A peek in the studio

There is always so much goodness going on in the studio each week! It is truly my happy place.

Lately, there have been lots of these beautiful ocean scenes that we create using reclaimed wood. Each one is so unique.

I absolutely love how each week is different, and I’m constantly working on something new that is stretching me creatively.

Have a lovely week friends!

Gotcha Day! {One Year Ago}

One year ago we met our precious little boy all the way across the world in China! This year has been full of so many changes for all of us. We’ve gone through difficult seasons and times of unbelievable joy.

Here are two photos from the first few minutes that we met him one year ago. In a lot of ways, it is difficult to look at these photos. He had bruises on the side of his face, he wore ill-fitting clothing, had a cleft lip and palate, and he showed no emotion toward us. But, oh how we loved him because he belonged to us. I literally couldn’t take my eyes off him and could not stop smiling.

This week after his speech therapy appointment, I took him out to the backyard and had a fun little photo shoot with him. It is unbelievable how much he has changed in the past year! He was beautiful then, and he is beautiful now.

Sawyer has made our family complete. He has the most awesome personality and is full of life. His ability to adapt and his resiliency has made the adjustment for him and us fairly easy. When you go into an adoption, the hardest thing is not knowing what to expect. Not knowing what kind of child will become part of your family, what their personality will be like, what kind of special needs they might have.

Honestly, we had very low expectations and tried to be very realistic with what we might be facing when we brought him home. But he has been an absolute joy. And I’m not just saying that to make it sound good or that every adoption is easy.

He really is a joy.

There were times of frustration and difficulty (there still are), but overall it has gone so much better than we ever hoped. He has had two cleft lip and palate surgeries that have gone well, and he is currently in speech therapy to help him learn to speak more clearly. His doctors are all very pleased with his progress.

As you can tell from the pictures, he is a HAM!

He is such a natural part of our family now. It of course takes time until it feels that way, but after a year, he just fits right in. I cannot wait to see how he channels his energy in the future, and what he will do with his life. I have a feeling God has some really BIG plans for him, and I will always be honored to be a part of his life!

Together is my favorite place to be

This is the newest sign in the shop! It is shown in dark gray wood with our new metallic gold lettering, but it can be done in any color!

You can find it here.

Wrapping up the week

The weekend is here! After a very busy week, I am looking forward to slowing down, getting some reading done, and resting.

Here are some links for your weekend…

• I’m loving this home entryway. 

• A beautiful video of marines worshiping God

• Super cute tea party idea for little girls

• I always love Emily’s outfit ideas

Happy Weekend!

For when it’s all just too much

I had a rough couple of days last week. Being a business owner is hard. Don’t get me wrong, I love that I get to create pretty things in my studio, and I still pinch myself that this is my JOB. It’s what I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a little girl drawing pictures and hanging them all over my room.

BUT. The business side of things can be completely overwhelming. There is bookkeeping to stay on top of, and liability insurance, and worker’s comp for a new employee we just hired, and taxes to pay, and the list goes on and on. It’s the stuff that makes me want to just forget that I’m a responsible human being and go binge on Netflix. Can I get an amen?

Aside from the business stuff, we are working on some new products for this year, and I’m working on licensing some of my designs with an international company. There are a lot of moving parts and most of the time, I feel like I don’t know what in the world I am doing.

There is a lot of new territory that feels BIG and a little bit scary. We are experiencing growing pains and, while it’s exciting, it also feels risky and hard.

Thankfully not every day is so hard, but when it is, here is what I’ve found helps to get me through:

• Talk with someone who understands. For me, I texted my lady-boss friend Janelle. It is so helpful to have someone in my life who understands the challenges of running a business and encourages me to keep going. Sometimes you need people in your life who have faith in you and can see the potential in you that you just can’t see for yourself.

• Do the next thing, however small it might be. Make the phone call. Write the email. Make the decision you’ve been putting off. This gives me momentum to keep going and makes me feel like I’m making progress, even if it’s super small.

• Don’t look at what other people are doing who are in your field. For me, when I start comparing what I am doing with what someone else is doing, I feel inadequate and defeated. It just isn’t helpful to me.

• Do something completely different. Go outside. Take a walk. Read a book. Getting my mind off work stuff helps to refocus me and gives me new energy to come back and tackle it again.

•  Get enough sleep. This is super hard for me. I love to stay up late after putting the kids to bed. It’s the only time in the day where I can feel like I can relax, and I want to soak that time in. But sleep is so important. Especially since I’m not a coffee drinker (much to the dismay of my husband who would love for me to drink with him).

This business-owning thing is never going to get easy, and I’ll never have it all figured out. There is always more to learn and someone will always be further along than we are. We’ll make lots of mistakes and go through highs and lows and make things up as we go along. There will be days where it feels like it would be so much easier to give up.

Be encouraged. You aren’t alone. We can totally do this! 

 

Feather painting on reclaimed wood

I have some new paintings available for order in the shop! I’ve been working on creating these feather paintings for several weeks and am really pleased with how they turned out.

They are made using our gorgeous reclaimed wood, and each one is painted-to-order. So colors can be changed, as well as the word on the bottom of the painting.

You can find the feather paintings in my shop here.

Have a great week friends!

Chandelier Makeover

Thrift stores are my absolute favorite. There is so much goodness to be had if you are up for a little digging. Even if I was a millionaire, I would still be drawn toward secondhand items.

I needed to find new lighting in my girls’ room and found the perfect thing at my local Habitat for Humanity Restore. It cost $1.88. I mean. You just can’t beat that.

Here is what the light looked like when I bought it. It was wood and brass and covered in dusty old fake vines.

I spray painted the whole thing white and found these cute little shades at Goodwill. Another thrift store score!

So for $1.88 + the cost of the shades ($1.97 ea) and a string of crystals from Amazon, I was really happy with this find!