Our Refuge

God usually doesn't allow us to be quickly transported out of

challenging times. He wants first that we should grow and rest in Him

in the midst of them. That our hearts would thirst for Him.

 

Not always out of our troublous times,

    And the struggles fierce and grim,

But IN - deeper IN-  to our one sure rest,

  The place of our peace, in Him~

 

Annie Johnson

 

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

 

Psalm 46:1

 

Peaceful, restful wishes to you on this Sunday.

Tamara XO

 

Adding a Little Joy

I've been working on my creative space. I want to come up with a name for the place

where I pour my heart and soul into what I create.

 

It used to be called the Psalmist Room. Our family plays music and we had

all of our instruments and sound equipment in here. 

It was where we practiced. 

 

But that became too crowded.

I have slowly taken over the entire room and I feel so blessed to have the

 lovely space and freedom! I have been working on it for a while.

Slow but steady.

 

 My thoughts are that it would inspire and bless those who pass through.

(It's a walk-through room.)

 

~JOY ~

 

joy

joi/

noun

noun: joy

1. 1.

   a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

   "tears of joy"

   synonyms:

   delight, great pleasure, joyfulness, jubilation, triumph, exultation, rejoicing, happiness, gladness, glee, exhilaration, exuberance, elation, bliss, ecstasy, enjoyment, felicity, joie de vivre

 

It's one of my favorite words.

 

It's dream of mine to be a "bringer of JOY" to people's lives.

And how wonderful if some of that could come from what I create with my hands.

 

(And it brings me great Joy to be able to work with my hands.)

 

A small glimpse of my banner.



From my feather collection.



 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that the rest

of your week is filled with:

 

Joy and Blessings~

 

Tamara xo

Art Inspiration~ My Journey...Success. Is This Really How It's Done? 10 Things I'm Thankful For

“Artistic growth is, more than it is anything else,

a refining of the sense of truthfulness.

~Willa Cather~

Here I am this Monday morning trying hard to get on track and be productive in my creative space. It's 8:58. I've been up since 6:30. I'm dressed. Which is not always a given by 9:00.

I've been on Blogger and Etsy looking for connections and advice. My 19 year old, special-needs daughter has gotten on her bus and headed for a fun day at her day program. The kitchen floor is swept. The turkey carcus is in the dumpster. (Leftover from Thursday's family dinner.) The lid is off the yogurt container in which I store paint for current projects. (It's been off for over an hour but has not been visited by a paint brush yet.) Oh well.

I could go on. You get the idea. I look around my little sanctuary here and I have to laugh. It's not the kind of laugh that really reflects something funny. It's more like: Is this how most people like me start their day? My room is cluttered with thrift store finds. In the process projects. Paperwork for my kids that needs to be completed and filed or sent. Books that I'm reading. Journals that reflect my ideas, thoughts and business directives.

After a little while of feeling like I'm spinning my wheels, I regain my peace and focus. I realize that this might not be typical for everyone. But it's my world. My season. And it's ok!

And though it seems like I'm not moving forward, there are small steps and little victories.

I am thankful that:

 ~my creative space is coming along

~my husband is incredibly supportive

~everything is collective and adds to my learning and who I am

~there are so many people who are willing to share their expertise and encouragement.. WOW!! THANK YOU...

~I can see how God is directing my path

~I can be myself

~life is beautiful and today has so much to be embraced. I'm learning

~in my heart there is a vision

~there are a couple of places that are carrying my offerings and they are selling

~vulnerability keeps me humble

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Being a very sensitive person sometimes makes success hard. I take things personally that I shouldn't.
So reflecting and reminding myself of the positives and staying focused on what the truth is, is very important to me. No. Actually, it's absolutely necessary. These posts I write are a good way to look back and remember the journey and hopefully, they will also be an encouragement to someone else.

Thank you for stopping by.
Blessings to you,
Tamara xo

Art Inspiration...My Journey- Overcoming the Need for Validation

Making teal paint...

All of my life, I have sought to be 'approved of' by others.  Feeling the need to be validated by someone else's standards, ideas, or preferences. As you can imagine, it was confusing, exhausting and it stripped me of any individualism that I longed to identify in my own life. Pleasing people was often my number one motive for doing things.

I have been thinking about this lately. Mostly how it relates to my journey of finding my way as a creative person. I hesitate to use the word artist, although I've been told I am one. I am learning to understand that.  I'm trying not to be affected by people who don't care for what I design. (But of course I would like to create offerings that touch people's life by reflecting an elemant of beauty and truth.)

Leonardo Da Vinci was an artist. Van Gogh. Monet. Rembrandt.

And so many other wonderful, talented people that I have met through Blogland..

But NOT me.

I don't think of myself much at all in the way of an artist. I try to keep my thoughts focused on 'the what' not the 'why' or 'who' I might look like. { or not }

It's the idea. The process and the end result. It's the learning. And there's oh so much to be experienced in my heart and expressed through my hands. It has all become a means of getting to know myself better. To connect with my feelings. My memories. Experiences from my past that have shaped me. The colors that touch me deep inside. The textures that make my heart leap or almost take my breath away. Truly. No drama here. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed as I listen to my heart or marvel over pallets of beauty as I study and learn how to bring that together in my own heart, mind and with my hands.

Though it's tempting and I have to be careful not to fall back into that 'comparing myself' mindset.

I have a few goals:

* Honor God, reflect truth
*Create uplifting and beautiful offerings
*Enjoy the process 


I have to keep my heart in check and stay REAL. AUTHENTIC. {this is one of my favorite words)

au·then·tic

ôˈTHentik/

adjective

adjective: authentic; adjective: auth.

1. 1.

   of undisputed origin; genuine.

   "the letter is now accepted as an authentic document"

   synonyms:

   genuine, real, bona fide, true, veritable; More legitimate, lawful, legal, valid; informalthe real McCoy, the real thing, kosher "an authentic document"

How do I stay real?

* I remind myself that others may not even like what I offer
* Trust that God will guide me
*Making money is not the goal {though selling is fun and can be encouraging ...
  and I would really like to supplement our income someday,
  I don't want the selling of what I do give me a false sense of success or self}
*Stay true to myself and not allow myself to be pressured by quotas or anything else extrinsic
*Don't seek to re-create what others are doing just to feel 'safe'

{in other words, FOLLOW MY HEART. stay true to my beliefs.
remember my goals and purposes.}

These are just some simple things that I am doing and learning to understand about today. I am constantly reading and researching. It used to be validate myself. But now it's to learn and appreciate and truly be blessed by what others are doing. I don't feel the need to compare. I just take it all in.

I try to limit my time though so I have time to stay in touch with my heart voice. It's very quiet and sweet so I have to be very sensitive.

It's good to be free from so much of what to drive me. It's not a bump free road yet, but the journey is getting smoother all the time and I am grateful.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I love your sweet comments.

Blessings for your day and your journey,
Tamara XO

Moldy Magazine Rack Re-Dressed in Shabby Chic

Hello and Happy Friday!

I hope you all found many blessings in your week.

I am always amazed at how many things in an ordinary

day can be

a joy.

 

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

 

Today I wanted to share a little project that I took on.

I found this poor abandoned magazine rack

sitting outside at a thrift store. You can see for yourself the kind

 of shape it was in.

I picked it up. It was built solidly enough

and so I paid $2 for it and brought it home.

 

 

After cleaning it all up and sanding it a little I gave it several

coats of paint. If you like the paint color,

it's Mocha Breeze by Do it Best, which you can buy at

True Value stores.

 

 

There are such pretty little hankies that I find at thrift stores. 

The little front panel

is cut from a piece of one of the dainty treasures. 

 

Flower and rosette materials:

*Feather

*Strips from white cotton sheet

*Strips from pink cotton sheet

*Old lacey curtain

*Fresh water pearls and pink beads

*Ribbon from a blanket packaging

 (the center rosette)

*Strip from faded tan curtain

*Lace edging cut from curtain

 

Everything in this project was attached with hot glue.

 



~Rosettes touch the heart~





 Each end has two matching buttons.

Here's the back. The top piece was torn from an old cotton

sheet and the lower half is thrifted lace.

 

The final outcome!

This was my first re-do painting project.

It took longer than I thought. I never considered how

 long it would take to paint all of the little dowels!

But I am happy with the results.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

I hope your weekend

is blessed and peaceful.

 

Tamara  XO

 

Linking up today at:

 

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

 

Thank you, Linda!

 

 

 

 

Previous link parties!

 

The Cottage Market

 

Shabbilicious Friday

 

French Country Cottage

 

Partying today at:

 

furniture feature friday

A Beautiful, Blessed Rainy Day

Hello Friends. I hope you're having a lovely Saturday.

 

Mine has just been perfect.

Rain   Blessed   Rain

 

Yesterday, I prayed for rain. I heard it might be coming but it so often

passes us by in our little valley.

I was so delighted when I awoke in the middle of the night

and the sound of the rain hitting the tin roof  found it's way

to my ears.

 

{Open the window...

to breathe in the soft moisture carried in by the breeze.

Stand there for a few moments leaning on the low window sill.

 

Just listening and feeling the coolness.

The dampness.

 

And then back to bed and laying my head on my pillow,

I let out a sigh and went back to sleep to the melody of sweet

rain falling on the roof.}

 

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

 

And today..

Yes, it has been perfect.

 

A slow family breakfast of German pancakes.

YUM!

(I will share the recipe the next time we make them!

I have to include pictures. 

If you've never seen them, you are in for a big treat!)

 

 

 Working on a project.

 

Watching the rain droplets that cling to the trees.

 



 

Playing some music.

 

Sitting on the floor by the fire.

 

Playing a game with my family.

 

 

Gathered blessings on this first day of March.

 

I would really love to hear about your

Saturday and what delighted your heart today

or this week.

 

 

<3 p="">

Tamara

xxoo