A New Home....A New Beginning....

This weekend, my sister will be getting married. Oh my goodness are we set for a great week!! So many photos will be flooding my blog with all the happy events - but I wanted to start out with photos of her new home.

.kolbe enjoying the ride there.

 .front room.

 .kitchen. 

 .back patio.

 .front bay window.

 .backyard.

 .first act of destruction by mom & kolbe. 

.first spill by chris. 

.welcome home. 

xo,

Real Love...

As I sit here in the Houston airport (in route to Tampa for my sister's wedding), I was blog stalking my drastically long list of favs. Here's one that I want to repost from Homegrown Hospitality.  I loved her message & words soo much!
*******************************************************************

Love.

If you want to change something and are not sure what to start with...think about healing your heart and then opening your heart because there is a whole lotta love to give and receive and you do not want to miss it!! (it is tough work but totally worth it....)

 "My words affect my heart...and my heart affects my words..."

Always remember to refer to these often forgotten rules of LOVE...

"Words BUILD up and TEAR down so THINK before you speak..."

T - are you being TRUTHFUL..Don't be brutally honest, be CLEARLY honest. (there is a difference!)

H - make sure that your words are HELPFUL

I - are you being INSPIRATIONAL

N - is what you are saying NECESSARY

K - are your words KIND

LOVE people with HONEST words...because honest words make us feel loved. "Speak the truth in love.." Eph. 4:15

LOVE people with KIND words because KIND words transform worry into JOY (yippee!) "Worry will rob your happiness but kind words will cheer you up" Prov. 12:12

LOVE people with CAREFUL words...because if we use communication as a battle field, we will always loose."Watch your words and hold your tongue.  You will save yourself alot of grief" Proverbs 21:23

LOVE people with BUILDING words because building words encourage learning..."Pleasant words promote instruction" Proverbs 16:21

*******************************************************************

xo, 

Valentine ATC Swap & Mini Mail Box

I've been a busy girl!! I wanted to share tons of photos with you of an ATC Valentine's Day swap & pictures of an altered mini box made for an Etsy customer.


Here are the ATCs!

 .you make my heart sing.

This one is made by me. I used music note paper & die-cutted the heart & wings. Then I heat embossed each letter to make the title. :D

.photo op. 

This cute birdcage is the perfect way to display all these ATCs!!

 .group photo.

Here is a great shot of all the ATCs that were traded today. 

 .i love you.

Made by Tracy D. She inked the edges of a Basic Grey print, stamped the title, and die-cutted the mini people. Love the rhinestone gem...

.love.

Made by Tracy W. She die-cutted the letters out of velvet paper, added some amazing ribbon & hand pierced the holes for the colored baubles. Foiled paper covers the background. 

 .chocolate love.

This is made by Tina C. She used "chocolate box" paper & layered strips of printed & velvet paper down the side. She added Pearl Pens in brown for extra detail. 

 .you're just my type. 

This one is made by Ellie S. She inked the edges of a newsprint paper, then embellished the card with a die-cutted heart. Adding vintage buttons & glitter to the heart made it perfect. 

 .happy valentine's day.

Made by Joyce P. She made her ATC into a pocket to hold the punched tickets. She added bling, feathers & tulle. She layered the heat embossed title onto nesting scallop circles. 

Now, onto that mini altered mailbox!!

 

Full View. 

 .love. 

Front View. Glittered "Love" embellishes the stamped image. 

 Personalized with the client's daughter's name! 

 Always add one little extra detail to make it pop!

xo,

Sacred Heart ATCs

This past weekend I went on a retreat & the theme was "For Greater Things You Were Born". I decided to make everyone ATC/Prayer cards, each with their names. Here are a couple of photos of them. :D

Isaiah 42:1-9 -  Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, Until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching. Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spreads out the earth with its crops, Who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness. I am the LORD, this is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. See, the earlier things have come to pass, new ones I now foretell; Before they spring into being, I announce them to you.

xo,

The beauty of silence...

This past weekend I went to a Carmelite Retreat. The weekend was spent in silence - the idea being that if we can escape from the world, that we are able to hear the voice of the Lord more loudly.

" Rising very early before dawn, he [Jesus] left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed." Mark 1:35

"He [Jesus] said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place..." Mark 6: 31-32

 .our lady of mt. carmel.

 .my eyes and my heart will remain here forever.

 .new beginnings.

 .solitude.

 .discovery.

 .chapel.

 .mother luisita - foundress of the carmelites of the most sacred heart of Jesus.

 .holiness.

 .mother.

.The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. - genesis 1:12.

.As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, So will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before all the nations. - isaiah 61:11

.For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. - habakkuk 2:4

.Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. - Revelations 3:20 

.may the sacred heart of Jesus...bless your soul, bless your soul. 

.the gates.  

.we are not locked out from the world, rather, we are locked in.  

 .silence.

.the pathway to where heaven kisses earth, true love, true healing.  

.light. 

.she showers us with roses. 

 .knowledge. 

 .solitude. 

.If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. - 1 corinthians 13:1

.the glory of morning. 

xo,