little gatherings

{small stump}

i stumbled upon this sweet blog a few months ago

and haven't been able to get these beautiful little bouquets off my mind

(not that i would want to anyway..)

{small stump}

each sweet collection has an ease and naturalness to it

as if jill has been gathering

little gems from her own garden

{small stump}

i love the casualness of the cans and bottles

she puts them in

{small stump}

{small stump}

and the birch wrapped vases..

{small stump}

and her choice of rich colors and textures..

oh i'm so inspired

and

i hope you are too!

wishing you a gorgeous weekend

full of inspiration

and beautiful things.

xox

it's a sale...

so i'm extra pleased to announce 

that tomorrow 

a really short, but oh so sweet, sale is taking place on etsy!

marichelle of hearthandmade is hosting a 30 minute sale 

in etsy's virtual labs

featuring lots of great sellers

including me

(my very first sale!!!)

as an extra treat

all day thursday (from 8am-midgnight) 

 i will be offering free shipping 

for all of my photos in my photography shop

simply enter 'shoplivepresale'

in the message section of your transaction.

also

during the 'shop live' sale event,

you'll find an even bigger surprise discount 

in my photo shop..

(oh, i'll go ahead and tell you..you know how i am with secrets..

20% off of all prints

from 7-7:30 pm eastern)

sound like fun?

well, it will be!

lots of other great etsy artists will be participating as well

so you're sure to find something(s) you just can't resist.

handmade + etsy + sale = happiness

see you then!

xox

sweet shady places

{debi treloar}

i've been thinking a lot lately

of how lucky i was to grow up in the south..

oh yes,

it was unbelievable hot and humid for so much of the year

(especially those crazy long summers..)

but that heat and humidity created the most lush surroundings

and

keenly created within us southerners

a highly developed appreciation

{debi treloar}

for shade.

and now

(some years later..)

i'm just so full of luscious images and memories

of special shady spaces

my sister and i would find

during the hot moist summer months..

we'd create other worlds beautiful and hidden

playing and napping

for hours under big pink azalea bushes..

{debi treloar}

in caves of dripping ivy..

or way up high in heavy magnolia trees

(the branches were like staircases and just begged to be climbed)

..i can still smell the scent of the flowers and feel the waxy beauty of the leaves..

and find myself now filling my environment with plants

and greenery

{debi treloar}

and now that it's getting warm outside (at last..)

my eyes and my thoughts are drifting towards shady spots

..for tucking away and relaxing

sketching

and

dreaming

{debi treloar}

airy spots

open with warm breezes blowing through

{debi treloar}

and full of natural light..

creative spaces that embody that carefree relaxed feeling

i had as a child.

{debi treloar}

so many of debi treloar's images take me to that place.

she so beautifully captures

that fresh relaxing hide-away feeling

(that i think is actually very possible to create in our own lives)

i'm so unbelievably inspired to turn those memories into reality.

what are you finding inspiring these days?

i'd love to hear.

xox

happy tears

hi all!

i thought i would pop in and help sweeten your sunday

with this beautifully touching video

i just stumbled across.

i love bright eyes..their words are so thoughtful..

and i just discovered

the videos are too...

oh and i dare you not to tear up while your watching

(and listening..)

ahhhh, love.

happy sunday to you

full of sweet things!

xox

filling a space..

***

back in college..

(a few years back..)

my focus was sculpture.

if you know my jewelry work now,

you might be surprised to find out that my sculptures

were on a very (very) large scale.

...huge welded free-standing pieces, taller than me...

that eventually grew into installations that filled rooms and outdoor spaces.

i was young (ish) and dumb (ish)

and took very few photos of my work.

(just enough to get into grad school..)

and so of course i don't have many to show now.

(but i'll dig some up to show you in the future...promise...)

when i saw this video on my sweet friend mrs. french's inspiring blog last week,

my heart swelled and felt a rush of happy familiarity

(and the urge to create installations again..)

the music is beautiful

lisa hannigan has a great voice

the musicians are so sweet to watch

(check out the red ukulele! i am so going to learn someday..)

and of course,

seeing them all work together is so wonderful.

(that's another neat thing i miss...working with other people)

the room they create is gorgeous too..

oh,

just watch and you'll see..

have a gorgeous monday

full of inspiration!

xox

ps. i'll see you friday instead of wednesday because i'll be in nyc for a few days

taking photos, visiting museums, stuffing my face with great food

and best of all,

visiting my sweet friend christina.

xo

tea for two..or three..

{edamame at tao of tea}

there are about 567,894 reasons why i love portland, oregon.

(maybe more, actually..)

and

on a recent trip to lovely pdx,

(for my birthday, yay!)

i took my mom and sister to one of my very very favorite places for tea.

(it's also one of my top reasons for wanting to move to portland..)

it's the original location of

the tao of tea

***

we popped in out of the rain

for a quick cup of tea..

and found that we really didn't want to leave.

it's the sort of place that you just want to linger

and soak up the zen japanese atmosphere

it's so calming and

the beautiful menu is so tempting..

so we stayed

***

for 3 pots of tea

and edamame

***

and these delicate little wraps with spinach leaves

peanuts, toasted chopped coconut with almonds (amazing combination),

tiny bits of fresh lime, fresh ginger and onion.

***

and we were happy.

(and i was especially happy to share this with my beautiful sister and mom.

..thanks for a wonderful birthday guys!)

xox

if you're in the portland area, i highly recommend visiting the original belmont location

or better yet, wait until i'm there and we'll go together.

in the meantime,

have a great weekend full of things you love.

xo

the sweetness of goodbyes and hellos

***

hello dear friends!

oh, i can't believe that it's been almost a month since my last post.

believe me,

i have thought about you guys a lot

and thought about writing..

(oh so many things to write about..too many maybe..)

if you could see behind the curtain..you'd find 6 or 7 started,

but unfinished little postings.

***

the past few weeks have been full

with lots of thinking and feeling

and not a lot of saying.

it was a windy month full of sadness and change.

where i just let my thoughts float and fly away on the breeze..

lots of reflection

and letting go.

***

i said goodbye to my dear old sweet kitty, flipina.

my little girl who had been my pillow and song-partner for 15 years.

(she would always come and sing next to me whenever i'd sing or cry..

she especially loved 'black bird' by the beatles..you know the one)

i said goodbye to my dear aunt as well.

my aunt who lived in guadalajara

and taught us how to make fresh tamales each christmas dinner.

who loved color so much and is probably the reason i ever started making jewelry.

there was a lot of sadness

and so much beauty in it all too.

***

there was lots and lots of reminiscing

and reliving so many memories and so much love.

there's a quiet beauty in tucking those sweet memories in safely into our hearts

feeling thankful for them

and knowing they'll always be there.

***

looking at the explosion of spring flowers everywhere

(is it just me, or are there more blooms this year??)

has me thinking about the nature of change.

seeing buds popping

flowers blooming in all of their glory

and then fading and dropping off so that the trees can grow.

it's an amazingly gorgeous process

when you think about it.

life is change, i suppose.

and i think i'm okay with that.

wishing you a lovely wednesday.

see you friday.

xox