Author: Gina @ Oaxacaborn
Gina Munsey is a Mexico-born, Eastern Europe-raised missionary kid who ended up being a Californian by way of Florida outside of Nashville, Tennessee. She lives her days full of coffee and adventures while her 12-year-old learns Mandarin Chinese and Greek, her 3-year-old uses all the markers, and her artist-husband creates worlds from pixels and light. A blogger since the turn of the century (ouch!) she's an editor, co-op teacher, and writer who has only completed four chapters of her languishing manuscript. You can find Gina right here at oaxacaborn.com, or in the middle of [home]school surrounded by stacks and stacks of books.
LIFE IN PHOTOS :: Surrender, Flamingos, and Aveline’s Cameo on Disney Baby
It’s taken me two years , but I’m finally accepting Florida for what it is. Funny, isn’t it, that along with the peaceful surrender and acceptance there comes a realization of so.much.beauty. (And yes, I am embarrassed to admit it took me this long. I’m a stubborn soul, and not proud of it.)
Aveline, on the other hand, knows nothing of this hesitation. She’s such an example to me. Aveline teaches me how life is meant to be lived: loudly, fearlessly, with an utterly joyful abandon. Like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, she’s not worried about tomorrow.
She’s not worried about anything.
She’s a picture of who I want to be in this life: hands outstretched, head thrown back, full of pure unadulterated joy, eyes pointed up and heavenward, fearing nothing on this earth and giving all the glory to Jesus.
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P.S. A big welcome and hello to new readers who found this blog via Aveline’s photo appearing in Disney Baby’s What Baby Wore! It’s an honor and I must say, this wee ol’ blog appearing alongside bloggers I so admire is a little crazy to me! Thank you Living on Love for including me.
INSPIRATION :: Update on the Adoption Fundraising Auction (to be hosted on Mom’s Best Network!)
Tina, my friend who’s adopting from Ethiopia, has been messaging me little updates as she moves along in the process, and let me tell you — my eyes have not been dry. I can’t share specifics, but God’s provision in every step has been nothing short of miraculous. God just keeps answering prayers. Part of me is in complete speechless awe, and part of me just says, “Yup, that’s my Jesus!”
While I can’t share the little personal details (the adoption is still mid-process), I can tell you Mom’s Best Network has generously agreed to host a fundraising auction for the Jensens! The auction will be held on the Mom’s Best Network Facebook page, May 1-6!
This is really big news, as the Mom’s Best Network platform will provide fantastic publicity and a far greater reach than I would be able to offer personally — it’s so thrilling and truly an answer to prayer! There will be all kinds of fantastic items up for auction, and all proceeds will go to the Jensens — I encourage you to go like the page now so you don’t miss the auction when it happens!
Can I ask you to share this information with anyone you know who has a heart for adoption?
Or perhaps you’re a brand, a shop, or a handmade vendor, and you want to donate an item. It’s free publicity and link-back for you, and it’s EVERYTHING for one little child. You won’t even have to ship your item until later, when we contact you with the winning bidder’s shipment information.
Just email me (oaxacaborn at gmail.com) the following information:
• A photograph of the item(s) you wish to donate to the auction
• A brief description of the item(s)
• The starting bid amount(s) in $ USD (usually the retail value)
• Links to your Facebook page, website, and/or shop
• Your name and the best email address to reach you
(A few technical details — the bidding process will occur online, on the Mom’s Best Network Facebook page. Bids will be in the form of comments on the product photo. When the auction ends on May 6th, we will contact the winning bidder to obtain shipping information, and will then pass the mailing address on to you. And if you’d like to read more about the Jensen family, you can peruse their personal blog here.)
You guys, I’m believing that God will use this auction to provide far above and beyond what the Jensen’s need to complete this adoption. I know, I’m dreamin’ BIG here. But I believe. Tina was telling me yesterday, “I want to share with families that feel led that it [adoption] can be done even with our income. God provides so much and usually not the way you think!”
Let’s see what happens! Who else is excited?! Now let’s go share this post! ;)
LIFE IN PHOTOS :: This Little Piggy
These are the everyday, middle-of-the-afternoon little moments I want to remember forever…those tiny toes, the look of concentration, her adorable little baby lips.
I’m so blessed to have her in my life.
The Muse of Realization
“And what do you do?”
“Well, um, I like to write.”
“Oh, interesting! What do you write?”
“. . .”
Someday, I want to have an answer to that question.
Right now, when the words “I like to write” slip out of my mouth, I hear instead “Well, I like the idea of writing something someday.”
But no person ever became a writer by thinking about it.
I think about plenty, though. It’s just been a long time since I’ve written.
Today I thought about how today’s sky was softer than yesterday’s sky; how today’s sky made Florida less of a seven-letter-word and more like something that might even be able to someday remind me of home. I thought about how the back of Aveline’s head still smells as pure and perfect as it did two years ago, and how when I go home my own momma pulls me close and breathes in and says, “Mmm, you smell good.” I thought about how I wanted to be able to do the same thing years from now, and then I thought about how, really, years aren’t given. Years are loaned, and years aren’t ours alone to hold.
I thought about heaven and how the soft sky would one day split, and I thought about the colors that would pour down. I wondered if there would be more than cerulean and midnight blue and the lavender of heather after the dew.
I thought about how music notes are really alive on their own, and I thought about how individually they dance, and how together they become something new every second, something beyond corralling with words.
And I thought about this earth, and the countries on every part of these sphere, and the children on the streets and in the orphanages, and the children with no homes. And I thought about how I don’t know how to help them and I don’t know what do, except that I need to do more. And I thought about all the tears I’ve cried over this, and how a burdened heart alone can’t change the world.
And I thought about all the times I’ve thought and not written, and thought but not acted, and thought but not done.
And then I remembered Wendell Berry, and the Muse of Realization, and thought about how maybe this place in the journey is exactly where I am supposed to be.
“There are, it seems, two muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again and again to say “It is yet more difficult than you thought.” This is the muse of form. It may be then that form serves us best when it works as an obstruction, to baffle us and deflect our intended course. It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.”
I want to sing.
DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT :: A Conversation with The Little Hummingbird
It’s been a while since we had a Designer Spotlight on Oaxacaborn! The conversations in this series are intended to inspire and encourage, and allow all of us to glean a little wisdom from fellow creatives and small businesses owners.
Today, I’m chatting with Olivia Lin and Archna Patel, who together run the childrenswear brand the little hummingbird.
Walk me through your creative process — I guess you could call this the “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” question. Do you have a finished product in mind from the start, and then execute a series of steps to achieve this? Or do the ideas evolve and take life as you go through the creative process?
We think it can be a little bit of both!
Sometimes we have a finished product in mind; our poncho from the Fall ’12 collection and the pointelle cardigan from Spring ’13 are both examples of this. Other times, it is an evolution of ideas starting with a piece of trim, style detail, or theme we both like and are inspired by. Because we are a duo, we communicate and bounce ideas off of one another a lot, and try to make sure we are merging and using ideas each of us has.
When it is an evolution, it is definitely exciting seeing an idea come to life! (I think that is how we feel each time we complete a photoshoot and see a collection come to fruition!) For our current Spring ’13 line, we knew we wanted to incorporate pintucks into our designs but didn’t have the finished product in mind yet. We started by sketching as many different ideas as possible– which is the fun creative part! From there, we edit, share our sketches with each other, edit some more, then we finalize which styles we should go forward with and have in our collection.
At one time or another, all creatives experience that “hitting a brick wall” feeling, where the ideas just stop. How do you deal with creative slumps and roadblocks?
We hate it when that happens! We deal with it by taking a break and focusing on doing something else such as reading, baking, or cooking. Putting some music on and surfing the web or flipping through magazines — we both are inspired by clothing for women — can give us a fresh perspective as well. Another thing we like to do is look back at old photos of ourselves and siblings when we were kids, and modernizing the pieces we used to wear.
So is it safe to say you’re more influenced by the idea of reinterpreting vintage rather than keeping up with latest trends?
One of the things we wanted to do when creating the little hummingbird line was to create pieces that are timeless and can be passed down through the generations. We don’t really follow trends– we try to stick to the beat of our own drum and be true to our style and design aesthetics.
From a business perspective, what does collaboration look like for The Little Hummingbird? How do you decide which roles each of you takes on?
We both do a little bit of everything for the little hummingbird and try to make sure we are being fair and the workload is equal. The way we decide which roles we each take on is a combination of a few things. Which method is the most efficient? Is one of us is more skilled in that area? What’s the timing and priority? Who is available? And sometimes it just comes to logistics, like which one of us has a shorter drive to save time and gas! I think the big key to our collaboration is honesty and lots of communication. You should see how many emails and texts we exchange in a day!
What is the most challenging thing you have faced in your creative career?
The most challenging things we have faced have been the funding as well as marketing — getting the little hummingbird to a place where it is a known and trusted brand.
What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to fellow creatives?
We would say to give your dreams and goals a chance, follow through, and don’t give up! It is not easy and you have to be able to handle rejection, but believe in yourself! Be fearless, open to making mistakes and learning — ask questions and try to stay organized and remember to have fun and enjoy the journey :)
Thank you so much, Olivia and Archna!
The Little Hummingbird | on Twitter | on Facebook | on Pinterest
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Previously on Designer Spotlight:
LIFE IN PHOTOS :: Turning Cacti Upside-down
Sometimes, on nice evenings, if dinner’s ready and the floodgates of heaven aren’t open, we step outside for a few minutes waiting for Papa to get home.
We talk to ants, point at airplanes, tell birds to hurry up and fly, and ask where all the puddles went.
Sometimes we stop for a moment, pick up our favorite succulent, think…
…and then question the wisdom of what we’ve just done.
MONDAY’S PRETTY THINGS :: Whimsical Coral
Sometimes these Monday’s Pretty Things posts practically write themselves. So many things I bookmarked this week shared the same shade of coral!
Circus Decorated Envelope by Nasya Kopteva of Fish Mail Art
Vintage Kantha Quilt via Niki-Jones
Madame Monsieur Necklace no.26 by La Camille via Minikin
Doll via Moemoe Made
See even more Monday’s Pretty Things…
The Oaxacaborn Blog 