Feeling Reflective

There are instances in our lives when we are completely at peace and happy. I often wish in these precious  seconds that time would stand still or that my life were a book I could simply turn down the corner of the page and then return to that time as easily as I could  revisit my favorite part of a story. During these moments I often stand still and let my heart take a picture. 

These heart pictures are my most treasured possessions. It just so happened that this time I had a camera in my hands. Each time I look at this picture I am reminded of what a truly perfect day this was.

I love the way my husband and two of our children were captured in this photograph. They are stepping on the same foot looking down, having some sort of conversation. 

No doubt it is a conversation of little consequence, easily spoken and quickly forgotten. Such conversations are born of familiarity, trust and love. It delights me that my kids love and completely trust their dad and that this conversation is taking place with the constant roll and crash of the ocean all around them. Certainly there is power and perhaps danger all around them but they feel safe knowing they are with their father and he will take care of them.

I can't think of a better setting for this intimate moment than at the beach. The beach is a place where I am truly aware of the hand of God in the creation of this beautiful earth and in the creation of my life. I am overcome with gratitude that in the midst of all of the evidence of His majesty and power He knows me and my family, He cares for us, He takes care of us when there is danger all around us I find peace in my testimony of Him.
I am grateful that I have a tangible evidence of what my heart knows and treasures.

This week has found me a little more serious and reflective than usual. I don't consider myself a "deep thinker" but over the past 7 days I have been. 
Are my priorities in the right order? Are my children truly happy? Am I doing a good enough job of teaching them so they can know for themselves who they really are?

I've received a new assignment at church.....I'll be teaching the young women ages 12 & 13.....and so I wonder, am I capable of teaching them in a way that they know they are loved and valued?

I've taught the girls this age at church before but I think I was young and naive, now with a little more experience behind me and hopefully a little more wisdom in me I feel the full weight of this assignment.
Over the past two years as I've sent my daughter to her church activities I've prayed that her leaders will love her, will teach her and help her to blossom into a confident, kind, generous and loving woman.
Now it's my turn to be one of those leaders, the gravity of this has hit my full on.
I have faith that this is where my Heavenly Father wants me and because I am willing to serve these girls He will expand my ability to love and serve and He will help me.
And I have hope and excitement in the new possibilities of my spiritual growth as I learn from and love these girls.
I look forward to building a relationship with the young women and finding moments for my heart to take a picture.
I've found comfort in this photo this week because it has reminded me of what I already knew. Certainly there is a chance I will make a mistake and this will be hard but I feel peace in knowing my Father is with me and will take care of me.....and the girls....


Thanks for letting me ramble on a bit.


Happy Monday!

Christmas Meadows

Just one more I wanted to share from our Saturday outing.

This area is called Christmas Meadows.

I've heard it got it's name because this is where some Mountain Men used to meet up for Christmas.

I've also heard it got it's name from the wild flowers that bloom there all summer.

Either way it's a magical place...

Sometimes when life is stressful it's my "happy" place.

Happy Weekend

I've been looking forward to today for weeks.

This is where I get inspiration and rejuvenation.

Fishing with my Mom & Dad, my brother and family and of course my husband and our kidlings too.

I didn't purchase a fishing license so I was just technical support and photo archivist. 

Everyone who fished caught a fish.....so it was a very good day.

Where do you find inspiration?

Treasures

My parents cleaned out their attic and basement earlier this year.

As a result my attic and basement are now full of my old junk and their old ping-pong table (which we love!!!).

Some of it has been fun to go through....old dance costumes, letterman's sweater (I didn't want a jacket.), old school papers, childhood diaries, etc.

.....some of it not so much.....junk my kids think they need to keep, embarrassing old school photos/assignments and notes to friends, etc.

.....some of it I'm keeping....

...and some of it has made it's way to D.I./Goodwill and some to the trash.

However, I did find two treasures that are not leaving my possession under any circumstance. Even if they aren't necessarily mine....they are now.

Treasure #1 the car pictured above. It belonged to my oldest brothers so I'm guessing it's late 1950's early 1960's. I love it. I remember playing with it too. Currently it's setting on a shelf and it makes me smile when I walk by. But I have let my little ones play with it....just a tiny bit.....they love it too.

Treasure #2 my dad's freshman button from college. It's still blue and gold (although faded) and you can see his name (barely) written in his own hand.....circa 1947.

When I asked my dad about it he said he had to wear that button and a matching blue and gold tie and beanie every day to class. I was curious to see if he still had the beanie and tie, he told me "Somehow the beanie got "lost","  a couple of days after he got it and he hadn't seen the tie in years.

I was a little disappointed because it would have been great to put all three in a shadow box with a picture of my dad but at least I have the button.

With these two treasures in mind I've been finding it nearly impossible to thin out my boy's toys and some other things that have been hanging around.

We need the space and less clutter but a lot of those things have good memories for the boys.

Maybe I'll put them in a box and when they have a house of their own I'll call them on the phone and say, "Boys, come get your stuff out of my attic." and then they can deal with it.

I guess, now I know why I inherited so many boxes of my childhood stuff these past few months......

Fat Quarter Crayon Roll Tutorial

My good friend Shonda asked me to write a Crayon Roll tutorial for her.
These are very popular right now and so I know there are tutorial all over the Internet.
So why not throw my version out there too?!

Using 2 fat quarters you can make 2 crayon rolls.
Of course if you only wanted to make one you could just use 1 fat quarter but then you wouldn't have the fun different fabrics.
Besides these are so easy why not make 2....one to keep and one to give away....or one for the church bag and one for the purse!

(I used Moda, Fandango by Kate Spain)

photo disclaimer, these photos were taken on a sunny/rainy/sunny/rainy day. The lighting kept changing.....subsequently the colors may change from photo to photo.

Supplies:

2 fat quarters quilting weight cotton fabric.

2 6"x 17" pieces of craft fleece

2 buttons

2 4" pieces of elastic cording (or 2 hair elastics)

Coordinating thread

fabric marker

sewing machine

iron

ruler

needle

 You should have drawn 15 lines.

IMPORTANT!!! When you sew over the elastic backstitch over the elastic 5 or six times. Make sure that elastic is going to stay tight!

After turning and poking out the corners,  lightly spray the stitching lines with water to make them disappear and then iron the entire crayon roll well.

You're done!

Add your crayons (16 or 32 each pocket can hold one or two small or one large crayon) 

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.

This tutorial is for private use only.

Thank you.

If you don't want to make your own there are a few in the shop.

Yo-Yo Ma James Taylor - Hard times come again no more

On my iPod today?.....

Yo-Yo MA, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Conner

Appalachian Journey.....

(Hard Times Come Again No More Featuring James Taylor)

I'm rediscovering an old favorite.

I've always found this piece thought provoking.....

My Family-- A portrait -- Great gift idea.....

miss E designs on Etsy creates these fun custom family portraits.

I love her work and think our family portrait is perfect. She even used a print of some of the fabric I use in my shop on my bag! Now that's attention to detail!

(I'm also loving how skinny I look.)

twO neW fabriCs for plastiC baG holderS in the shoP

Amy Butler Nigella collection, Passion Vine - Grey

Brother Sister Design Studio Tan with Taupe and Black Swirls

I'm enjoying these new fabrics.

And I love how happy these little creations are making people.

It's funny to think how much better you can feel about things....your life...when you don't have a wad of plastic bags waiting to attack you when you open your pantry or cupboard. 

And especially if the thing that helped you to vanquish your lurking hidden/or not so hidden mess is fun to look at and makes you smile.....bonus!

These two beauties are available now (ready to ship) in my shop.

Donut Falls, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah -- A hike for the whole family

I love traditions. They are what define and bind a family. 

Many fond memories are born in and of simple, sweet traditions. 

Our family has a tradition of going on a hike on Labor Day. 

Why???? 

That's a good question. 

Maybe it's our way of saying farewell to summer. Maybe one Labor Day we decided to go on a hike and had so much fun we decided to do it again the next year. 

Probably it's both. 

When we lived in Oregon we enjoyed hiking to Rainie Falls and watching the salmon jump. They were awe-inspiring (the falls and the salmon). 

2007 we hiked to Long Lake, Little Bear Lake and Big Bear Lake CA. Each of which was beautiful.

2008 We had just moved to Utah and it was raining buckets so we did some Urban Hiking around the bustling metropolis of Ogden UT.

2009 Waterfall Canyon, Ogden UT, what do I say about this hike....hard...long...particularly when you had your tonsils out 3 weeks previously to hiking...but beautiful views.

This year we conquered Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. This is a very family friendly hike.

It's called Donut Falls because the water falls into a round donut shape in the rock and comes out in a cave underneath.  The hike out and back is about 1.5 miles which I think is the perfect length.

There is a scramble up some steep rocks to get right to the waterfall and the cave but you don't have to do that part to enjoy the falls.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We marveled at the Quaking Aspen....

Enjoyed doughnuts at Donut Falls.....

Were surprised at the number of people who also enjoy hiking on Labor Day.......

Thrilled at the beauty and power of this natural wonder....

And then headed home in traditional style.....

.....with me bringing up the rear....

Who knows where we'll hike next year.

The fun thing is the kids are already talking about next year.

Tradition mission accomplished!

Some New Fabric and New Inspiration -- Moda I love you....

While browsing my local craft/quilting shop I couldn't help but notice one of the new collections of fabric produced by Moda, designed by Kate Spain, Fandango.

So yummy, I'm in love.

It's quite invigorating to me when I see new fabric and get inspired.

Thank you Moda! (btw I am in no way affiliated with or payed by Moda, just love their fabric.)

So I used a couple of these fat quarters to make a little tote bag and coordinating crayon roll for my niece's birthday.......um.... forgot to take pictures...whoops....I even forgot to seal the ends of the ribbon ties and had to give my sister-in-law instructions on how to do it....she probably already knew how...but I did anyway....I guess my brain is spread a little thin these days.

Along with these fat quarters I purchased a charm pack......Ideas are spinning around my brain just waiting to tumble out....I can't wait for a little extra time to work on it.

In the meantime I'm nursing back to health a sick 3 year old who has to miss her first day of preschool and her first day of dance class today. It's pathetic but she's a trooper.

And I'm working on getting orders out the door.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Holiday.

Rollin' in Color

Crayon Roll Black Stripe                                                              Crayon Roll Turquoise Dot

Ahhhh! Color!

I've always enjoyed it.

Can you remember the smell of a fresh box of crayons?

And the crisp edges on the tip of your never before used crayon?

Sometimes I didn't want to ruin them by using them.

But I never could resist for very long.

And when I did use them I just had to roll them every few strokes so that the crayon would wear evenly.

Did you do that?

AND

My favorite part of coloring was showing my mom what I was in the process of doing or had just finished.

BECAUSE

I just knew she'd love it.

Because she loved me

and it was part of me.

Crayons remind me of my mom.

So,

I'm a sucker for a new box of crayons for my kids....

pretty much every time they ask for one they get it.

That's how I roll.

I decided to make a couple of crayon rolls for my two youngest kiddos.

(just the youngest two because I didn't think the one teen and two preteens would appreciate or use a crayon roll)

AND my childlings think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I've had quite a few people out and about at church, doctor's office, etc. ask about them so I decided to make a couple for the shop.

I'll be adding more but for now there are just two.

And I'm in love with all of that fun color.

And of course I showed my mom......

BECAUSE

I just knew she'd love them...

because she loves me....
...that's how she rolls....

OUCH!

A new blade on my rotary cutter

+ A moment of distraction

= A trip to the Urgent Care to fix my finger

Luckily no stitches....just some glue and tape and a bandage....but it hurts....

I'd describe it as the-worlds-worst-deepest paper cut.

Because it was a new blade it's a very clean cut, but deep. I didn't even realize I had cut myself until my fingernail stopped the blade and then I looked and....well....

I'll spare you the details. Let's just say it was a bit messy.

Thanks Natalie for watching my little one and feeding her.

Thank Heaven for good friends/neighbors.

Especially when I'm a distracted klutz!