JANUARY 12TH: THE TOAST OF CHANGE!

As is becoming my habit, I am once again sending out New Year’s cards instead of Christmas cards. You thought your holiday-card-days were over, but you might have another little treat coming to you in the mail :)

This year’s card features the Toast of Change. Like last year’s Cheese of Revolution, this desktop companion allows you to write down your goals and keep them within sight throughout the year. The Toast of Change pops up and sits on your desk: pull up the Toast’s tuque to read Toast’s little bio, and then turn it over to write in your “To Do” list for 2012. Slide the insert back into the Toast card. You can either keep your goals hidden under the tuque or you can pull up the tuque to view the ones you’re currently working on. 

Be refreshed by the tingling pine scent of the Toast of Change! Sit him on your desk or by your toaster and let him help you chop the wood and stoke the fire of change. Let’s make 2012 good.

May the Toast of Change be with you!

DECEMBER 24TH: MERRY PROJECTS.

Thought I’d share this small project I completed earlier this week for Industry Mailout, the company that my brother Justin Jackson works for. They sent it out as their Christmas email! A fun little project for the week before Christmas.

DECEMBER 18TH: WHEN ONE IS ILL.

Thought of the (weekend): Being down with a bad cold is apparently the exact impetuous I needed to clean and reorganize my studio apartment.

A few quotes for the rest of you fighting off the Common Cold this season:

“I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.”  ~ Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh, 1903

This one is for my brother Justin, who has a Christmas tradition of throwing a Bacon and Beer party: 

“Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.”  ~ Doug Larson

“As a people, we have become obsessed with Health. There is something fundamentally, radically unhealthy about all this. We do not seem to be seeking more exuberance in living as much as staving off failure, putting off dying. We have lost all confidence in the human body.”  ~ Lewis Thomas, The Medusa and the Snail, 1979

“People who are always taking care of their health are like misers who are hoarding a treasure which they have never spirit enough to enjoy.”  ~ Laurence Sterne

“A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.”  ~ Irish Proverb

“Preserving the health by too strict a regimen is a wearisome malady.”  ~ François Duc de la Rochefoucauld

Have you ever noticed that people who love good food tend to have an enjoyment for so many of the other pleasures of life too? Fitness and runway models must be the most boring of party attendees. These words come appropriately from the mouth of a chef : 

“If you resolve to give up smoking, drinking and loving, you don’t actually live longer; it just seems longer.”  ~ Clement Freud, The Observer, 27 December 1964

“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”  ~ Mark Twain

PREVENTION: for the future – apparently all of us cold-ridden folk need to simply drink more red wine (see BBC article HERE).

Quotes discovered on quotegarden.com and The Hedonism Handbook.

Vector Christmas card illustrations that I completed a few weeks ago for the little card packs that I was selling at the Christmas Royal Bison Craft + Art Fair this year! The illustrations are based on the cute little characters from my A Jam Story books.

Love how grumpy butter is. Always.

HOW TO USE FORTUNES OF LOVE CARDS.

To play you must have in your possession a complete pack of 7 Accurate & Compelling Fortunes of Love cards, a pen or similar writing instrument, and the desire to delve into and, yes, FORETELL the love fortunes of others.

Instructions:

1. Shuffle the deck of 7 cards and place the stack face-down on a table.

2. Ask your friend to choose a number between 1 and 7.

3. Pick up the cards one-by-one and place them (from left to right) in a row in front of your friend.

4. Look at the cards on the table: the card with the number that your friend chose is their Love Present (if they chose the number “7″ their Love Present is the blank card). All the cards before this card (that is, to the left of it) are their Love Past. All of the cards after this card are their Love Future.*

5. Now you will read the cards and their meanings to your friend, starting with the first card (their Love Past) and ending with the last card (their Love Future).

WHEN YOU GET TO THE BLANK CARD in your reading, have your friend take the writing instrument of choice, close their eyes, think of love and all it’s intricacies, and scribble the first thing that comes to mind. This can literally be a scribble, a word, picture, a hashtag symbol, anything. YOU the Fortune Teller must then interpret your friend’s scribble and explain its deep hidden purposes and meanings. Good luck.

Note: Fortunes of Love cards do NOT foretell the specific times of love events. “Future” could be one day in the future or 10 years in the future. Ditto for the “Past”. Your “Love Present” could be either about to happen or literally happening right now. Oh yes, it is!

* If your friend’s chosen number ends up being on the very first card placed on the table, then that card is their Love Present and all 6 cards after it are their Love Future. If your friend’s chosen number ends up being on the very last card, then the Accurate & Compelling Fortunes of Love cards have chosen to NOT divulge their love future at the this time, and the last card will uncover the secrets of their Love Present, which is still pretty darn exciting. Particularly if it’s Hot Hot Hot Tub of Love.

CARDS AND THEIR MEANINGS. 

Bed of Solitude: This card signifies time alone. This could mean a break-up, a retreat, or simply a brief time of pondering and reflection. This card – by necessity – signifies a lonely time for romantic love BUT is a good time to head to that ashram you’ve been eyeing or go hang out with all those non-romantic partners in your life that you’ve been ignoring lately. (Card #1)

Cup of Desire: This card signifies a time of choice of perception. You will be in an ambiguous situation where you must choose how you’re going to view it. Is the love cup half-full or half-empty? Think about what you truly desire and choose your perspective wisely. (Card #2)

Loveseat Triangulation: This card signifies that there will be 3 people involved in your love life. Take it as you will, this card means triangulation in one form or another. Is it a clandestine threesome? Is a friend or family member sharing a crucial insight into your relationship? Are you going to relationship counselling? Is it a baby? Or did someone crash your first date with a hottie? ONLY TIME WILL TELL!! (Card #3)

Space and Time: This card signifies a time when love – that spans space and time – will impact your life. Perhaps you will discover this rare and beautiful thing - twoo wove – and meet the love of your life. Perhaps you will be voyeuristically observing what it looks like, or coming across some other proof of its existence. Either way, you will be coming face-to-face with True Love, either to be thrown into the depths of it or to be inspired by it. (Card #4)

Hot Hot Hot Tub: This card signifies a time of passionate love. The hot bubbly depths of sensual desire are awaiting! At this time the Fortunes tell that you will be jumping into the simmering ylang-ylang scented joys of el passion. Enjoy. The rest of us will try not to be jealous. (Card #5)

Chair of Love: This card signifies a time of decisions. At this point in your life the Chair of Love will be placed in front of you, and you MUST SIT. Not only this, but once you sit you cannot rise until you have made the love decision at hand. Good luck. (Card #6)

Are you perplexed by an Accurate & Compelling Fortunes of Love question that you are convinced will answer all of your unsolved love questions and problems? Feel free to email me at sarah@sarahjackson.ca.

Warning: all questions you send me may be posted on my blog at some point. Just so’s you know.

NOVEMBER 24TH: BISON OF ROYALTY.

Thought of the Day: The Royal Bison Craft + Art Fair draws nigh!

Yes, I will be vending there this Christmas Season. The Fair runs all day Saturday Nov 26 (10-5pm) and Sunday Nov 27 (12-5pm) at 8426 Gateway Boulevard. See below some samples of the work that I will vending (including, as always, my illustrated A Jam Story books).

Mark your calendars and put your shoes by the door!

NOVEMBER 17TH: THE FINE ART OF NOT LEAVING YOUR APARTMENT ALL DAY, NOT EVEN ONCE.

As the owner of a small design studio (ie. just me) who works from a small studio apartment, I have had the time over the past year to perfect the very Fine Art of Not Leaving Your Apartment All Day, Not Even Once.

Allow me to divulge the simple steps that I follow to create such a day.

1. First off, live in a very pleasant studio apartment that you enjoy being in that is also your office (for more advice on this topic read my blog post Love the Place You Live).

2. You may be used to getting ready all in one go, but for this type of day it’s best to draw it out. Check your email – brush your teeth; take a break from a project – walk over to your closet and find a shirt; finish the project – put on chosen shirt;  make a phone call – put on socks, etc.

3. Tell yourself that you will leave your apartment once you’ve finished all of your projects (sure-fire way to not leave said apartment all day).

4. Buy an espresso maker and coffee grinder. Seriously. The number one place I go when I have no real reason to leave my office is to the café around the corner from my building. Now that I have my own delicious espresso… well. I mean, I still go to the café most days (I love cafés) but not every single day.

5. Have a boyfriend who brings you a latte after they’ve been outside, therefore giving the illusion of having left your apartment and having communicated with the outside world.

OCTOBER 22ND: FRIENDS OF FARMERS

Over the past few weeks I’ve been creating a website with developer Lisa Hagen for a local project called Friends of Farmers. I’m pleased as punch when I get to work on projects that I believe in, and this is one of them.

Friends of Farmers is all about helping the farmers of Northeast Edmonton keep the prime land that they farm as exactly that – farmland. The investors (read: land speculators – most of the farmers rent the land that they farm) are rushing to have this area rezoned… smells of profit devoid of care. For a sprawling city that already imports the vast majority of its food, preserving this prime agricultural land should be a no-brainer. A smart city knows that there are many different kinds of wealth, but local food growth will always be golden.

A smart city knows that there are many different kinds of wealth, but local food growth will always be golden.

The website (friendsoffarmers.ca) launches this Saturday. If you enjoy the local vegetables and foods of Edmonton’s local farmers, then I encourage you to become a friend and sign your name to their cause. Wait – if you eat and enjoy their vegetables, it’s as much your cause too, isn’t it?

OCTOBER 20TH: SOONER THAN LATER

I was watching a Creative Mornings featuring Jim Coudal today, and at the end of his talk he gave a few words advice. He was talking about the entrepreneurial spirit, and how many of the entrepreneurial souls that he has met say these same six words: “I should have done it sooner.”

“I should have done it sooner.” – Jim Coudal

Entrepreneur – Enterprise – Enterprising. Someone who is enterprising is defined by their initiative and resourcefulness. This wild western country is supposedly known for it’s resourcefulness, it’s bold pioneering spirit. And frankly, I love it. It’s an empowering attitude to take hold of. Plus, the world needs resourceful people right now. People who will figure out new ways to do old things, more beautiful ways to do old things, people who will find delightful solutions to tired old problems.

So to all of you who are hesitating, here is my Thought of the Day – do it sooner!

OCTOBER 7TH: TIME.

Thought of the day: Yes, all good things take time.

“Intentions are important. And so is passion. But the one ingredient that needs to be present to create great work is time. Time to strategize, explore and refine.”

- Chris Staples, partner with Rethink 

I read this article by Chris Staples and these lines (quoted from his recent article in Applied Arts, Vol. 26, No. 4, pg. 19) stood out from the page as if they’d already been highlighted, circled and surrounded by doodled stars. TIME. It’s pretty official that we need it to create great things, from design work to relationships.

The big Question of the Generation is – where do we find it? Despite what Einstein has proved, time has always felt pretty concrete to me: 24 hours is 24 hours, and oh, I’ve tried. I am the woman who believes I can end one meeting at 3pm and simultaneously arrive at the next one at 3pm. I will say “yes” to the things I want to do in a day and have faith (hallelujah) that my faith alone will make these things possible (classic mistake of religion). I will sacrifice sleep, causing me to lose much of my goodwill and humour.

The answer is simple. You must choose where to spend your time and be a ruthless curator. You must learn to say no to unrealistic expectations and then go eat a gelato, like the Italians. You must say Fudge You! to the people who would take away those things that are important to you (ie. croissants and staying in bed late with lovers) like the French. You must stop writing blogs when you’re not yet dressed and have a meeting to be at in 15 minutes.

Time cannot be made or in my case at least (I’m no Einstein) manipulated. It can simply be spent, in one place at one time, and I myself would like to spend it making great things, not running around like a chicken with its head cutoff.

I’ve got a lot of work to do.