Net profit from any orders placed from today until Thursday, March 14 will be added to my Whole Planet Foundation donation page.  Whole Planet Foundation’s mission is poverty alleviation through microcredit in communities worldwide that supply Whole Foods stores with products.  The goal I set up is small, but enough to provide a microloan and the opportunity for an impoverished woman to create or expand a home-based business.  Occasionally I will be finding small ways to do a little good through your print orders.  For updates, sign up for my newsletter.

I have been working on putting together/editing/revisiting a printed portfolio. I chose an 11×14 portfolio and slipcase by Scott Mullenberg; it’s classic, meticulously-designed and sturdy.  Many thanks to Scott and Pushdot Studios for your help and creative input!

One of the things I’ve been telling people who are just getting started with a creative endeavor is to dedicate (demand) a small fraction of time in their schedule for experimenting – even a tiny bit of time is better than none.  While we were snowed in, I painted again just for fun.  My friend who teaches Italian just signed up for a French class, so that she could remember what it was like to be an absolute beginner.  It’s creative cross-training, and I think of it as the equivalent to turning the painting upside-down and looking at it that way.

Other unforgettable things consumed in Asheville: goat cheese on pecan encrusted fried green tomatoes at Sunny Point Cafe, Muscadine grapes, Cheerwine, and the maple with smoked sea salt drinking chocolate at The French Broad Chocolate Lounge.

I love Minted!  If you haven’t tried them already, their paper, printing and designs are extremely high-quality.  The template I chose to use with my apple cider and gingerbread white chocolate biscotti photo was created by Annie Clark, a designer out of San Francisco.

The newest volume of Kinfolk Magazine is here!  It is definitely worth it to have the printed copy – but an iPad version is available as well.  Kinfolk is a guide for small gatherings, and a collaboration of writers, stylists, designers, painters, photographers and filmakers.  The current volume features this beautiful cover by Jessica Peterson and images from people I admire such as Heidi Swanson and Youngna Park.  I’m excited to join this inspiring group of contributors and to see how the publication grows from here…

Ever since I started taking a more active approach towards my ideas (the best ones are usually written on a napkin but I particularly enjoy this little notebook), it has been an adventure.  The best part is that in doing so, it has put me in line with many other people who are pursuing a thought and working towards its realization.  In the last few months, I’ve been watching as friends (young and old) pick up and move to another country or city, follow their intuition to a grad program, leave jobs, lose jobs, start a new business, reinvent their business, and most importantly take other people’s two cents and know when to leave it in the dish at the counter for someone else.  The first time I put a voice to a big idea I was told it would not work out, and that wasn’t the last time that happened.  I’m glad I did not listen.

Earlier this week I met a group of exceptional people and got to sit in on the plans for something that I know, without any doubt, will be amazing.  I can’t say anything more about it but I feel that I got a glimpse of the beginning and can’t wait to tell you about it as the idea unfolds, detours, and takes shape.