Time Flies- JORD Wood Watches

Before I was married, I used to be all about the accessories. Hats, necklaces, crazy colored earrings. Each outfit I owned had perfectly coordinated jewelry to go with it. Then when I became self-employed and started working from home, the effort that I used to put into my wardrobe seemed to slip away, and ease and comfort were high on my list of clothing priorities. 

Effortlessly simple was my newly married style.

Now, as a mom, effortless and mindless seem to rule my world. Long dangling necklaces and earrings became a thing of the past, and have been replaced with bracelets I wear everyday and this amazing watch from JORD Wood Watches, so I can somehow manage to stay on task & be on time. 

I've been drooling over these watches for quite some time now, and knew it would be a perfect addition to my daily arm party! I'm obsessed with the Cora Series! When I saw the mixture of Turquoise and Zebrawood, I knew this was going to go perfectly with my style, and it makes me love it even more that the brand is called JORD!! If you've never gone to their site to look at all their gorgeous time pieces, you NEED to!! If I could, I would buy every single style, for me and for Ryan!! 

Ladies Wooden Watches

Collaboration with Amy Tangerine + Pro World

I had the absolute HONOR of getting asked by Amy Tangerine to work on a fun little project with her and Pro World. I have been a follower of Amy Tangerine's work for quite a while, and I'm pretty sure she was one of the first artists I started following on Instagram back in 2011. Her bright colors and beautiful photos immediately sucked me in, and she inspired me daily! 

When Amy contacted me out of the blue, to work on a project with her, I'm not going to lie, I completely geeked out and had a fan-girl moment! She asked if I would submit a design to be printed on tee-shirts in order to promote the launch of Pro World's new custom website! They've made it incredibly easy to upload your own custom designs!! She asked for something, fun and inspirational, and so I began searching for words of encouragement! 

I had this quote penciled at the top of a page in my sketch book to work on later, and when I came across it I knew it was exactly what I should do. "Every Artist was once an Amateur" This speaks to me so much because I'm one of those people who hates not being good at something right off the bat, and when it takes work and practice, I'm usually the one to throw in the towel and give up. But for some reason, handlettering was not something I was quick to give up on.

It started out, like many of my endeavors do, as a hobby, I had it on my bucket list to get better handwriting and it seemed like a good enough time as any to start! It's now become my form of meditation, as I take a quote from idea, to sketch, to ink and then finally as I photograph the final image, it feels like a rhythmic melody I get to play every day. Most of my work lives only on Instagram, meant to encourage others on the daily and be a source of inspiration, but every now and then I get a wonderful opportunity to share my art with the world. I'm so grateful to Amy & Pro World, for giving me this opportunity to see my designs on something other than paper! Getting the chance to actually wear your designs is a pretty incredible feeling, made even more incredible when people actually recognize your style as your own!

All my designs usually start out as a pencil drawing, and I sketch out a few different ideas before I pick the final to ink. I just use cheap lined notebooks from TJ Maxx or Marshalls to keep my spacing. Then when I'm ready to finalize, I use a slightly translucent layout paper and finalize the design using my favorite TomBow Fudenosuke brush pens! Not all my designs are done this way, sometimes I simply freehand with the markers, but when I know I want something to be perfect I start with pencil. 

Thank you again Amy Tangerine + Pro World, for having me be a part of this amazing launch!! If you haven't checked out Amy Tangerine, or Pro World, YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD! They're amazing and Amy is such a sweetheart!! Here are some fun photos of Jonathan & his friends Travis + Theo and their mama, Autumn, wearing the shirts! <3 

Less Hustle, More Grace

Do you ever just get a quote or saying stuck in your head and wonder, why is this repeated to me over and over? My belief is that is God's way of trying to get you to hear His voice. The word "grace" has been one that has been on replay in mind the last few months, whether I'm giving myself grace, or giving others grace, it's been a constant theme. To be completely honest, it was never really a word that I thought much of, and also always said I would never consider it for a child's name. (Just another time where God tells me to stop saying "never" because now I really love it and what it has come to mean to me this past year)

So when I felt this pull to design a small set of tumblers for my shop, I knew I wanted it to say something that was a personal message to myself every day. Because I've come to realize that if it's something I need to hear, it's something I know other people are needing to hear as well. So then "less hustle, more grace" was born. I know I didn't come up with it, but I've been seeing it as a constant theme around the interwebs, and thought it was perfect!

It's so easy for me to compare my bad days to that of other's highlight reels on Instagram, but yet I still do it. I think, man, if I could only hustle as hard as that person, or have as much time to work on stuff as another person. I compare my workdays to that of single girls or newly married ladies without children, people who have daily struggles all their own. But my struggles of taking care of a two year old and a house and husband, might not actually be their struggle, so it's really like comparing apples to oranges. //DOES NOT COMPUTE// And someone, somewhere might be wishing they had my struggles! (And even calling them struggles, bothers me, because struggling to find time to work, isn't really a struggle. It's basically finding time to do something that is merely a distraction from my most important work as a wife and mother) But you get where I'm going with this right? 

Let me be clear, hustling is not a bad thing. You need to hustle. But we all need a little more grace in our lives, because without it we are nothing.  

What I Really Need

Oh, you know what I really need? Warmth. Sunlight. Family time. Possibly even a strong tequila-beverage. I just feel so beat down. This winter seemed so long and harsh even though it was actually a very mild winter here in Michigan. 

I need flowers. I need house projects. I need walks outside with my son. And mostly I just need grace. I make myself feel like I need to be everything to everyone. I have to be at my best all the time. I need to Be healthy and active with adorable clothes and a perfect life with all the answers. But when I'm 100% honest, I'd tell you I'm drowning. 

My day is primarily comprised of motherhood, with days of cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry and meal planning thrown in for good measure. A few sprinkles of husband time & Add in a few dashes of emails, handlettering, miscellaneous projects and social media, and you have my life. There is not time for extras. No social gatherings. No book club. Not many friends outside of my immediate family members. I may SEEM social, but I promise you, I'm not. 

I don't say this to seek sympathy or get an invite to your next party, I say this so that maybe others who are feeling the same way don't feel lonely. I work so hard to simply stay afloat on the daily. Today as I texted my husband who is off to work, "I really miss you" tears streamed down my face because I really really do miss him. And I see him daily. He's not off in the military or on a work trip. He's here. With me. Everyday. But I miss him so much that it hurts. We're busy. And I HATE THAT WORD. Busy. I cringe every time I read it in peoples messages to me, because I sometimes I wish I wasn't. 

A few years ago I listened to an online webinar about being present & choosing what matters. It was about taking 5-10 minutes out of your day to simply lay in the grass, or go and share an ice cream cone with your child. At the time I didn't have kids, I was living in an apartment a few hours away from family and spent a lot of my days alone working like crazy from my home office. I felt overwhelmed. You know what is sad? I never corrected anything. I didn't set any new habits in place to be better, to be more intentional with my time, or to make time for what is truly important and what matters.

Soon after that webinar, we decided to move back home, live with my in-laws while we looked for a home to buy. Life became infinitely harder. A few months later we moved into our new house, and were thrust head first into a busy wedding season, followed by a few home projects, followed by finding out I was pregnant, prepping for a child, followed by having a baby, Ryan going back to school for his Masters, then life as new parents, etc. Ups and downs all along the way, but to say I've stopped to lay in the grass, I can honestly say that has only happened once since then. The only reason I know that is because I actually have a photo to prove it. 

Look at how little Jonathan was! It makes me so sad to think that there are never moment of silence for me. Never time for me to be still, to shut out the outside world, to shut out the thoughts in my head about wanting and needing to capture the moment, to answer that e-mail or to be social on social media. There is no off switch. And I'm tired. I'm so angry with myself for having it take me this long to realize that something has to change. 

I'm hoping that by admitting this to the public, that maybe I can be held accountable. When was the last time that you laid in the grass or took time away from the demands of social media and the demands of your job to just BE. I need to do this more, and if I do, I'm sure there are others.