Bridesmaids Weekend

[caption id="attachment_2081" align="alignleft" width="300"] Beautiful Girls. My sweet KK missed the picture and we missed Stevie and Nat.[/caption]

Im so glad you stopped by! I could hardly wait to tell you about the bridesmaids weekend. It's kind of the thing now to do a weekend away for the bride and her bridesmaids. I was really excited about this weekend because I am so in love with MaryCam's bridesmaids and I couldn't think of anything more fun than treating them to a fun and fabulous weekend. I think typically the girls get together and plan this weekend, but I really wanted this to be my gift to them. I wanted them to come to the lake and be on vacation. I wanted them to disconnect from the real world and enjoy each other's company and laugh and sleep and eat and catch up. The weekend was my joy. The girls arrived at the lake house on friday afternoon. They pulled up to the house to find my favorite of all my decorations. The painted pallet.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot take credit for this idea, I found it on pinterest. I loved it. I found an old pallet and sanded it down just a bit. I got some old poster paint and painted a heart on the boards. It took no time. With white acrylic paint I put the bible verse right on the heart. For me, it set the tone for the rest of the weekend. I've actually saved it to use again!



Okay, now the fun begins! I got to make them all a little treat bag. I love surprises. I painted the front of each bag with a white "flowey" dress and outlined it with "here comes the bride."



I used some heart pine left over from flooring my house and cut it to about 5x12. I sanded and stained each board and then painted an angel on each one in a soft blue green color. I signed it and put a bible verse on the back. This was really like giving each girl a piece of my heart.



I hope you can see this pic. Each bag had an angel, a glass that I put the word "bridesmaid" on and filled with kisses, a photo of themselves with MaryCam and of course glow in the dark bracelets. Not pictured are fabulous cookies that Towns made with MaryCam's monogram. They were delicious and gorgeous.



So when the girls arrived this was waiting for them as they entered the house. I thought it turned out great! I considered putting it on their bed, but all together they made such a fun and festive statement. So I put ball jars by their beds with white roses instead. I think it was a good choice.



Is this the cutest thing or what? I had this wood in my studio and I made a stencil and painted the letters L, V, and E. Then I found some old white buttons and glued them on in the shape of a heart. I really loved it. KK said she wants to put it in her room. After I painted, I did lightly sand it to give that aged look.



Okay, I loved this too. ( I am laughing so hard at myself, I love everything) Anyway, this took a little bit more time, but I think it was worth it. I had 5x5 blocks in my studio that I covered in paper. Then I painted and stamped and aged each piece. Then I used my cricut to make vinyl letters to stick on each block. Lastly, I put an eyelet in the top so I could put white wire ribbon on each one. I loved it.



This was a fun little spot. I covered a table in burlap and had a little "station" for crafts and notes. First, how cute is the "S" frame? I found a three dollar frame and sprayed it with metallic spray paint and framed an 8x10 piece of glitter paper. MaryCam is all about some glitter. Then I glued a wooden S for "Shaw" (her soon to be new last name)  right in the middle. Love! I put a flower pot filled with glue, scissors, pens and markers on the table just in case anyone felt the need to be really creative. I also put pink paper on the table and asked each bridesmaid to leave MaryCam a love note in the brown bag. So fun.I made this piece of mixed media for MaryCam to keep in her memory book. I asked each girl to put her thumb print in the center of a flower and then sign a leaf or stem. I really don't know why I did that, but I liked it. It turned out really cool.

I had the most fun decorating the rest of the house with banners and balloons and white roses everywhere. My sweet husband drove me to the lake and helped me decorate the night before the party. It was so much fun. The decorations were a blast, but filling the refrigerator with tons of food was a ball. One of my best friends, Connie, wanted to celebrate MaryCam so she helped me with all the food. Oh my goodness, and was there fun food. We had real food, and snack food, and chips, and dips, and of course there was chocolate.  MaryCam's sweet future mother in law sent breakfast for both mornings. I think it was perfect.

I went up late sunday afternoon after everyone had gone and spent a couple of hours with Towns sitting on the dock hearing about every minute. It made my heart so happy to hear her say what a sweet time it had been. I am tearful now as I think about each girl driving to spend the weekend to celebrate my MaryCam. Each girl has been such a blessing in MaryCam's life and mine! I have sweet memories of each girl and their beautiful smiles. They are amazing young women who I am thankful to know and love as my own. Friends are precious treasures and God has been gracious to bless MaryCam's life with girls that love the Lord and love her. As a mama I could not wish for sweeter friends in her life. To MaryCam's bridesmaids, precious girlfriends, thank you for a perfect weekend. I love you with all my heart.                                love love love a thankful mama, Ruthie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May I introduce you to Horns

[caption id="attachment_2065" align="alignleft" width="237"] Horns
16x20 Canvas Board[/caption]

I am so glad you stopped by. Let me introduce you to Horns.  Horns is really not my favorite name for this sweet mama, but my children give me such a hard time for all my names for the girls that I am a little gun shy. She is the only cow we have with really big horns so we call her Horns. Pretty original. She had a baby last week. So sweet. Mamas and babies in the pasture are one of my favorite things.

Life in the pasture is awesome! There is an amazing sense of family and community among the girls and their babies. It actually reminds me of my old neighborhood when I was little. I had friends in every house on my street. It didn't matter what age anyone was or what school they attended, we were all friends, and everybody's mama was my mama. We were close and we took care of each other. It is the same way in the pasture. All the babies run and play together while the mamas eat and visit and keep a close eye on each one. When we pull into the pasture the mamas run for the truck to say a quick "Hello" then dash off to be first in line to eat dinner. The babies bob and weave in between the truck and their  mamas to get a look at us before they sprint back to the field. When the girls are through eating, they call their babies to come home and eat. It's amazing. Each baby comes immediately and goes directly to their own mama. I think that is fascinating. When they are through with dinner, they mosey out to pasture for bedtime stories.

I was in the art store today taking in the sights and smells of paint and dreaming of what I was going to create next, when I was interrupted by a young mama calling out to her daughter. It was pretty obvious that the mama was not happy that her daughter would not come when she called. The little girl thought it was hilarious and showed no fear as she stood her ground in the crayon isle. After an exchange of heated conversation, a very angry mama about took me down as she appeared out of nowhere running down my isle looking for her daughter. I actually held my breath anticipating the meeting between the two. Believe it or not the end of hide and seek wasn't nearly as explosive as I thought it would be. Sadly, the mama chose distraction rather than discipline, and her daughter learned disobedience is more profitable than obedience.

When mama cows call their babies, they obey the first time. I love that! There's no arguing, no discussion, no distraction, just obedience. First time obedience provides protection and peace. Why are parents so afraid of teaching obedience? Why does our culture laugh at discipline and disrespect authority?  Disciplining our children and teaching first time obedience makes for happier children. It makes every day a lot more fun and makes life much easier down the road for everyone. You only have to look as far as the pasture to see obedience produces happy children. Be brave. Don't be afraid to teach first time obedience. You can do it! Let me know how it goes!         love love love Ruthie

Fun Project for Fall Y'all

I am so glad you stopped by! In Alabama, you would never know it's fall except for friday night high school football, saturday college football, and pumpkins on everybody's front porch! The weather is still warm and the grass is still green, but pumpkins, hay bales, and mums announce fall in full bloom and color. I love it!  To welcome fall, I thought it would be fun to make a fabulous piece of art and show you each step so you could make it along with me! So grab a little imagination and creativity and follow along step by step.

I started with a piece of MDF from Home Depot. I cut it into a 12x12 square. ( If you can't cut your own wood, Home Depot will cut it for you for free ) I sanded my edges just a little and then gathered my supplies. I got mod podge, scissors, foam brush and decorative paper. I covered the board with paper using mod podge.



In this picture you can see that I covered the 12x12 board in paper and even added a border. I chose to use book pages and decorative paper for my border. I put it down with mod lodge.



Next I cut three pumpkins out of decorative paper. I chose orange and pink paper. No reason really, I just like those colors and thought if any of the color came through once I was through painting I would love to see those colors. My pumpkins graduated in size.I cut stems out of paper as well.



Glue them all down with a little mod podge. Number one rule, don't grow attached to your paper! You probably wont be able to see any of the paper at the end. I LOVE to layer. This is just your first layer.



This is kind of fun. Once I glued down my pumpkins, I decided it would be fun to add black birds. Found a little black and white polka dot and cut out easy shapes for birds. This is fun and easy, don't stress over birds. It's just a semi circle with a triangle tail and triangle beak. You can do it. If you want too. It's your piece and you can add anything you like. I thought a cat would be great or candy corns...do what ever you like!



Okay, this is part of my palate. I wanted you to see that I used different shades of orange to paint my pumpkins. Usually when I paint anything, I love to have about three values of that color to add shadows and highlights. I used a palate knife to mix paint and to paint with. I used heavy body acrylics for this project.



I painted these pumpkins a dark orange and then used my knife to add highlights of lighter oranges. Notice you can still see the background paper. Not for long. I mixed up a light green color using sap green, cad yellow, and white and painted it lightly. Have fun with this part. Be creative. Paint your pumpkins any color. I actually thought that neutral colors would have been really nice with a vintage feel. I painted my stems with a raw umber. I also washed my border with raw umber as well.



I cut some leaves out of green patterned paper and then painted them with sap green, cad yellow, and white.



Here you can see the leaves and the background are all painted.



Next I glued leaves, birds, and beaks. I don't know if you can see this, but I put a little fold in the leaf in order to give it a little 3D action. I I did the same thing for the birds wings. I out lined the birds with a little white paint and added a few cult vines with green and white paint. Paint to your hearts content! This is the fun part. You know me, the more layers the better!!!!!



Did I say the last part was the fun part? Who am I kidding? It's all so fun! This is really fun! Get out your stamps and ink and stamp away baby! I do love this part! I stamp all kinds of stuff. One of my fave stamps is a flower and I love to paint the flower. It just adds color and something else to see. I love that! Happy stamping!



Insert any type you like. I out lined and doodled all over this piece with a permanent black pen. Just have fun. Doodle, out line, type, just decorate to your hearts content. There is no wrong move! Go for it!



What do you think? I absolutely love it! The only hard part is figuring out where i'm going to hang it!!!! I drilled a couple of holes in the top corners and put a piece of wire so I could hang it easily! Yea! So fun! So quick and so easy! I absolutely loved creating with you! I hope you had fun in my studio today! Please send me your pics so I can see your creation! I loved hanging out! Thank you for stopping by! love love love Ruthie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angels

[caption id="attachment_2038" align="alignleft" width="224"] My new angel. Approximately 5x12 on old pine barn wood.[/caption]

I'm so glad you stopped by! After my fabulous day of tea parties, I cleaned house today....well, a little. Every time I walked by my studio door I could smell paint and hear my easel calling my name. Cleaning got cut short, and I spent the afternoon in my studio. The really fun part was that Paw Paw came out and painted with me. I can't wait to do his big reveal on his latest piece! You are going to love it. Anyway, while he worked on his painting I was busy painting angels and sheep. I have precious store owners waiting on me to fill a couple of orders and I've been a little slow to get that done. I love painting for gift shops. I love that you can purchase a piece of art for a gift without breaking the bank. I love that you can give a gift that is hand made. I also love to paint angels. For me, an angel is an awesome reminder of God's love and protection over us. Angels are mighty, and they are many. They are God's messengers. Remember when they appeared to the shepherds when Jesus was born. "And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men'" Can you even begin to imagine the incredible view in the heavens that night?

[caption id="attachment_2039" align="alignleft" width="224"] I only have 12 left, email or message me if you want one. $40 First come first serve.[/caption]

As I finished up my order, I had extra paint on my palette and not wanting to waste that, I created a different angel for me. It is painted on a piece of pine barn wood about an inch thick. I cut each piece about 5x 12 give or take a little. I painted each angel with a palette knife and put a hanger on the back. I finished each piece by putting a scripture on back...Psalm 91:11 He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. I have about 12 left. If you'd like one message me or email me through my blog! They are $40.00 and if you live in the United States I will ship to you free. I love thinking that you will have a piece of my heart in your home! Thank you! love love love Ruthie

Wedding Cakes

[caption id="attachment_2033" align="alignleft" width="224"] Peggy McKinney and MaryCam[/caption]

I'm so glad you stopped by. What a fun day MaryCam and I had yesterday! She designed her wedding cake! So fun! She made an appointment with Peggy McKinney of Mckinney Cakes. Peggy is so precious. She met us at the door with a huge hug and a smile and invited us in to look at photo albums full of her gorgeous cakes. We walked in, and I can't even begin to put into words how delicious the room smelled. My mouth began to water within seconds, and I found myself searching the room for cake. The first thing I noticed as I walked in was her pink Mix Master. I love the color pink, and it was mixing stuff that I was hoping to taste! MaryCam was looking through photo albums, and I, of course, was taking in the sights and smells of

[caption id="attachment_2034" align="alignleft" width="224"] We love tea parties!!!!!![/caption]

her "studio." Before I could take it all in, she sweetly served us a plate of cake, cupcakes, and her famous cake filling. She served us water in the most adorable pink goblets from a silver pitcher. With beautiful music playing in the background and indescribable goodies on my plate, I looked at MaryCam and said "I love tea parties!"

I was listening to the radio yesterday, and more than once there was a conversation about young moms and toddlers. I wished at that very moment for just five minutes with each of those moms. I began to think what I would say if I had only five minutes. My mind went back to the days that I had five children under five. As I culled through so many  memories, I thought, "Five minutes, what would I say?" I decided I would say....drum roll......." LOVE every minute!" Yes, it does go by fast, but that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying to enjoy every day, every minute, even the hard stuff. You are a mom. You are amazing! There is no greater calling. Just be a mama and love it. Play with your children. Don't constantly farm them out to other children. Put your phone away and have conversations with your children. Take them with you to the grocery store. Don't dread those things. Make it fun!  Teach them colors, shapes, fruits, and vegetables. Don't hand them your phone to play games and keep them quiet and occupied. Interact with them and nurture your relationships all day long! It's so much fun! Some days are longer than others, but your season of life with children at home is short. Invest your time and your heart into those days, so that big girl tea parties picking out wedding cakes is your honor and joy!

[caption id="attachment_2035" align="alignleft" width="224"] Obviously the cake was fabulous!!![/caption]

MaryCam and I had the best day. It was such a treat to share that time with her. We sat there eating cake like we were in a fairy tale with no where else to be. I chose a cake with white icing covered in stripes and polka dots made from lime green fondant and loaded with red flowers and strawberries. I think my sweet MaryCam is secretly relieved that there is not a "mother of the bride cake!" She did choose a cake that beautifully describes her. It was the most fun morning. Enjoy your morning with your babies. Love every minute! You are a sweet mama! You are amazing!

love love love Ruthie

Picture Frames you can Make

I'm so glad you stopped by! I've been creating fun things in my studio. KK and I saw some frames we really liked when we were out of town and decided to created some of our own. I thought you might like to see what we came up with.



 

First I got a piece of MDF from Home Depot. Now Home Depot will cut it for you, but I decided to bring this piece home and let my sweet husband cut it... quality time!!! I measured my piece to be 8"X12". No reason. I just eyeballed it and liked it.



I sanded my edges just a little and then stained the board. I typically use a light stain on my wood, but I chose a darker color for this project. I want the dark color to show through later on.



It doesn't have to be perfect. But for this project I wanted to be sure my edges were stained well.



Paint your background. Because I had such a dark stain I  painted two coats. I chose green just because it's one of my favorite colors. You could use any color. Don't forget to paint the sides.



The fun part! After the background paint is completely dry, grab a stencil and your second favorite color and paint away! I chose a cream color to stencil and I did do two coats here too.



I love it! I got a piece of sand paper and sanded my edges and a little off the middle to give  it a vintage aged look. It's hard to see from this photo, but the dark stain coming through after I sanded is a really cool look. Let it dry.



Do you love it? I love it! OK, a couple of things you can do here. I was throwing away some old frames and I saved the glass. So this particular project I used that old glass. I used carpet nails and slid the glass right in and the picture behind. IF you wanted to use an acrylic frame you could do that and just glue it in place or use the nails either way. I just like the look of the nails. You can actually see the stain coming through on this pic. I think it turned out perfectly. You could embellish with type or twine or anything really. I just liked it plain and simple this time.



To finish the project, I put a little hanger on the back. You can find them anywhere. They are easy to add. I had an old library card envelope that  I put on the back and put a card in it with my information on it. How fun is that? You could paint the back if you wanted to, I chose to leave it plain. I like it!  Have fun crafting! Send me pictures! I'd love to know what you think! Leave me a comment!                                                 love love love Ruthie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dead Lifts

[caption id="attachment_2016" align="alignleft" width="224"] Derby Girl
Oil on Canvas[/caption]

I'm so glad you stopped by. I was in the gym yesterday with my precious friends Connie and Su Su. We work out together almost every day. When I walked in yesterday I noticed there were dead lifts in the workout. ( Dead lifts are not my favorite...at all) We warmed up and then made our way over to the bars. As I stood staring at my weights, I was trying to calculate how much it weighed. Before I could even add it all up, I turned to the trainer and told him I didn't think I could lift it. He walked past me and patted me on the shoulder and said "You can do it. It's in your mind." I stood there a minute to convince myself that I could do it, then squatted to the bar and adjusted my hands. I tuned out all the sound around me to where all I could hear were my thoughts, my worst enemy. I stepped away from the bar to get it together, again. I was fighting being emotional. After a few deep breaths, I moved in again. I slowly but surely lifted the weight five times in a row. After the fifth time I dropped the weight  and asked the trainer to take off some of the weight. I had 25 more to go and there was no way I could lift that thing 25 more times. He tried to persuade me to leave the weight on the bar. He had watched me lift the weight and he believed I could complete the workout with no problem. I did not believe him. I did not trust his decision and asked him to take it off. He took off 10 pounds and I flew through six rounds of dead lifts, 15 box jumps, and 20 weighted ball slams.

I have to admit, when I was finished, I was a little disappointed in myself. I chose to stay within my comfort zone, a weight I'd lifted 100 times before. I didn't trust the wisdom of the expert. He trains everyday, all day, it's what he does. His job is to train me and make me stronger. Yet I am only as strong as I think I am. In other words, I chose to trust in myself rather than the expert.

Question....Do you know God? Talk about strength! He created the Universe! Maybe you've heard about Him? He knows you, He made you! Maybe you've heard the stories about how He parted the Red Sea, or flooded the earth, or calmed the storm with just a breath. The most powerful thing He did was to send His only son to earth to die on the cross for your sins and mine. He did that because He loved you and me. John 3:16. He is mighty. He is amazing. He lives in me. I am His and I have complete access to His power and might every day all day. Yet, so often I am only as strong as I think I am. I choose to live in my own strength trusting in my own limited abilities. He is power. He has no limitations. He is God! He is enough!  "Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They shall  mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

Love love love Ruthie