5 cute things for your iPad

We just got an iPad. Too exciting. (It was a gift. Thanks Dad!)
I'm still keeping my media use under control though. Mostly.
The kids love to play games and watch Youtube videos. Mostly Maru and babies. And Pete.
I love that Pinterest is so user-friendly. And the "notes" section.. already very full.
And I usually do my blog reading on my iPhone, so the bigger screen is super awesome.
I needed to accessorize stat. There are tons of adorable choices.. skins, folios, sleeves, styluses.
I went with the folio case from Target.. I got a checkered plaid red, white and gray. I wanted to be able to watch Netflix in bed hands-free and I didn't want it to be really girly.

Here's something awesome! I did some window shopping for you to get you started on your search for the perfect accessory & protection for your iPad!
1// Speck iPad guy 2// Speck for Target 3// Gussy Sews 4// Claire Vivier for Splendid 5// Society 6

artistic process: plurabelle calligraphy

What can I say? I can't get enough of the artistic process!
I've been practicing my own calligraphy quite a bit lately, so this one was really fun to see.
Molly's work at Plurabelle Calligraphy is stunning.
And her blog is even better. Full of inspiration.
I'm really hoping to see more process videos from her!

Go show some love!

artistic process: alisa burke

Here I am with another artistic process video! They are all over right now and I am soaking in every bit of them. It is just too fun to see art come together. It kind of reminds me of baking.. how you start with eggs and flour and butter and sugar and end up with something totally delicious.
I have followed Alisa Burke for a long time now and her style is so awesome. Purposely messy, full of color and I love her philosophy about making art from what you have and how she uses nature as her inspiration and muse. I can't wait to see how she plays with art with her adorable daughter.

Enjoy and as always, go show some love to Alisa!

the cool crowd // media awareness part 2

Speaking of the cool kids and all the super rad bloggers and entrepreneurs out there...
Let's talk a little about how we follow them. If you like someone or are inspired by them, it's likely that you'll want to be like them and this includes liking the things they like. Feeling pressure to buy things the cool kids have or read the blogs they read can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety. Your inner dialogue may ask you, 'Where will I get the time to read 400 blogs posts a day? Where will I get the money for that designer watch? How will I ever keep up?' or worse.. you'll spend the time or the money trying to keep up, inevitably making yourself feel inadequate. The truth is.. you don't have to! You can't possibly like everything everyone else likes. You have to discern for yourself what gets your time and money and what you think is cool. I love this tap essay about what what it is to like and what it is to love on the Internet. You really have to take a look at yourself and understand who you are as a media user and as a person. Being part of the 'in' crowd does not mean you conform. If you don't like polka dots, don't buy polka dot jeans and if you don't like a blog that has a million followers, don't read it. I guarantee you are not missing out. There will be another 'it' thing in approximately 4 seconds. So don't fret. Sometimes finding yourself means that you don't get to feel cool. And if you're a mixture of this crowd and that, then be that. Fitting in is not a real thing. The cool crowd is only who you deem it to be.

artistic process: the vaguely

It's no secret that video is it. Youtube is the net's second largest search engine.
Video has this incredible way of telling a story.. of showing a story.. of playing to emotions.

I'm in love with seeing the process of artists. When you can see their joy of creating, it suddenly makes the person and the product more appealing. It brings you back. I love this one on Vanessa Hernandez of the Vaguely created by Hunter & Fox.

the cool crowd // media awareness

There are so many cool people online. Like seriously cool people. Writing blogs. Taking photos. Traveling to faraway lands. Making a name for themselves. Sure, we are all online. We all search and pin and tweet. But the cool people are the ones creating. Cool crowd? Maybe. But it's a free-for-all. We all have this chance. To be cool, I mean. To be savvy. It can be hard- dealing wither the jealous feelings of wanting to be cool like her, to dress like her, to have her confidence, to be talented like her, to have a nice house like her. But we are all on our own journey. And if we want to be cool on the Internet, all we have to do its work hard and get it. This isn't high school and the cool kids shouldn't be so intimidating.

Can I tell you a secret? I was terrified of the popular crowd in high school. I was so jealous of what they had that I often forgot about what I had. And I'm only now starting to grow out of that and realize that I just want to be me and that my mind has something to offer too.

As part of my own media awareness, I have to recognize my feelings as I search this vast... VAST Internet. Am I 8 pages deep into this blog because I am feeling jealous or am I truly inspired? What will I take away from this person? Am I going to click 'X' and then go feel like shit because I don't have what she* has (or what I think she does) or am I going to do something about it? Because there is no point if it's the former.
Don't make yourself feel like shit. You have that choice. If you wanna be cool, then be cool

*I relate to the her/she because I am a girl. It's just an ambiguous character. It could be anyone.

media awareness & responsibility

Most of what we see in this world is media-related. We spend hours watching TV and surfing the Internet. It is curated by the masses. It is curated by you, by me. Every time you share an article, every time you pin something, you are adding to the messages we see. While I couldn't be more excited or more grateful for the technologies we have created for ourselves, with it comes great responsibility. We have responsibilities that we cannot even begin to comprehend. So we must ask ourselves questions when we are curating, creating or even consuming media. And we must do certain things to combat the "addiction" to media. Here are some of my thoughts when it comes to using media in everyday life:


1// Live life without media. Limit yourself. For me, this meant that I had to delete Facebook off my iPhone. It was a distraction. It took too much time away from the people that mean the world to me. It took too much time away from finding myself, keeping myself healthy and doing real work. Now I check Facebook a couple of times a day as opposed to a few times an hour. My family has also gotten rid of cable TV in favor of Netflix. We watch way less TV and spend way more time as a family. I do not miss Facebook or cable.

2// Be self-aware. Understand and recognize your feelings about the media you consume. This is a hard one. It took me a long time to realize that I needed to delete Facebook off my phone. I had to really see myself becoming anxious about it and I had to tell myself that that was bad. When I had the feeling I should do it, I did. I didn't hesitate. Are you overly concerned about social media updates? Are you overly concerned with the 24-hour news cycle? Get a grip and recognize that this is not good! Also, recognize your feelings about the actual content. Is it worth the way you are feeling? Often times, jealousy and anger can become very intense over the Internet. Take a step back and realize why something is making you feel that way.

3// Educate others about what it means to be self-aware. Do exactly what I am doing right now.


4// When posting online, always source. This is important for two reasons: It is fair to the person who created the information in the first place. Bloggers, photographers, crafters.. all get pretty serious about this. Link to the original source. Google and random Tumblr accounts are not real sources. The second reason is that people need to know where their information is coming from. Do I trust this source? Why or why not?

5// Be particularly careful about the messages you create. Think about your ultimate message. We should all have one. Before you click publish or share, think about if the content is worth posting. Why are you posting it? What do you hope to accomplish? Does this piece of content support my thesis as a user of media? Am I perpetuating a stereotype? Am I portraying reality? Am I okay with the ramifications it may cause when I click share? Am I willing to take criticism? These are all questions we should ask ourselves every single time.

These tips can be useful with all the media you consume. The Internet is a great example because it is so widely used, but how do you feel about television, advertisements, magazines, books? The list goes on!