You Are Beautiful

Happy Thanksgiving! Not your usual thanksgiving/fallish picture but I thought it would tie in well with what I have to say. I photographed this rose during the summer and even though I've looked at the photograph a few times I didn't see the "beauty" right away. A couple weeks ago I decided to play with it, majorly crop it and lighten it a bit and oh my goodness I was amazed! It was beautiful! (to me any way) And then it really made me think, God sees the beauty in everything... in us, in others, in everything he has created immediately. For us, well we miss a lot, sometimes we don't see the beauty in others or even in ourselves. The thing is, it is there, we just have to look harder. God has blessed us with so much. We have so much to be thankful for... and are we? Or are we bi-passing some important things, taking things for granted we shouldn't? Probably. We are only human. For some reason this flower touched me. It reminded me to look for the beauty in everything, because it is there. I am thankful for so much God has given me and my family. I am continually learning new things from Him. He is amazing. His creations are amazing. And you are his creation... yes I'm very thankful for you. For all of you who read this blog. You take time out of your day to read what I write. Many of you have never even met me, yet you offer support, encouragement, and leave comments... you brighten my day. You are a stranger yet a friend. I know I have family and friends who read this too. (Hi guys!) Even though many don't leave comments on here, I'm glad to hear you enjoy visiting my little on-line space to see whats going on in our life. Its heart warming. So thank YOU. Thank you for reading, thank you for following, thank you to those that leave comments so I know I'm not just talking to myself. You are all wonderful! I hope you will take time to look a little deeper, to see the beauty in God's creations that surround you and what lays within you. You will feel truly blessed! ♥

the shirt says it all

She really, really does! It's been snowing on and off all day and K

keeps asking if there is enough to go sledding. Ha, ha. Soon enough.

Happy Monday!

In the Studio

Lots left to do for a show coming up the first weekend in December. Praying it goes well and hopefully I can pull off getting everything ready for it. Uggh. Thankfully my medication (for Graves Disease) was changed last week when I saw the specialist so I should finally have some energy again! The hyper shakiness feeling had returned to my arms and head and that is quite an energy zapper... goodness! Fingers crossed that I'm good to go now.

So this is what I've been up to the last couple days. Once I printed out a tiny Jesus Loves Me print I thought it was too cute so my awesome hubby made me a bunch more blocks! I'm thinking they would make fantastic stocking stuffers! The blocks are currently sanded and surface prepped. Next is to paint and adhere the art.

These are getting close to being finished. Yay!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking up with Studio JRU. Always fun to see what other artists are up to!

Country Beauty {photography}

{Yes Dear, Photography Art Print}

So I was planning on doing a painting from this photograph but when I printed it out today I fell in love with it. I think it's better to leave this one just as it is. I have my mother-in-law to thank for the shot. She took us on a little road trip to find some of their cattle. I love how the mamma cow has her ear straight up as if saying to the calf, "yes dear, I hear you." The print has a vintage color like feel to it that I love. And this peaceful country setting... well that is what I have grown to love. Having grown up here I've seen the sight of cows a million times, but now, I'm finally appreciating it. It's beautiful.

I thought others may enjoy this photograph so I added it to the shop along with the photo of echinaceas flowers that you may have seen in an earlier post.

Saved from the Trash

I'm always on the look out for things I can transform from ugly to pretty and usable. Since I've always stuck to a strict budget I like to look at things from a creative point of view. Well one of my last finds was sitting curbside ready to go to the dump. I couldn't let something that was so sturdy and in pretty darn good condition go to the trash! Sure the colors were completely out dated and there were a few little scratches on the side but I knew with a little paint it would look LOTS better. So here is the before:

The coloring was actually a little lighter than the photo shows. The top was made out of the old formica but the rest was a nice hardwood.

Here's the after:

A clean white look with brushed silver pulls. (Same ones that were there just spray painted.) I really like how it turned out. Who can't use more desk space and someday it might even be Kaelyn's if I can part with it. :)

My mother-in-law gave me a few treasures last weekend. I was so excited! One will be a perfect chair for this desk... just have to get it painted.

Linking up with Studio JRU today. Be sure to check out these other talented souls HERE.
Have a great weekend!

Blown Away

Last Saturday I was able to spend a few hours with my mom before going to a Halloween get together. Us girls headed to the Goss Opera House where a couple of my mom's friends were displaying their art. Little did we know that 3 floors of the Goss were filled with art. There was so much talent! I was truly inspired by the work on the third floor that was done by artist, Meranda Turbak. We didn't know anything about the artist but were both so impressed by her mixed media paintings. The imagination, color, story... wow! The size of her pieces were certainly eye catching and when you got close to them there was so much detail. And another thing I loved was that she often finds thrift frames/pictures and paints right over them. She doesn't spend money on buying canvases! How awesome is that?! When we went back down to the main floor and asked about more information on Meranda they told us she was working in the next room. So we headed over to the gift shop area and were able to meet her. It is so much fun meeting artists! She is such a sweet person. We talked for a bit and I sure hope to see her again in the near future. Maybe I can talk her into teaching a class. :)

I think several of you would be interested in Meranda's work and story about her process so be sure to check it out HERE. Also if your in SD and near the Goss be sure to stop by. It has the neatest old architecture and its rustic qualities have been saved. A coffee shop, gift shop that will soon only carry handmade work, a restaurant and art galleries are only a few things this building holds. It's impressive in its self.