Insta Friday

Insta Friday is here again...

Dogwoods

Bus Stop adventures

Skin looking great on the JUICE

Violets are everywhere

Clovers

Converse

Creamy tomato love

Morning rays

I truly don't know where the heck this week went

I have been really working at the Visual eating thing

and in the course have sort of become

Tumblr addicted...

I started two blogs there...

Check them out if you like

I started this one as inspiration for Visual Eating..

high-among-the-waves.tumblr.com 

then I started this one just for self expression

go-there.tumblr.com 
Let me know what you think...
Hope you have a lovely weekend 
and for most of us
a great start to Spring Break!

Sorry no thrift...but I have lost something....

SO

Visual Eating works for me!

I have lost 7 lbs!

My new routine is instead of turning on the news every morning

I go cut up my breakfast

and either juice it or bake it.

The collage on the refrigerator helps

keep me focused.

Then I spend my online time in the morning.

I get done what I usually do and then

I spend some time with my Tumblr account.

There are a few that help to inspire me and I started my own.

Here is the collage in the kitchen

 

(I plan on adding more)

and here is my other new best friend

My Juicer...

It has not been easy..

but for some reason easier than it has been before

Someone said 

"I stopped thinking of all the things I couldn't have

and started thinking of all the things I could have"

I also think seeing the reminders

of what I want to achieve

and repeating some of the positive thoughts that are sprinkled throughout

the Tumblr pages helps me tremendously...

Next I have to tackle getting out there and MOVING it!

If you'd like to have a peek at my Tumblr

blog here it is

high-amoung-the-waves

Basically

Happy thoughts

places I love 

things that make me smile

beautiful clothes

and of course

lovely healthy food

Happy Monday Everyone!

I'll be back at thrifting in a few days!

 

Insta Friday and other thoughts............

Another week almost over...

Where the heck did it go?

So far the Visual Eating has worked!

Not done with my collage yet

I will share it as soon as I'm done!

Here is a bit of the past week in Instagram...

We were outdoors a lot

and I'm paying with my allergies now!

 Spring has Sprung...

The weeds are already here ...

Spicy Sushi Love...

Little Keeper's buddy told him his shoes were "Cool"

now he won't wear any other shoes!

Old Blue...

Foggy start...

Cheese...

Run..

My favorites are here...

Dew Drops like jewels...

Protector of the bulbs

(dang squirrels!)

Ham...

Hope you have a great Friday wherever you are!

 

HMMM...Ideas...

I've been wrestling with a lot of issues lately...

One of them has been food.

I love my nosh.

Of course there is good and too much good.

(I prefer not to say bad because no food should be considered bad)

You know the old saying

"Too much of a good thing?"

I have seen a few documentaries in the past 2 years that have also 

inspired me

but I tend to fall back into old ways when I'm stressed.

Since my work has changed though

I have noticed I don't eat as much as I used to

and especially when I'm being creative

I could care less and often have to stop to make myself eat.

Maybe that whole being creative and HAPPY

thing really go hand in hand?!

The other day while looking at Pinterest

and Tumblr

I had an idea.

I am such a visually driven person

and who isn't?

Advertisers know if they bombard you with

Cheeseburger and Lucky Charms ads

that quite a number of people will respond and have to have what they saw.

So

my idea was

to put lovely photos of some of the most healthy

good for you foods and the lovely

things I want to wear

onto the front of the fridge.

Examples:

 via

via

via

ModCloth

Ruche
You get the point right?
I think I'm going to call it 
the Inspired Eats collage?
This week I'm going to clean off the fridge and see if I can
get the printer to work
and I'll show you what I come up with!
Are you having any challenges right now?
I encourage you to come up with an "out-of-the-box" approach.
Maybe it will be one of the best ideas you never tried!
Happy Tuesday all!

It's waaay past your bedtime....

Who would have thought

my little keeper would enjoy sitting and looking

with me through some

of my favorites on Tumbler?

There's always hope for that spark of creativity

maybe a photographer?

Or maybe he just likes the pretty girls...

Whatever it is,

I'm digging it.

This is some great quality time.

OOPS.

It's past your bedtime!

Here are two of my young favorites...

bohemianflowergirl

boho-euphoria

Ohhh to be young like this again...

these girls inspire me with their images.

Happy Monday  evening!

Happy St.Patrick's Day

Do you have that favorite piece of jewelry

that you almost always wear?

In honor of  St.Patricks day

I wanted to share this lovely 

necklace I purchased a few years ago.

 This reproduction pendant was made in Ireland
this side has a lovely piece of Connemara marble

This side has an image of Mary on it.
I loved that it had an antique feel to it.
The story was that the designers mother wore one like it
and he decided to reproduce it.
After the little guy heads off to bed...
time tonight for the annual viewing of.....

 I wrote about it last year
here
  Do you have any St.Patrick's Day
traditions?
Hope you have a great one!

Insta Friday............

Snippets of last two weeks....

Fort Quilt
Perfectly purple nails
Reading
A few of my mixed media pieces
Art and Soul VA
On the road
Cake
Springtime Sunlight
Mexican dresses
Coffee stops
Eat your fruits and veg
Buddhist monks at my favorite Pho restaurant

Hope you had a wonderful week
and are looking forward to a great weekend!

New Times.....

Sitting here with my coffee ...

reflecting on the last few years and where they have led our family.

They have been difficult

but have changed our outlook on life in a number of ways.

We have definitely had judgement passed on our situation and personal choices.

A very wise teacher once said to me when I was a teenager

 that before you judge or make assumptions about people

you should always remember that you don't know

what their real life is like.

You don't know what their experiences have been.

That has stayed with me maybe more than anything else I learned in school.

I would love for people to step back and take a moment

to think about the things they assume about people.

Example-

"She is such a pain when she comes over-I don't want to deal with her, ugh!"

I used to hear people say things like this

all the time.

One day I decided I was going to not let this person ruin my morning.

After I let the wall down-

(that she was going to be annoying no matter what)

I spent time really trying to get the person to open up

and I LISTENED...

This person was such a PAIN

because she was really scared deep down.

Once I tapped into that realization it changed all together how I dealt with his person.

Example-

"I just can't understand why he is so unfriendly, I have tried to talk to him

but we get nowhere. he is just a jerk."

Sometimes people have such inner struggles they only let in a very few

people into their lives.

Issues with trust usually have a reason behind them.

I think what I am trying to say is

You don't have to push people to be what you think they should be.

I had to accept a long time ago that not everyone thinks like me.

If all our friends and family were the same how boring would that be?

I have the one friend who is ALWAYS late.

A great person who would do anything for you but will be about 15 min late to help you.

One friend who is honestly eternally a 17 year old boy...

Another great person who is just enjoying his earlier years waay too much to step into

adulthood yet.

(BUT - he lost his dad when he was a teenager . Backstory?)

 One friend who can't say no.

Mother to all, will do anything for you, and gives her heart 100% to everything she does.

Growing up

she had nothing and had no help.

She is not starved for attention or Mrs. Perfect

she sometimes to her own peril can't stop giving because she wished someone

had been that way for her growing up.

One friend who really doesn't talk much and may take YEARS for him to

really warm up to anyone.

Do you know what his childhood was really like?

Not everyone grew up with Mr. and Mrs. Brady.

Maybe he never really learned the social skills that some of us did

and maybe he guards his heart so strongly that rarely anyone gets close to it

so he won't get hurt.

I know we as individuals have been misunderstood

so we should give others the same consideration.

 Just take a moment to think about how YOU treat people

and the judgements you pass.

You may gain a whole new insight into your world

and it could become such a better place to live.

Goodies in the Bag!

The last week has been so busy!

I managed to squeeze in some time for vintage goodness

thanks to

Artistic Artifacts 

I am splitting up the finds I had into two posts

because there were so many!

 

I found this lovely tablecloth in some

colors I don't have yet for $6.00

 These lovely tiny spools of tatting threads
were .25 cents each

This lovely little English lady
was only $3.00
I couldn't resist the colors and the flowers in the skirt
so many little precious elements to her!

 These two Vintage Hallmark
Party Games books
are full of pages of games, etc.
I loved the colors to the one on the right...

 Lastly I always love a little Christmas!
These gummed stickers were $2.00
I'm not sure how many pages there are
but it is a nice thick little stack!
I also couldn't resist the Santa
I got 3 for $2.00!

Head on over to 
Apron Thrift Girl 
and check out what everyone else found!
 

Thankfulness...

This has been a BUSY week

Art and Soul 2012

My little one is sick

and

most importantly my husband 

after 2 and a half long years has finally landed a job!

So I thought it was appropriate to share this.....

 One in a series of about

8 that I made this week.

I had so much fun learning this process

which I will share with you in a later post.

I just wanted to say from the bottom of my heart 

Thank You to all

who have been so supportive

and have prayed for us from all across the country

We feel truly blessed.

Thrifty and crafty....

This week for 

Thriftshare I decided to just show

one item.

Mainly because I have been looking for almost a year

for the perfect piece

to place in this Niche' that I made last May....

 This Virgin Mary from a vintage nativity

jumped out at me from a bottom shelf at the local CHKD....

she was only .79 cents!

I made the Niche' at one of Sally Jean Alexanders classes.

Every bit of that was put together by Moi!

The top is broken pieces of a crystal bowl...

The beautiful thing about it is that you can 

place one of those battery operated tea lights in the bottom

to shine through and illuminate the object inside.

There should be a back on this but I wanted

you to be able to see through the glass.

That little .79 cent piece is what I finally needed!

How amazing is the power of Thrift?!

Happy Monday all!

Art and Soul kind of week....

 Art and Soul 2012

is back in Virginia for the week.

This year they moved to Va.Beach from the original location.

I must admit that although it isn't right in my backyard anymore

that being at the beach is nice for all the people who travel here for the event.

Last night the local group who have been getting together during the year

and have adopted the name

TAG

had a potluck before Vendor night.

I have not been able to get up with the group

since last May.

So last night was the perfect time for me to meet 

everyone.

I already knew a few people and met a lot of wonderful new ones.

Small world but one sweet gal I met I recognized right away...

although we had never met.

I knew her face because she follows my Pinterest boards!

How crazy is that!

It was so cool to meet her!

After we all ate ,made some trades, and gabbed A LOT!

We headed downstairs to Vendor night...

This is like Christmas for Artists...

Lots of beautiful artwork for sale, jewelry ,

and more fabric, Ephemera,trim, supplies, bits and pieces of vintage

than one person could hope for.

Just a peek...

I will post later in the week all the goodies I scored!

It was a blast..

I stayed for 2 hours before I headed home.

I will be taking a class in transformational painting

and then one from the master herself
Sally Jean Alexander 

 

 

 Making this interesting item

 A "Merry go Round" made from an old hand mixer and all kinds 

of soldered goodness!

I can't wait.

I absolutely love Sally Jean

she is such a wonderful teacher and so much FUN

this will be my 3rd class with her 

I have adopted the saying 

that if

"you didn't get burned, you didn't have fun"

might sound awful but so funny.

I 'll be sharing some Instagrams and the projects I finish during the week.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Dr.Seuss....

I thought I would share a little

of our 

themed party we had for Little Keeper
(Back in January)

in honor of Dr.Seuss Birthday this week.

I really enjoy coming up

with a theme for his parties and trying to go the extra mile.

I have these creative skills so

I feel like I should use them and not just buy everything.

The Little guy has really been into Dr.Seuss this year so it was an easy 

choice this time!

Here is one trick that I use

that can make a room seem extra special

 I like to take colored streamers

and drape them from the ceiling in the center of our dining room

I also used glittered stars and cutouts of the Cats Hat

How do I get them up there?

A Swiffer and packing tape!

We used the red/blue and black themed colors like Thing 1 and Thing 2 wear

During the year I purchased a few of the different

character stuffed animals Kohl's sold a few years ago on E-Bay

I tried to get the best deals possible

I even found two at our local Thrift Store for .99cents!

We already had a huge collection of the Dr.Seuss books

so I spread those around as well for decoration.

 I made the bunting from a 4th of July set and added the Hats to it...

We left our pet fish on the mantel for the "Fish in the Pot"

 We had several decks of Dr.Seuss flash cards

so I decided to use them as well...

I spelled his name with this set

and used the number set with his cake for his "4" th

The little box was from the dollar spot at Target!

We lucked out that they just happened to do this in the Spot during the summer!

I also thought for a fun filler I would use a bunch of the craft

pom-poms I had

sort of like Truffula Trees and the Clover from Horton

 I made up our own

"Who-Party-Menu"

Mount Crumpet Trumpets

(Bugles corn chips)

Green Eggs and Ham

(Picture to follow- white chocolate, green m&m's with pretzel sticks)

Red fish,Blue fish,Goldfish crackers

 Prairie of Prax Gummy snax

(simple gummy snacks in bags)

Thing One and Thing Two marshmallows Blue

(I made marshmallow pops dipped in blue chocolate with red sprinkles)

 Hop on Popcorn bags

Who Sweets

(assorted candy in the colors of the party - red licorice,etc)

Barbaloot Fruit Juice

(blue Hugs drinks)

and 

Pink Yink Ink Drink

( Pink Hugs Drinks)

Cat in the hat cakes

(cupcakes!)

(wow the table looks really full now, I don't remember it looking THAT full!)

 We made our cupcakes 

and I used stickers attached to drink stirrers for the decorations

I swirled different food colorings into the batter for rainbow effect!

There are several Dr.Seuss games out there right now

but you can find them on E-bay at a better price.

I lucked out and on 3 different occasions found them in thrift stores.

2 of them had never been opened!

The kids really loved this one

where you wore this Horton mask

and tried to pick up Clovers with the trunk!

 The kids didn't even care about the "game" part of it..

they just got a thrill out of picking them up!

 There are even some cool

Dr.Seuss photo Apps for Ipod/Iphone

that we used

for pictures of the guests!

We also played any of the DVD's we had of Dr.Seuss movies

like the Lorax, Green  Eggs and Ham,  The cat in the Hat, The Grinch, etc.

All in all it was a great day!

I really tried to make use of things we had

and inexpensive things I found over the period of a few months.

A great resource for ideas is of course the internet.

There is also a site called

seussville 

that has lots of great ideas,games,and downloads especially for parties.

Hope you have a little Seusslike fun

and read a great story by the master...

I often think his books were really meant for

adults...

I have given this as a graduation gift before...

I read it to my son a few weeks ago

and it struck me

how motivational it could be

for even a family as ourselves going through some

major economy driven issues.

I think you just feel better no matter what Dr.Seuss book you pick up,

and 

if you don't

well even the Grinch had a change of heart...

Happy Birthday Mr.Geisel

I hope you all enjoyed our little show.

What a week!

Have you ever uttered the phrase..

"It has been one of THOSE days?"

After recent events it feels like it has been

"One of those weeks"

Extreme highs and extreme lows..

I don't even want to get into it yet 

for fear of jinxing what is going on...

so instead I'll leave you with images of some of the

more calming

and fun parts of the week....

 I'm thinking of making a weekly Instagram

re-cap every week...

I love that you can capture small moments 

without having to lug out the ol' Big Girl Camera!

Thanks to everyone for their love, support and prayers this week!

Happy Weekend to all!