The TOUR of the TOTEMS: Part 1

Hello again!
Since I'm new here, I thought you might like to get to know me and my "nest" a little bit better. And what better way to do that, than to take a tour of my work/head space and the totems that surround me in my living room/studio. They are what bring me joy and inspiration, so they might give you good insight to me (perhaps more that I may realize) and also be a way to share OTHER people's artistry that I happen to appreciate and covet.  😃
We will take a photo tour around the room and I will give a little nod or a link to each item as we go. This will be a several segment post since I have quite a LOT of totems gathered over the years to make up my nesting happy place.

So strap on your seat belts, put your seats and tray tables in their full upright positions and ENJOY the journey!!! 

We will start at this side table and work our way around the room...

Here we have my very FIRST prototype Baby Groot!! I chose a yarn (Knit Picks DK City Tweed in Tarantella) that was really too dark to let his details and features show up well, so I ended up keeping "aboriginal Groot" and making another one in a lighter color tweed called Chipmunk, which is still what I use for all the orders that I get to this day!!! As any plant deserves to have a potted friend, I got this little adorable Om Nom lamp work glass mini masterpiece made by glass artist Anna at My Happy Hobby.

The Pac Man dice bag made by Nikki (who by the way is ALSO an awesome glass artist) was too retro awesome to pass up and does hold actual dice of the role play variety, though I fully admit they have yet to be used. Ahem...

OM NOM https://www.etsy.com/shop/Myhappyhobby
DICE BAG: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SavingThrows

This Tarot Deck and fully detailed book is a massive labor of love spanning years of blood, sweat and tears created by my VERY special and significant other, Jeff. Each card is an artistic masterpiece in of itself as well as the keepsake box, the cover art on the book and the product as a whole. I do not tarot as it were, but I do have a deep appreciation for the art and the dedication and skill that lives and breathes in this gorgeous treasure!!! You should absolutely go check out his Facebook page. WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE???? 🤣

https://www.facebook.com/Tarot-D-The-Didactic-Tarot-by-Jeffrey-M-Donato-186060044783409/
https://www.amazon.com/Tarot-Didactic-Jeffrey-M-Donato

Moving onto the entertainment stand (a vital component to getting the crocheting done as movies are essential to the work process). 

You can see from left to right here the worm and Jareth the Goblin king from the epic movie The Labyrinth", a Dino beadie, my Shower pin, the Ewe-tility Vehile glass sculpture, a Lavender Sprout, a meditation tower of mini rocks from Spain and last... my Spirit Animal mascot, Seymour the Snail. Whew!!

Since I crochet, I own very few creations made by other yarn artists since I usually enjoy making my own creatures and critters even MORE than owning them to display. These two are the exceptions as Anya is an amazing crochet artist/designer and since she uses mixed media (adding felt, hair, polymer clay etc) in her finished pieces, they achieve a level of detail and accuracy you just can not achieve using yarn alone. I LOVE all of her work and if I had infinite finances, would definitely own more of her creations for certain!!! 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnyaZoe
https://www.facebook.com/anyazoe/

This adorable sheep on the stolen tractor has been my muse and reminder not to take life too seriously for several years now! Laney has the unique gift of capturing the joy and whimsy of life and expressing it through her lamp work beads and glass sculptures. They all have a unique personal story to go along with the artistry and talent!

The little dino is part of Lauren's Dinobeadies project! Not only are they super cute dinos in fun colors often with little murrini details but each purchase goes towards funding Juvenile Diabetes research! (diabetes = dino - beadies...you see what she did there???) This guy is just one of MANY dinos of hers that I have as well as other critter beads I've collected over the years.

SHEEP: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Izzybeads
https://www.facebook.com/LaneyMeadArt/DINO: https://www.etsy.com/shop/maybeads
https://www.facebook.com/Maybeads/

Here you see my Lavender Sprout from Junk Punk who makes the coolest fantasy, forest sprite kind of creations out of found objects and pure talent!! I love the serious cuteness and it's "my" colors of course. Then there is my mini ode to stone balancing made from small rocks brought back to me from Spain by my sister when I requested for her to bring me back "a little piece of Spain". Who knew she would honor my request so literally! (granted mine are glued together but they honor the art and meditation that IS true stone balancing).

LAVENDER SPROUT: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JunkPunkStore
Pattern by https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheLoftyLoop

Last and not least in importance is my Spirit Animal mascot, Seymour the Snail!! I adopted the snail as my spirit animal years ago when a drastic change in my life caused me to need to adjust how I gauge a productive day or what being successful in my life would mean to me now. Some times a productive day is filling orders and doing paperwork and cooking awesome food! Some days a productive day is showering and that's okay too. 

Breathe, take it slow, bring only the joy of life and what you love along with you on your back and leave the rest behind. Whatever your pace is, that IS the RIGHT speed and only you can judge that for yourself. 

I hope this beginning tour of the little things that bring me joy has brought you a smile as well and we will continue the Totem Tour in the next entry!

Love and light to you all ~R 💜