Where have we been?

Thanks so much to everyone who has sent well wishes to me and my family, it really means a lot to us!  We could just hug each and every one of you!  But, I doubt you would want to come that close so virtual hugs to you!!

In case you weren't aware, my entire family has been sick off and on (mostly on) for going on a month now.  First it was a vicious head cold that just wouldn't go away and now the flu.  Around here, head colds and the flu go hand in hand with ear and sinus infections and bronchitis.  Three of us are now on antibiotics so there is a light at the end of the tunnel! 

Mike has barely left his room over the last four days.  He staggers out for a drink and medicine once in a while then disappears again to bury himself in his covers.  At 17, he prefers to hide rather than be babied by his mom!

Little James hasn't been to school in over a week.  He spends most of his time laying on the couch working in a puzzle book.  He doesn't mind Mommy babying him at all :)

 Eli's antibiotic has upset his tummy so now our poor four year old has an ear infection, a sinus infection, the flu and a messy tummy.  Every time I look at him it makes me to sad to see him suffering.

 James has been working getting orders out every day.  I even caught him raking leaves on Saturday!  He so rarely gets sick, he has no idea how to rest.  

I am working in the studio a little bit every day and trying to answers emails from my spot on the couch with the laptop.  We're trying to get orders out as quickly as we can, please be patient with us.  We'll be back up to full speed soon, hopefully!

One Word

Rather than make a bunch of new years resolutions that I wouldn't keep for more than oh...two or three hours I decided to find a word that would inspire me all year long.  A word that would make a real difference in my life.

 It's not as easy to come up with a word as you may think.

  For me there was a lot of pondering, soul searching and praying involved.

Mostly praying.

My search led me to Ali Edwards who may very well be the original thinker-upper of this one word concept. Check out her blog, it's very inspiring as you begin this one word journey.

Your word can be something that you aspire to or something that you need to let go.  

It can be something powerful or it can be something soothing.  

It can be a call to action or a whisper of peace. 

You can let the whole word know your word and why you chose it or you can keep it between you and God.  

It's completely up to you, it's your word. 

My Word is Enjoy.  

I'll tell you more about it tomorrow.  I am excited about this and I hope you are encouraged to choose a word that means something special to you.

Let's Enjoy this journey together, shall we?

New Designs

It's been a while since I posted any new designs here on the blog.  I always post them to Facebook and Twitter so if you really want to see the newest designs as they are released friend/follow us!

I've been thinking about little girl's rooms a lot lately.  I don't know why, our little girl is 20 years old and no, there won't be any more baby girls for us! 

Sometimes the Smallest Things

Butterfly Name

Cute Owl in Tree

Paisley Set of Six

Girl Owl with Name

We didn't forget about the boys!

Cute Boy Owl with Name

Sock Monkey Name

and of course, our chalkboard tags!  We'll be listing more chalkboard designs soon!

We'll also be listing new monograms and sayings soon so keep checking back :)

(Soon to be) My Desk and a Little French Inspiration

We've been planning on working on my mom cave for a while now.  It was supposed to be our project over Thanksgiving break but we worked on the board and batten project instead.  

This mom cave project has changed so many times.  Right now it's our storage/utility room and it's a tiny, uninsulated, dark mess!  I planned to knock out the back wall and double the size of the room so it could also be a guest room (which is something that we need desperately).  I quickly realized that my "go big or go home" take on this project was making it unattainable.  So, now we are back to square one and planning.  Of course, to me, planning means browsing the web for inspiring photos while I am supposed to be cleaning :)

It may sound silly but my vision of this room changed as soon as I saw this pic

This beauty is going to be at the auction tomorrow!  I am swooning over it's gorgeous self!  You know where I will be tomorrow afternoon!

So in my search for a look that goes along with a desk that I don't have and haven't even seen in person (who does that?!) I checked out this great ideabook on Houzz.

Wouldn't my (yes, I am already referring to it as mine) new desk go so fabulously with so many things in the French Larkspur store?  

Vintage French Siphons

Vintage Crate Shelf

heck yeah!  

Check out Tracey's blog too, 

A MAZE ING!  and sooo inspiring!  

I wonder if she will travel to Wilmington to help me with my mom cave?

Home Decor Group- what a boring title!

Every night when I go to bed I read for a few minutes to wind down.  It's a necessary step because after the boys are in bed James and I usually go back to work for a couple hours.  I can't go from work mode to sleep mode without reading mode in between.

Anyhoo, one night last week I was flipping through the newest Better Homes and Gardens and saw an article (which I can't find on their site or would give you a link) about a group of women who meet every couple months at one of the member's houses and do a craft.   Every month it's a different craft and they've been doing it for years, like 15 + years!  

I LOVE this idea!  Working from home with James at the best job ever is fabulous but sometimes I need to speak to someone with a different last name than mine, 

ya-know-what-im-sayin??

So my friend, Missy, who I will introduce you to next week (you are going to love her!) and I decided to get a group started.  We are going to focus more on home decor than on crafts.  I browsed a few of my very favoritest blogs this afternoon and found some fun projects that we may try.  

Gotta have some holiday decor!

Lemonade Makin Mama

Since we live near the beach this coastal inspired flag will be a great project for us!

The Lettered Cottage

Can you even have too many coasters?

Martha Stewart

 I may do this memo board project before the group gets going because I've had the stuff kicking around so long

Thrifty Decor Chick

Loving these DIY frames

Stories of A-Z

I made this pillow a couple weeks ago but I don't mind making another with the group.

I plan on posting a tutorial soon.

 

Traci made a video tutorial for this magnetic board.

 

Beneath My Heart

I am so excited to get this group going (can you tell I don't get out much!?)  What could be better than getting together with friends, having some snacks and creating beautiful things for our homes?

We are just beginning to brain storm this idea. We still need to decide who we want to invite, come up with a name for our group, decide how often we want to meet and that kind of thing.

Are you involved in a group like this?  Any suggestions for us as we start ours?  If you aren't involved in a group is it something that you would like to try?