Angels All Around Us

I am smitten with this statue.

The desert is so wide!

The desert is so bare!

What springs to quench my thirst are there?

Where will I from the tempest hide?

I heard the flow of hidden springs;

Before me palms rose green and fair;

The birds were singing,

All the air  was filled and stirred with Angels' wings.

                                                                                                                          Streams in the Desert

When you are feeling low and uncertain take heart that you are not alone. 

Your Guardian Angels are watching over you.

Last week I was given many gifts from dear friends, 

not gifts wrapped in pretty paper and tied with ribbon
although those are so fun to open

They were the kind of gifts that money can't buy; 

prayers, kind words, and emails of encouragement. 

To all of you my cherished friends, I Thank You for being you and letting me be me.

And a special thank you to Cindy Adkins whose book

"Angels At My Door" is a top seller on  Amazon.


p.s. This post was up for a few days and I didn't even realize it said "dessert" at the beginning of the poem. Guess that tells you where my mind is!

The Road Home

Photo: Cathy Scalise

But you will not mind the roughness, nor the steepness of the way,

Nor the cold, unrested morning, nor the heat of the noonday;

 And you will not take a turning to the left or the right,

But go straight ahead, nor tremble at the coming of the night,

 For the road leads HOME.

                                          Author Unknown

 I read this poem this morning and pondered it quite some time. 

HOME 

HOME

Our thoughts of home are so powerful. 

The place where we belong. 

Where we are molded into who we are. 

Where we learn the earliest lessons in life.

The smell of your favorite soap, the sounds of your family.

The pet that greets you faithfully.

Where we are safe to just be.

Have you ever broken down in an unfamiliar place and 

all you could think is how you want to go home?

When I mop the sticky mess from the kid's cooking experiment gone wrong

I will not complain but rejoice with a heart full of gratitude that I am in this place.

May your day be blessed with all the riches in your home.

Merry Christmas to all!

I hope all of you had a wonderful, joyful Christmas!

Here are a few pictures of my trees.

 I always put the white tree decorated with red bulbs in my dining room 

to go along with my red, white and black decor.

I love birds so aside from the ones that stay up all year I add them to the holiday decor.

 

A vignette in the dining room

 This has got to be the easiest last minute centerpiece to pull together. 
Any plate or bowl filled with bulbs looks so pretty. I added a candelabra to the center.

 My gold & green pencil tree.

With more birds of course!

 A sweet angel

My snowman clown from Bethany Lowe. Love this piece!

  

 On Christmas Eve we attended a party in Long Beach then took a drive down to the marina. It was 70* out and absolutely beautiful I wanted to show you a Christmas Eve sunset California style!

Wishing you and yours the season's best!
XO~

Apron Winner!

 Thank you for entering the give away

 The names were placed in a bowl

 And watched over by royal guards

 Congratulations K. Graves!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

XO~

Giveaways, Blessings and Congratulations!

photo: Good Life Zen

 First off I would like to thank Melissa Bolton of DesignHer Brands and Catherine Hoagland of Avalon Rose for putting together "The Ultimate No Excuses New Year, New You Giveaway". This truly was a life changer for one lucky winner, Jessie Lowery who one $4500 in prizes. Its a great blessing to me to be able to sponsor the event that helped to support another woman with her dream of starting & building her business.

Whimsical Musings

If you are looking for great business blogging tips be sure to visit Cindy Adkins' Whimsical Musings blog: women-blogging-for-busines-seminar.html

Cindy is a very talented author, artist and motivator. 

She was featured on Launch Your Creativity here

How about another giveaway?

Hurray! I think so too!

Leave a comment here and I will enter your name in the drawing. Entry closes Friday, December 16th at midnight pacific time.The winner will be announced on Saturday morning. Shipping to the U.S. only please.

Good Luck!

XO~

"The Ultimate New Year, New You Giveaway"

Whether you're starting a new business or revamping and expanding an existing business - you don't want to miss out on this UNBELIEVABLE opportunity! 

We're hoping it'll be a life-changer for some lucky dreamer.

 One lucky winner will receive:

~Over $4,500 worth of prizes~

This amazing opportunity starts TODAY, Thursday, December 1st, 2011 and ends on Sunday, December 

11th, 2011 at midnight EST. The winner will be chosen via Random.org and announced on this blog on Monday December 12th, 2011. 

Items donated will be provided to the winner directly through individual sponsors.

 

To see a list of donors & to enter go here~Good Luck!

http://designherbrands.blogspot.com/2011/12/ultimate-4500-no-excuses-giveaway.html

Pansy Cottage & Garden is proud to be a sponsor!

XO~

Dreaming of a "Cottage Christmas"

Ive been playing in my studio with paper & fabrics 

creating cottage style goodies for Christmas and  getting ready for the 

Vintage Marketplace in Rainbow, CA this weekend. 

It is the prettiest flea in So. Cal!

Info is on my sidebar.

 These stockings are easy peasy! You can whip one up in less than 30 mins.

 I love the cottage appeal these fabrics have.

 I will have new stocking kits ready to ship for Tuesday the 6th.

 Here is a fun assortment of banners, tags & goodie bags that I'll be bringing also.

Hope you all have a wonderful creative day.

XO~

Gratitude

 ~A dare to LIVE FULLY right where you are~

I started reading this book last summer and I have to be honest with you, I didn't know what I was in for. You see I have this thing for birds' nests and I was smitten with the blue eggs on the cover shot.
"A dare to live fully right where you are" struck me. I'm up for a good dare if its meaningful and thought provoking.

So, game on!

As I began reading I was truly taken by author Ann Voskamp's ability to be candid. This type of laying one's self completely naked to be scrutinized comes at a high price.
Reading her work is like listening to a conversation she is having deep within her soul. Chewing on thoughts and ideas and being interrupted by the daily chores of farm life. Ann asks the hard questions that many of us ponder but never raise our hand and ask either because of fear or lack of faith. I was one of those that didnt ask the questions, I think it was because of fear.

"What in the world, in a world of certain loss, is GRACE"?  

 

Every time I turn on the t.v. I hear yet another tragedy reported. I have to admit it was stealing my joy, my peace and my passion. I was overwhelmed.

 

Then the most liberating thing happen on page 58 and I quote:

"Why would the world need more anger, more outrage? How does it save the world to reject unabashed joy when it is joy that saves us? Rejecting joy to stand in solidarity with the suffering doesnt save the suffering. The converse does. The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light to all the world."

These words spoke so deeply to my heart I sobbed. We have to be the change we want to see in the world otherwise what is it all for and Im not willing to give in to it.

I began writing a list of 1,000 things to be thankful for. This is not just another exercise in list making. It will, I promise, change your life if you approach it with an open heart.

So on this Thanksgiving give yourself the gift of peace and gratitude and begin your list of 1,000 things you are thankful for.

I plan to reread the book every Thanksgiving and start a new list.

 Wishing you and your family all the hope, grace and peace of the season.

 XO~

Follow Your Path, Fearlessly!

In a world full of follow me, blinking signs, maps, click here, this way and endless self help books targeted at guiding you towards what is packaged as your dream,
it's important to step back and evaluate what  
YOUR PATH TRULY IS.
Not what someone else thinks it is. This is where self examination is of utmost importance to you and the nurturing of your soul.

Do you ever feel like you are standing on the edge waiting to
  take a step towards your dreams but are held back by 
doubt, worry, fear or even jealousy?

 I want to remind you that those things will suck the life out of your dreams. It will choke every bit of creativity out of you and leave you feeling empty.  
These beautiful dreams you have deep inside of you is what you were created for. There is no other you out there that can accomplish the things you want to do better than you. 

You MUST take the first step and follow your path. You may not know where the path will lead you and that's ok. That's a part of the beautiful journey you are on.

Each step will lead you further along and as you keep traveling along your path you will learn new things, acquire new skills, and add new tools that will help you reach your destination.

This is where you need to turn off the comparison mirror. Remember the evil queen from Snow White? How she looked in the comparison mirror?

DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE!
What you don't see when you compare yourself to Miss So&So is what is going on on the inside. Everyone struggles, some harder than others. 
What shapes you is the ability to keep trying and not giving up because
Miss So & So did it first.
The truth is Miss So&So probably busted her butt, cried on the floor, ate a gallon of ice-cream and lost a lot of sleep on her way to creating that thing that is now her prized piece of work.

 If Miss So & So could give you her honest opinion she would hold your face in her hands and

look into your eyes and say, 

"Follow YOUR Dreams, Anything IS Possible".

Do not be afraid to follow your passion or march to the beat of your own drum.

This IS your life to make whatever you want out of it.

I am Miss So&So.

XO~

Comfort Food!

Grab 3 simple ingredients and in less than 1 hour you have a wonderful Fall dinner!

1 package of Stove Top Stuffing, I prefer the chicken flavor, 1 can Apple pie filling,

(is that a tootsie roll bag in the back? busted!)

 And pork chops!

Spread the pie filling in the bottom of a 13x9 pan. 

 Top with pork chops.

 Prepare stuffing (just mix with water & butter) and spread on top of chops.

 Cover with foil, bake @375* for 30 mins.Uncover and bake 10 more minutes.

The flavor of sweet apples complements the tangy & salty stuffing perfectly. 

This is a family favorite, even my 9 year old likes it!

XO~

Victorian Homes Feature

If you are a lover of the Victorian Era this magazine is for you. Packed with pictures of gorgeous homes, decorating ideas, tea recipes and inspiration.

So honored to be featured in "Victorian Homes' 50 Gorgeous Gifts Under $50"!

The Ruffled Elegance Ripped Ruffle Bib Apron for $44.00. Available in Sage or Cranberry, perfect for the cook, baker or hostess on your list. Why not indulge in one for yourself?

Available HERE.

Thank you Victorian Homes Magazine!
XO~

"How a child sees it"

I thought I'd share this with you. My youngest son put this

on my sewing table and it tugged at my heart!

I dont know where this toy bear came from and there was nothing special about it but it was loved for reasons I will never know. But to a little boy it is a priceless treasure.

Oh if we could embrace life with childlike 

wonder how differently we would see things.

XO~

My first article, Published!

Have you ever done something that you didn't think
you could do?
Well that is exactly the case with the first article I wrote. Thirty years ago when I was in high school I took a journalism class and fell in love with writing. Unfortunately my family life was unstable and I was shuffled between my parents and there wasn't any room in life for pursuing dreams so needless to say those things were locked away deep inside me. Recently I was asked to submit an article by Kiki Nakita for her new online magazine, "My 365". My heart raced at the idea and my head was filled with all kinds of questions; should I? What if my article isn't good enough? I decided to put on my brave girl face and try my best. I submitted the article and crossed my fingers. I could not believe the response, Kiki was so sweet she said she loved it and wanted a picture of me to put in the magazine too!

Girls you have to put yourself out there even though its really scary. You have to be you and follow your creative dreams no matter what anyone says. Don't let doubt win. I could have passed on the opportunity but I would have regretted it and wondered what might have been.

What will you do today that you didn't know you could do?