Tag Archives: Inspiration

Friday’s Bliss List!

CrownGood morning!

Have you heard that it is FRIDAY????

Well, it is!

WHOO! HOO!!!!

Which means I am happy to share my Friday’s Bliss List with you. This is the list where I focus on all of the things that I am grateful for, the things that are currently making me happy!!!

My Friday’s Bliss List:

  1. I get to make a ton of Christmas cookies this weekend for my church!! Just thinking about it makes me feel like a kid again!! 😉
  2. I am loving my crocheting lunches with my girlfriend, Chris!!
  3. I am married to the world’s BEST MAN!! 😉
  4. My puppies are always sooooo happy to see me, no matter how my day has gone!!
  5. It is December – MY FAVORITE month of the year!!!
  6. My Christmas tree is sparklingly LOVELY!!
  7. I live in a GORGEOUS part of the US!!! I just love the Pacific Northwest!!
  8. I get to spend some quality time in my art studio tomorrow!! IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG MY OLD FRIENDS!!! 😉
  9. This Sunday is our first time at our church’s Jingle Jam – I am not exactly sure what that is yet, but I have it on good authority that it is going to be F-U-N!!! 😉
  10. God is so good, and we are so blessed, and are ABSOLUTELY FEELING IT!!! 😉

Now, that I have shared My Bliss with you, now it is your turn! Go to the comments section, and let me know what you are thankful for this Friday!! 😉 I can’t wait to read them!! 😉

Here is to a VERY THANKFUL Friday!! 😉

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Loooong Day!

Good evening!

This is going to be a short post for a very looooong day!!! 😉 I am working extra hours at work for the next 3 days so that I am able to work only 1/2 a day on Thursday and get on the road to my spend the weekend with my family in Roseburg!! YEAH!!!

I can not even wait!!! 😉

I have been doing a lot of searching on Pinterest this evening, and the thing that I am mainly looking at is hair and makeup styles!! I know, kind of superficial, but for someone visual like me, I really can use some inspiration!!! 😉 I thought I would share some of my finds with you this evening!!!

Ok, so I might be a little obsessed, but it easy to see how that can happen, right???

Have a FABULOUS evening! :-)

Wanting More!

Good evening!

Life is good, but do you ever get the feeling that there has to be something more? More to life than what you are living? This has been the same revolving thought in my head for quite some time now. This can’t be all there is, is it? There has got to be more to life than this! More purpose! More action! More adventure! More….MORE!

When I went to Women of Faith with my sisters a few weeks ago, Sandi Patty sang a medley of Disney songs that for some reason hit me really hard, and I cannot seem to get their, once unrealized, POWERFUL messages out of my head. Today I decided to actually look up the words to see what they were, and to see if they were really truly as powerful as I thought.

The songs were:

When You Wish Upon a Star

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do

Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you’re fast asleep
In dreams you will lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling thru
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true

Aren’t these AMAZING lyrics!?!?! When I see them in print, I get a little misty-eyed. What woman doesn’t remember hearing these songs as a fresh-eyed little girl, wishing that if only she could be the princess in the movie, then all her dreams will come true too? Now as an adult, I realize that that little girl inside of me still lives, and she still wants her dreams to come true, even if that means she never gets to be a real princess. It is up to me to make my dreams come true, because there is no prince who is going to do it for me, no magic that will make it happen without some work on my part, and as hard as I call, I can’t seem to find my fairy godmother who is going to make all my dreams come true with just a wave of her want.

As depressing as all that may sound, I am not giving up! I may not know exactly what I want just yet, but I do know what I don’t want, and it is up to me to start taking action to make it happen!!

Here’s to new things coming in my life, and maybe yours too!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

A Day of More Art!

Good evening!

I have had a fun day today! When I wasn’t out running errands, and spending some time with my sweetie, I spent a good portion of my day up in my art studio playing amongst my art supplies! I did manage to finish one piece that I had started a couple of weeks ago. I am calling this piece

The Caged Bird Sings:

I LOVE this color scheme – this green really resonates with me! I tried a couple of new products, at least new to me, to do this project. I started with an acrylic base, and then used a crackle medium, however I had made a mistake and it didn’t crackle exactly the way I had expected, but at least now I know what NOT to do for my future crackle pieces! I also got to use a few different colors of ink stains to give this piece some depth.

I hand painted this bird using basic acrylics, and then pulled out some of my old jewelry supplies to create this wire bird cage, which I can see is not too easy to see in this picture – Something else to think about if I should ever create a cage again!

I really had fun creating this piece, but had some trouble trying to come up with some text to convey what I was wanting this piece to say. I stopped mid morning, and did a quick meditation to clear my head, and this thought just came to me, and knew that it was perfect.

As always, I would love to her your thoughts, please leave me a note in the comments section! I always appreciate your feedback!! This has and will continue to be a great learning experience for me! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

A New Piece of Art!

Good evening!

As most of you know, I have just recently become a new collage artist, so I am really learning about different techniques, and flexing my bravery muscles by putting some of these techniques together in a way that represents something inside of me!

Tonight I have finished my latest collage piece and I am very excited to share it with you to get your feedback!

At first glance this piece may not look like something that I might have made. There are no deep reds, vivid blues, or brilliant greens, but I am in a mental place right now that is really a lot quieter, softer, more reflective, and more embracing of my femininity than where I have been in the past. I wanted this piece of art to become an inspirational reminder to myself about the possibility of dreaming.

This particular collage started because I had found this thought in a magazine, quite a while ago. If I remember correctly I think it was part of an advertisement of some kind.

“Let yourself whisper and wander and wonder.
Let yourself anticipate the bliss.
Let yourself have all you deserve.
Let yourself remember the unforgettable.
Let yourself let it go.”

This sentiment is something that I am actively working on taking to heart, especially as I start to get more daring in my delving into my world of creativity.

I added a butterfly to this piece as a symbol of my journey of change, to metamorphosis from who I am to who I want to be. In doing this my goal is to honor my authentic self.

I was very interested in playing with textures here, and a color palate that is not my typical jewel tone fare. I did a lot of paper crumpling, sanding, scraping, rippling, painting, stamping, tearing, inking, writing, and even some hand embroidery, as you can see above, in this picture – I just LOVE how that turned out. I am sure I will be using that technique more often.

And of course, how could I create a piece of art that doesn’t have a crown in it? I love the idea that this represents:

I am blessed.

I am worthy.

I am loved.

I am good enough.

This is the third art piece that I have ever finished, and only 1 of 2 that I like enough to actually display, but I know that as I finish each piece I learn a little more about myself and what I am willing to do and what I am not willing to do in my art. Not to mention, collage/mixed media is a great way to not only lose yourself, but a great place to also find yourself as well.

Please feel free to go to the comments section, above, and let me know what you think. I am always open to your thoughts. Thank you! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!

Tarte!

Good evening!

I wanted to share with you some more pics of the FABULOUS little shop that I had my jewelry class at on Sunday, Tarte!!

Right from the entry way, this little shop is a welcoming feast for the eyes!!

Sparkles, and baubles, and trinkets, oh my!!

I just love the feel of their scrumptious fabrics, and yummy goose down pillows!!

They even make keys look tres chic!!

This gives me so many ideas for fun and creative ways to display my own jewelry collection!!

I could just go home with one of EVERYTHING!!!

Who knew mannequins could be so inspirational??!!

I just DROOLED over this large antique-inspired sign!!

Hello, please wrap this up, I will TAKE IT!!! 😉

What a comfy looking reading spot!!

Every where you look in this store there is more couldn’t-you-just-pee-your-pants ADORABLENESS!! I know that might be hard to imagine, but just go with me on that!! 😉

Isn’t this the sweetest little boutique??? The only downside to it, is that I wish I was at least 3 times as large!! This place is a cross between Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Amelie, and Penelope all rolled into one!! This is probably mu number 1 FAVORITE little boutique for FABULOUS treasures, and inspirational ideas for my own GROWN-UP-GIRLY-WONDERLAND!!!

Poor Jason, he is not going to know what hit him!! I sure do LOVE THAT MAN!! 😉

“Nothing bad could ever happen [Tarte]”!!! 😉

I couldn’t have said it any better myself!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Finally Friday!!

Good evening!!

I wasn’t sure that this day would get here, but now that it is, I am soooo thankful!! I really need a break from work!!

My sweetie and I spent some time down at Borders this afternoon, and of course, I bought a little too much!! HOWEVER, all of my purchases were well thought out and pre-planned, so I don’t feel guilty!! 😉

Oh, and before I forget, I wanted to make a correction to yesterday’s blog!! The person who left me the “Smile” note and the paperclip was my other co-worker Julie!! Who knew that they BOTH had perfect handwriting!! LOL!! (Julie AND Chris!!) I am going to have to work on my penmanship!! Thank you for the VERY LOVELY note Julie, YOU REALLY made my evening, and I am still smiling just thinking about it!!!

THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!

Now that I am trying to find the art in everything, I wanted to share a few pics of things that have inspired me in the last few days!!!! I would like to thank both Chris, and Julie for letting me raid their desks to get some of these images!!! 😉

I am just GA-GA about this color this season!! This orange is such a HAPPY color!! 😉

This little wand was from my niece Megan’s birthday a couple of years ago, and EVERY TIME I see it, it reminds me of how much I love that little girly of mine!! 😉

This is the top view of a really pretty paperweight I have on my desk at work!! This green has always been such a calming color for me, so thankfully, I have this color EVERYWHERE on my desk!! 😉

This was from Julie’s desk, and it EXACTLY matches one of Chris’ pictures on her wall! I just thought that was funny!! Most women who share an office “cycle” together, not us – we all seem to dress like triplets on accident!!! 😉

How could I POSSIBLY leave out my Eiffel Tower??

This is a little pottery box of Chris’ that I am almost CONSTANTLY playing with because it is just SO CUTE!! 😉

I have always LOVED glass paperweights, and this is the one that is on Julie’s desk! If I remember correctly, she actually MADE this!! SO IMPRESSIVE!!! 😉

I am sure that this last one, which just happens to be the front of a card that Chris received from one of her customers is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!! I just LOVE how these seemingly unrelated colors just go soooo well together, just like me and my friends, and co-workers Chris, Julie, and myself!!

Have a GREAT weekend girls!

We’ve DEFINITELY EARNED it!!!

😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

A Happy Week Night Date Night!

Good evening!

This post is getting done much later than I normally like to get my posts done! Matter of fact my bedtime is actually in 8 minutes!! I feel so OLD all of the sudden!!! LOL! Ok, not really, but I was excited to tell you about our evening!!

Sometime late this afternoon, my sweetie texted me to find out if I wanted to go across town tonight, and go hang out at our FAVORITE bookstore, and he would will treat me to dinner afterward! Well, NORMALLY, I would say

“No way! Not on a work night!”

but I found myself saying,

“Sure!”

That, my friends, is GROWTH!!! LOL! 😉

I realized that this could be an opportunity to dip my toes into being creative tonight by reading any and all of the new Somerset Publications that Somerset produces, and the do have A LOT! and MAN AM I EVER glad I did that!! I am filled with so much inspiration for art projects to try, and adventures to take, and I am even now on the hunt for some Oregon-based art/craft classes so that I can immerse myself more into the creative community. Like I have been saying for the past couple of posts, my chosen medium is still in the works to be decided upon, but right now I am pretty open to whatever possibilities might present itself!!

Does anyone know of any classes, retreats, workshops, artsy/crafty get-togethers in the area? Please let me know in the comments above!

If I can’t find any, or enough to keep me busy, I am going to have no choice but to put some together myself and make a call to all of the Artsy Gutsy Chicks I know!!! There have GOT TO be more women out there taking the same creative journey that I am!!! If you might be interested, let me know in the comments, and I will put together a list of ladies, and if demand is high enough, I will get a class going!! 😉

What a GREAt NIGHT!! My sweetie really outdid himself in the brownie-making points department tonight! He really went out of his way to treat me like a lady and make me feel special!! Thank you, my love!! After 16 1/2 years of marriage, I am ALWAYS just so THRILLED that we not only love each other, but that we are still IN LOVE!! What a blessing that man of mine is to me!! Love, I hope I can make you just as happy as you make me!!! Thank you for tonight!! 😉

My cup runneth over!!! 😉

I have a meeting at 7:30 in the morning, which means I have to leave the house about 1/2 an hour early, so I am going to go get ready for bed for the evening!! I just KNOW I will have to keep a journal by my bed this morning, so that I can jot down any project ideas that pop into my head!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

A Monday of Positivity!

From Tiffany's "Happy Girls are the Prettiest Girls" Shoot

Good evening!

Work did get a little bumpy today, but I knew that it would, right? And it did, of course! There are a lot of changes going to be happening in the next few months, but that is alright. I know that everything is going to turn out alright, it always has and always will.

I have to tell you that all of this tapping into my creativity has given me hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel for my life! I feel like I am learning what my true purpose for being placed on this earth for. I can not yet articulate what I am thinking, but I am learning that it is ok to be creative, and to use my creativity to somehow make the world a better place. I honestly didn’t think that was possible before. I thought creativity was something that you stole moments of while your life takes a break from chewing you up! Sad, really!! I realize that I don’t have to be “chewed up any longer” that I am allowed to take time for myself, without guilt, to replenish and recoup what is the best of me, so that I am ready and able to better take care of others!! That, my friend, is called growth!!! LOL! 😉

I had quite the surprise right before I left the office today! Sometime last week, I had taken a leap of faith and had e-mailed a couple of my FAVORITE photographers/bloggers, not really thinking that any of them would EVER write me back. It was more for the action of stepping outside of my box, and doing something I wouldn’t think I could do. Well, today, quite unexpectedly, I got a return e-mail!!!! When I saw the name of the person sending it, I can not tell you how excited I was to see her name – I literally started jumping up and down inside of my own head!! YEAH!!! WHOO!!! HOO!! I can’t believe she wrote back!!! Anyway, it was Tiffany Kirchner Dixon of The Fancy Farmgirl, and she very graciously answered all of my questions, plus gave me some very lovely encouraging words of advice for getting myself started with photography!!! To say that I was jazzed, was a HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT!! It gave me proof that I was on the right track. I am still not sure what my “art” is, or how it is going to manifest itself, but I KNOW that I am heading in the right direction!!!

Tiffany’s blog (I feel like we are at that place now, you know, first name basis!!) is ABSOLUTELY SCRUMTIOUS!! I love the ebb and flow of her postings, reading about her family, and perusing her DREAM-LIKE photography!! I KNOW that my sis, Alex would REALLY like her work too!! PERFECTION!! The photo above is one Tiffany’s and you can see more of her photography here!

I have to confess that even though that was the MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE to my day, I was soooo thankful to get home today! I had been hankering to get home the entire work day, kind of like a little kid pining for recess during an especially difficult math test!! My sweetie and I finally scheduled some time to have some quality time for right after work! It has been a while since we have both been able to get away from all of the work and distractions of life, and just spend some much needed time together! It is ALWAYS so much fun to spend time with him, sharing out laughter and dreams! He is just such a genuine human being, and he really had this way of bringing out the playful kid out of me!! He is my own personal gentle giant, and really makes my life so much better!! Thank you, Love! You mean the world to me!!!

Well, before I ramble on for the rest of the night, I am going to close up shop for the night so that I can go climb into bed with my love and do some reading before we slip off to la-la-land and have some SWEET DREAMS!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉