Tag Archive for Inspiration

Project 52:11 • Like A Rock


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From the time we brought Beau home from the hospital, we planned to co-sleep. As a nursing mama, it just seemed to make the most sense. Baby would be right there by my side and I would know immediately if he needed anything. And in between “needing somethings,” we all actually managed to get some sleep!

Fast forward 12ish months and Beau had been moved to his own crib in his own room…a decision he fought against with intensity that can only come from someone who cannot communicate with words. It was a challenging adjustment for all of us, but we stuck to the plan.

Now he sleeps all night long…most of the time. And on those rare occasions when he just doesn’t want to be alone, we bring him back to our bed…knowing he will be the only one who is comfortable for the rest of the night.

But that’s love…sacrificing something you love (sleep) for something you love even more (your baby).

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Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate; WokAbout

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

Project 52:10 • Bruiser



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There must be something naturally ingrained in boys that makes them fearless warriors. In fact, I know there is. God says so. :)

In becoming a tough guy, bumps, bruises, cuts, and scrapes are all a part of the initiation process.

The hard part? They scare/worry the mama more than they worry the boy!

This scrape was earned in the cousins’ tree house. You know, the one that’s 6-and-a-half feet up in the air but you can still climb the ladder and get into? (side note: GASP) You were playing around up there while I watched (like a HAWK) from arm’s length. You lost your footing while opening the door and slipped only a few inches (side note: GASP), but enough to scrape your chin.

You fussed a little bit, but when I said, “Come here and let me kiss it,” you looked at me with distrust. Almost as if you knew I’d make you come down if I got a hold of you.

So you just wiped your bloody chin on your sleeve and climbed back into the tree house. And I learned (yet again), that if you are “hurt” and don’t seem to care, I shouldn’t worry about it too much, either.

Learning to be tough is part of learning to be a man. And I’m learning to leave you alone a bit so you can learn that.

But I’m still be available to kiss your boo-boos whenever you need me to.

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Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate; WokAbout

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

Project 52:9 • Snuggle Up

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Watching my son gather things to snuggle with always amuses me. Sometimes it’s the typical blankie-and-stuffed-kitty combo. Sometimes Bear, Horsey (“Tootie” as Beau says), and Guy are part of the mix.

Lately, he’s been really interested in a doll was his older sisters’. “Baby” used to wear a lacy, crocheted pink and white dress, but we “boy-ed” Baby up by swapping it out for a brown and red onesie…much manlier, wouldn’t you agree? ;)

Now Baby is in the running for daily snuggle companion. On the day I took this photo, Daddy’s sweatshirt and a small wrench were also chosen. Ha! Only a boy would cuddle with a wrench!

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Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate; WokAbout

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

Project 52:8 • Be Careful Little Eyes What You See


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We are at that stage of toddlerhood where every word we say gets repeated. Which is great if the words are kind like “I love you” or “thank you.” Knowing you are being watched 24/7 by an impressionable child sure makes a person more cautious!

But it’s not all fearful. And it’s not all “planned,” either. Sometimes I know Beau is copying me because it happens immediately. Then there are other times like the photo above where I catch a secret glimpse into his world and notice that he’s emulating me.

I did not grow up in a family of faith, and it wasn’t until I was 19 that I became a Christ-follower. I have always known I wanted my kids to know Jesus and what He means to me/us. Each morning, I read an entry from the devotional Jesus Calling. Generally, I try to read before Beau wakes up, but if that doesn’t happen, I read it aloud to him over breakfast.

Apparently he can sense this book has special meaning. While I was tidying up the other day, Beau quietly grabbed the throw pillow off my bed, got the book, and laid down on the floor to “read.” Luckily I was able to snap a pic of him before he knew I was watching.

This moment reminded me of my goal in life: to live in such a way that my friends, family, and especially my children, know that I love the Lord and I pray above all else that they would come to know Him, too. There is no greater gift than to point our loved ones towards everlasting life!

Moments like this make me wonder: am I teaching Beau about life or is he teaching me?

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Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate; WokAbout

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

Project 52:7 • Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?


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No matter what my husband and I are doing: working on the computer, watching a DVD, fixing something, cooking, cleaning, etc, you can bet if there’s a button involved, Beau is ready to help!

Perhaps it’s not just a boy thing, but more a toddler thing. I LOVE the way Beau’s face just lights up when he presses a button and it makes something happen.

Oh, to find magic in everyday things! With the click of a button, my son is teaching me about noticing the simple joys in life.

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Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate; WokAbout

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

Project 52:6 • Baby, It’s Cold Outside

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Considering that this time last year, we had blizzard-like conditions in our city, this has been a very mild winter. We’ve had several tank-top weather days, even! And it has been awesome. I’ll take heat over cold any day.

But Beau? He doesn’t care what the weather is like. He wants to play outside! Bundling him up sometimes takes longer than the amount of time we actually spend playing (nothing like frozen noses and chattering teeth to take the fun out of any activity!)

His winter coat keeps him perfectly warm, but the way it makes him waddle always reminds me of this scene from “A Christmas Story” :)

But he’s my son and I love doing what he loves. Even if it means being outside in the cold!

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Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate; WokAbout

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

Green Bambino Guest Log

It’s so fun when a new local store opens up and sells exactly what you need exactly when you need it! For me, Green Bambino is the perfect example of that truth.

The eco-friendly cloth diaper/natural baby products store opened up just months before I was due with my first baby (now known as Beau the 19 Month Old!)

I took a Cloth Diaper 101 class, registered for baby gifts, took a baby-wearing class, and got to know the incredible owner, Morgan.

Morgan’s #1 concern in her shop is providing an excellent customer experience. And, boy, does she! Not only does she have vast knowledge about diapers and natural baby products, she also has the heart of a teacher. Which keeps people coming back time and again.

Last year it became clear that Green Bambino was out-growing its location and Morgan made the decision to relocate…across the street!

Since I now consider Morgan a friend, I offered to make her a guest book for her new store.

In keeping with the store’s philosophy, I used only repurposed fabric or recycled paper to create their book.

All great guest books have a place to keep a pen!

I had this green fabric leftover from my wedding nearly 3 years ago. Its bright color fits perfectly with Green Bambino’s fresh and earthy decor. A brown ribbon gave the fabric a nice, finished edge.

I then used a scrap piece of acid-free davy board and carved out a baby footprint (no easy feat with davy board, let me tell you!)

For the inside pages, I used repurposed letterhead from my old job! They were just going to throw it away. Can you believe that?! So, I cut the top portion off to get rid of the logo, and printed a motif on the cover page of the book.

Then, the inside pages were filled with lines where store patrons could write their names and hometowns. Though Green Bambino is a local store, it’s the only one like it in Oklahoma City. Even people from surrounding states travel here because they have no such stores at home!

Last time I was in the store, I saw several pages full of signatures, but I didn’t get a chance to really look through it. I can’t wait to see how far people have traveled to experience Green Bambino! It’s a terrific place.

If you are expecting or know someone who is, I highly recommended swinging by the store (or their website) to see how their offerings might make your life better! :)

Nothing But the Blood

In college I took a class called “Experimental Bookmaking.” In the class we were encouraged to explore a range of materials, try new stitching techniques and even redefine what “book” means.

It’s always fun when someone hires you to make a book and they trust you enough to just let you run with it. The book below is a perfect example.

Theresa has had me make several books for her over the past few years. Mostly she has ordered gifts for others, but this time, she wanted a prayer journal for herself. And she said I could design it any way I wanted! :)

I experimented with exposed board for this book. I cut ruby-red bookbinding cloth in a wave shape to cover the spine and connect the covers, and the white part of the cover is raw Davy board, which I shaded with a white Prismacolor pencil.

I then added snowflake brads to the spine for symbolism and to give the book a little embellishment.

Inside the book, I designed the paste pages. I printed the lyrics to the worship song “Nothing But The Blood” and accented that particular line.

I knew Theresa was planning to use this book as a prayer journal, and I wanted to keep this reminder at the forefront of her mind every time she opened her book.

Theresa: Thank you again for being such a loyal customer. I always enjoy designing books for you. I hope the pages of this book are now filled with answered prayers and reminders of God’s provision in your life!

Be blessed!!

Project 52:4 • Get In The Middle


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Boys certainly have their own agenda. If they want it, they are going to get it. If getting it requires too much effort, they just find a way to place themselves in the path of their desired object.

Such is the way with Beau and the toy box lately. I can understand his logic: it IS much easier to put one person inside the box than it is to pull forty-seven toys out of the box. And it’s also cleaner, which helps Mama maintain some of her sanity. Win-win! ;)

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Check out some other folks doing Project 52: Lucas & Mahina; Shawna at StyleBerry; Wicked Kate

If you are participating in this year’s Project 52, leave me a comment and let me know…I’d love to link up with you!

Burlap Book

I mentioned in this post that I love making books for other artists. Some times, other artists are even willing to trade their art for mine. Win-win!

Abi and I were meeting up to do a photoshoot for BodSchool, my personal training business. She takes incredible photos and I wanted to bring a thank you gift that I could give her until I was able to make her official sketchbook.

In college, I purchased a book that teaches how to bind books without any glue. As you can imagine, that makes the process much quicker, as you don’t have to wait for anything to dry!

I had some burlap scraps another friend had given me and decided that would be the perfect material to try something new.

I chose to make a “quarto” sized book (a fourth of a page) from 8.5 x 11 paper. The final size was roughly 4.25″ wide x 5.5″ tall…a great little book for stuffing in a purse or camera bag!

I burned the edges of the burlap to give it a more finished look (and also in hopes it would keep it from fraying so badly). Have you ever smelled burnt burlap?! Eww.

Since Abi loves green, I chose olive-colored paper for the pages. It also looks really great with the earthy burlap, don’t you think?

The stitching I chose was Long Stitch/Link Stitch. The sections are sewn together so the stitches are exposed on the spine like this:

I really like how you could see the stitches if you knew to look for them, but that the twine also blended in nicely with the burlap.

This was a really fast book the make. The thing that took the longest was learning the new stitch, but even that went quickly once I got the hang of it.

Abi, thank you again for being willing to trade art! I love making unique things for unique girls like you!

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