I just found about this amazing event that Utterly Engaged has organized. Such a cool idea. Details below.

FUNDRAISING
For Japan With Love has a direct link on the website to their fundraising page for ShelterBox. ShelterBox was one of THE first organizations asked by Japan to help and were on hand on the Saturday after the quake. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items. Please check it out and whatever you can contribute will be so appreciated.

BLOGGERS DAY OF SILENCE
Anyone that has a blog can help out with this one.The aim is just raise awareness and respect and acknowledge the devastation going on in Japan.

The guidelines are simple:
1. This coming Friday, March 18th, no posts at all on your blog.
2. Blog about this beforehand.
3. Tweet and Re-Tweet this link: http://www.forjapanwithlove.com
4. Encourage your readers to contribute to donate shelter to Japan. Whatever anyone can contribute will be appreciated. Every little helps.

(I know this photo isn’t when I was 10 years old, but I love how it displays me doing what i love to do….. when i didnt know i was going to do it. hhaa)

When you are a kid your dreams, hopes, and desires are so simple, yet so surprisingly true to who you really are. One of our great friends Stan Endicott has moments where he spews out wisdom and I wait to catch those moments. One day he went on a rant telling me that whatever you were doing when you were 10 years old is what you are made to do. Haha that seems so silly to me, but when you are 10 years old life is simple, your thoughts and heart is simple, and in your free time you are doing what you love to do. And your adult fears didn’t hold you back

When i think back to when i was 10 years old I looooved making things. My sister and I filled our days with making mud cupcakes, building forts in the backyard, playing dress up, recreating Disneyland rides in our backyard, choreographing roller-blade routines in the driveway, arranging American Girl doll displays in our front home window, teaching our pet rats tricks, writing books, illustrating books, lemonade stands, car washing businesses, and cooking the nastiest food we could come up with and making our dad eat it. Haha!

My sister and i also had a lot of small businesses like a car washing business, a lemonade stand, manicure business, necklace making business, and a few other ones. haha.

What were you doing when you were 10 years old? What were the desires of your young heart? and what are you doing now?

I have to say that I have not been the best blogger in the last few months. Will you forgive me? Please oh please? I have a few projects I am going to launch within the next couple of months… and I have been working oh sooo hard and traveling a bit too…The good news is that I have sketched out a better schedule for the late fall and winter for some better blog posting time. AHH I can’t wait. I really love being a part of a GREAT online community. And I really miss my interactions with all you guys.

I haven’t done this in a while, so hopefully you all have built up some questions. ASK A QUESTION IN THE COMMENT SECTION!! I will visit back to this post often to answer any questions you may have. So ask away. And I would love it if others chimed in with answers too.

(photo by Maile Knight Wilson)

Today when I opened up my personal email account I saw a HUGE bright Red Robin mass email advertisement. haha. I see them every so often in my email and I just don’t have the guts to unsubscribe. haha. It’s sad I know. And it’s sooo torturous. Red Robin corporate send those emails out when they know Promise Tangeman is at her weakest point. BECAUSE SHE LOVES RED ROBIN.

I know it’s really dorky to say that Red Robin is my favorite restaurant, but it is!! IT’S TRUE!! The cat is out of that bag. Whenever that question comes around.. like “where do you all like to eat?” Everyone else has these really posh restaurant names that probably serve gourmet something somethin and have really shiny spoons or menu items that I can’t even pronounce. But I LOVE Red Robin.

Cant go wrong with a etch-a-sketch contest. IM IN!!

I love the bright colors and the random clitter on the walls. I think my love for Red Robin comes partly from the memories behind it. It was one of that “main” restaurants in my home down, and I would pick to go there for every birthday celebration. haha. There is something really comforting and familiar about it. PLUS they have scrumptious fries. Next time you go there get the poppy seed salad dressing to dip your fries in. AND order the Ragin Cajun chicken burger. ITS THE BEST and it’s not on the menu, you have to ask specifically for it.

So that being said… what is YOUR favorite restaurant and WHY? I like funny stories too… if you have any.

Suspender craze!! I gotta get me some. That’s it. Take a gander at these fine suspender inspiration photos I found for you. I had that rainbow pair for a while. I got them at Goodwill but I don’t know where they went. Boo. Yay or Nay on this idea? You vote.
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I am so excited and proud to announce the release of the Art That Helps Project partnering with A Beautiful Idea. 20 artists from around the country all created their depiction of the words and phrases: Art for the greater good, Haiti, helping, serving, creativity, love wins, people, compassion, humble, humility all while using only 4 specific colors. After all submissions were received I compiled all of the artwork together in a collage style to be sold in all of our Etsy shops. %100 of the profit of all the sales goes towards the Haiti relief fund through A beautiful idea and World Vision.

A beautiful idea was started by my friend Evie from Evie-s.com.  The idea is that artists/Etsy owners create a certain product to sell in their shop and then they partner online with A Beautiful Idea to donate the money to a charity via A Beautiful Idea’s donation center. That is JUST what we did…but this time we did it as a group. Below are the final collaborative art pieces. Some Etsy owners even went as far as to create other products with these final prints. See image above with the postcards, magnets, greeting cards, etc. SO fun.

Sometimes the world tends to see art as fluff, as extra, as… not necessary.  And honestly sometimes I can start to believe them. But its organizations like A beautiful idea that get me excited about finding unique ways to be a blessing to others with my art. It’s organizations like them who jump-start my inspiration to not back down. That is why I LOVE what A Beautiful Idea is doing. They are creating yet another way for us to contribute to the World with our artwork. They are creating an outlet that lets us support world causes, get the word out, and help others WITH OUR ART!!!

This collaboration has been amazing in the fact that it literally displays people coming together to help/make something happen. Even if their part or artwork is small… it fills up the blank space and has a unique reason for why its there. It reminds me that we all need others.
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So I am one of those girls that can tend to ask a lot of questions. haha. I even ask questions in the movies, when no one else has seen the movie either. hahha. Well… Im curious, OKAY?!?! You can’t learn much if you don’t ask questions. haha. So… That being said, I got to thinking, How old are you? And how do you spend your day?

photo by ashley bugg.