Tyler Durden's 8 Rules of Innovation

A friend of mine introduced this link to me today and it absolutely resonated! I am not a huge fan of the move "Fight Club," but I thought the author's use of the parallels to get his point across was great. I have no idea who Tyler Durden is (LOL), but I like what he has to say about the rules of innovation! Be fearless!

Giving Etsy a try...

I have set up an Etsy account and one of the three items I have uploaded is this Steampunk Debutante wall decor:

I would greatly appreciate it if you would browse the store and offer suggestions!

A little John Deere here...

My friend Raeanne "commissioned" a piece for me to create for her to give to her sister-in-law as a gift for her new baby's room. The room is John Deere themed and Rae gave me a multi-photo frame to "Jessica-tize," as she put it. Here it is, before, after and on the wall:

Whoops! Forgot to give the low down on Guthrie Gallery Night!

I just realized I never blogged about Guthrie Gallery Night! Both events went very well and it seemed like everyone had a great time. Some wer looking for inspiration, some were looking for gifts, others were just wanting an evening (or afternoon!) out of the house!

It was so much fun to be able to show off the pieces I have created for my family and answer questions about them. Everyone who attended seemed to have their own personal favorites, so I can't say which one was hands-down the most popular.

Here are some photos from the event:

Akiko and Shiho won the raffle prizes on Saturday.

Melissa loved winning the door prize on Thursday.

Actually, Melissa was thrilled to win the door prize on Thursday!



The baby boy "Zoo Baby" collection was a big hit.



My friend Kanoko added to my mantle display - she gave me the pretty green bottle, third from the left.



The "Steampunk Debutante" Collection was my favorite to work with. This is a three-frame wall hanging.

The left frame up close.

This clock cabinet is one of my favorites.

I have been asked if I will do another Guthrie Gallery Night before Christmas. I think I might, coupled with a some kind of class, which has been requested by a number of people. Could be fun, maybe a weekend in November. But, we'll have to see how my crazy fall semester pans out first (see previous post for details)!

Some of the things that are still left I plan to put on an Etsy site or something, so I'll be sure to announce that here and on Facebook. But a huge thank you to everyone who came out and were so supportive (even if they weren't totally sure what to expect!).

Summer's over....

So, my summer is officially over. My summer classes have ended and I got the As I wanted. I never would have thought I would have gotten all As in graduate school, based off of my 3.4 high school and 3.1 college GPAs, but this field of study really does resonate with me. I think it’s a good fit… and nary a calculus or biology class in the bunch!


I didn’t get to the beach once this summer, but I did get to clean most of the house and see some bands and movies with the spouse. Oh, and I am pretty much caught up on my sleep, I think. Which is a good thing, because this fall promises to be challenging!

I fly out tomorrow to pick up the kids from my parents’ house in California. I’ll stay about 6 days to visit with family and friends before coming back. The same day I get back, my in-laws will be arriving in town, to help me out with life while the spouse is off playing softball for 10 days, representing his squadron of Marines. Why the Marine Corps has this annual event the week school starts for many kids around the country, I have no idea. Why not earlier in the summer so families can go? Or at least not have to worry about start of school flurry of activity that wreaks havoc on many households. But the Corps has never really tried to be convenient for family. No need to start now.

Will and Xan start school on the 22nd. Will will be going into 4th grade, and Xan will be starting Kindergarten. I will be starting my fourth (and hopefully, send-to-last) semester as a Strategic Communication and Leadership graduate student at the University of West Florida. Plus, I will be dropping back to part time status as a marketer Pen Air FCU so that I can pursue a new adventure: Teaching at UWF. I will be a graduate teaching assistant (GTA), teaching two public speaking courses on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I have always wanted to try my hand at teaching at the collegiate level, and I now have my chance. It’s is going to be a very busy semester for me and I am trying to create a schedule a routine so that I have as little stress as possible – ha! Life always manages to throw a wrench (or ten) in to the plans I make, so flexibility will be a much-needed commodity.

Plus, I am doing some freelance copywriting and scrapbooking on the side. Keeping busy is a way of life for me. I'll post pictures of my latest scrappy projects soon!