So Inspired...Words to Live By...23

Courage doesn't always roar.  
Sometimes courage is the little voice
at the end of the day
that says I'll try again tomorrow.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

cour·age [ kúr ij ]  noun

Definition:   quality of being brave: the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action

Once in awhile, it would be great to hear that little voice of courage first thing in the morning instead of at the end of the day when I'm too tired to act on it!  :)

Be courageous...share your quote on the Notes from a Cottage Industry blog...or, of course, you could always leave it here in the comments.  I'd love to hear from you!

I wish you courageous adventures this week.

Brand New Look!

I've been wanting to update the look of my blog for awhile now.   It looks fresh and summery....just in time for fall!  Ha!  Oh well.  

My Etsy shop got an upgrade too. 

What do you think? 

Five Friday Favorites

Here are five favorite things on this Friday...

1. The artwork of Joanne Sharpe.  Check out her blog to see what she's been working on.  So inspiring!
2. Pinwheel flowers!  How fun...and a cute addition to any layout.  Learn how to make them with this great tutorial by Lexi Bridges.
3. A picket fence?  How could I NOT love that?  Check this (and others) out from Tim Holtz.

4.  HandCrafted magazine.  The new issue is full of some amazing projects.

5.  October Afternoon!  LOVE these papers and embellishments! 

Actually I loved them so much I created this paper bag book for  my Etsy shop!

 

Happy Friday!

Wishful Wednesday

When I was a kid, one of my favorite times of the year was in the fall when the WISH BOOKS came out.   It was a glorious day when the mailbox contained one of the Christmas catalogs.  JCPenney, Sears and Montgomery Ward.  I was in heaven!  Back then my mom and grandma always ordered our Christmas gifts out of the catalogs.   My siblings and I would spend hours going through the catalogs and circling (with our initials) the things we wanted to find under the tree on Christmas morning.   Then we would write out lists, complete with catalog page numbers to give to our mom and to Grandma.   Obviously much simpler times.   I think most of the things on our list were under $10.  Try doing that today!

These days I find all kinds of things I want to add to my WISH list.   No more waiting for the catalogs to arrive.  A trip around the internet gives me lots of ideas.  Sometimes I just "circle" them in my mind.  Sometimes I add them to my shopping list.   And sometimes I add them to my dream journal.

This one is going in my dream journal! 

Brave Girls Camp.  I can't begin to say how awesome this would be.  AND how much I NEED something like this.   The last 6-1/2 years of my life have been draining...physically and mentally.  This would be the most wonderful way to recharge.  So, it has officially been added to my WISH list and it's going in my dream journal and one of these days I'm going to find myself in McCall, Idaho!  :)

What's on your WISH list?

So Inspired...Words to Live By...22

The moment one definitely commits oneself,
then providence moves too. 
All sorts of things occur to help one
that would never otherwise have occurred.
~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

 

I don't like to cook.   Actually, I don't like having to cook everyday meals.   Thanksgiving dinner?  Love it.   Food for a family get-together or party.  Love it!   Baking...I adore it.  But cook breakfast, lunch, dinner?  Count me out.   Maybe I'm just burned out.  As a stay-at-home-mom for so many years, I cranked out some pretty decent meals every day.  EVERY day.   Quite the feat considering I had one extremely picky eater and two others that had, shall we say, a somewhat limited palate. 

For the past school year with all three kids off to college, cooking had become a bit easier.  The hubby will eat pretty much anything.   But now it's summertime and 2 kids are home which means back to the drawing board with figuring out what to fix.

This evening my hubby was working, my son had opted for fast food (I don't complain...he NEEDS those extra calories!) and I was heading out the door to have dinner with a friend.  So to ease my mommy-guilt over eating out while my daughter was left home with a half empty fridge, I asked if she would like me to fix her something.  Her response to "what would you like me to cook for you?" was "I don't know what I want." 

I wanted to scream! 

Actually, I wanted to say..."I can't help you if you don't know what you want!" 

And that, as they say, was my "Oprah A-ha moment."

I have been waiting for some time now for providence to move.  For the universe to rise up and meet me.   For the path to be laid out before me.  BUT providence is waiting for me.  Waiting for ME to decide.  Providence cannot move until I figure out what it is that I really, truly want.   What I am willing and eager to commit to. 

After years of living my life for my kids it's a little daunting (although also exciting!) to make those decisions {somewhat} free of the mommy-strings.   I've had some general ideas rolling around in my head for awhile but I think it's time to get clear...and to commit. 

What about you?  What kinds of things have shown up in your life to help you on your journey?

Remember to stop by Tracey's blog Notes from a Cottage Industry for more inspiring quotes.

Addict's Blog Hop!

Looking for some scrap inspiration?  I found this little blog hop on the blog, The Art of Scrapbooking by Melissa Samuels.  Hop on...

So Inspired...Words to Live By...21

 

Life shrinks or expands
in proportion to one's courage. 
~Anaïs Nin

Wishing you a courageous week filled with expansion!  :)

Need more inspiration?  Stop by Notes from a Cottage Industry for more quotes!

 

A little antiquing along the way

Last weekend Arielle and I went on a little road trip.  We were heading down Rt. 55 heading towards Edwardsville when we came upon this:

I laughed out loud.  Not JUST because it's a PINK elephant...correction...a BRIGHT pink elephant, but because it looked VERY familiar! 

A while back Elsie Flannigan posted some pictures of the same antique mall on her blog A Beautiful Mess.  When I read her post I wondered where this little gem was because she was talking about driving through St. Louis on her way to Chicago.  So, as we were trekking down towards St. Louis the thought had crossed my mind as to whether we might see this.  Luckily for me, Arielle is up for anything and we had some time, so we stopped.

Arielle and Marilyn!

  

The spaceship! (and someone's car!)

A really big bike!

A really tall boy.

   And, finally....the ICE CREAM! 

The ice cream was awesome but of course, it was HOT outside so there wasn't time to actually savor it!  It was more of a eat-it-quick-before-it-melts-all-over-your-clothes sort of thing.  We had fun though...and I picked up a few little treasures to incorporate into my scrapbooking.  So, all in all we were happy with our little detour.  :)

 

Disney Vacation Anyone?

Over the weekend I discovered a new scrapbook store.  Gotta love it when that happens!  Unfortunately it was in a town about 4-1/2 hours away.  A town I've never been too before and probably won't be going back to anytime soon.  Anyway, the owner was very nice and since the store was not full of customers (sad for her I'm sure), she spent some time chatting with me.  Gave me lots of new ideas.  One of them was the idea for this larger paper bag book.

 

The book covers are full size paper bags, uncut and unfolded.  They have chipboard inserts which gives the covers some weight and stability.  Then inside....the pages cascade!

Since I hadn't done a Disney book for a long time I thought this was the perfect opportunity to dig out the red, black, and white  (and a little bit of yellow) and get started.

I forgot how fun The Mouse is!

For those of you who have been looking for  a "mini" scrapbook with a bit more space for photos...this is it!  The pages are bigger plus there is SO much room on the inserts!

 

The scrapbook is available in my Etsy shop!  Remember custom orders are also available. You can either send me a convo on Etsy...or pop me an email...or leave a comment below!

I also spent a significant amount of time over the weekend devouring the latest editions of the newest Stampington publications.  Talk about feeling inspired!  I love these magazines!  They really get the creative juices flowing.  Which reminds me....I have [creative] work to do.....  ;)

So Inspired...Words to Live By...20

 

Not all those who wander are lost.

- J. R. R. Tolkien

 

Just got back from a road trip.  SO exhausted!  AND we barely got lost at all!  :)   I'll try to post some pics tomorrow when my brain can actually function!

Remember to hop over to Notes from a Cottage Industry to check out Tracey's quote...as well as a host of others.  Have a happy week.  :)

So Inspired...Words to Live By...19

H2O:  two parts Heart and one part Obsession. 

~Author Unknown

The weather here in Northwest Illinois has been beautiful the past couple of days.  Last year we hardly used the pool at all because it was so cool and dreary but this summer so far has been awesome!   So much so that it has inspired me to work on a few summertime scrapbooks.  These can be found in my Etsy shop!

Remember to stop by Tracey's blog:  Notes from a Cottage Industry to see the list of inspiring quotes for the week!

Happy 4th...hope you get to enjoy the sunshine!  :)