of projects great and small// a whimsical post

That has been my motto the past few months.
Currently on the "project plate" I have a set of three canvas name signs for a sweet family at my church; I've finished the drafting stage and am beginning the very scary painting stage, and as much as I love it, the painting bit does frighten me! Once you put the brush to the canvas there's really no going back (AH!) but thankfully there are pencils and I do make a "shadow" of what the finished product will look like, still the painting bit goes by slowly and steadily.

In other news, my sister and I have started the Fat Flush Plan (isn't that exciting?); this will be our third time and I must say it was encouraging to see how much our diet has changed since we first did it back in 2005. Ah, yes, I remember when we read that we'd have to go off all grains for two weeks; you could have knocked me over with a feather, I was that shocked. Now it's no big deal, in fact, the food item I'll miss the most is the occasional glass of raw milk; yes, for the first two weeks, we have to exclude most dairy products (except for milk keifer, which we just started making).

Anyone else making strides in healthful eating?

a creative vacation

Life
It does have a tendency to fill up the schedule doesn't it?

The past week had me spending time with two very special and very engaged people, exploring this excellent market, and having my sister and her Stickies for a visit (yes, I'm currently holding a sleeping, drooling, chubby baby. Bliss I tell you!). I've also taken the time to explore some new projects (like this one here) and am opening up the chalkboard paint again! We've been blessed with many houseguests (both spontaneous and planned), that's when I discovered my love for fresh towels weird, right? I was just starting to develop a habit of washing towels every day when my practical sister stopped me in my tracks, I suppose it was a bit overboard. ; ) We've been blueberry picking, landscaping our front yard, and have developed a list of foreign films we'd like to watch as a family (every since we discovered Life is Beautiful, foreign films has become one of our favorite film genres!), Le Herisson is next on the list.
In addition to the regular brew I've been working on a few weddings for this Fall--details to come...

In the meantime, I wanted to let you know that I've extended the vacation time on my etsy shop. There is so much I'd like to do with my shop and that simply wasn't enough time to do things properly! I'm excited about  showing you the new shop items, branding, and packaging but I do need to focus on a few other things before I can open up shop again. Thanks so much for your patience!
Also, I'm looking forward to showing you my progress so continue to check back here for shop updates and new posts!!


And now, back to living. :)

custom order// pinterest friday and outdoor weddings

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Happy Friday, everyone! 

This past week has found me resting and doing a few focused, creative projects as we all recover from the scheduling frenzy that was last week, with lots of crazy late nights and early mornings I'm tired and am taking lots of vitamin D! Praise God, this week has been a wee more relaxed and--contrary to my nature--early morning exercise actually does help to feel more energized during the day (now I must work on making it through the evening!). Tomorrow we're hoping to scurry over to the blueberry patches early in the morning (thus avoiding as much of the sauna-like heat as possible), then enjoying the rest of the day.

How about you?

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This Fall, I have loads of sweet friends getting married (when it comes to life changing events, I think four friends count as loads), and most of them are thinking of the Great Outdoors for their wedding. 

That has gotten me to thinking about designing and decorating for an outdoor wedding, what sort of style ideas would I bring to the table? How many ways can one create an elegant and beautiful wedding without the comforts of four walls, a floor, and ceiling?

Here are some of my favorite outdoor decor ideas from this board, enjoy!

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I think this idea is particularly adorable, whether your wedding is indoors or outdoors! 

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