Is it Mardi Gras yet?

I love Mardi Gras.  It’s not the drinking or the beads or anything like that, although one day I will visit New Orleans.  What I love is the whole idea of Mardi Gras – let’s have a huge party before we have to go be all faithful and stuff.  Seriously?  How nifty is that.

In history, Mardi Gras was Carnivale, which could be a celebration that lasted for weeks.  In Venice, my special sinful SCA city, you could say the Carnivale season lasted even longer than that.  There were rules stating how many months of the year masks could be worn. 

I’m not Catholic, and none of my current friends are either, but it’s always fun to get together on Mardi Gras.  You don’t have to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and you don’t have to be Catholic, or giving up anything for Lent, to celebrate Mardi Gras.  So we will gather together tomorrow, bringing our potluck dishes and fancy masks, and have a great time with friends.

I will try to keep that spirit alive through the last of this winter until spring returns.

Inspire: A Gathering of Friends

I had a blast on Saturday.  Another friend of mine tied the knot.  While this time there was a DJ instead of a band, we still filled the floor and danced the night away.  I was disappointed they didn’t have the Time Warp, but we did do the Funky Chicken.  There was laughter and joy, the most important things at any gathering.

Last week, I had a great time at Creative Collision, the monthly get together of my local arts group, Ames C.art.  I wasn’t planning on going since I had a headache, but I’m quite happy I did.  We laughed, we shared, and we had great drinks.  I left feeling energized about the rest of the month – and I had an offer to borrow a sewing machine. 

Two weeks ago, I went roller skating for the first time in years.  My friend, my sister, and my kiddo all drove thirty miles outside of town to put on wheels and skate around a rink.  It reminded me so much of my hometown rink, now buried for years under the Super Walmart parking lot.  I was ecstatic that I remembered how to skate, and I loved watching my sister learn the ins and outs of a rink. 

I am beyond thankful for my friends.  They are my family, and they welcome me and mine without question.

Write: To Be Inspired

I'm a little bit in crafter/writer deadline hell right now.  I need to be in overdrive and I'm falling behind.  In fact, I felt so crappy this morning (sinus, stomach, headache oh my gosh) that I thought about posting a sick day.  But as I signed into Blogger, I noticed a post from a great blogger, Mythical Magpie, about how a comment of mine sent her off on a great new adventure.

Once I got done blushing about being called a 'hero blogger,' I felt energized and ready to tackle all my deadlines.  And ready to go find a pen pal.

It's amazing how just one little thing can inspire the synapses to spark and create new ideas, new energy, and get you back where you need to go.  So today, go out and keep your ears and eyes open for that one little thing that can inspire you.  Think up a history for your pen, or think about what your keyboard would really like to be doing.  Where did that piece of trash come from?  (Go pick it up and throw it away!)  Use it in a story, a blog post, a conversation starter.

Go get it done.

Create: A Little Bird

Okay, I know I suck.  Sorry for leaving you guys without any notice!  I decided at the last minute to take Friday off work so I could work on getting ready to move.  And I took Monday off to finish up moving stuff.  Good news, I am officially moved into my new place.  Bad news, everything is in boxes... Don't you  hate how they never just jump out of the box and move into the correct place?  My kitchen is a mess because I don't have the same amount of storage as my other place.  But I really love it.  It's nifty.

Now onto making things inspired by your friends...

One of my friends, the talented Kristin Roach of Craft Leftovers, brought this pattern to our Sew 'n Swap a couple weeks ago.  She had it previously, I believe in an issue of her great zine, and I thought she had it on her website as a freebie, but I can't find it right now.  But she brought it out and we all made some wonderful little birdies to hang out with.

I love getting ideas from my friends.  How about you?

Write: A Friendly Welcome

So... I've been over and over the last few lines of this poem, and I still don't think it's right.  But at the same time, it's given me a great subject to talk to you all about.  That's right, word selection! 

I'm currently reading Spunk & Bite by Arthur Plotnik.  The subtitle is 'A writer's guide to punchier, more engaging language & style.'  The chapter I finished today was about Writers' Words and how to find new ones that fit.  I find this very apt considering my problem with the poem below.  I was struggling with using 'sun' as it's pretty overused, but 'glowing orb' sounded to pretentious.  So I wrote it with basic words, thinking I would go back and try to jazz up my word selection.

How do you deal with words in your writing?  Do you use a thesaurus?  Do you expand your vocabulary while writing?  Or do you suffer the same problem I have, reusing words until they no longer are fresh?

This might become the next topic for my writer's group...

The glowing sun smiles down
on the growing grass,
encouraging rampant weeds
to frolic across the field.
Trees stretch their limbs,
leaves embracing the
golden light as a
friend welcomes
others to her home.

Write: The Joy of Friends

Inspirations can come from any source.  A mural can come from rolls of butcher paper during a contest.  A poem can come from an empty can rolling across the sidewalk.  A story can come from an abandoned glove.

Anything can come from anywhere.  Even writer's block.

It's what you put into the story that is important.  The story is imagined, "Where did that glove come from," and that thought leads to another, "I bet their hands are really cold right now." 

Inspirations are inspired and the Muses are everywhere.

I am lucky to have found a fantastic group of crafty friends who are full of inspiration.  If I can't use it, maybe one of them can.  Maybe they have an idea that sparks one of my own.  My friend Kristin, designer and creator of our mural and art group, has brought in some of her wonderful projects for our sew 'n swaps along with our other groups.  My friend Sarah always has abstract, crazy, wonderful ideas that are completely off the wall but are inspiring.  My son always has some idea that inspires me to take up the challenge and make him something (although the plarn bag turned out too girly for him.  I have to make another one in more manly colors).

Who inspires you?  Where do you get ideas from and who helps you realize those ideas?