Handmade Awesomeness

Last month I signed up for the Love Club. If you are looking for a monthly subscription this is an amazing one! I've gotten two so far and just love everything in them as do my little girls. They have a bit of a waiting list but if you check out the Love Club Blog they are giving away a three month subscription PLUS you get to jump off of the waiting list. I love the fact that they work with handmade businesses. It's a fun way to get exposed to a bunch of new places and try out products from ones I admire.

This month there was an "awesome" sticker from Yellow Heart Art. I had seen them before and loved their stuff and was thrilled to get this little gem! At first I was unsure where I would use it. I loved it but just couldn't figure out what to do with it. Then it hit me! I was inspired by this  picture of Pen & Paints sketch book decorated with September Love Club goodies. The front of my new journal is pretty busy already so I decided to decorate the inside. So far I only have the Yellow Heart Art sticker on there but I can't wait to sit down and add my mini owl from decal from Three Thirty Six that I got in my September Love Club Box.

What are some of your favorite etsy/handmade businesses?

 

Safe, Dry, and Warm

Not much going on here. This storm Sandy seems to be headed to hit the East Coast pretty badly, but where we are is looking safe. Definitely cold and wet but nothing serious. We are staying warm and dry by the wood stove and making good use of our new crock pot!

I got permission to share some pictures of my new nephew!!

I can't believe how precious he is! I can't wait to snuggle him. :)

My brother has written a beautiful post on this little one's first moments in the world. If you are interested you can read it over here. Be for-warded, you will probably cry.

Hope every one in Sandy's path is staying safe and dry and warm. Happy Monday!

Silence

I've been silent here for a while I know. I'm not even sure I can give one reason as to why.

*Once you skip a day or two it's easy to just forget.

*I've been crazy busy prepping for shows.

*I've just needed some down time to processes and think and rest.

So, in case you've been wondering, here's a bit of what we have been up to.

My good friend Amber of Wildflower Photography Took some amazing photos of my girls in their Halloween costumes.

Lots of Halloween parties, Fall Parties, and Fall Festivals going on around here as well.

We are in the throws of Craft Show season right now which means a ton of sewing and playing with new patterns. I love this dolly and think she would make a great "Elf on a Shelf"

Here is me! Sorta. :) I've also been making a lot of non kid items for the shows this year. Loving my bags and teething necklaces.

I may not be writing much but I've been thinking about this space and all you readers quite a bit. Been doing a lot of reading about blogging and taking notes and thinking about who I want to be and what I want this space to become.

My baby nephew was born on Thursday. He is absolutely precious . (I am waiting to post a picture of him till I have his mama's approval. But as soon as I do trust me there will be LOTS of pictures on here.) I cannot wait to meet him at Christmas!

I am going to be perfectly honest at this point and admit there have been some bittersweet moments. There is a pretty big age gap in my family and I never thought I would get to be pregnant at the same time as a family remember. I was so excited to be expecting at the same time as my sister-in-law. There are still moments where I can't help wondering what it would be like to be sharing this time with her. But I am so excited for her and so thankful that she had a safe pregnancy and that her delivery wasn't overly traumatic. God is so gracious and I am praising God for his blessings on all of us. I love welcoming new little ones into our family.

What have you all been up to the past few weeks?

He Loves Me

Hello There,

So sorry for my absence. I am still here, though clearly not doing the 31 Day Challenge any more.  I didn't really think it through and this just wasn't the time to commit to something that. Our due date was a few days ago and while I want to write on that eventually I am just not ready yet. I have been spending a lot of time just being quiet. Thinking, reflecting, and just being. I am still doing Onetober though.



This is today's look. I was running late so my hair is not at all styled, and I am wearing no make up whatsoever. I ran out the door with out a jacket so ended up wearing one of Josh's Mr. Roger's sweaters. And I love everything about this picture. It's not glamorous or polished but it is so very real right now.

Josh was taking the pictures today and I feel like you can tell that. I was just being me. The thing is, I haven't felt like "me" in a while. Josh always brings out the best in me though and I feel like that comes through. No matter how I am feeling or what is going on he is my biggest fan and best cheerleader. He points out my strengths and builds me up in areas that need work. I'm so blessed to have him in my life and have some one who loves me even when I'm not feeling quite myself. :)

Day 11 Onetober and 31 Days in the Life of Me.

October:

For the month of October I will be participating in two challenges. Onetober: One Dress, One Month, One Cause and The 31 Day Challenge. You can read more about these here and here.

Day 11

Hello friends! Are you tired of seeing the same dress over and over again? I thought you might be. So, no outfit picture today. Honestly, I wonder if you might be a bit tired of hearing from me so much in general. I promise, next time I do 31 days I will make sure I have a much more interesting topic. For today though, I thought I would share some things that have been inspiring me lately.

Our local Joann Store is moving and they are clearing out all the stock. I went a little crazy and bought a ton of fabric. Loving these combinations together.

We went to Barnes and Noble's today and I fell in love with this issue of Artful Blogging. It was so beautiful and inspiring. I didn't buy it but I really want to go back and get it. Thinking of subscribing with whatever Christmas money I get.

One of the reasons I passed on the magazine was because I broke down and bought the new journal and book I have been drooling over. I actually got a deal since I used swagbucks gift cards for the book. Got to love free stuff. I'm now so inspired to journal again and have a bunch of lists and quotes from the book already jotted down.

What have you been inspired by lately?

Days 9 and 10 of Onetober and 31 Days in the Life of Me.

October:

For the month of October I will be participating in two challenges. Onetober: One Dress, One Month, One Cause and The 31 Day Challenge. You can read more about these here and here.

Days 9 and 10

Hello Friends!

[caption id="attachment_522" align="aligncenter" width="558"] Dress - TJMax
Scarf - Hand painted from a Boutique
Hat - Holiday craft show
Jacket - Target[/caption]

Are you bored yet? If so I am sorry. Since I don't always go out a whole bunch my dress doesn't get "dressed up" very often. Not a whole lot to write about either, but maybe you are getting to know me a bit better. Getting to know our life and what motivates us.

A few pictures from our week so far.

I took a break from making dollies today and made some zipper clutches for my friend's sister. I love getting to be creative and working with fabrics and patterns that inspire me.

Goose and I went to Bible study yesterday and afterwards went to see Grandma at work. Goose love's helping her at the bookstore! :)

They cat got highjacked today and dress in a Build a Bear shirt. Shockingly he still has it on and doesn't seemed to be bothered by it. We really did get a super cat.

Monday was our due date for the baby we miscarried back in February. We are taking it slow this week and giving ourselves lots of grace and time to process. I'm sure I will have thoughts on all of that to share in a few days, but for now I'm ok letting that just sit and percolate.

I hope you all have had a wonderful week so far!

Tiny Prints Holiday Card Give Away!

October:

For the month of October I will be participating in two challenges. Onetober: One Dress, One Month, One Cause and The 31 Day Challenge. You can read more about these here  and here.

So apparently I am not the only one with Christmas on my mind after last night. I woke up this morning to down right cold temperatures. 47* people! That's cold. Especially for October in Va. I will be honest I wore my sweat pants and sweat shirt as long as I could today, but then I had to go pick Bear up from school. So I put on my dress and one of Josh's zip up sweatshirts. Now I am home but since I have to go back out at 9 tonight I'm still in my dress but with majorly fuzzy socks.

Now if only I could get away with wearing the socks out tonight.

What with the weather and my internet browsing last night I am so ready to start planning for Christmas. And apparently I am not the only one. Today I got an e-mail from Tiny Prints all about their new Holiday Cards.

I was so excited when I stumbled across this card. The perfect blend of photo card and Holiday letter! Now all that's left to do is decide what picture to use and information to include. It's been a busy year over here. I'm so excited to get these cards. I am told they are beautiful and very high quality. Want some or your own? Well you are in luck. Tiny Prints is offering $50 off total order to one lucky Redirected Dreams Reader. (Does not include shipping & cannot be combined with any other promos.) Want to win? Head on over and check our their huge selection of Holiday Cards and then come back and fill out the entry form bellow. Good luck!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored blog post/give away but I have offered a genuine and legitimate product review and share my own, honest opinions on any and all products.

 

Day Seven (Onetober and 31 Days In The Life Of Me)

October:

For the month of October I will be participating in two challenges. Onetober: One Dress, One Month, One Cause and The 31 Day Challenge. You can read more about these here  and here.

Day Seven:

No pictures of the dress today. I'm sure I will get pictures of the same outfit though as it turned cold today and I paired it with my favorite sweatshirt jacket and hat. Warm and comfy for church then home to snuggle into the sweatpants and sweatshirt and fuzzy socks.

It was a lovely afternoon of naps, and tv, and dolly making. Also spent a bit of time online and may I just say I am so excited about Christmas! So many fun ideas! I'm all of the sudden in love with Martha Stewart stuff.

I am particular in love with these stocking stuffer ideas. But I love a lot of the other galleries as well.

Thinking about Christmas reminded me how much I want this book.

Which then reminded me that I bought this book last summer and can't wait to browse through it again.

Also spent some time on Pinterest and I am loving this Joy printable.

The Joy in the Journey printable can be found here.

Pen and Paint also has an amazing fall printable. Check it out Here.

Day 6 (Onetober and 31 Days in the Life of Me)

October:

For the month of October I will be participating in two challenges. Onetober: One Dress, One Month, One Cause and The 31 Day Challenge. You can read more about these here  and here.

Day 6

I am LOVING having my mom hear. It is such a blessing whenever she comes and visits. No matter what we do it's just comforting to have her near.  A lot of times we don't do much but this weekend has been packed. We have done a lot of just simple things, like buying Halloween costumes, and shopping for groceries. We also got the chance to do some extra special things like seeing a play and going to lunch at one of my favorite little local places the Farm Basket. We were also able to meet up with my in laws there. My girls love the time they get to spend with both sides of the family. This is the weekend we were due and it has been such a blessing to just do life with my mom and have her near.

After lunch we let the girls play by the creek. Maddie loved the black walnuts. It is truly fall here and the down town area is the perfect place to enjoy all of that.

Today the dress was paired with my favorite blue flats that I bought over 5 years ago from Steve and Barry's and still wear at least twice a week and a long pearl necklace Hubby bought me for Christmas a few years back.

Day 5(Onetober and 31 Days in the Life of Me)

October:

For the month of October I will be participating in two challenges. Onetober: One Dress, One Month, One Cause and The 31 Day Challenge. You can read more about these here  and here.

Day 5

If we were having coffee I would tell you I didn't blog yesterday or post my Onetober picture because I seriously over book, over planned, and over stretched myself this week and something had to give.

Then I would have to bite my tongue to keep from telling you about the fun stuff I got to do for the magazine yesterday, because you are just going to have to wait till December. But I might share an instagram picture.

I would tell you how my Onetober dress was worn with sneakers today for Bear's first field trip. I was so nervous and she was so excited and in the end it was a wonderful experience and I am so glad I got to share it with her.

I would tell you how excited I am to have my mom hear.

I would tell you how cool it was that we got to go see a play together for the first time in years. And how fascinating and almost disturbing I found the play. It was an interesting study in choices and consequences and blame and raised a lot of questions but answered very few of them. It's definitely something I will be thinking over for a while. Perhaps a more detailed description will follow.

If we were having coffee I would tell you all of the things big and little that God has brought into my life lately to amaze and encourage me.

Linking up with Alissa over at Rags to Stitches weekly coffee date again this week.

Mama I want to be Pretty or Day 3 (Onetober and 31 Days in the Life of Me)

October:

For the month of October I will be participating in two challenges. Onetober: One Dress, One Month, One Cause and The 31 Day Challenge. You can read more about these here  and here.

Day 3

Me and my Bear.

Those who have been reading my blog know that we are sending Bear to a private school this year. Because she is in the Pre-K program she doesn't have to wear a uniform most days. However, Wednesday is chapel day which means wearing the school's red polo shirt. And she hates it. This child is not cut out for uniforms let me tell you. She puts up a fight every time we tell her it's red shirt today. Today I found out why.

Josh and I were driving down the road when he informed me that she doesn't like it because "It's not pretty." We talked about the things we can do to help her understand that "pretty" isn't what she wears but simply who she is. And that she is so much more than physically pretty. She is smart, and funny, and kind, and oh so more many other things.

And then I thought about the first night of this and how I was discussing my insecurities with Josh and comparing how I look now with how I looked at our wedding. All he could talk about is who I have become since then, what I have accomplished, and how much more me I am now.

And it hit me. This isn't just about the words I am speaking about and over my daughter. It's about the words I am speaking to, and about, and over myself. And even deeper than my words are my actions and my thoughts and how I interact with others and her. And it all just sort of settled. I may not love how I look, but I love what brought me to this place. My beautiful, smart, funny, kind, amazing Bear and her sister Goose and everything else in my adventure.

***There have been a couple posts floating around on facebook today about moms being in photos and being comfortable in their own skin. You can read them here and here if you want to read them since they both are far more eloquent then I am.

Day Two (Onetober and 31 Days in the Life of Me)

October:

For the month of October I will be participating in two challenges. Onetober: One Dress, One Month, One Cause and The 31 Day Challenge. You can read more about these here  and here.

Day Two (Onetober and 31 Days in the Life of Me)

Here is my official Onetober picture of the day. Not the best picture of me or the dress I'll admit but since I forgot all the adults I saw to day to take a picture it was up to me and the kids. Here a few of the rejects for your viewing amusement.

My arms are too short.

Goose's attempts to take a photo.

Bear wants in on the all the picture taking.

(Interesting fact Bear's first ever "picture" was taken at The Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center the center we are raising awareness for)

Today was a rather wet and gray day so the dress got a splash of color from my favorite (and only) rain/trench coat. A crazy bright yellow number from Target.

Because of Josh's schedule Goose didn't go to the baby sitter today and staid with me. She was less then thrilled with going to Bible study/childcare but enjoyed having lunch with the "big girls" when I met up with a dear friend and mentor for lunch. Miss Kriss spends the summers working at a camp with her husband and their grown children so we always have lots to catch up on in the early fall.

I am a busy person by nature. The good thing is I thrive when there is a lot on my to do list, but side is I often put far to much on my to-do list and work myself up into a lot of anxiety. Life is, as always, about finding a balance. And so I am keeping my eyes open for those little moments to slow down in the midst of the busy.

Like text messages with my sisters.



And bed time stories.

And blogging about nothing and everything.

 

Onetober.

Update: Since I am already committing to wearing the same dress every day and posting pictures of it I figured I would jump on board with Nester and taking the 31 day challange. So welcome to



My attempt to share with you a bit more about me, who I am, what makes me tick ect, as well as what I learn about myself this Onetober.

Day Two

Day Three

Day Five

Day Six

Day Seven

Day Eight

Day Nine and Ten

Day Eleven

Day One (Onetober and 31 Days in the Life of me)

As I have shared before I have been writing for and working with a local magazine the Clutch Guide. Jennifer is the gal behind it. She has such a heart to, not only produce a well done, meaningful local publication, but to make a difference in our area as well. One of the ways we are doing this is by sponsoring Onetober: One month, one dress, one cause. You can read more about it here but the basic gist of it is that a group of women have each committed to wearing the same dress every day for the month of October to raise awareness for a local crisis pregnancy center and the services they offer.



So here I am in my dress on Day One. I choose my favorite dress to be honest. It's comfy, easily dressed up church, but I can throw on leggings and some ballet flat sneakers and wear it on Bear's field trip later this week.

I know a lot of the women participating are a bit nervous. I am as well, but not for expected reasons. I am all for wearing the same dress every day. I tend to have my few outfits that I wear over and over again any ways, at least now I have an excuse. Frankly what I am nervous about is taking and sharing pictures of myself daily. I am really uncomfortable with my weight currently. I have been trying to eat healthier and get down to healthier weight for my height and bone structure. I am NOT a disciplined person though so it has been a serious struggle for me. Maybe this will be the kick I need.

Since I'm being transparent I figured I would share a few pictures from the weekend.

Picking out a cupcake after a trip to the park.



Playing with bread dough while mama cleans.



Trying to see past the mess and be thankful for two healthy little girls who are playing well together.

I wish I could say it was a wonderful weekend. And in many, many ways it was. So beautifully imperfect. But to be honest the perfectionist in me get so overwhelmed at times, and then so sadly disappointed in myself when I lose sight of what matters.

Learning to have grace with myself and my circumstance.