Daily Dose of Love - Sun :: Energy

Today I wrote this - my new project to promote rediscovering myself and find healing through the passions I keep under lock and key.  I received my first Daily Dose of Love from my camera.  The email message read:

Light me up today baby! Just not with the flash. Point me towards the sun, shoot, and soak in my incredible energy. xo. Your Camera

So here goes nothing -- or hopefully something!

Point the camera towards the sun, shoot.... GOT IT.

Attempt 1 - 4

Well, it's the sun alright.  I will be the first to admit that I am not the best "user" of my camera functions and therefore I feel I failed this simple test my Camera gave me.  The sun was so beautiful, so round, and illuminated everything.  Yet, I could seem to catch the glare.  The light from the sun was just too bright.  Disappointed in my attempt, I laid my camera back down on the table where it had been sitting for the past 2 weeks.

Wait....I was missing the key phrase of my Camera's little love note.... "soak in my incredible energy"  Sun. Soak.  Energy.  Sun. Soak. Energy.  Logan.  My thoughts always return to Logan.  My angel baby.  Brighter than the sun could ever be.  Energy, incredible energy.  My internal sunshine.  Then I saw it, out of the corner of my eye.  The solar powered "dancing flower" that I had bought to remind me of Logan.  He has an exact replica sitting on his gravestone at the cemetery.  This little flower sits still, lifeless, and motionless through the night; but the moment the first evidence of sun light comes into the sky this little flower begins to sway back and forth with slow rhythmic motions.  As the sun comes up over the trees and sets high in the sky, my dancing flower really dances, flapping it's leaves up and down and bobbing it's bud from side to side.  It always makes me smile.  Maybe this is what Beryl meant, I mean, my Camera (yes, I am playing along!).  Maybe the love note wasn't literal but interpretive...just like life.

Here is my "sun, shoot, and soak in my incredible energy."  I took this from the outside looking in (forgive the dirty window) to capture the full affect of both feeling and seeing the affects of the sun and it's incredible energy.  Without the sunlight, my little dancing flower would never dance.  And without it's dancing, my heart would feel less joy.  This is my Logan flower....a flower that never dies and dances constantly in the suns rays.  

Tutu & Flowers Mobile

I'm not sure if it's the "nesting" kicking in or if I've finally found my crafty bone again, but I am on a role with projects and I hope to keep the momentum going.  There are still a few more *adorable* things I'd like to make before Baby Girl arrives - not to mention, I need to start her scrapbook.

After finishing the adorable Owl {always love you} Friend/Pillow I decided I would start on the mobile.  My inspiration was this.  I already had the perfect round styrofoam wreath to work with (my $0.25 yard sale find!).  After playing with the colors a bit; and realizing that my tulle was a little too sheer for the visible styrofoam, I attempted to pain the styrofoam gray.  What a joke!  Styrofoam is porous but also slick.  The paint was both running off and seeping into the pores all at the same time.  This was not going to work.  Back to the drawing board! (The mental drawing board atleast - and back to the nursery.)  When I returned to the nursery I remembered the mobile assembly that came with the crib we had purchased while we were pregnant with Logan.  During that pregnancy I had decided to remove the animal toys attached to the mobile and hand sewed felt stars and a moon and reattached them.  I dug out the assembly.  Three of the 4 stars were missing, but the moon was still there.  OK, so now I have a mobile assembly, white tulle, fishing line, and flowers.  The "circular" design is out, but this crisscross design could work....

The result: a simple but beautiful mobile full of "things" that hold significance.  The moon - Baby Girl's angel brother's moon...as if he's always watching over her.  The gray pearls - the same pearls I used to make pearl necklaces as gifts to my bridesmaids (aka sisters) for our wedding.  The white pearls - the pearls I used for the necklace to wear for my wedding day.  The tulle and flowers -- all for Baby Girl.  When I showed Ryan the finished product he gave me a very genuine "that's cute" followed by "I don't say that word often, but it's very cute.....nearly brought a tear to my eye."  (Yes, I totally just spilled the beans....he's inconceivably smitten with his unborn daughter!  Such a hard external shell but such a softy on the inside.

I can't wait to see the whole nursery come together.  It's going to be elegant, cutesy, peaceful...it's going to be *perfect*.

Owl {always love you} Pillow Friend

My 2nd Pinterest project -- COMPLETE!  Also, my first official "nursery" project done.  Check, check!  Baby Girl's nursery theme:  pink & gray walls, a cherry blossom tree, and two little owl friends sitting in a tree {k-i-s-s-i-n-g?  Not just yet!).  When I first found out I was going to have a daughter I began contemplating what one thing I could give her at birth that she could keep for always.  Natural instinct -- a doll.  I thought I could sew her a raggedy Anne type dolly, after all, I've hand sewn one before, when I was 10 years old.  A doll seemed a little cliche.  So what else?  Then I saw it.  A DIY Owl.  How perfect!  I found the perfect pattern too.  I am IN LOVE with my creation...and even better...I sewed it all by hand!  I do not currently own a sewing machine (although I'm thinking a future investment in one would be good).  My only other option:  to hand sew this little friend.  Can I just say...I am *smitten* by how cute this little owl turned out to be.  I will always tell my daughter "Owl always love you" while wiggling this adorable owl friend in front of her baby face.

The credit for this project and tutorial goes to Toad's Treasures. {{Thank you, Toad's Treasures.  This is definitely a "treasure" find}}

DIY Wall Art

My first Pinterest project complete!  And I could be more pleased.  My house has been sitting stale with little to no decoration and bare gray walls.  Between nesting and my desire to make our home both cheerful and homey, I decided to take up some DIY projects rather than spend a fortune on artwork that means nothing to me.  Ryan like the idea of Wall Art -- quite literally, pieces of wood covered in coordinating scrapbook papers.  I love how this turned out and it adds so much color and life to our living room!  Now all I need is to find the right sconces to go on either side and the wall above our couch will be complete!

For instructions visit this blog:  DIY Wall Art (I manipulated her step by step a little...all part of the DIY process!  But her tutorial is great!)

Only the beginning...

A blog dedicated specifically to my DIYing and crafts is long overdue.  I've been an avid crafter since I can remember, always trying to see things as more than what they are and altering them into a work of art or something useful.  Whether it's scrapbooking, creating invites, sewing a small pillow, creating a scarf, or learning to crochet, I can take pride in the work my hands have created.  Stay tuned!  There are plenty of projects in my future, especially with a little girl on her way.  There are so many pretty things to make for her!