a college confessional, of sorts.

last august when i was packing up things for move-in, there were a few boxes that just didn’t make it in the car. it’s not that they wouldn’t have fit, necessarily--but i was getting nervous about moving into a shared space with a girl who i’d yet to meet in person, and well, i felt the need to make some cuts. i just needed to be practical, decisive and firm with myself about what stayed in franklin and what came to new orleans... (and this is where those of you who know me well let out a chuckle...)

the thing is, the boxes i left weren’t full of clothes. or shoes. or more make-up. or cute hair accessories. they weren’t filled with childhood stuffed animals or my pink blanky. no, ma’am. the boxes i left were full of art supplies. of oil paints, acrylic paints, glitter, glue, tissue paper, fabric scraps and blank canvasses. they were packed directly from the trunk of my box, because during the summer i'd decided that (alongside my jumper cables and flashlight) i might need a few other "emergency" items to keep busy if ever stranded on the side of the road, and what better way to stay occupied than whip out some art as cars whiz by, right? (and now the rest of you can start to understand the whole “practical” bit from the paragraph before...)

by some grand rationale i had convinced myself then and there that all i needed to keep the artsy side of me content while at college was a camera, a box of 12 colored pencils, some blunt tip kiddo scissors and a pad of elementary school style construction paper. [forget the boxes, nina. just take what you can carry in your hand.]

and this is where i needed a sista-friend to get in my face and sass. me. back. into. reality. [don’t take the art supplies? really? who was i trying to impress?]

but sista friend was not there. and i left the boxes, took the meager art rations and went on my way.

in the following weeks and months i’ve decided to let the blogosphere in on how i’ve managed thus far. the pretty, the ingenious and the absolutely ridiculous items i’ve made, the scraps i’ve used to decorate, the childish birthday gifts i've stayed up making and the things i've created just to create--they’re all coming out right here. i'll also be posting a bit about my creative inspirations these days and dreaming about upcoming projects. because, i've learned that my life sans art is pretty much stagnant water. and i don't do well with mosquitoes.

so, welcome to my crafty college life: behind the scenes, personal and oh-so-scandalous.

(well, to be fair, i did bring back some chalk pastels after christmas break... cue the excitement!)