Art Inspiration: My Journey-- Trust God's Timing In Our Lives

Hello Beautiful Ones...

Isn't it a glorious day to bring to life that
creative gift that is wanting to
burst forth with
beauty and inspiration?

OR..

Do you think it's too late?

To follow your path, somewhat obscure at times,
to find yourself and lose yourself at the same time.

To find the part of you that is waiting to be unbound by the
misconceptions of life that restrict your
thinking and doing.

And that's the part that we want to lose.

Do you look at your situation in the here and now
as if they are abstract and think that they don't fit
into the plan that you had or the
time frame within which you were hoping for
 things to happen?

Do you ever feel like time is running out?
That these things can't or haven't happened
 fast enough?

Or maybe, you're like me, and you've been busy living life.
Following through with the choices that you've made.
Being a responsible, dependable person.




Like...for the past 25 or 30 years!

And now, in the, past little while, your life has come to a point of drastic
change and you're beginning to realize that there's a you
in there that you didn't even know?


Or maybe they are dreams that were buried deep in the
 mire of yours (or someone else's) practicality.

(Somewhere in your memories of the past, you remember
getting excited about making things.

Drawing, playing music, painting
singing. Or taking sticks, feathers and colored
string..  putting it all together to make something beautiful.)


As I look backward through the windows of my childhood,
there's a little girl who used to make up songs.
Draw birds on pieces of leftover sheet rock.
Make rings out of old, pretty colored wire
that came out a telephone system somewhere.

WOW..
Things that I'd forgotten, even until now!

I really wanted to be an artist.
Of the singing, drawing kind.


So, in the reality of NOW...
you have time.
To reflect.
To feel.
To breathe and just be.

Something
 begins to awaken in your heart and soul.

A hunger begins to stir.

This has happened to me. 

And I have begun to follow the calls of my heart to
follow this path.

To unpack these treasures...these desires
that have been stored away for decades.

my hopes..

And though I feel very blessed to see my opportunities
grow and my heart become more full of ideas
and dreams,
there has been one nagging thought
that I fight often.

It seems very late.
I'm too late.
I've missed it.
I will never have enough time to do all
that I want to do.

*

One night, I was sharing these thoughts with my husband.
I was almost in tears and feeling somewhat bitter about it.
And admittedly, having some selfish regrets about what I had spent the last
30 years of my life doing.
(Even though I loved what I was doing.
Raising our children and teaching them at home.)

I have really have had a difficult time with this.

He assured me that my life was spent doing very worthy things
and it was all a sum of who I am.

I had my priorities right.

I fell asleep feeling more at peace.
Trying to hold on to the truth of what he had said and not be
a doubter or negative about things that I
couldn't change anyway.

The next morning,
I picked up the new magazine that I had just bought.
My favorite publications come from Stampington.

It was the most recent
 Where Women Create Issue.

I turned directly to the Barbara Rainey
article. (I am travelling and don't have that issue with me right now,
or I would share more of her lovely, truth-packed thoughts
about this subject.) 

A beautiful, Christian woman full of Godly wisdom,
wonderful talents and she also has a successful business.

She had written a quote..
Her words resonated in my heart and soul and caused
hope to spring up like a shoot

She had stated..

"Trust the timing of your life.
There is a Master Designer who
makes no mistakes."

This was for me.
 I had no doubt and I felt so
grateful.

It was just what I needed to hear.
A truth that I needed to be reminded of.
I know that God in His abundant love and infinite wisdom
is ordering my steps.
And that includes my time as well.

God is ever-watching..
not in an 
'I'm going to get you for that'

kind of way but in the gentle,
attentive way that a father
watches over his own.


Guiding.
Protecting.
Encouraging.

So..
trust your heart.

Trust God..

and take the advice of
Winston Churchill.

Never
Never,  Never
Give up..

Trust the process.
Keep at it.
Enjoy it.
Don't fret.
  And remember...

That He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
__________________________________________________________________

This is a re-peat photo.
I hope nobody minds.
But it's such a beautiful time of year.
And the flowers are so inspiring.
I hope you're touched by their beauty!

Life is good and through it all,

blessings gather.

Wishes for a wonderful week.

Tamara xxoo



A Walk Through the Wildflowers

hello Beautiful People...

 I can hardly believe that September is here.
I hope you've had a wonderful summer
 and have collected a bouquet full of special memories
 to tuck away to be re-visited.

 

Mine has been a bit hectic but laced with
wonderful trips with family,

special gatherings,
and quiet moments
walking through
flower laden fields.

 Lesser  Lilacs

Lovely and vibrant

and oh so fragrant.

a heart rock for my collection

 a rusty treasure..

I'm going to find a place for it...

in the house

 Liberty...

She's a walk lover.

   how funny.. Liberty's ball..



 weathered planks

the beauty is so inspiring

 

how these flowers just come up each year

and with hardly any moisture to sustain them,

they burst forth with all that color...

 it's a wonder to me..

 

fall is on it's way

some say it's already here

but I want to hang on to

these last few weeks of summer

 

 

life is good..

good times fill our hearts with gratitude

hard times change our perspective

and help us to grow

 

may your days be filled with the

beauty of the simple things as

blessings gather

around you

 

and always remember to~

 

**keep the wonder**

 

blessings to you,

 

Tamara xxoo

 

Follow the party at

 

The Brambleberry Cottage!



Shabby Cowgirl Signs: Rusty Barbed Wire and Pretty Flowers Meet Re-Claimed Wood

Today, I want to share with you some of my favorite things to work

with. I can't resist mixing these ingredients to come up with this recipe for

 some rustic, shabby gorgeousness.

(at least I think so!)

*rescued wood

*rusty barbed wire

*thrifted lace

*yellowed fabric

Mixing these textures are rich.

 Creating an easy, rugged beauty

that speaks to me of simplicity.

The aqua sign wood was found just like that. The others I had

to cut from a board and paint and distress a little.

I wanted more of a white-washed look.

I tried gesso but it really soaked in and

 store bought is expensive!

And so I thought I'd try my kid's white tempra paint.

It went on very easily and the coverage was just right.

It dried very fast and then I just sanded it a little with

#60 grit sand paper.



There are a few other little charms for a splash of color.

The wire that I used for the hanger was too thick for the beads.

And so I used some of my dark brown jewelry wire to

string the beads on. I wrapped the end where I wanted to start the beads

 and then took a wrap and strung a bead..took a wrap...strung a bead

and so on until I

reached the desired length.

 I left a little space between to tie on the strips of

lace and fabric. It worked well and the strips covered the wire nicely.

 Perfect!

(which is not always the outcome with my ideas)



And some clear glitter for some sparkly goodness.

After I stenciled, and the paint was dry, I just brushed on some

craft glue and sprinkled the glitter on.

 Soft rufflles on chippy wood.

Do you like it?



Cutting the barbed wire was a little tricky. I had to ask my husband

how to do that. I first tried regular heavy duty wire cutters.

There was no way they would cut through a

wire of that thickness.

We have done some fencing and so we had

 some fencing pliers. I was concerned about

being able to cut it because my hands aren't very strong.

But they worked great without hardly any effort and

it didn't hurt to use them either.

I also wore a pair of leather work gloves.

How to attach the wire to the wood was another question.

I tried E6000 but I couldn't get the wire to lay flat.

I decided to try using some small rusty nails and just bending them

over the wire and tapping them down.

I only had a few small ones though and so I had to find something

else. Down to the garage I went to look through my Honey's nail

I'm going to have to figure out to rusty up some nails before I

can make any more of these!





There's just something about old, rusty barbed wire...

All the wood and wire was found here on our place. I have piles of wood

that I choose from and there are tangles of rusty

wire (barbed and baling) that I cut my pieces from.

I not only love working with these materials but

it's important to me to create another life for things once used.

  It's an old farm/ranch that sits at the foot of a mountain.

A wonderful Dr. and his gracious wife generously sold a part of it to us.

 They were from Holland.

(Just think.. the barbed wire I used for re-creating was once used to keep

these dear folk's horses corralled! To me, that makes it special.)

I would love to hear about some of your favorite things that you create with!

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Blessings to you,

Tamara

 I'm linking up at:

                                                          http://shabbyartboutique.com/

My Girlish Whims

Creating Simple Beauty...Vintage Clipboard, Dried Flowers and Antique Key

 

 

 

 

Simple beauty means embracing imperfection~

{me}

 

 

Have a wonderful day filled with blessings

as you create your own simple beauty.

 

Tamara xo 

Some Thoughts About Adoption and a New Blog Header

Hello friends.. I hope your week has been extra-ordinary so far!
Most of the time it's not what's happening, but the perspective I take.
Would you agree or disagree?

 

My life is extra-ordinary.

 

Sweet.

 

Any day that I can get out of bed and enjoy my family and
the "everyday" of life,

 it's good and I feel blessed.

 

I hope you feel blessed, too.

-------------------------------------------------------- 

Yesterday was a hard day. I was so tired.

And I had court.

We've been going through this thing with our Charlotte.

 

She's our adopted, special needs daughter. 

She needs a guardian, but she didn't want us and she'd

like to spread her wings.

 

Or so she thought three months ago.

 

It gets really complicated.

 

Anyway, it's been a process to help her find a safe place.

 

We found one. Now she's changed her mind.

 

{She understands what family really is.}

 

Wow.

 

That's pretty profound.

(I'm not sure that I even understand that.)

 

The judge was speechless at that point.

 

But he ordered it anyway.

 

She'll be living in a group home.

 

Close but not here.

 

I think back to when we picked up this little bundle from the hospital.

 

We had many different ideas.

(we didn't know she had developmental challenges)

 

And dreams of filling this little heart with good things.

 

Holding her hand through the pilgrimage of

 

of her journey and questions.

 

 

I guess we did that.

As much as we could.

But as a parent, I wanted to help her more.

Get her closer to her place of

 peace.

 

Happy

and

fulfilled.

 

It's hard to not take on that feeling of failure.

To shoulder it.

To track back to all the mistakes.

 

But I know I did my best with what I knew.

 

We were so unprepared.

 

She wasn't the only baby bird we took into our nest.

 

As we watch her fly, she's a little wobbly on the wing.

 

Though we can't take the wobble out,

 

we can be here for her when she lands.

 

And we will be.

-------------------

 

It really wasn't my intention to share that.

But it just came out.

Our adoption journey has been a

very diverse one.

 

It has covered the ground from absolute bliss to

 almost as broken as broken can be.

 

I would like to share more as time goes on.

 

Maybe it could help encourage someone or give them clarity.

 

If you're reading this, and have questions, please feel free to ask.

 

We've adopted 5.

 

2 sisters and 3 half brothers.

 

What were we thinking! :)

 

With two stepchildren and a birth child on both sides of the adoption,

we were in for

 

 t h e   r i d e   o f   o u r   l i f e!

 

\\ that's 9 total in case you're wondering //

 

I absolutely see adoption as sacred and a privilege.

 

But not without realities and a high price.

 

 

Though I have been a step-mom

an adoptive mom and a

natural mom,

the bottom line is that I've just been called Mom.

 

=================

 

About the header..

I really don't like to let tired keep me from productive.

I don't mind rest  I love to rest and read...watch movies.. and stuff...

but I can't rest for hours.

 

So my desperate need to have a header

gave me something to work on.

It was a lot of fun.

I used Picmonkey.

It was easy.

 

It isn't a perfect representation of my vision.

But I like the colors

and the mix.

 The truth is I'm not a very good designer.

But I did it and it's something.

 

And I'm learning.

 

That's valuable.

 

And even more valuable is that

this self-raised kid is learning to

embrace and be at peace with less

than ideal.

 

Because I didn't have a guideline, I have set my bar

WAY TOO HIGH.

 

Can you relate?

 

Any thoughts on the header??

 

On adoption?

 

Have a beautiful, beautiful day friend.

 

 

 XXOO