I Used to Think Eating Paper and Throwing Things Was Only Appropriate for Kindergartners (Wreck This Journal Week 5)

I've been wanting to do an action post on the vlog for a few weeks now. I hadn't realize that it would end up featuring extended footage of me shoving paper into my facehole.

Also Featured: Fire, Mud, Shoelaces, and my Incredibly Inept Left Hand.

Catch up on all the glory below, and don't forget to shoot us a comment if there's a page you'd like to see featured next!

This Vlog Brought To You By Nyquil (Wreck This Journey Week 4)

Being sick sucks. Trying to make a vlog while being sick . . . well, let's just say it leads to some interesting results.

Wreck This Journey is back in all its contemplative cold-medicine-drugged excellence, and this time I brought furbabies along for the ride!

Watch, enjoy, and please excuse me while I go wait for my nose to start functioning again.



Don't worry, even in my sickness-induced haze, I didn't forget the pictures.

Even when I'm sniffly, I try to end it on a good note. Thanks for listening, guys.

It's About to Get Messy!! (Wreck This Journey Week 3)

The Face of Temptation.
(No, I don't know why there's a jump rope.)

A box of old acrylics, a journal with explicit instructions to wreck it, and a weekly vlogging assignment . . . what's a girl to do??

Talk about it on You Tube, of course!!

Tune in for better editing, better lighting, step-by-step documentation, and perhaps most importantly, victory rolls. Yes, we brought out the big guns this week.

No, but seriously -- watch it, and then check out these up-close shots of the super-cool smooshed paint that occurred.

(NOTE: For some reason Blogger is angry at the embed link I'm using. Click here to view the video in the meantime.)

So. Much. Fun! Check out the pictures, after the break.

Wreck This Journey Week 2 - Four Letter Words

That's right, the vlog is back -- and this time, I'm actually starting to understand editing!

Be sure to leave your suggestions for ways to improve our videos in the comments below, or tell us about your experience with Wreck This Journal. Don't forget -- we want to see your blogs too -- just email them to theartabyss@gmail.com, and we'll post them up here on the blog and on our YouTube channel.

Until next time, happy scribbling, and make sure to check out my second-ever vlog attempt - and goofy frozen face - below:

Wreck This Journey! Week 1

Get flipping excited, everybody -- it's Wreck This Journal time!

We just completed Week One (one page a day, 5 days a week), and I am all kinds of embarrassed to discover that I am *terrible* at vlogging! My hat is off to all you regular vloggers - hot damn.

That said, we all know practice is a part of the process (right?) -- so I'm looking forward to getting better in future videos. In the meantime, enjoy my first tottering steps, and don't forget to link to your own response videos below!

::UPDATE:: Driving seven hours to a lake in Minneapolis makes it difficult to upload videos to YouTube. Once I'm off the road, I'll get it up here, promise.

::UPDATE UPDATE:: At long last, here it is!! (Yeah, I know, only took me an extra week. Great terribleness takes time, kids!)

Right Here. Right Now. It's Happening!

Remember #somethingawesome? Well, it's here -- starting July 1st, we begin our Friday vlog series Wreck This Journey, where we work our way through Keri Smith's Wreck This Journal, vlog about our favorite parts, and enjoy the hilarity - and hopefully creative inspiration - that ensues. 

But wait, there's more! We want to hear from you -- what exercises you're doing, what moves you, what makes you smile, if you want more book club vlog opportunities here on the Abyss. And here's the best part -- we'll be featuring all your responses right here :).

Here's how it's going to work: starting Monday, we're going to do one exercise per day. Every Friday, we'll feature a vlog from either Kadie or I, along with your awesome contributions. We'll keep it going until the journal ends -- and maybe longer, if we get into a good discussion -- but we can't do it without you.

Are you ready? Let's make this happen.

 

Wreck This Journey - Only 9 Days Till The Launch!!!!!

You might recall us giving away a free copy of Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith.

That contest served a purpose -- namely, to get a copy of the book into one of our reader's hot little hands, since starting July 1st, we're going to be off on a marvelous adventure called Wreck This Journey. More specifically, we're going to be vlogging our way through Keri Smith's journal project, and showcasing our favorite bits here on the blog.

But wait, there's more! We want you to be a part of this adventure, not just as silent readers, but with vlogs, pictures, and written responses of your own! We're super excited to see all the cool stuff you create, and feature it here on the blog -- but we can't do it without your help. Here's what you need to do before July 1st (you only have 9 days left!).

Step 1) Order Keri Smith's freaking fabulous book. You can buy Wreck This Journal from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell's Books, or Indie Bound -- or you can even go to your local bookstore and pick up a copy most places (or request they order it for you. They do that, you know?).

Step 2) Brace yourself for the awesomeness.

Simple, right?

BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE!

We know we're excited, but just to get your juices flowing and inspire you for the amazingness to come, here are just a couple examples from one flickr user of the sort of awesomeness ahead!

Wreck This Journey -- It's Coming!

You might recall us giving away a free copy of Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith.

That contest served a purpose -- namely, to get a copy of the book into one of our reader's hot little hands, since starting July 1st, we're going to be off on a marvelous adventure called Wreck This Journey. More specifically, we're going to be vlogging our way through Keri Smith's journal project, and showcasing our favorite bits here on the blog.

But wait, there's more! We want you to be a part of this adventure, not just as silent readers, but with vlogs, pictures, and written responses of your own! We're super excited to see all the cool stuff you create, and feature it here on the blog -- but we can't do it without your help. Here's what you need to do before July 1st.

Step 1) Order Keri Smith's freaking fabulous book. You can buy Wreck This Journal from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell's Books, or Indie Bound -- or you can even go to your local independent bookstore and request they order it for you. They do that, you know?

Step 2) Brace yourself for the awesomeness.

Simple, right?

#SomethingAwesome . . . IT'S HERE!!

How many of you just freaked out because you forgot to enter to win our #something awesome? Don't worry, you still have 24 hours to post #somethingawesome on our Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter to be entered for your chance to win. (Don't worry if you skip reading the rest of this post, we love free stuff too.)

Image from www.joebower.org

That said, I just can't keep a lid on our big surprise any longer -- we're starting a book club!!

No, no, hang on -- it's going to be an awesome book club. Remember Keri Smith? Starting this July, we're going to be vlogging our way through her Wreck This Journal, in a little series we're calling Wreck This Journey. And we want you to be part of it! Kadie and I will take turns posting our own video responses, but what we really want to hear is what you all think of the experience -- and we'll be featuring our favorite Art Abyss community response videos every week here on the blog :).

But first, here's just a taste of what you're getting into:



Yeah, so much love for Keri Smith. In fact, we adore Wreck This Journal so much, that we're giving away a copy of the book to one lucky reader! Wondering how to win it? Go read the start of this post again, and then get to telling us what rocks your world!

We'll be waiting . . . and stay tuned to hear if you won a copy of Wreck This Journal!! We'll announce at midnight tonight :).

The Incredible Keri Smith

WARNING: Extreme fangirling ahead.

Keri Smith. Always Awesome. (Image from kerismith.com)

If the world had a BFF, and that BFF was always trying to make the world sit up and take care of its creative spirit, well, that BFF would probably be Keri Smith.

This kickass author/illustrator/guerilla artist and generally awesome person lives in Vancouver, B.C., and has been rocking the world with her incredible books since 2005. For a complete bio, check out her site. Actually, for a whole lot of awesome, check out her site -- you'll be glad you did.

But what I want to focus on today is what she wrote to one young artist -- yes, she reads and responds to ALL of her fan mail, including the email I sent her (squeee!!!).

It's called Ecstatic Flailing, and these are the choice quotes from it that made my little heart tie itself up in knots before exploding in joy:

(BUT SERIOUSLY FOR REALS GUYS, GO READ THE WHOLE THING, AND THE COMMENTS, BECAUSE DAYUM.)

If we were sitting in the same room I would sit next to you, take your hand in mine, and look straight into your eyes and say, “I know that pressure you speak of very well. The “focus on self-promotion, competitiveness, networking and always attempting to be edgier and smarter than others at all costs”. I have felt that pressure too, still do on occasion. But here is what I know now, that I didn’t know before when I started out… Creating work out of that pressure, doing all of the things that you have been taught by others, and listening to that voice in your head that tells you you need to be better is not what will create that success you are craving. The true work, (meaning the work you are here to do), comes from a completely different place than this.

[… T]he energy that you feel when you are creating is very important and will tell you if you are on the right path. Not that there is only one path, there are many, but I am referring to doing work that fulfills you and brings you “success”, and when I say success I really mean “work that is meaningful to you”, work that is aligned with your ideals

[...] I’m not saying that you won’t have many bad days where you feel incompetent and like you are flailing like a crazy person. As Kurt Vonnegut put it so perfectly, “When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth.” But at times you will also feel like you are able to leap over tall buildings with great ease if you go directly into that place you spent a lot of time when you were a kid, experimenting and making messes, and playing on the floor.

[...] I hope I have not painted the picture that I have got it all figured out, because that is hardly the case. I am flailing right along with everyone else. But I now do it with as much open energy as I can muster, and I am much better at recognizing what is filling me up and what is sapping me.

You can see why I'm a fan, right? But this is the clincher for me:

[... Y]ou are beautiful, and talented and you have something to say. [...] It doesn’t matter one iota if you are unsure of what it is that you want to say just yet. The more you try to trust the process, the more you will figure it out piece by piece.

BE STILL MY FREAKING HEART. (Did you read the whole thing yet? No?? GO. READ. Now.)

Was I right about the awesomeness? Perhaps --- it certainly is #somethingawesome for me. But I bet there are some other something awesome things out there, that you might want to share. If so, I have some good news for you! There's still time to enter your #somethingawesome to win our something-secret-and-awesome -- and you have until midnight Friday to do it! Read more here, and then get to sending us the stuff that rocks your world!