Nostalgia

When I was a kid I used to watch "Pinwheel," a show on Nickolodeon. I watched faithfully every single day. And now to this day I still remember certain segments and songs...the show had a variety theme in the way that Sesame Street had. One of the segments was about Simon, a little boy who drew things in chalk and they came to life in the Land of Chalk Drawings. He had his friends there and spent a lot of time there. I LOVED that idea as a child. Especially because I loved to draw so much. I find the idea endearing even today. Here's a You Tube showing below. (It's told like a story to children.) love it! Happy Friday!

Thinking.

There's something about vintage items that are so inspirational for me! I loved this lamp that was in our room at The Whitehall Inn in Camden , ME over labor day week. Happy Wednesday! It's been a busy week so far. I find that the months of the holidays are always the busiest. Or at least it feels that way. With it brings plotting and planning for what the new year will bring. I have spent the past several weeks observing and studying what is going on out there in the world of letterpress. Part of it is for inspiration. But mostly, it's for the purposes of seeing what is out there so that I don't copy anything. There is so much out there that is similar to each other! I really want my work to be different in some way and I just have to figure out what that means. I still have a bunch of accessories to get in order to get my press in working order. I'm shooting for some time in the first quarter of the new year to have a letterpressed card or two up for sale in my etsy shop. I'm slowly acquiring everything I need, but it takes time financially to make that happen. I have to say I'm pretty exhausted from scouring the internet as I study different letterpress boutiques and shops. I think it's finally time for phase 2 now that the research (phase 1) is over. It's time to start working and brainstorming and designing. Time to figure out what works and what feels right. I need to determine my brand and what I want to be. This all takes time and consideration. I also have to start bringing some of my card and stationery ideas to life through actually designing them (instead of leaving sketches sitting in my sketchpad). I want my work to feel new and different; and that's going to be quite hard! So much of the work already out there and done by others is so great! But I'll get there. It's a process and there's no point to rushing! I need to remember that this is supposed to be a fun side project. No pressure!!! (The go-getter in me has a hard time with that sometimes). Enjoy your days!!!

Missing Summer

Don't you just love this shade of green? Things are very busy here at Megan creates...
and it's getting cozy with the cold weather! But I miss those warm summer breezes.

The Cheese Stands Alone

Well, it was an interesting visit yesterday! From the testing, he says my body does not agree with Aluminum, Wheat, or Dairy. I guess aluminum is everywhere and can't be avoided, but I CAN change my deodorant (contains high aluminum) and I can avoid processed foods with food coloring (lots of aluminum in food colorings). The wheat and dairy thing is rough. It's ALL I eat!!! Perhaps that's the problem, but STILL! No more cereal with milk. No more cheese. Cheese is what makes my food-world spin! No more wheat pasta. No more tomato-soup suprise (the tons of garlic I like to add is the suprise for my husband...hee hee) *sigh* I'm supposed to eat lots of chicken, lean beef, vegetables, and fruit. And that's about it. I'm cutting out things that aren't whole food (except my maple and brown sugar Quaker Oat Meal in the morning). I hope this makes me feel better. Changing my entire food life is going to be a big undertaking. But I have to do it. I'm GOING to do it. I want so badly to feel better and to have my hives be gone (see post below). And if this might help, than so help me, I will eat grass only if it means better health. We're off to the grocery store tonight to explore and look at the gluten-free aisle and check out all the special foods I actually might be able to consume. It's a great opportunity to find new recipes that are healthy and will restore my body. I'm on the road to having energy! I think this might be a bumpy ride.

A new day?

Good morning all! Geez it's cold out. Been keeping very busy here in my home office; designing patterns and concepting for my future line of high-end stationery. I've also been pretty busy with my corporate clients and that makes me happy! I've been freelancing now since March; so that's 8 months. I'm grateful I haven't had to take on an extra job yet to make ends meet. It's all too common; so I'll knock on wood now. Ok. Done.
Anyway, I have an appt. today with my chiropractor who is going to do Nutrition Response Testing (tm) on me. I've had to fill out a ginormous health questionaire and plot my answers in a graph (it took my back to grade school let me tell you). I've also had to keep a food diary. It ain't pretty. It's hard to look at what you've eaten in a week and realize how crappy it looks on paper. I thought I was more balanced, but I can see differently. Anyway, Dr. Kowalik will look at the chart and my answers, etc. and do an analysis through testing my neurological reflexes and acupuncture points. It finds energy or lack thereof. Then, it is determined what my body needs and how to meet that need. Why all of this? Well, I've suffered from pressure hives for over 6 years now (almost 7) where my body is covered with hives wherever there was a bit of pressure on my skin. There is no treatment and no cure. Just constant itching. As a side effect, it causes fatigue and painful joints. So, it seems that everything I do causes pain and itching. If I carry a heavy bag, wear clothing, sit, stand for a while, do any manual labor...all equals hives. I feel like I need to live suspended in a pool of water (too bad the goggles would give me hives on my face as would the bathing suit give me hives on my body). It's frustrating. There are good days and bad days. Some so bad I can't move. Some days where I feel so sorry for myself I wonder how I can go on. Where the itching is so bad I will scratch through my skin all over. No creams help the itch. Nothing helps the itch. And believe me, I've tried absolutely everything over the years.
Other days I'm grateful that it's not something worse. I'm grateful it's not terminal. They say these hives can last as long as 50 years. But they can also disappear in 9. I'm hoping for the earliest possible date...when they will just up and disappear with no explanation. Just they way they came in the first place. So keep your fingers crossed for me today! Maybe with a complete alteration of my diet I will be able to heal my body. I know it won't be an overnight thing, but hope is what keeps me going day in and day out. I will post later on what was said, and we'll see if any discoveries are made today that might help me. (In the meantime, I will not cross my legs, carry heavy bags, or sit on hard surfaces).
Have a great day all; I hope it is a good one!