sand dollars

someone brought me back a sand dollar from a beach. i set it on my desk & it set itself on my heart. i share these riches here with each of you.

& the name picked out of a hat is...

elizabeth from the blog http://retinalperspectives.typepad.com/!

congratulations & a print will be sent your way! love to all.

rain on my skin & a giveaway to yours

this piece was inspired by natasha bedingfield's song "unwritten" & i did it for my birthday. the truest glowy gifts are really all your hearts beating nearby all the time & i take THAT in & thank you.
i thought it would be fun to offer a gift today. here's how you can enter to win:

*one entry: go to http://www.rachelawes.etsy.com/ & take note of your favorite print & come back here with a comment of what it is. if you win, you win your fav print.
*additional entries: if you buy something from my etsy shop this week, leave three extra comments here.
*another entry: if you become a follower of my blog or become a facebook fan of all i did was listen (all on the right hand side of my blog) this week, those are each comments/entries.
*another entry: post about the giveaway on your blog.

entries will be gathered until 1 pm thursday may 27. i'll write all your names on paper, with love, & have one of my sons pick the winner out of a hat. be sure to let me know how to reach you. thank you for playing with me! xo

from my terrain to yours, with love.

i'm adoring these warm & blooming days now in minnesota! i was on a walk & saw a woman bent over & tending her garden & was both moved by the loving arch of her body as well as her beautiful blooms. (etsy added with love)

dear beauty

i just wanted to share some of the dear beauty i've been hearing in the creative world! i've done a little gift shopping recently & wanted to share with you a sampler of what's been in my heart-cart (& now in heart-hand!).


i found this sweet softie (paris) at www.etsy.com/shop/rabbitrabbitsofties!

this fun book can be found at http://www.amazon.com/ to inspire some fun illustration attire!

the print above is from ms. gorgeous aimee from artsyville & you can find her at

http://www.artsyville.blogspot.com/ and www.etsy.com/shop/artsyville!

i've also bought sweet stickers from www.etsy.com/shop/juliettecrane

& a juicy journal from www.etsy.com/shop/paintedfishstudio.

as these are gifts, i'm not showing any more pictures (although i've already probably shown more than i ought to!). :)

what are some of your favorite shops for gifts (to others or self)?

much love to all that is brimming out of all your beautiful hearts & hands. xo

all aboard!

for some reason, pretty ferris wheels kept going through my imagination for a while & how life-giving it can be to engage with such a ride. i know it can be both beautiful & scary for some people. if you can bear the risk, anyone care to take a ride with me? xo

an invitation

these words are a combination of two different writings from "open the door" by joyce rupp & "eat, pray, love" by elizabeth gilbert. i have tucked them into my day planner & they occasionally find their way to the top of that little paper pile or inch their way off to the side of the pile & whisper "remember us? remember you? keep going...deeper, further, more true, more you." i share this same encouragement with you now, with colors & petals & love.

amazing love

after a fun family card game of five crowns, we laughed about who broke whose heart, or created black holes in hearts with winning/losing, or displaced a heart from one spot to another, & so on. following such a pondering, the conversation picked back up at bedtime. somehow this led our sons to recalling that worms have five hearts. NOW THEY HAD ME. i raced out of the room to put it in ink. it was they who had a lullaby for me that night. & sweet dreams to all of you too. xo

p.s. i just learned that the lovely hearted lisa just posted an interview of me on her beautiful new blog "strength to be me"& here's the link:

http://ourstories.strengthtobeme.com/2010/05/rachel-awes_03.html

happy may day