, toss in some circusy type things and you have just a bit of california jane!
im really excited! like lots of exclamation points excited!!! this shop will be a sneak peek into my brain. so step right up! see the man eating chicken & his wife the bearded lady! and pick up a lovely bauble made by the tattooed girl!

i hope you will check it out!

you can also like my Facebook page.... that would be awesome!

Genuine...

  Ive noticed lately around the blogsphere that lots of people are starting their year off with a photo a day challenge here, or a journal a day challenge there... as crazy as it seems that I would ever have the want, let alone the time to participate in something like that amazes me. But lately a lot of things about our little life here amazes me, so I guess I will jump on in.

 A something a day seems a bit overwhelming, there are however lots of things I want this "break from the real world" we have been given to accomplish, I want to "tune in" to my passions, make time for creativity, challenge myself each day, grow a business, and find the genuine life we want to live.

   So here are MY {2013} challenges...

  I'm joining Paper Momma in her 52 weeks of drawings...

 

I felt like this was a great challenge for me, mostly because I have about fifty~eleven empty sketch books, that I have been hoarding, but not one has a full sketch in them. Its time to break the cycle and fill those babies up. And it will help me break out of this stupid comparison thing I do with my work that always leads me to just sitting staring at blank page, then putting it back on the shelf, because my brain tells me I'm not as good as everyone else around me. I hope in the next 52 weeks I draw a lot, but if I don't... no biggie. I also hope that I will have the guts to show you guys some of those drawings.

   Next I am going to take more photos. Now that the littles aren't so little, and I'm not waiting breathlessly to capture each movement, or blanket fort adventure, it seems my real camera is left all alone on a shelf and my smart phone has taken its place. Now that we have all this time on our hands it seems silly to not grab up my old friend and make new memories with her.
And I found a great little way to do that with Scavenger Hunt Sunday. Ashley's weekly photo inspiration will give me a reason to get out and go on new adventures!

   And finally I'm jumping on a band wagon, or "movement" or whatever you want to call it.
I'm choosing one word to live by this year. I have seen this all over the web, in most of my favorite blogs, but never really sat down to think about what difference ONE WORD would make in my life.
And to be really honest, I didn't even know this was really a thing till I sat down to write this post and googled My One Word {to try and jog my memory of where I saw this whole thing in the first place.}
  I was reading a few of the My One Word blog posts, and even though this is Christian based, I wanted to share it with you all {I normally try to keep it all "non denominational" Unity up here.}
A line in their blog post from today really stuck with me...

 

It becomes your focus, the lens through which you see your heart and life.

 

I like that, I like the idea that not only are we fortunate enough to have this opportunity to breathe, to focus on our family, and to rest. But that with that also comes the change to change our lives once back in the real world.

 

So, the word I have chosen for my 2013 is GENUINE.

 

gen·u·ine

adj.

1. Actually possessing the alleged or apparent attribute or character

2. Not spurious or counterfeit; authentic.

3.

   a. Honestly felt or experienced

   b. Actual; real

4. Free from hypocrisy or dishonesty; sincere.

5. Being of pure or original stock:

 

  I want to live each day as the truest form of myself, to embrace my flaws, to live honestly, to feel good about each choice I make. I want my business to grow genuinely, to be original, and to stay focused on the goals I have made for the year .

To nurture my marriage in an honest true way, and to be the example of genuine for my children.

I want to be able to look at my world in 12 months and be proud of where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.

 

"There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.”   Howard Thurman

 



So what goals or challenges have you taken hold of this year? Have you chosen your "word"?

 

I hope all is well in your little corner of this magical place.

 

Be Good to each other,



*on a side note I had lots of really cool photos to share here, but blogger has decided we are not worthy enough to add photos. UGH. ;)