June 5, 2012 In appreciation, communication, design, graphic design, inspiration, words and language By Patricia Saxton

A Plethora of P’s / #57: Purple

proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.

– ♥ –

Because purple is fabulous.The color of royalty, the color supreme for little girls, the essence of spirituality. It’s sublime and grand and bright and fun and radiant and plush and proud and deep and mysterious and joyful and lavish and luscious and lovely. We should all have some purple in our world.

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May 27, 2012 In appreciation, art, creativity, design By Patricia Saxton

For Memorial Day (A Plethora of P’s / #23: Principles)

“Who kept the faith and fought the fight; The glory theirs, the duty ours.”  ~Wallace Bruce

– ♥ –

This one bears repeating….so, as last year, we thank you and we honor you, all the fallen  ~ for your bravery, your love, your principled, unselfish courage ~ from the wells of our hearts, with a gratitude that knows no bounds.

………………………………….
Memorial Day, 2011, 2012
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May 18, 2012 In art, books & stuff, creativity, design, graphic design, imagination, inspiration, life and the universe By Patricia Saxton

52 Weeks of Peace [squared] / Week #67

Peace (~ and life ~ and beauty ~) exists, yes, even within life’s rough surfaces, craggy edges and crumbling emotions. It’s up to us to discover and allow, with eyes, heart and mind open.

“Peace Wall” / 52 Weeks of Peace [squared]: Week #67 / © Patricia Saxton

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May 15, 2012 In appreciation, art, books, creativity, design, presentation, words and language By Patricia Saxton

Books & Magic

“A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called “leaves”) imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.”  ~ Carl Sagan

• • •

What can I possibly add to that? Except that I agree. And we humans can indeed work magic.

It helps, of course, to get the writing in front of a reader. Which is pretty easy if you’re dead and famous, or if you’re still among the living and happen to have a lot of fans. But if one doesn’t have a lot of fans yet, how do you get people’s attention; how will people know what wonderful tapestries your words have woven, what prose you’ve spun, what wit you’ve unraveled?

Ah, yes. The cover.

Many a good book is bypassed because it’s poorly dressed, just as there are those books regrettably dolled to the nines whose inner workings disappoint ~ but, by far, the latter has the better chance of some face time. Of course, you know this. Just keep that in mind, especially when self-publishing: your book’s cover should be given some serious artistic consideration, if you want your book to be seriously considered. (and, yes, I can help with that!)

In any event, the Sagan quote above got me thinking it was time for another posting of good-looking book covers. So here are some I’ve plucked from cyberspace to add to previous book cover posts. I can’t speak to their magical qualities, but the designs pass my test. See if you agree.

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May 10, 2012 In art, creativity, design, drawing, life and the universe, work and play By Patricia Saxton

Feeling Piggish

Sometimes life can feel far too serious.

So, as if pre-ordained, I was swathed by a wave of whimsy when I stumbled across this (oh so cute) picture on a Facebook Page called “Animal Story”:

Which reminded me of a t-shirt design I’d created years ago:

And that reminded me of the fun I had making my Pigs That Fly image:

Which reminded me of my favorite pig, drawn by my daughter when she was little:

Which prompted thoughts of when I was little and had carefully drawn this cool character on my school 3-ring binder cover.

And there you have it. Just some pig fun to fatten up the cheerful quotient.
“That’s all folks!”

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May 7, 2012 In appreciation, communication, design, graphic design, inspiration, words and language By Patricia Saxton

A Plethora of P’s / #56: Postcards

proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.

– ♥ –

Postcards! Snippets of our lives captured with a picture and a few friendly words that tell someone we’re thinking of them. Except now… with instant email access from almost anywhere in the world, pictures arriving within seconds on our cell phones and exotic places available daily on tv, handwritten postcards are near extinction, relegated to “nostalgia”.

There was a time when it was a treat to send something in the mail from faraway places ~ maybe India or Paris or Jamaica, or from a child at summer camp “a million miles from home” ~ and just as much a treasure to receive.

Now, we’re home before the card. Or we’ve skyped from Finland. Or we’ve shared our stories on Facebook. The postcard is old news.

But this is also true: there isn’t one of us who doesn’t harbor a secret wish for a real letter in the mail. A real birthday card, a real thank you card, a real postcard. With real words written with a real pen by a real live bona fide human being who took the time to write … to you! There’s nothing that says “I’m thinking of you” more than a hand-written or hand-typed note. If you aren’t convinced, watch the sparkle in the eyes of a kid growing up on electronic communication when they see a real envelope in the real mailbox addressed to their very own name.

So maybe, just maybe, the new beauty of sending a card is actually its “novelty” all over again. And maybe, just maybe, the thoughtful, simple act of writing a note won’t go the way of the dinosaurs, not yet, not 100% completely.

By the way, if you didn’t know, it’s National Postcard Week this week. Every day, all week. So send some love out there!

(Of course, I happen to know about an awesome postcard book…!  [forgive the brazen self-promotion] If you haven’t gotten one yet, my publisher has created an e-card set-up this week in honor of National Postcard Week, so you can send a smile to a friend for free. Nice!)

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May 4, 2012 In art, books & stuff, creativity, design, graphic design, imagination, inspiration, life and the universe By Patricia Saxton

52 Weeks of Peace [squared] / Week #66

“Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.”
~  W. Clement Stone

“Peace Moon” / 52 Weeks of Peace [squared]: Week #66 / © Patricia Saxton

Did you know? … In skylore, the full moon of May is called Planting Moon or Milk Moon. But the full moon of May 5, 2012 is also nicknamed a “super moon” because it may seem so close and so enormous that you might think you could reach out and touch it! Why? The moon’s orbit cycle will be at its closest proximity to Earth (in astronomy, this distance is known as lunar perigee), and since this happens to coincide with a full moon, it literally is bigger and brighter to the eye. As long as it’s not overly cloudy, the effect is stunning!

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May 3, 2012 In appreciation, communication, design, graphic design, inspiration, words and language By Patricia Saxton

A Plethora of P’s / #55: Pretty

proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.

– ♥ –

Pretty is a sweet word. Something light and graceful and attractive, maybe even delicate. Pretty is pleasing to the eye, to the ear, to the mind.

We think of “pretty” as feminine, but it’s not for girls only. Sure, we girls like to feel pretty, and I won’t deny that make-up or the right shoes (and definitely the right little black dress!) can give our spirits a lift ~ but one look at a soft pink sunset or a peacock’s feathers, or hearing the sweet song of a flute, or feeling the rhythm of a flowing dance … and I know that we all enjoy the pleasure of pretty.

After all, “pretty” makes the dusty bits of life a little brighter.

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May 1, 2012 In art, books, branding, communication, creativity, design, drawing, fine art, illustration, philosophy By Patricia Saxton

May!

Here’s to May ~ my favorite month of the year. So with a re-posting of 52 Weeks of Peace / Week #35, I lift a virtual glass and say… here’s to springtime! Here’s to new dawns, to growth and rebirth, to bright fertile dreams and the sprouting of fresh possibilities…

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April 22, 2012 In art, books, creativity, design, life and the universe By Patricia Saxton

Earth Day Peace

If you’ve been following for a while, or if you have the 52 Weeks of Peace book, you’ll know that Week #34 was created just for this day. :  ) Happy Earth Day! Here’s to Earth’s many blessings, her nourishment and sustenance.

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