The Tree Kisser gift(s) and autumn/winter haul

My plan for this blog was not to have entries back to back, but this could not wait. After spending a portion of my day tracking it down, I finally have my package from Jessica (The Tree Kisser.) Fashion, food, activism. *No animals harmed. Pure perfection, if you ask me. So this blog will basically be catching up with some things since my school year has been pretty busy. Other than some tweets, my lack of a phone &/or camera has left me without thank you posts. So here it is!

Since the main feature of this post is Jessica and her clothing line, The Tree Kisser, here are all her links:
Shop
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram

I'm very excited to own a piece of her line. The shirt is lovely, and the packaging was exquisite. "Animals Are Not Fabric" was the shirt featuring in my illustration for econ, also what she sent me. Next on my list is to buy "Wear Pink, Not Mink" because it's just perfect. The packaging was really adorable - complete with a logo sticker for the wrapped-up item, a hand-written thank you note, and cute little piggy stamps on the package.

The shirt itself is a crop top, sized L/XL for a slouchy, long look. And the bumper sticker was a hit with my cat.

Thanks so, so much to Jessica for this lovely gift. Her kindness really warms my heart and I can't wait to go around wearing this so her message can warm the hearts of others, hopefully changing the way they think about the use of animals in fashion and in daily life. Next up are some shots of a contest I won back in September. This was hosted by, coincidentally, Jessica. The box came during a time of stress so other than a bunch of tweets, my excitement wasn't really shown. 

This beautiful bunch includes a dog-tag necklace set from VgirlsVguys: rescue, and a pawprint; Cocomels; a copy of Beg by Rory Freedman; and a sweet card. Below is a conditioning oil from Simplecare Products - which has become a daily product - and a charity pot lotion from Lush. Not pictured are two shirts: one from the Love Infinitely Project and one from Hendrick Boards - there around somewhere, I just have to do a bit of unpacking!

Again, thank you so much to Jessica. Words will never truly fulfill my gratitude. Since I'm on cosmetics, the next images are my recent cosmetic deliveries and gifts. First, a Julep maven box - free, shipped courtesy of my mum with the Mary Kay Satin Lips set gifted to me from my friend Claudia. Second, a very generous gift from vegan cosmetic company Cate McNabb. Included is a creme to powder foundation, loose powder, concealer, and lip stain - as well as the creme to powder and loose powder samples that were sent prior, And third the Beauty Blogger Darlings set from Too Faced, purchased with a gift card my mum had handed off to me since she wasn't able to use it.

Along with the gift card to Macy's, my mother also gave me a 20$ card for Shutterfly which she had been given for free from The Children's Place when buying clothing for a family in need. I ended up having to pay over 10$ shipping - there's always a catch with promotions right? - but it was well worth it. The entire scrapbook is of my adventures with really important, life-changing people from San Pedro Ballet School. (Most of which I know through other activities of the owners and their son.) It came out fabulous.

A very sweet surprise was a package from peta2 for a competition I had entered in June of 2013 or before. Having completely forgotten, I got an email months later to provide my address in case I turned out to be a final contestant. After that I didn't hear back about final winners and forgot until one day a parcel showed up that I hadn't ordered. I thought it was a mistake, but inside was a signed copy of Cinematics from Set It Off and one of their shirts - with a fox, of course.

Christmas came around and my mum said we could celebrate since my sister had wanted to. Although it was pretty tight this year, I got a really nice Tommy Hilfiger purse with matching wallet from her, as well as a replacement Paris Hilton perfume since the other broke. Between my Uncle & Nana and Marissa, I ended up with three nice journals that are always nice to have around. 

After holiday my stepdad got paid and kept true to telling me that he'd get me any book or crystals I wanted as a late Christmas gift. Since John Edward was having a holiday bundle sale, I got all this for the price of one or two books from a shop.

There were also some lovely followers of mine from tumblr that sent me gifts - one a package of assorted teas, crystals, and incense and another of home-made and hand-picked candles, incense, tea, and items for protection, luck, and cleansing. Not pictured from tumblr followers would be a box of Twinings tea and some samples of Teavana teas.

Great spiritual gifts continue with another instagram contest that I won, hosted by Christi from Gemini Rising. Along with the lovely quartz point hair clip that I won, she sent a few small random gifts. Including: lucky rabbit foot (fake I hope?), a white candle that bleeds colour when burning, and her favourite chunk of labradorite.

I honestly hadn't realised how much stuff I had been gifted over the past 6 or 7 months until now, and I'm extremely thankful. Although it hasn't all been things I've wanted extremely badly or needed, it's all been a very nice luxury. It's all been things I wouldn't have been able to get because I've spent that time giving to people in need. Below is one of the only photos I have of a good deed - but it's an important one. Holiday Mail for Heroes. Doing this warmed my heart so much, and I hope that whoever got one of my cards really enjoyed it.

So this is basically the good things that have come in the last half a year. Always remember to be generous and help those in need as often as you can, give as much as you can, and always be kind. Eventually the universe will bring it all back to you somehow!

xx

Tenacious - an art gallery in the works.

Over the last two years I've had much experience; both good and bad. Some things have been extremely uplifting while others have been heartbreaking. I guess this can extend to back in 2008 when my Grandmother died, but this last two years have just been especially important.

At the end of 2012 I had become deeply inspired to do some art. There were tons of ideas around in my head and heart, but for a particular piece. Well, not particular, but I knew that I had to take the ideas and turn them into something magnificent. Everything fell through until the start of 2013. I had this image in my mind, from where I'm not quite sure, of a heart - and inside of that heart the words: you are here. So I tried to think of how to paint what I was thinking and ended up with a sloppy red heart on a square white canvas for months. Months! Eventually I'd thought of doing silhouette work. But of what? There weren't a lot of options when it came to putting my thoughts to art in a non-obvious way. So I decided on a soldier. The silhouette of a man or a woman or an alien. Just of a hero, of a fighter.

But what else? There were so many other things I wanted to add or ways I could improve it. I had the heart, I had the soldier, I had the barbed wire fence, and rifle. There was too much white, too much space, too much emptiness. So again it sat, until one day I looked at it and realised that it was everything I'd wanted it to be. But with thinking that came the sadness over the thoughts and emotion I had put into it. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't hang up this canvas like the rest in my room; it made me too sad. After much thought I decided to sell it, to find a loving home for it where it could mean something to someone. The lack of online presence made it harder for me to get the painting around to serious buyers, so it had to sit some more. 

Amidst planning the 50th anniversary for Carson High School, I had decided to sell and raffle off some of my artwork to raise money for one of their extremely underfunded academies - though needless to say no one really had an interest in the art and preferred to make purchases from the surrounding sports booths. The lovely ladies from the health centre were very enthusiastic about my pieces; each made comments about nearly every work. Ms. Garrison was especially drawn to "Tenacious", saying she'd buy it if no one else did.

Deciding to give away the painting free of charge was especially easy for me, but when I had to gather the papers to hand the work over it suddenly became hard. Not making money from it wasn't the important thing, the growing attachment was. Day after day I grew busier with classes and acting and so pushed off creating the papers. Tenacious hung as a reminder that I had to get it done, and just before winter holiday I did - or maybe it was Thanksgiving, but I can't quite remember. The day I took the painting in, she was really happy and expressed her appreciation for it along with the others in the office and that made me really happy. It would be hanging up in the office, she told me.

Now that it's been a month or so later, Ms. Garrison has told me that everyone who sees it really likes it too. The thing that really warmed my heart was to hear about how each person says it means something different to them - student, parent, faculty. Something so simple can mean so many things. Underneath all the things it meant to me, somewhere deep down I had wanted it to - I think that was my point with the silhouette style and simplicity.

So now, after having such an experience with the art process itself and getting to hear something like that about my own work, I've decided to further it. Many times I've thought about working on a potential gallery, only to fall short at "well what theme/style/pallette/etc. do I go for?" But now the answer has come to me in this simplicity. 

The next moment of free time I have is going to be dedicated to making a decorated box with a hole only big enough to drop slips of paper. The box and the paper will be decorated with block printing, very formal like, but to match the original work. Anyone who feels like it can write down what Tenacious means to them anonymously - or not, if they feel. Knowing what people think when they see it would mean the world to me, and with that I can expand and create more.

Tenacious
Bridgette Jameson
2013

Or at least I believe that's what it was given under, though it seems all the original documents have been wiped from my hard drive. It's been in my mind all day to perhaps start selling prints of this piece, though that I'll have to wait a bit for. Any questions, comments, concerns, etc. are welcome!