Waterfalls and Faith

Over the weekend I enjoyed a trip to Cumberland Falls here in Kentucky. I had been here a couple of times before but it was probably the prettiest I had ever seen it. My younger sisters, Justin and the pups had a very peaceful evening enjoying the beautiful mist which captured the light so perfectly and it made me think. 

I have been praying so much lately asking god to take things into his hands and show me the way. I don't go to church and I haven't read the bible. I believe in god and I have faith that he will lead me  in the right direction because he always has for me. I would love to tell you the handful of ways god has answered my prays but I like to keep those events sacred. 

I fully believe that having faith and just talking to god are the only things you need to understand religion. I don't believe that praying about an exam is going to give you an A or that asking god to keep your dog alive is reasonable. I do think that telling god of your situation, feelings and leaving it in his hands can result in miracles. 

I didn't want to discuss this so that we could start an argument over whether god is real or not or if praying helps just wanted to give you a small peek into my beliefs. My religion is not set in stone with a name or rules it's what I believe and what works for me. I think that believing in something is way better that believing in nothing. 

Hope your Tuesday is beautiful!!!

Weekend in Photos

I had a wonderful long weekend. The warm weather finally kicked in and it really got me motivated to work on new ideas :). I finally pulled out my camera and took some pictures just for fun. I wore my comfy clothes all day and got my feet dirty while playing with my pup. I got dressed up and took some of my jewels to a local boutique in Richmond :) and picked up a couple dresses for myself. I found some special treasures while thrifting including this cute 60's photo album that fits my instant instax photos perfectly (saving this for my little girl to have). I started pressing flowers, mark that off my spring bucket list. I worked on special spirit necklaces that should be ready for the shop soon for summer. I pulled out my products for the mushroom festival (April 27 and 28) and ordered lots of special new supplies. I also manage to spend a day in the sun just relaxing.

How was your weekend?

PS there is an awesome giveaway going on the blog right now... It's so simple to enter have you left a comment to enter? click here to enter the giveaway!

Photo Journal: Playing with Photoshop

 I think I have said this about 10 times already or maybe I haven't. Anyway I finally have been forcing myself to use my new photoshop CS5 program... and getting results!! I was using my old computer with picasa because photoshop frustrated me so much but my old computer finally hit the dirt. I refused to download picasa on my new laptop so I kind of forced myself to figure it out. I am so glad I did! I been staying busy playing around with it, the new blog layout (still needs more tweaks) and adding items to my shop.

Today I wanted to share with you some pictures I have worked on in photoshop that I am really proud of...

 These first two I experiment with layering, double exposure and collage I really like how they turned out.

 New items in the shop..... with a white backdrop... something new I am trying on some items. What do you think? Do you like the white?

and this is my favorite for some reason! I think it's the simple combo of my two conflicting styles ;)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!

PS... I will be doing a post on the post art exchange soon! It seems things are moving pretty slow and I just want to get everyone moving again!

Photo Journal: Strange Treasure

I love stuff.... it's comforting and I really make connections with objects that have a bit of a history. I would rather own something that has a story or past rather than one straight out of a factory. I usually do a good job of keeping my "stuff" contained and in use but these past couple of days made me realize that is time to let a lot of stuff go... :( The good thing about it is a clean slate to find new inspiring objects. The downside is that I won't be doing much treasure hunting until my life gets itself figured out. I have to save save save because life is going to be changing dramatically for me in a couple of months if I can bite the bullet and save.
I really don't know what to think about my life situation at the moment but I know one thing it's not working so its time to find treasure in the sense of a new path and place for me to call home. ...sometimes I wish I could pour out my heart and soul in these posts but... I just can't. Wishing I had my gram to call and talk to about it all or spend the night with... man she was the best in times like these. I miss her sooo much.

Spoonbread Love

I got lots of pictures from spoonbread festival this weekend but here are just a few that I really liked. I painted so many cute faces, sold lots of goods and made some new friends! I was really happy to see the style of people who came into the booth... it's exactly what I am striving for! Another great year!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I have to do a really big festival this weekend called the Chicken Festival and it starts Thursday so wish me luck! It's an hour away... and I am still figuring out how I am going to get it all done.

Photo Journal: Don't Worry

Doing the photo journal a bit different this morning. My little sister gave me this cool notebook made by crayola called wild notes. The marker only writes in the notebook and it looks clear but show up rainbow! Soo cool I love it! I had to write this note to myself last night as a reminder to stay calm! Sometimes I tend to get very overwhelmed.

I been working all day everyday for the past couple of days gettting ready for these festivals.... I'm sooo excited and nervous. I opened my fortune cookie the other day to find this little saying that made me feel confident in my choices to the booth this year.

I also just wanted to throw in this large order that I finished for a lovely lady's wedding in october! 40 of them!! 

Also my best friend is having her first little one today! I can't believe it but I am sooo happy for her!

Love my Jessica!

Random Fact: National day of Encouragement

Random fact of the day... it's the National day of Encouragement. I know what your saying... how did I know this day even existed? Well I rolled out of bed this morning feeling down and out again. Thinking I was going to accomplish nothing I dragged myself downstairs and happened to look at my calendar which never happens. I was sad because I was looking at how many days had passed since the funeral and realized that today says National Encouragement Day. Odd. I must say since I was feeling very uninspired until I saw this.

So in honor of National Day of Encouragement I figured I would take some pictures of things that encourage me. Like my pup and this kitten that wondered into our apartment the week of my grandma's death.

I worked all day yesterday on "special festival" items that I will only be selling at festivals. Seeing it being accomplished encouraged me to keep going.

The way I set up my new studio space has made taking pictures of my process prettier which encourages me. The lighting is a lot better. I will be revealing my new improved studio once these festivals are over ;) Right now it is a absolute mess.

My collection of recycled materials and scraps is encouraging me to think of new ideas :)

Enjoying my new desk is encouraging me to work harder. By new desk I mean actually claiming a space in my apartment just for my computer.

I also planted some succulents for my desk and bedroom which encourages me to be happy.

PS... my sweet little sister bought me the stick coloring pencils. I have been wanting a set for months! She is definitely my biggest encouragement Love my Nick Knack

So what encourages you?

The ENCOURAGE CHALLENGE...

I encourage you all to post about what encourages you and link it below.
I encourage you to encourage 2 other people today.
I encourage you to make this day count.

Photo Journal: A Memory

This past week was one of the most difficult weeks that I have experienced in my life. The loss of my grandmother and the circumstances which have led up to the last moment have been a emotional roller coaster for me. Seeing her for the last time without life in her is so strange but you have to do it. You have to. Which is something that needed to be said a long time ago.

Slowly rolling back into the week I will be working toward the 3 festivals I have booked in the next 3 weekends. It is definitely hard because I don't have to go somewhere to work... I have push myself to begin and all I can think about is my grandma.

Photo Journal: Slow

Taking my time working on my environment and personal projects. I have been pushing myself to post but I see that isn't working so well for me at the moment.

I took this picture of a turtle who was hiding under a tarp in my backyard a couple weeks back. The little guy made me think of that good ole saying slow and steady wins the race.

 Remember back when I mentioned I was going to be able to get a new computer finally? Well it still hasn't happened. There just wasn't enough money. However I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can get one after the two festivals in the end of september..... in other words I am really working my bottom off trying to get inventory in order to make money. So that't basically the excuse I tell myself ;)

The problem is that I decided to redo my whole studio and that's been taking up a lot of creative juice. I can't wait to show you the transformation!

Happy Monday! (only because its over ;?)  )

Photo Journal

 To me anyone can be or become physically beautiful but real beauty is what comes from within.

Happy Monday!

Photo Challenge: Feet Shot

 I thought I would be a little silly tonight and show you my little photo challenge while on vacation. You see those feet shots everywhere and sometimes it can seem a little old but of course I decided to try to make it interesting. There were just so many interesting textures under my feet too... it was hard not to capture them. Last year I tried to get a picture of Justin next too as many different sharks as I could... statues, painted walls... things like that.

 so there you have it my not so interesting self challenge. :)

Photo Journal: While Away

Found the time to post while on vacation... Just so many good pictures so far I wanted to give you a peek! A beautiful lush location :)

Instax: Shake it

So as you can tell I just got myself a new camera! We head to Florida in less than a week and I am suppose to be saving my money for that but I just couldn't resist it. I went to office depot to get a new charger (since I lost my old one) and saw this sitting on the shelf for $75 dollars and the film for 25. Justin was making me mad at the moment because we were arguing about whether the chargers they had would work for my camera battery. He made me so mad that I just picked it up and went to the checkout. Yeah... I am like that don't ask me why but I just get sick of someone telling me to save my money when he can too!

Anyway here are my first 10 shots... The first picture I took I didn't shake long enough so you can barely see the pup! I don't have an iphone so instagram is not an option for me at the moment... in my mind this was the next best thing!

These were the ones I didn't care for...

Not going to lie I like it a lot!  I think I will be inspired to do some more scrap booking using these!

ps the camera is huge but I know they sell a mini version because I first saw this on beautiful mess!

Hope your Tuesday is the best!

:)