Give Thanks

I touched on the subject a little in my most recent (Nov) life update and 2013 Goals, but I have been spending a lot of time lately counting my blessings and thanking God.

I have been blessed with great family, friends, health, and opportunity (schooling, jobs, etc), but I often forget to thank God for it all.

"What if you woke up with 

only the things you thanked God for 

yesterday?"

This quote really hit me one day... If this were true, I wouldn't have been waking up with a whole lot because I often forget to thank God for all of the things I'm grateful for (even the struggles see Romans 5:3-5).

I tried doing a gratitude journal where I wrote a line or two every day of things I was thankful for.  Unfortunately, I'm not very good at being consistent with remembering to add to it, so it evolved to writing a thank you note to God every couple days to completely forgetting about the journal.

Instead of the journal, I've really made a point to thank God in the moment.  Whenever a really happy/content moment happens or the thought "I love _____" comes to mind, I thank Him (i.e. My puppy is being super sweet... Thank you God for placing this dog in my life at this time.  Thank you for all of her sweet moments, etc.)

I'm still trying to come up with some way to record this or to remind myself to be thankful at all times, but that will develop with time.

The Heart Finds Peace II

I loved my Here the Heart Finds Peace painting so much, that I decided to make my sister one.  I used the same colors we used in her giant three part painting we did a couple weeks ago.

I started out with a plain chevron pattern similar to the underlying pattern in my inspiration fabric (fabric also from Burkina Faso, Africa).  Next, I painted this gold arrow/chevron pattern on top.  Both patterns are so easy to do and the layering effect looks great.  Finally, I used a navy color to stencil in the words. 

Here is the end result:

 And both of them next to each other:

The Heart Finds Peace

I set out on creating a smaller piece using a 6"x6" canvas.  I drew inspiration from this fabric I got from Burkina Faso, Africa (left).  The same fabric I used for my fabric scrap keychain.  I love the colors and layers of patterns, so I wanted to use it as the background of this piece.

Months ago, I read the phrase "Here the heart finds peace" and it has been stuck in my head ever since, but I couldn't remember where I originally read it.  I googled the phrase and I found this quote "At this place abides happiness, here the heart finds peace." from Bavaria, 3rd, by Rodney Bolt.  I'm thinking I may have found this quote when I was reading a book that talks a little about the Neuschwanstein castle... who knows?!

I chose the font and layout I wanted using Adobe Illustrator and printed it out on some thick photo paper.  Exacto'ed out the black parts, taped it to the canvas, and 'stenciled' in the letters.

Once I pulled off the stencil, the letters were a little messy so I tidied them up a little, but I also like it a little rougher.

Sidenote: The low quality pics are from my computer since my camera batteries are dead and I'm too lazy to go buy new ones.  Anyways... Here is the final piece:

update:: I bought some batteries for the camera so here is a clearer picture:

Travel & Adventure

I have a ridiculous amount of inspiration pictures, links, etc. and I want to try doing more posts with things that I'm being drawn to at the moment (as well as more posts in general).  Going along with the worldly theme from earlier in the week...  Here are some travel & adventure quotes:

Designspiration via Pinterest

Where The Heart Is Tumblr via Pinterest

justbreathe831 Tumblr via Pinterest

via Stephanie on Pinterest

My Modern Met via Pinterest

Rebuild Yourself Tumblr via Pinterest