Thursday, March 30, 2017

There Was A Time... Shall We Get Back to It?

Hello!
(heart)
Being here feels so foreign after nearly three weeks between posts!

I have missed you and wanted to come and tell you so.

I am trying to  change so many things in my life.

Te be more in tuned to people around me.

I can be so self consumed in the moment.



It has been a beautiful spring here and with the

loveliness of life there has also come the busyness.

There was a time when I was

posting two times a week but I can't seem to stop

overthinking about this and get overwhelmed!

But I'm going to work at getting back to it.
 Spring came early to the mountains and there has been work to do 

outside. The tender care of mulching,

 and weeding. I have to do a sort of plant hovering in the spring

because the baby plants come up and then WHAM!

We get snow and cold temps again.


We had a beautiful, wet snow

the other evening and Liberty and I took a walk and came back dripping wet!

It was so fun and refreshing that I was trying to find reasons to stay outside.

Those walks take me back to my girlhood days when I use

to wander the farm in all kinds of weather.



I do love seeing the new plants popping up and 

the trees heavy with blossoms.



There's also been the sorting and cleaning out of every 

"nook and cranny"! It has felt good but has been a lot of extra work.

But in the midst of the work, I've been having so much fun

 learning new songs and playing a lot of music.

It truly is my #1 obsession!


And I'm excited that there are many singing opportunities

coming up. I enjoy the people so much but

to be honest, I am not a very good performer.

I'm more of a passionate, closet musician. Haha! So, I'm having to learn to 

be more expressive when singing for others.  I always felt like that

was show-offey. But I understand now that it's just enjoying

myself and letting it be about the music not me.

Isn't there always so much to learn?
(the azalea bush that my daughter gifted me for my birthday. 
I love pink!)


 There was a time.. 

I tried song writing. 

Have you ever let something die just because

you felt you weren't good enough?

Maybe it's time to turn that negative thinking around and try again. 

Don't think too much about it. 

Just follow your heart, Dearie!
There was a time ...

when I worked like a crazy person making things..

Well...I have been working on projects again now that

the biggest part of the sorting is done.

I have finished another book page, angel. 

She is woodsy and all about spring!

I will share her soon.


And my late evenings and Sunday mornings are a good time to make cards

for friends and family. Thank yous.. Birthday cards and any other

reason that I can find to make them! I do enjoy paper crafting so much.

Do you have certain times set aside that seem to work for you?
There is a new friend that has taken up residency here... 

I will call him my new studio assistant.

He was a gift from my husband.

He received a very nice bonus from work and he

bought ME a gift :)

He is so very thoughtful and giving!

I will reveal this new little love of mine before too long.

I'm so excited to have him along as my crafting and artistic pal! 



What's been happening with you?

I know that life isn't always fun and exciting.

There are hard things and lots of hard work. 

Even when most of life is going well.

I hope that you're finding the grace and strength to 

work through the hard things and that there are good things

 to bring magic to your days and put a smile in your heart.


Thank you so much for coming by and may your cup 

be full and overflowing.


Tamara XO
















Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Art Inspiration: My Quest ~ Dreams: Focus and Purpose

Hello...

With a day full of possibilities, what will you do?

We can soar on the wings of our dreams!

Do you have dreams?

I think at one time in our lives,  we all had a dream..

Hopefully, you still do.
 I have dreams.

There have been times when I haven't been true..

to myself or to my dreams.

It's easy to get caught up in expectations of others.

What we SHOULD do can dictate our

decisions and the whispers of our heart's dreams

can be drowned out by so many things.
 Where do your dreams stand?

You know you are the only one that can protect them

I'm building walls around my dreams and learning to guard them

with a fierceness because if I don't...

they can so easliy vanish in the midst of daily living.
 I think we're meant to dream. 

Without them, how would we set goals?

There's a longing in my heart that is leading me to practice being artistic 

and creative. Living life to the fullest in my home and through my 

drawing, painting, playing music and writing songs.

God has given us all talents and gifts along with a desire

to express ourselves through these gifts and talents.
 There have been times when I have prayed and asked for God to make a way,

and to show me what HE wanted me to do.

A lovely revelation came to me.  

{Sometimes God is just waiting on us to make up 

our minds about what it is we want to do.

And then He can bless it.}
 He has given us gifts and talents and 

HE WANTS US TO USE THEM! 

The desire is natural and beautiful

and one of the strongest motivators to get us where we want to go~
 I am having to retrain myself and it's kind of like steering

a very large vessel through the water.

It's a very slow but deliberate process.

It takes a seriousness of purpose and focus that

has to shut out the everyday.

This focus also comes from knowing what it is I REALLY want.

I cannot tell you how many hours I have wasted

by just letting my mind wander.
 I can't allow myself to putter away at lots of little things that

I think are interesting. I don't have time to chase

bunnies that run across my path and distract.

I have to be orderly in my thinking, keeping the dream ever

before me. Picturing the destination and how to get there helps.
We can achieve anything we want when we have a desire and a plan.

Just recently, I was reminded that one of my purposes was to inspire.

Beauty and truth. 

Here are disciplines that I am learning to apply to be able to 

see that happen.
*Work my mind really hard. I can be and have been

 very lazy in my thought life.

*Be realistic. I have had to come to the truth that I

cannot accomplish every idea that I have had.

This has led me to *purge my ideas

and my home of materials that I will never be able to put to use.

And I am always...always, in some way,

working on some kind of project.

Such as ...learning a new song, researching how to write a song,

playing my guitar or mandolin.

Working on a painting, learning a new technique.

Etc.. this helps me keep the momentum.
This has required letting go of things and ideas that I have attached myself to.

But I can't allow emotions to get in the way.

Sometimes we have to be strong and firm.

These disciplines have made me stronger and enabled me to

focus SO MUCH MORE.

Which brings more inspiration and peace 

which my heart was desperate for. 
 It may sound like I am never spontaneous and don't follow my heart.

Actually and ironically, it's the opposite.

The more we are able to pinpoint our weaknesses and work to put forth a plan 

that can clear our hearts and minds of distraction and unwanted clutter,

the less we worry and fret about that stuff and get bogged down

trying to figure out what to do.



We can make mistakes and will.

We will get sidetracked and distracted.

Because that's real. 

But do you have a plan in how to get back on track 

and find your groove again?
 So.... 
HERE' S TO THE HEARTS THAT DREAM~
 Best wishes for your journey to be magical,
filled with wonder, excitement and purpose!
We will make messes of all sorts but won't it be fun and 

inspiring and encouraging to learn?

And how wonderful to be in a place just to know that we're 

listening and responding to  those quiet nudgings. 

How beautiful and exciting!



I wish you all the best in following your heart and being 

able to achieve your dreams in the truest 

sense of what they mean to you!




Have a wonderful week and thank you so much for coming by!
Hugs~

Tamara 






Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Peanut Butter ... Just Add Sprinkles! Nurturing the Wonder of Nature


I hope you're having a lovely day and week so far.

I realize more and more how blessed I am. 

Health...  Food... Shelter...
 and just so many wonderful people in my life.

My life is so rich and full of interesting challenges, enrichment and beauty!

I'm so grateful. 



We live in such a time that there is so much inspiration and 

opportunity to learn more about the things we love.

I must admit, I have to limit myself in this and and keep my feet firmly 

planted as I dream and work toward growing in my music and artistry.

But it's so exciting!



I am still working on the deep cleaning and purging of personal and

household items.  It's also been a soul-searching time as well, which has brought 

about some revelations and changes that I'll share in my next post.

 It is very freeing and I'm finding myself more focused

on the things that really matter to me.


**************
Today, I want to share some pictures of a 

recent project that I did with my grand daughters. 

It's super easy, fun and serves a purpose. 

Not porpoise ;) Silly me....


The project is

Peanut Butter and Birdseed Pinecones

There's not much to explain.

The only thing that I did differently this time was to

 add a screw to hang it by. It was easier than trying to wrap

the ribbon around the pinecone itself.
 I added some sprinkles to the seed just to make it more 
colorful and festive. 
We all know that's what little girls love!
And honestly, I like it, too.
 And the birds like a sweet treat now and then.
This is potentially very messy but the cake pans helped a lot. 
 The girls did a wonderful job!
Peanut butter was thoroughly smushed into every crack!

They love watching the birds and helping me feed them.
I allow them to take the little, yellow bucket outside. 
Using a small measuring cup,  they each count out four scoops 
as they pour the seed onto the patio.

I don't use bird feeders. They eat so much! 
I sometimes feed them three times a day. 
 We took them outside to hang them in a tree.
 Sweet birdwatchers!
 It didn't take long for the birds to find them
and now they are picked clean.
I loved sharing this project with girls. They had so much fun making them!
 Their mom helped, too.
 I wish I had gotten a picture of the three of them 
with their pinecones.

It's wonderful way to teach them how magical nature is and how to 
be a part of helping the lovely creatures of the wild. 
It also helps nurture that love and wonder for nature that kids already have.


What kind of magic and wonder is happening in your world? 
I'd love to hear about it.
Thank you so much for coming by. 
Happy March 1st!

Tamara XOXO