"There are no great things, only small things with great love. Happy are those."
Leaving you with good thoughts and sights this morning.
Happy Thursday!
xo
sarah jane
**Thanks for all your love and compliments on the new items in the shop. I have loved hearing from you all! Two more days for big 'thank you so much sale' going on!**
Happy Friday everyone! Today's inspiration comes from a blog I am sure most of you are familiar with: Soule Mama.
I daily ask myself the question: is it possible to balance gentle, creative family living with my own creative work and still mother my children in a very active way without being distracted by my own personal demands?
I don't have the answer, and I don't think there is one. I think the answer can be found in glimpses of our own family living. When we choose to look back, we see where our time is being spent. Amanda Soule blogs about her daily creative living with her 4 children is southern coastal Maine and frankly...inspires me to believe that I can do it too.
Amanda is also a wonderful writer and photographer and has written a book that I keep on hand during the day when I need inspiration: The Creative Family. She has just written another book that will soon be out on the shelves: The Handmade Home. I can't wait to get my hands on that one.
Inspiration is vital for me: as an artist I am constantly gleaning fresh inspiration to make my home, my business and my life a more beautiful place...which is why I love the blog world: a place where we can inspire each other to live our best lives. I love Amanda's blog because she gives honest glimpses and writes about REAL life: like this post and this post.
Her photos inspire me:
Real life spaces.
Real beauty found in the details.
Real life with children.
Real life at home.
Real color.
Seeing children for what they see.
Cozy living spaces.
Real work.
Life with children is hard work. Life with children and with my own work is even more challenging. But I firmly believe that the two can be welded together: a lifestyle I am constantly striving to combine. And Soule Mama's blog has become a friend to me, encouraging me a long the way. We all need support!
I leave you today with a place I hope you find inspiring: A place where I remember that children are children; the world is a place to see, touch and experience; and that pursuing our personal craft is possible while striving for creative living. Thanks, Mama.
Good morning friends! I wanted to fill you in on another place to come and visit:
Join my group here for great ideas on framing and decorating with the art from my shop.
And if you have photos to share, please do! The more the merrier.
And come be my FLICKR friend here and keep in touch with my photos.
Are you a FLICKR junkie? Me too. No dieting here folks. Just love.
Happy Day to you all!
I get a lot of inspiration from children's clothing, and I have a few favorite places to check out. What gets me though, is WHY in the world do these dresses have to be $175 and $138???
(OK, OK. They are made by hand in Ethiopia, but really. Come on people!)
I think I will just be DRAWING these into my designs instead of modeling them on my little miss. Hopefully that will satisfy my cravings to doll her up in these adorable frocks!
Found here via a room somewhere
I know I have mentioned before how in love I am with the fact that I have a gourmet chef for a husband. He calls himself the "Weekend Gourmet". Because really, it is the weekends that he has the time to just play. To him, cooking is completely a creative outlet. He'll study baking and cooking from cultures world wide, memorize the principles, and will never touch the recipes again. He will make up his own variations and never create the same thing twice. And often, his best cooking is when he just needs to take a break from the world and play in the kitchen. I really don't mind when he comes home stressed since it usually means something really yummy is coming!
This weekend there was Irish in his blood. With St. Pat's just around the corner, he whipped out 3 different kinds of Irish breads: raisin and lemon Irish soda bread, Brown Irish soda bread, and his own variation of Baps (an Irish breakfast role). Oh, and do I mention that he did this all in 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon?
I probably shouldn't mention that the photos don't even include the grilled salmon meal or the traditional Irish Corned beef and cabbage meal, both with all the trimmings of a gourmet night on the town. I am REALLY trying to get him to write down his recipes...maybe a little blog pressure will help?
oh yes, I love my life.
Feel free to nibble at the screen.
I don't have a lot of pictures of flowers on my blog. I am realizing the lack of spring colors right now, and frankly, I am needing some spring color, so indulge me here. Spring flowers. Spring air. Spring greens. Oh...Spring...come quickly! In the mean time, Amy Butler is my fix right now. I am aching to bring freshness and color into my home right now...so enjoy the eye candy...and maybe, just maybe, Spring will come quicker than we think!
xoxo
Happy Friday Everyone!
I am a super-hero...and today I shall save the world with my cuteness.
PS: if you haven't heard the latest word: Sheye Rosemeyer is finally selling her Photography actions here. Oh happy day!!
There are so many different ways to promote your business in this day and age. Too many ways it seems. But making a clever video and accessing the audience on YOU TUBE is a super smart way to go. Check out this music video from Nichole of Little Brown Pen. Has me re-thinking the way I use social media.
Nichole Robertson's arsty shop video
Ok. Aren't you seriously inspired? I met Nichole on TWITTER and fell in love with her ETSY shop and her BLOG. Nichole is an American living in Paris, and sells PDF's which is brilliant...I am thinking of all the paper I cut and print each day and am thinking she has it good!
In the mean time, check out her shop: darling, darling.
And for a trip to Paris in February, visit her AMAZING blog: you will feel like you are there.
Have any of you used video to promote your shop? Thanks Nichole for getting me to think outside the box!