Take Time to Stop and Smell the Flowers

Taylor didn't go to school today because she's had a bad cold all weekend. She's much better today, but I decided to go ahead and keep her home since she's still coughing a fair bit and low on energy. I had an appointment for myself and I brought her along. As we headed out the door, I grabbed my camera and stuffed it in my purse. On the way there, we discovered a surprise field of wildflowers! As I pointed out the flowers to Taylor, I was instantly happy I had my camera. When I asked if we could stop on the way back so we could take some pictures and pick some flowers, she squealed with delicious 5 yr old delight and said "Yes!".

I'm so glad I had my camera because I love the shots I got! Of course, I like to keep it real and these pictures don't capture some of the other details of this spontaneous sidetrack in our day, so I'll fill you in on some details. Taylor was scared of the ants on the ground, she didn't like the feel of the weeds on her feet because she was wearing sandals, and she was whining about a few bees we saw while wandering in the field. I was worried as we picked the flowers that a cop would drive by and fine us because I believe picking wild flowers in the state of California is a crime. Oh, and the "field" it wasn't much of a "field". It was actually an empty corner lot at a very busy intersection. But a field of wildflowers sounds much more magical than an empty corner lot, doesn't it?

I edited these photos using free actions from The Pioneer Woman. On the first photo I used Lovely and Ethereal. On the second one I used Sunshine. And on the third photo I used Soft and Faded. I think that last one is one of my new favorite photos.

Thanks for reading. I hope you're having a good day, and remember to take time to create a little magic and stop and smell the flowers. :)

Qwirkle! Super Fun Game for Family Game Night!

Thank you to my best friend, Jen, who told me about this super fun game! Qwirkle is a family game for ages 6 and up. Even younger players can play with a little help. To start, each player gets 6 tiles, then the person with the most tiles sharing a common shape or color, lays those tiles in a row on the table. The next player adds at least 1 tile to the tiles that already there. So, in this game, John played the three flower like shapes, I added the 3 circles, and Taylor added the purple star-like shape.

As you play tiles, you replace your tiles so that you always have 6 tiles. Taylor is a very smart kid and loves to create patterns so we knew she would love this game. We've played twice now, and I have to admit, the first time we played it was a little confusing for all of us, but definitely fun! We played again last night and Taylor needed a little less help in choosing where to play her tiles. The scoring is similar to scrabble. When you add tiles to a row, you get 1 point for each tile you've paid, and you get points for the tiles that were already in the row. Creating a row of 6 tiles either the same shape or color, gives you a "Qwirkle" earning you 6 bonus points!

As the game progresses, your table will look like this...

I definitely like this game a whole lot more than Chutes and Ladders or Candyland!

Simple Abundance {a much needed attitude adjustment}

You may have noticed a new button on my blog. It's the Picture Inspiration button. Picture Inspiration is a class I'm taking through Big Picture Classes. In addition to a series of weekly prompts that are intended to inspire class participants to pick up our cameras and start shooting, there is also a message board and a gallery to share our images. The class is hosted by Tracey Clark. If you've never heard of her, then chances are you've never heard of Shutter Sisters, either. You need to check out both of those sites if you have any interest in photography at all. Anyway, in Tracey's welcome to us, she discussed an inspiration tool box. This is basically the things that we surround ourselves with that offer inspiration for photography and creativity. The book Simple Abundance is part of Tracey's inspirational toolbox. I've owned this book for over 11 years.

I first discovered this book in my early years as a social worker. One of my mentors used it often in her personal life and in helping the women she worked with find balance. My mom gave me the book as a gift the first Christmas after I got married. At that time, I was in my mid-twenties. While I was certainly a mature 20-something, I didn't really "get' the book at that time. I might have thought I did. But, I was never motivated to get past the first few pages of this book of daily devotions, inspirational quotes and prompts for introspection.

Over the past 11 yrs I've moved that book from bookshelf to moving box to bookshelf to moving box as we've moved numerous times. I've picked it up periodically and flipped through the pages searching for something. But again, never quite grasped the message and was never motiviated to move beyond those first few pages.

Well, I'm now in a very different place than I was the first time I held that book. As a wife of 11 yrs, a mother of an almost 5 yr old, and a social worker who's experienced beyond my years, I find myself feeling like something is missing. I've had a few particularly challenging weeks recently. I can point to a few things in my work life or personal life that are stressful but at the same time, I just feel like I'm in an overall "funk". Ultimately, I feel burnt out. I'm exhausted, irritable and simply a little sad. Well, last Friday night, I was feeling particularly down, and I decided I didn't want to spend my weekend being a grump. That wouldn't be fun for anyone. I was suddenly reminded of Tracey's mention of Simple Abundance, in that moment I decided to soak in a hot tub filled with bubbles and delve into this book of Simple Abundance once more.

This book and it's message is exactly what I need right now. The premise of this book is that women are often depressed (on some level) because of a denial of their authentic self. Sound a little too out there? Well, think about it. When we walk around each day, as women, as mothers, as employees and we spend most of our days caring for others and doing things that are not in line with our own heart's desires, and we don't draw on our own talents, we are denying our authentic self.

(click image to enlarge)

There are principles and exercises in this book that are aimed at revealing our authentic selves and teaching ways to live authentically. I'm still only a few pages into the book, but the reason I put it down this time, wasn't because of lack of interest. Quite the opposite, actually. I wanted some time to digest the words. I wanted time to purchase or create a journal to be used as my companion as I embark on this journey.

Now, I don't mean to come off as all melancholy. Trust me, I'm OK. I'm not going to run away or quit my job or file for divorce (my marriage is quite good!). I just know I could be more OK, more "me". I know who I am (I think) and I know what I want (I think), but there's a disconnect between who I am, what I want and what I'm actually living. I need to find more balance and bring more of what I want into my life.

(I realize this is a little "deeper" subject matter than I usually discuss on this blog, but I think that may be part of the issue. I love blogging, I love crafting, I love posting photos, but I also really want to "keep it real", so I just might get a little deeper sometimes. Don't worry I'll still post super cute crafty tutorials and pics of my adorable daughter ;) )

So, I'm sure some of you can relate to all of this. Anyone want to let me know I'm not alone? Have any of you read Simple Abundance? I'd love to know your thoughts.

Derailed by asthma...

We've had a really crazy couple of weeks since my last post. We had a really bad scare almost 2 weeks ago on Thursday morning. My daughter, Taylor, has asthma. Anyone who has a child with asthma or manages asthma themselves can understand what a complex condition medical condition asthma is and how scary it can be at times. Our pulmonologist tells us that managing asthma is like flying a 747. Pretty complicated and scary at times. Well, that Thursday morning was one of those incredibly scary times for us.

When Taylor woke up panicked, with uncontrollable coughing that wasn't responding to nebulizer treatments, we thought she was having a severe asthma attack. A scary trip to the ER concluded with a diagnosis of croup. Of course, given her underlying asthma, she was given a steroid shot to help reduce or fend off a severe asthma flare. Croup is generally caused by a virus. For children with asthma viruses that affect the respiratory tract (a simple cold, for example) can trigger an asthma flare. So, while she wasn't suffering from asthma on Thursday morning, it didn't take long for the virus to trigger an asthma flare. Then, on day 3 of the simple virus, Taylor spiked a fever, indicating a secondary infection. She has a history of pneumonia so she was put on antibiotics and a second round of steroids. She was finally well enough to go back to preschool by the middle of last week and was very happy to be back with her friends. I'm finally feeling like I've recovered and have "caught up" after being derailed by this. And Taylor's back to her playful self, but it seems as though her baby is sick, now.

So, this explains my lack of craftiness and subsequent lack of posting here. I've got a tutorial up tomorrow at Crafts Unleashed and I'm expecting a special crafty gift for myself that will be arriving on my doorstep sometime this week! I'll be posting about it when it arrives. And, I've got some pics that I want to post of a lil' shoot I did with Taylor this past weekend. So, stay tuned and we'll get caught up together.

Cutest Piggy Bank EVER!!!

I found this adorable little piggy at Target the other day and I just HAD to have her!

As soon as I saw her I knew she'd be the perfect little piggy to hold my pennies that I'm saving for a big ticket crafty item. I knew she'd look soooooo cute in my craft room waiting for spare change to fill her belly. Doesn't she look totally adorable? I think I'm in love.

And, really is it any surprise that I'd love this little piggy given my blog design?

One Word 2011

One Word...

Organization.

That's my word for 2011. Organization. I want to organize my house, my car, my time and my life. Perhaps that's a little ambitious, but I think it's doable. I'm sick of sorting through piles of clean laundry searching for matching socks. I'm sick of having a craft room that's a disaster. I'm sick of always looking for things. I'm sick of having a sink full of dishes. I'm sick of scrambling around in the morning trying to get out of the house on time and running late most of the time. I'm really sick of picking up after Tornado Taylor.

So, after considering several goals I have, systems I need to put in place and my desire to be happier in general, (I mean I'm happy as far as happiness goes, but I'm also often cranky and impatient. Does that make sense?), I've decided that if I was more organized in every aspect of my life, I would be able to achieve a better sense of balance and I'd be happier. I'd spend less time looking for matching socks and more time crafting and playing with Taylor and hanging out with my husband and friends. If I was more organized, I'd be more efficient in my work tasks and other responsibilities and this would result in a greater sense of accomplishment which is always a mood booster. So, my one word for 2011 is Organization. I'll be blogging about my organization efforts and, of course, all the other fun stuff that I'll have more time to do because I'm more organized.

So, that's my one word for 2011. What's yours?

I'm still alive...

I've just been really, really, really busy! But I haven't forgotten about my blog and my bloggy friends. I'll give a quick rundown of what's been going on with me and then I'll be back before long with lots of tutorials!!!

I've been really busy with work. Hospice and KFA.

Decorating for Fall.

Planning and hosting Thanksgiving Dinner. (Very Thankful for my Father-in-law who cooked the turkey!)

Decorating for Christmas and purging unneeded decorations.

Making handmade decorations and doing Christmas crafting with Taylor.

And...last weekend our dishwasher broke. It was full of dirty dishes with another sink full of dishes ready to go in. Not the best time of year to be dealing with a broken dishwasher. New dishwasher gets delivered today! Woo Hoo!

I've been taking lots of photos but they haven't made it from my camera to my computer, yet.

I hope you're all enjoying the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and you're able to catch a few minutes of tranquility to recharge.

Happy 4th of July!

We're heading out to enjoy some patriotic festivities with some friends. Taylor and I created this American Flag canvas earlier today and I got a serious lesson on allowing on our children the freedom to explore their own creativity. I hope your having a good Fourth!

Tornado Taylor

Ever since she learned how to reach, then crawl, we've been calling her Tornado Taylor. It doesn't take long for a fairly tidy, organized space to look like a tornado blew through it after Taylor's spent some time in it. So, this is a sampling of what our house looks like on any given day...

She loves to stash things in cabinets, baskets, boxes and purses.

Her bedroom, which is supposed to have very few toys in it, to reduce the amount of cleaning/allergen reduction I have to do...

Every kitchen floor needs an abandoned naked baby lying on it.

And I'm not quite sure what this is....

Her little studio table...always a disaster...I'm too embarrassed to take pics of all the paper scraps on the floor...

The thing, is...I have no idea where she gets this from...

because I'm always so neat and organized and I set a perfect example by always picking up after myself.

She must get it from Daddy, don't ya think?

Introducing {Featured Follower Friday}!

We all love followers, don't we? I get sooo excited when I see that I have a new follower. So, I've decided to start {Featured Follower Friday}. Here's the deal, every Friday I will feature one of my followers by linking to their blog and highlighting some of my favorite posts of theirs. Pretty simple and fun. Here are the rules:

You MUST be a follower of my blog for me to feature you as part of my {Featured Follower Friday}.

If for some reason you want to follow my blog but you do NOT want to be a Featured Follower, simply contact me by e-mail and let me know and I will not include you.

You must have a blog to be featured and your blog must be public, not private. Private blogs require that you invite readers and are only viewable by the people you invite to read your blog. You would know if you have set your blog to private.

Your blog does not have to be a craft blog in order to be featured as part of {Featured Follower Friday}. I love blogs of all kinds and followers of all kinds! :)

So, sign up to follow my blog so you can be featured! Then be sure to check in every Friday to see if you're the Featured Follower!

Thrifty Thursday

When I saw this in the thrift store the other day, I thought it would be the perfect suitcase for doll clothes. (I've been looking for one). But when I opened it, I discovered it wasn't a suitcase. When I opened it...I discovered....

this....

a vintage typewriter! And it's kinda small. I saw a blog post recently (of course I can't remember what blog) about using a vintage typewriter as a toy for children. How cool! I've seen a few typewriters in thrift stores but they're usually very large and are about $30. This baby had a price tag of $10 and I got the store clerk to give it to me for $5. Now that's cool.

I wonder where this was in its former life? I wonder what words or letters or books were typed with it? I'm tucking it away as a Christmas present for Taylor. Maybe between now and then I can find a suitable typewriter ribbon for it.

{Thrifty Thursday} Craftin' Goodies!

These are some goodies I scored on a recent thrifting excursion. I got all of the small embroidery hoops for $1.25. As in $1.25 for ALL of them!

The twill tape (the white ribbon-like stuff) was 30 cents!!! 30 CENTS!!!

And, the gingerbread house kit is the kind they sell at Michael's. I got it for $2.00

The bag of vintage thread and other vintage sewing notions was $3.00 for the whole bag. I'm not sure if I'll actually use the thread but it looks really pretty sitting on my sewing table!

It's deals and treasures like this that make thrifting addictive!

Thrift Store Shopping

Until about a year and a half ago, I had never stepped foot into a thrift store. Then I became friends with someone who loves to go "thrifting". There is an abundance of thrift stores in my area and I have come to love wandering through these stores in search of hidden treasures.

Awhile back Simple Mom posted 12 Tips for Thrift Store Shopping. Those are some great tips!

I find thrift stores are a great source of inspiration for me. I wander through and look for things that I can embellish, alter and repurpose. Every store that I've been to has a small section with crafty odds n' ends. I found a brand new thread organizer that retails for $15 for $3. I found my craft tote that was a file box in it's first life. I have found lots of fabric remnants and yarn, and embroidery thread. Recently, I purchased a grab bag of vintage jewelry for $8 and I didn't realize what treasures I had found until I got home. It was filled with everything from junky broaches I can alter, to what looks like diamond pendants, a couple of watches, some gorgeous earrings I can use as charms for my jewelry making, and a whole lot of other shiny odds n' edds that I can use as embellies on my projects.

Thrift stores are also an incredible source for baskets and storage containers. I may never pay full price for another basket. My first thrift store purchase was a large wicker trunk with an original "blue tag" of $24 but the day I found it blue tag items were 50% off so I got it for $12. What a steal! I use it to store my fabric stash.

I feel GOOD when I shop at thrift stores. I'm helping out the charity that runs the store and the people it serves by paying money for their donated items. I'm helping the environment by reusing what's already produced, rather than buying it new. And, I'm helping out my pocketbook because I get such great deals!

One very important tip to remember when thrifting is that you need to know how much things retail for as brand new items. Sometimes it makes sense to buy it new. For example, when I was in the market for a sewing machine, I found several at thrift stores. But, they looked like they were about 20 yrs old and were missing the manuals. As a brand new sewer, it was important that I have a reliable machine, with a manual that I could refer to and a warranty should I need it to be repaired.

Some of my favorite things to look for in thrift stores are: storage containers, dishes that I can use for storage and linens that are gently used that I can use for sewing projects.

I'm going to start posting some of my thrift-store finds on Thursdays in a new series I'll be calling Thrifty Thursday!

What are your favorite thrift store finds?

Airing my clean laundry!

A nasty flu bug has been making its rounds in our house for the last week. It started with Taylor (and really hit her hard!!!) and then I got it on Sunday and am still recovering today. I wasn't well enough to go back to work or to leave the house but I managed to gather enough energy to get caught up on some laundry. (Desperately need to catch up!!) So, given I haven't been very productive in any other way, lately, I thought I'd show off pics of all my freshly folded laundry and my day's accomplishments!

The pile of clothes between the two baskets above is Taylor's "too small" pile. I keep a plastic bin in her closet and as I do laundry if an item is too small it goes into the bin in the closet, then I sort through the bin and see if there's anything I can recycle, or pass on to a friend or donate to charity.

All of the hangers in our closet are white plastic. I started buying white plastic hangers when I left home to go to university. I've only bought white ones since then and it makes my messy closet look a little less messy!

I am terrible at keeping up with laundry. My laundry room usually looks like a clothes bomb went off. I have no problem sorting, and throwing clothes in the washer, but they don't always get transferred to the dryer in a timely manner and they don't always get OUT of the dryer in a timely manner and they almost NEVER get folded and put away in a timely manner. Every once in a blue moon, I get all caught up and I swear I'm going to turn over a new leaf and keep the laundry under control. And then, I have another basket of laundry that needs to be washed, and then another and another...and you can imagine how it goes from there.

Sigh. Maybe this time will be different.

How do you feel about laundry? Do you keep it under control or is it total chaos at your house? What's your system for keeping it under control?

Right Now...

I'm enjoying the quiet in our new home!!!

Sitting at our kitchen table, surrounded by boxes...

Thinking of all that lies ahead this week...

Finishing packing up and moving all the odds and ends from the old house

Cleaning the old house

A trip to Goodwill to donate a huge pile of stuff (Did you know you can donate all old electronics to the goodwill, working or not and they'll recycle them? Yep, lots of places charge a fee for recycling electronics, but the Goodwill takes them at no charge!)

Unpacking here and setting up my new crafting space (top priority!)

Sewing curtains...

Setting up our bedroom with our new Sleep Number bed! (new to us, hand me down from a friend! THANK YOU!!!)

Grocery Shopping -- we need food and I get to check out our new grocery store. I've shopped there once before and they've got great deals!

Doing Laundry and organizing the closet...

Oh, and I have to work everyday this week...I'm thinking this is really my list of what lies ahead this month...no way I'll get all this done this week!

But, right now...I'm sitting enjoying this moment of calm and quiet while everyone else is still asleep...

I hope you all have a good week! My posts will still be a little scattered as we get settled in because I'm still a little scattered! ;)

Packin' it up and takin' a break...

I hope you all enjoyed your holidays! We enjoyed a quiet but good Christmas.

As I mentioned in my last post we FINALLY know where we're moving to!!! And, we'll be moving in 11 days!!! Ahhhh! I'm excited, stressed, panicked, energized and tired all at the same time!

Since my husband and I got married 10 yrs ago, we've moved 5 times!!! And, we lived in our second home for almost 4 years. We've moved a lot in the last few years. While I hate the prospect of packing up our stuff and actually moving, I'm refreshed by the idea of purging things we no longer use and excited to plan out how we will use our new space.

Amidst all of this, I'm saddened to pack up all my craft supplies, fabric and sewing machine. With only 11 days to pack and purge (and 7 of those will be spent working), I don't think they'll be much time left for crafting :( .

So, I'll be taking a blogging break but I'll be back once we're in our new home! I already have lots of crafty ideas to spruce up our new space!

In the meantime, if any of you have any great ideas for cramming a whole lot o' craft supplies into a small craft room, please, do share! I think the main craft nook is going to be the guest room closet (and it's not a walk in, but it has bi-fold doors).

So, here's wishing you all a happy new year!

T'was the day before Christmas...

and all through the house, there was total chaos!

I had the best intentions. I really did. But, alas, it's the day before Christmas and I'm wondering where the month of December has gone???

Today, on my to-do list:

- baking

- cleaning

- making appetizers for tonight's "dinner"

- wrapping presents (um, that's right...I haven't wrapped a single Christmas present!!!)

- finishing making my father-in-laws Christmas present. Honestly, I think he may be getting it after Christmas :(

In the midst of all of this...today we are going to take a second look at the house that we'll be moving into in the next few weeks! We found out yesterday that the owner accepted us as tenants and we're super excited!

So, Merry Christmas to all of you! What's on your to do list? Are you ready or still running around taking care of things?

Favorite Holiday Pics

These are some of my favorite photos from Christmas of 2007.

Just wanted to share them with you!

This is Baby Stella, who has become Taylor's beloved "Sally" she has truly adopted this baby and talks about her all the time! She cuddles her, feeds her, dresses her, changes her diaper, and puts her to sleep. She's such a good little mommy!

I hope you're enjoying your this holiday season!

Our valley was hit with a lot of rain on Monday and I woke up on Tuesday morning to snow covered mountains. I'm itching to drive up the mountains this weekend and build a snowman! Taylor just keeps saying "I don't know how to build a snowman". Poor California girl!

I was born and raised in a snow belt in Canada and have made many a snowman in my life.

Have no fear little one, Mommy will show you how it's done!