Monday, February 16, 2009

cool girl



This week is Tara's birthday. And Tara is the kind of friend, that every now and then, deserves a post in her honor. Heck, she deserves parades in her honor, but I have to reasonable.

About 9 years ago Tara told me she started stamping. Tara, you see, was my cool friend. She knew who sang the cool music. She knew movie star trivia. If I needed obscure pop culture facts, Tara was my girl. So when she tried to explain her new hobby, I was so confused that I did what all good friends do, I teased her. I mean, it just didn't make good sense. You don't go to a Guster concert and come home and stamp.

Turns out though, you do.

Before I knew it I had jumped ship. I stopped teasing and started stamping. And I loved it. We would get together for stamping weekends. We would send each other very cool mail.

Now we are at very different places. I, for one, am at home, raising a small family in the middle of a big, blustery city. She is still cool, a very involved, full-time aunt to 4, and works as a videographer in the suburbs of New England. I spend lots of time on creative efforts and Tara does not (well, besides her job I guess...). She has her reasons, some of which are good, and some of which are terrible.

When I made Tara her birthday card it was one of those creative sessions when I found myself in the groove. I had so many ideas that I had to pick and choose. Oddly, none the ideas involved stamping. I was feeling jazzed and confident about how awesome her card would be. And, because it is Tara's birthday card, it has to be awesome.

I think lots of creative people have their creative peers. Their friends that inspire them to try new things get better and better at what they do. Friends that they create with and friends that they create for. I think creative people need these creative peers. They need that inspiration and push. It makes creating more fun and it makes the creations better. So much of what I make, I can't wait to show Tara.

So, happy birthday, my friend. I, um, hope you like your card. ;)




Oh. And, in case anyone likes this kind of thing, here is picture of Isaac's very cute and kissable baby foot.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tara is my most favorite cool girl. She is so creative I can't stand it. Did you see the beautiful announcements she made for my Abby? Happy Birthday, Auntie Tara!! I know three little people who just cannot get enough of her. And I adore her too :)

-Steph

Dave said...

I didn't see the announcements!!! Did you put a picture of them on your fotolog? How can I see one?

Anonymous said...

hmmm, i'll scan one in and e-mail it to you.

Melissa Belmonte said...

The picture of Isaac's feet would make such a cool Valentine's card...next year, maybe?

Melissa Belmonte said...

How is Tara a full-time aunt? Has she taken the kids in as her own? How did you meet her? Tara was my dog's name growing up. Also Chris' ex-girlfriend's name. That has nothing to do with this post. It's just hard for me to disassociate myself from the other Taras in my life. Maybe now I will think, "Tara- stamping Tara".

Dave said...

hmmm....I guess technically she hasn't taken in her niece and nephew as her own...I mean, they still very much live with their parents...but she is incredibly involved.

Yeah, it's time to start having awesome associations with the name Tara. It's my sister's name too! So many cool (and crafty!) Taras out there!

TARA said...

Yesterday was a tough day, and I didn't even read your blog like I normally do until right now. This was a great way to start the day, and I'm SOOOO honored to be the subject of your blog! Dill, you're such a good friend. And, I like this anonymous girl too. Thank you, thank you!

TARA said...

P.S. The card was BEYOND awesome.

debs14 said...

Ooooh, I like! How did you do the transparenty cover? Is this some new technique I need to learn or some new equipment I need to buy? No prizes for guessing who I get inspiration from eh?!

Dave said...

Thanks Deb!

I bought sheets of clear patterned "paper" from 2peasinabucket.com. It's not really paper...it's sheets of thin plastic. Then I just cut them to fit in my envelope. I used eyelets to attach the two sheets of plastic together (and I used my crop-a-dile to set them). I need to get more of those plastic sheets! So fun!

debs14 said...

I think this is fate. I've been undecided as to whether or not to sign up for Here There and Everywhere but it seems that I also NEED to go on that website to get this clear plastic paper so while I am on there .... ;-)
I went to my first all day crop on Sunday and am now inspired to do more. Just finished my 'This Year' Shimelle mini book so I really do need another project don't I????