Family Fun Activity Idea....try it with us

Change: the only constant

I find myself walking through a lot of change in my life.  Change as a wife,   a church-goer, a friend, a worshipper, a daughter-in-law and a mother.  My oldest faces his first year of “school” and has no idea what awaits him in less than 3 weeks....nor do I, for that matterJ.  Life is about to change forever for all of us. 

Additional Side Journey ....a wee bit further away from our functional wall art discussion: As we embrace this change with joy and a bit of naiveté I ask

Introducing: Sweet Treets....art for culture and lots of pictures

I just miss you....I have so many stories I want to tell.  Like how Marc and I ran across this rockin' bakery today in Oakhill (Austin, TX to my friends from around the globe) called Sweet Treets.

elegant, refined, delicate, fanciful yummy to the tummy ART is what we have here

 click through to read entire post and see loads of pictures...

routine is boring....maybe I should add some in the mix though

a perfect illustration of randomness in my life....
T collected shells one morning and I had to make a
photoshoot out of the deal

Written a few nights ago....then left to sit and marinate....now off to you my friends.

They say consistency is the key.  Oh, really!  Well then I’m in trouble, as if y’all didn’t already know that!  About the only thing I consistently do is brush my teeth and wash my face.  Oh wait, I have little boys and responsibilities....all the more reason to not only desire order in my life but strive for it.  Don’t kids do better when they know what to expect...planned out daily routines I would guess is a great place to start.  I mean, I feed them, bathe them, play with them and sing to them among a million other things but do I provide my boys with a predictable routine?  

at least the pictures might be worth it...???

Where in the world do I start?  How do we reconnect after so much has happened in my absence?

I’ve seen countless strangers turn into friends right before my very eyes, none of which I could take the credit for.  It seems when

did you rise to the challenge yet??

Not sure if you read yesterday's challenge yet but in case you missed it here ya go: heirloom challenge

While the kids were down for a nap I sat down with my jewelry inspiration box (funny, I call it something different every time I speak of it:) and started creating gifts to take north.  I'm sure everyone will find something they love to pick out:)
So without a bunch of blah-di-blah words to describe them I shall share the pictures with you:

the shells on the right came from a pair of earrings I bought in some beautiful place....I can't remember exactly where but it was either one of the islands of

a Bracelet Heirloom creation: FINALLY!

This bracelet, just named G-ma's Compilation, has been in my jewelry making box for over a year now with all the little precious bits I collected from my Grandma Barb, Grandma Vivian, Aunt Sunday, Marc's mom, random purchases, even more random picks:)

So without going into too much detail on it....here you have my newest jewelry creation (as a TOTAL amateur so don't look too close).

My Gma Vivian was part of TOPS (Taking off Pounds Sensibly) and was SOOO proud to graduate to

locked out...how we got back in...the miracle story!

What a night!!!!  You wouldn’t believe what happened....so I’d better tell ya before I forget the details and move onto the next exciting adventure.  We returned home from a visit with friends in far north Austin around 7:30pm.  I delayed the inevitable long enough it was time to go to work.  I headed out for the salon I’m currently redesigning around 10pm knowing I had a long night ahead of me....hanging shelves and painting.

after phase 3 of the salon transformation...more than halfway there....stay tuned for more pictures please lovely.

As you may already know I hate making several

new super fabulous CUSTOM iPhone case

I admit, it took a wee bit to get past the mild case of shock from reading my husband’s post....about ME and then the new year kicked into high gear leaving me no time to reply or share some of the weeks of interesting material that’s been piling up on my iPhone.

   

You know as well as anyone, even if this is your first visit to my blog

Happy New Years Eve

Here I sit, Grape Nuts floating around in my bowl sweetened by the perfect Mr. Brown Sugar.  With a list of things to do (before 7pm tonight) that would keep a gal busy for weeks, I decided to take a wee break:)  What?!?!



and the creative

garage playtime

This is a test post from my iPad through a new blog app I'm trying out....learning new apps or programs isn't exactly my gifting but I CAN do it!



I can hear the cold front blowing in now and chills surge under my skin

I'm not getting much accomplished tonight.

sitting in my garage reading the Word while everyone in the house sleeps.  Why don't I sleep?  good question!

Buda Fine Arts & Jazz Festival

I love taking in art, culture, good music and interesting people so I was right at home this weekend in my small Texas town where we hosted the Buda Fine Arts and Jazz Festival.  

Here an original work of art in the silent auction we were 

Celebrate someone...anyone....everyone!

keep reading to see why this ties into my post.....

We should always be celebrating something, at least that's how I wanna say I live each day:)

So why not celebrate someone who has made a difference in your life by doing, giving or sharing whatever comes up in your heart to do or say, for or to someone.  Let's ACT, my friends.  Act in love, by faith, with boldness.  I think we should start with our spouses or for the singles, your folks.  Here's a little tip: you'll walk away just as blessed as they are if not more so.

Let me leave you with a story to spark your creative giving juices:  read on....

cutie pie-super easy apron

I told you a while back about a little thing I made for our Open House sponsors but I never showed you the pictures.  Well here is my step my step....what do you

time, ideas & encouragement for all:)

The past 5 days have been a whirlwind of motion for my life. During this time I've run into so many things I want to share yet where do I find the time? Truth is, there just hasn't been. For example, last night I had to get Marc's office painted and dry before movers arrived at 8am. I got home at 2am...just a little example of how busy it's been since last Wednesday.  (I will soon have pictures of before & after of the new office but right now we're mid project & it looks TERRIBLE).

I'm not even quite sure what this post will be as I sit for a brief collect-my-thoughts moment in Starbucks feeling as though I may collapse in a flood of emotions and

Bee Box & another confession...is this getting old?

Confession....yet again!  

All that talk about my 6 am appointment with God before the kids get up and I failed.  I was told 3 different alarms went off ...I only heard one & it didn't do its job.  I must need a volume adjustment or some self-control lessons.  I nearly skipped my nightly post but thought I'd share one more little project with you.


A "Bee Box" just for those little bits that clutter your dresser or for your hair pins in the bathroom.  Hope you like the newest addition to my portfolio of transformation creations:)  It'll be for sale this weekend at my husband's big open house for his Elliott Ranch listing--a champagne shopping extravaganza--fun!!!!

  

Order & Balance...get some

As I observe my world speeding up quite a bit I almost feel as if I’ve been lazy the past couple of months...hmmm....how can that be?  I only thought I was busy before but now the real work lies ahead.  That leads me to my newest project as well as the one thing I've never really mastered

Time Management 

I encourage you to plan out your week before

stand tall & don't worry

something I made last year that I never shared...until now.  Philippians4:6-7 says it all!!!! 

 My defense mechanism when I’m going through something is to pull away, run away & retreat.   Run away mode has been in full effect so I’m here to apologize.   For me running away has always

recreating an heirloom

How was your 4th of July celebration?  We had a grand time at my friend's pool party...what a great group of friends we're blessed with!  I failed to take my camera, or even my purse, along for the ride so I'm going to post about something quite random.

Nearly 10 months ago my Aunt Sunday asked me to

ROOMS :: focus

Humor me for a second.  

Imagine a big house with many rooms, vast corridors, lush gardens and a kitchen made for

Thrifting Process and valuable TIPS

even though this is a dress it proves my point: you can get
amazing things at thrift stores if you just take the time

I'm here to encourage all those Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel and (sadly) Rooms to Go kind of vanilla bix box store addicted people I know(you know who you are) to venture into imaginative resourcefulness....i.e. creativity.  Today we’ll start a new round of posts that are sure to be as random and inspirational as I am in life (and blogging:)  

I'll introduce you to my world of picking, thrifting, treasure hunting & garage sale-ing (hmmm, my husband will have to tell me how to say that).  Where I find items, each for its own reason & purpose then I'll make an attempt to