Time for Mondo Beyondo…Back to dreaming. Back to fertile ground. Back to reaching for hope.

UPDATE: Congratualtions to Tess Marshall of Anchors and Masts! She won the Mondo Beyondo drawing and will be recieving Begininngs, Tweet, and Reka Twige Kwifasha No Gufasha Abandi (Let’s Learn to How to Help Ourselves and Others) in the mail soon! Thanks to everyone here and on Twitter who played along!

Andrea told Jen, and Jen told me how to write Mondo Beyond Lists. These are the biggest of our big dreams — the real whoppers you can hardly admitt to. Making the list is a little like a prayer, sort of a request to the universe, and if you are very brave, the beginnings of an affirmation.

Since I’ve started the habit I’ve seen some things come to fruition (living abroad, getting out of the body image trap, making a life habit of yoga) and some of those hot desires have cooled down and gone away. (surfing, adopting, living in Italy)

There are new dreams in my being these days and I feel afraid for them, because they seem so fragile. So I decided to write them down today and make them a little more real — things always seem more concrete to me if they are on a page in word or in image. Usually I would want to make a list like this pretty — with watercolors and mixed media. But today all I had was a sharpie and some cardstock. And you know what? It was enough. So here is my Mondo Beyond List for now:

-Sing my lungs out in front of a big crowd, preferably with these folks.

-Transfer (in good time) to the UK, somewhere midsized like this.

-Get a paid, monthly column in a national magazine where I can feature pieces about seasonal rites and rituals.

-Publish three books: Tales from an Urban Abbess, Soulcrafting for Kids, and A Very Mild Narcissist (an image-based journal.)

-Have at least one good Muslim friend with whom I could really share my soul (and vice versa).

-Watch a sabbath community form organically where we could co-exsist with a few soulmates.

-Find a healthy way to practice the priesthood again.

-Travel to Africa with Jen, Mada, Odette, Grace, Lillian, Eden, and Cate to watch the women there step further into thier own power.

-Keep our ties strong with Souren; see him a couple of times a year long enough to reconnect.

-Be truly migraine-free. (Wow, it took all my breathe to whisper that one.)

-Stop fighting with time and be at peace with what I get done in any given day, month, year, season….

-Be on a first-name, call-any-time friendship basis with at least one artist I admire because they are learning to master his or her craft. Right now the short list would include Sabrina, John, Tim,Ira, or any voice from this show.

What is your Mondo Beyondo dreams? Make them real in the comments, give us your top choice on Twitter, or link to your blog below. One lucky Mondo Maker will get a copy of Jen’s new zine, one of the orginals, and just for fun, one of my zines from last year, Tweet. Contest will close on Monday morning. Go on now, dream big!

I love vintage!

About a year ago, I read a newspaper article in a waiting room about a local vintage seller. Much to my husband’s chagrin, I immediately went shopping and put a collection of vintage clothes on line. Since then I’ve gotten a thrill out of uncovering finds for my Etsy clients. What do I like about it? I’ve got an eye for it, I can keep prices low and still make a profit, and I especially dig the enviromental/anti-consumerism high I get from shopping secondlife.

Last month’s Blueprint featured a patch of cold weather coats, including

this sharp 80’s throw back.

The problem? It costs $695!

You can get the same look at my place for a fraction of the cost. Here’s my $45 pretty — ready to funk out with a row of buttons and black boots (see above), or ready as-is for classic stylistas.

In fact, I’ll make the deal even sweeter — tell me you’re a Magpie Girl reader when you order any coat between now and the end of the year and I’ll give you a $5 discount. Fly on over to Magpie Etsy.

I’m going to do a tiny pitch for the products in my etsy shop right now…so go ahead and change the channel if you have to.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen to my ability to sell and ship on line when I move to Denmark in January. So, I think you should all consider the next two months your last chance to shop for anthing that doesn’t fit in a standard envelope at Buy Magpie.

New in store are: a limited edition of make-your-own shrine kits, the remaining copies of my latest story-based zine, Fall, a couple of hand-embroidered toddler jackets ripe for gift-giving, and my last crop of vintage ranging from warm skirts to winter coats. Why not wander over there and take a look around?

Many thanks to all of you who have been supporting my experiment in etsyland!

Love,

Magpie

Order Here

Mmmmm…Fall is here, time to put on your warm socks, find your favorite blanket and curl up with a good read. Lucky you! My Fall zine is ready for you, just in time!

Volume three of a four-season series, the zine is dedicated to the some of the seasonal celebrations we practice in our home: Ramadan, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, a 9/11 remembrance, and our communal meal. You’ll also find recipes, collages, and the next saint in my Saints and Sinners collection. The first ten orders will also receive an extra saint card to give a friend.

May the spirit of gratitude that accompanies this season be instilled deep within you!

Shalom,

Rachelle

Maria D. totally made my day when she sent me this fabulous photo of her and her grrls sporting their magpies. Wouldn’t it be fun to see what other people are doing with theirs? Please join in the Summer fun by sending pics of your magpie girl tattoo! I’d also love to see what y’all wrote/sketched/scribbled on the blank pages in Tweet. Go ahead, click here and jump in the (flickr) pool. (Don’t forget to put your blog address in the photo description so we can find our kindred spirits!)

p.s. Don’t have your Tweet yet? Buy one here. And don’t forget to go here and comment-to-win a new summer read.

This is where I’ll be this weekend, playing in the field of zines. I stumbled upon this collection of misfit self-publishers while surfing just days ago, and my loyal hubby immediately agreed to stop for two days on our way to the Oregon coast. I’ll be shilling my ode-to-summer zine, Tweet, and Jen’s get-inspiried Beginnings, along with a handful of other handmades. I’m also excited to to be interviewing zine mama Artnoose of KerBloom. (”Ain’t no press like letterpress!”) Anyone else in town who wants to have lunch at the symposium?

Wedding Mint

The Annette Benning

Doris Meets Garbo

Ooooo! I’ve had lots of time lately to fill up my on line shop with a treasure trove of sparkly things! Stop by and see all the pretty new vintage I have up — most for under $20. I’ve also got a new collection of $5 vintage accessories. Vintage items are now easily searchable by size categories: Tiny Girl, Medium Girl, and Curvy Girl. I especially like this dress and would love it to find a new home before the end of our sunny days!

Brand new at Magpie Girl are my eclectic, kitschy bracelets made out of vintage typewriter keys (customized for you!). I’m also offering inexpensive St. Mair and Lucy danglers for your rear view mirror. Oh, and the last of the Bun Bun litter has arrived in three new colors. And of course, I still have copies of Tweet, which is making its way world wide with a slew of recent orders from Austrailia! (So fun!)

Come on by while the shopping is easy!

heart,

the magpie girl

Oh, it’s raining again! Usually it’s sunny by July, even in our grey Seattle. But this Summer brings only extremes — 90+ degrees one week and then more rain in one day then we usually get all Summer. Both the girls woke up weepy and out of sorts today — Cate complaining of a headache and Eden saying she felt “too sad” and had to go back to bed. It’s hard on days like this to always look on the bright side of life. So here’s my list of things to revel in this Summer….maybe we’ll use this rainy day to get that day glo nailpolish on our toes!

Cheers!

The luminous Leonie let me know today that my etsy link was broken on my previous post about Tweet. So here you are loves, a fresh path to holding my pretty baby in your own hands!

Tweet @ etsy

My compatriot in all things arty and spirit infused, Christine Paintner, has give my latest venture a peck on the cheek. Oh thank you ever-so-muchly! I need a lot of help passing Tweet along. If any other bloggers out there would like to sing the praises of my ‘zine, I’m totally open to it (and would gladly return the favor!)