we :: february desktop background

collaboration.  love.  friends.  family.  us.

we.

welcome february.

download your free desktop background here for widescreen and here for fullscreen.

glitter hanging frame :: inspiration

hi friends!  today, i thought i'd share a little inspiration along with a diy.  these simple pant hangers have been transformed into darling glitter frames.  i just spread modge podge along the front of the clip and then smothered with glitter (large & small).  you could also use beads or really anything pretty you want to display.  i then chose a couple of my favorite quotes and printed them off on a linen paper... but you could use whatever kind of paper you prefer.

i hung these around the shop to cheer people up (myself included).  i have to tell you - it works!  so many customers have commented on how fun they are.

xoxo

historic homes :: central illinois photography

sometimes, on sundays, we'll all pile in the car and go on a family 'adventure'.  this basically means, we don't know where we are going.  i always take my camera of course.  last sunday, we stumbled upon this lovely historic town while searching for an antique shop.  we never did find the shop, but i was ok with that after seeing this beautiful & rich architecture.  the details!  can you imagine living in such a place?

stone cold :: central illinois photography

silly bump :: family photography

this is "bump" on a sick day.  he still has more energy than a hummingbird.  as my mother-in-law always says... "there's a reason people have children when they're young".  no one can keep up with this kid.  even when he is lying down, he's talking.

which, truth be told, makes him the perfect moving object for me to practice focusing with my new lens.  focusing on an animated object takes some patience and talent.  using this odd lens makes it even more difficult... but i'm having fun.  and... well..., i'm glad "bump" is just the way he is.

xoxo.  happy friday friends.

sacrifice & happiness :: personal story

i wanted to give up yesterday.  i wanted to curl up on the couch and cover my entire body with a quilt.  then disappear.

the shop isn't doing well.  we had a wonderful holiday season, but january has been harder than i imagined.  i'm not sure i can pay rent this month.  we haven't had a customer all week.  my husband is sacrificing more than i can tell you so that i can run my little art store on the corner.  my children are sacrificing time with their mom.  and i have... on days like yesterday... doubts about if i can do it.  my emotional investment in my dreams are taking a hit... maybe i suck.  maybe that's why no one comes into the shop...

how much are you willing to sacrifice once you find happiness?  that's the question i keep asking myself.  because the honest truth is... this shop is such a fantastic blessing to me.  i am free.  free of creativity-smothering orders from a boss or client.  i am making what i love every. single. day.  i am giddy with excitement each moment i am at work and when i go home that feeling carries over.  i am a happier, less stressed-out mother and wife.  the feeling of making something with my hands that others love enough to take into their homes is uncomparable to any other feeling i've had in my life.  it's a high.

but, there is always doubt, isn't there?  small bouts of depression will maneuver their way into a soul and make someone doubt everything they love... make someone want to give up.

it's how we react to those bouts that shows who we are deep inside.  the only limitations in life are the ones we put on ourselves.  and, however sad & hopeless i feel, i am not ready to put a limit on this shop or my undeniable happiness when i am creating something lovely.  today i'm going to open the store and snuggle up under a light in my back studio and work away.  then when the sun goes down, i will lock up and walk along the beautiful roads of downtown to my car.  i will drive home, make dinner, play with the boys and lie in bed ignoring any doubt and depression that tries to work it's way into my thoughts.  because i am not ready to quit.

xoxo

kitchen collections :: home photography

there is beauty in every collection... especially when it represents home & love.

bubble art :: children's art project

have you tried 'bubble art' yet?!  by adding food coloring to the kiddos bubbles, then letting them go to town on a paper covered surface, a fun abstract piece is created.  plus they'll remember it forever.  plus, plus it's a great indoor activity during this loooooong winter.

gotta love that.

o, and we have used both printer paper & watercolor paper.  printer paper works fine for an easy grab and go, but it does tend to curl as it dries.  if you use watercolor paper, you'll avoid that.

enjoy!  xoxo

all that glitters :: nature photography :: winter photography

interactive drawing :: children's art project

i gave 'the monster' my old digital camera for christmas this past year.  he is having so much fun with it and i really love looking thru his photos.  he takes lots and lots of images of his toys... which could go on and on because the boy has a lot of toys!

the other night on our weekly 'art night' that we do as a family, i came up with the idea of making an interactive drawing.  the goal was to draw something that could then interact with your hand somehow and we would use his camera to capture the interaction.  two of my favorites he came up with are shown above - a dog-like animal biting his finger and a venus flytrap reaching to attack.  i really think he showed great imagination and quite frankly, i didn't even know he knew what a venus flytrap was.  ha!

p.s.  i know my boys are never wearing shirts in the photos i seem to take.  i swear i do dress them when we leave the house, but i will admit to calling them 'mowgli' because they really don't like clothes.  it's somewhat worrisome i suppose, but i'm hoping they'll grow out of it...

xoxo

white winter :: snow photography

last week, the sun came out and melted all the snow.  fortunately, i was able to wake early and snap a few photographs before it was all gone...

kiddo inspiration :: kid projects

lately, it seems i've been inspired by the kiddos in my life... plus anything little and tiny makes me happy and i sometimes want to squeeze them.  what?

i saw this done on a blog a while back and i'm sorry i can't remember where.  it was a home tour, not a diy.  anyway, i simply wrapped the back of the chair in felt and then used fabric glue to adhere the monkey's face.  so cute!  this could be done with a brown chair to make a bear, black for a panda, green for frog, etc etc. just remember that animals with beaks don't work too well.

i found this wood piece at goodwill - score!  i have no idea what it was used for before, but it screamed dollhouse to me.  i sanded the piece a bit to give it a shabby chic feel, then cut cardboard to fit the shape.  i then traced the shape of each room and glued paper to the cardboard so it would appear as wallpaper.  i found the little mirrors and blank wood people in the miniature section of the hobby store.  finally, i painted them with acrylic paint to give them personality. isn't' it lovely?!

this idea i found on pinterest (of course).  the number one cause of thrown out pants for my son is knee holes.  he hardly has a pair long enough to grow out of them (and he grows fast!).  the kid is a ninja-fighting wrestler at recess and the knees just don't last long.  so, i patched them up as monsters during work one day and excitedly drove home to present my too-cool son with my creative work.  you could see in his face he didn't want to hurt my feelings...

me:  "so, you want to wear these to school tomorrow?!"
him: "no... that's ok"
me: "what, you don't like them?  i thought you'd love them"
him: "i will wear them on saturdays... when no one will see me.  ok?"

so my advice for this project is to only use this technique for boys under the age of 5.  then i think you'll be good.

xoxo

winter chill :: winter photography

these photographs make me want a very hot cup of chocolate coffee.  maybe even with liquor added...

i supposed that if winter is here however, spring is just around the corner.  xoxo