6.23.2010

A Rose, By Any Other Name

This post is going to be a blend of cute pics of current life, as well as meaningful words to a special someone... no names, but if you are reading this, and it speaks to you, then it just may be you that I am speaking to :)

"Even when our life is most difficult, it is important to remember that something within us is keeping us alive, the life force, that lifts us, energizes us, pulls us back sometimes from the abyss of despair. True spirituality does not exist without love of life."
~Nathaniel Branden


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...a poor man's roses or a rich man's gold...

(check out the band in jame's shirt, its amazing)


I am baby sitting my little chihuahua brother Noogs while my dad is gone. He hasnt stayed with me in years. He is such a grumpy but cute little dog. He is definitely a one man dog, and that man is my dad. I miss him though, I dont see him everyday like I use to when I worked with my parents.

He is now on daily heart medicine b/c he was having problems. He pees all the time, he is a mess. But he is my brother and I love him so. He smells like a peanut to me. And he hates his feet being touched. Oh, and his favorite thing is to hump a stuffed football :)

This is my most adorable shirt I bought at Renegade. Its two little girls combing hedgehogs! Doesnt get much cuter than that!

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I have spent the last two days re-vamping my house and it feels so good. I cleared the living room a bit so I can hula hoop inside. I am on day 3 of hooping, although I didnt get to practice today... It may be hard to see, I think you can click on the photo to enlarge, but the dress form on the left is wearing PPP, Violet Bella, and Pennythreads! It all looks so cute together! And I lined up all of my wood blocks on the dresser, love them.

Here is Bella sitting in my sewing corner. (I have corners for everything, my house is small) And yes, this little space is wear all of the sewing magic happens... The blankets are my special blankets, from bottom up is one my nanna crochet, one my aunt lisa (my mom's sister) crocheted, and one my mom made when she was probably younger than me, a crazy quilt patchwork with very cool and old hippie fabrics, many she hand embroidered peace signs and mushrooms on :) one of my most treasured things I have.

As you can see from these photos, Bella follows me everywhere! I mean it. My new bed cover I found at a garage sale for $10!

I rearranged my furniture in my bedroom. I love my bookshelf in the corner. My dad made it. And now you can actually see and sit in my green velvet chair, it was tucked in a corner. The sun quilt is also one my mom hand made when she was very young. I have so many meaningful things she saved. Mothers, save your stuff! You never know what will be meaningful to your daughter one day, especially if you made it by hand! But dont be a hoarder :)

Oh, and the patchwork pillows on the chair I found at a local thrift store for like 10 cents!!! And we got a Liberty Leaf bag at target and use it for our laundry, I love it!

I even rearranged the porch! And I am happy that Violet still gets in her chair since I moved it.

Tomorrow is the kitchen! Im in major overhaul mood!

Now, for more words...

"If we could see that everything, even tragedy, is a gift in disguise, we would then find the best way to nourish the soul"

"over the years, i have learned that every life circumstance, even a crisis, can nourish your soul. at moments like this, we stand at a fork in the road. if we take the fork most commonly traveled, we collapse, we give up, feeling hopeless and defeated. we focus on the negatives, losing ourselves in the 'problem'. we point to our unhappy circumstances to rationalize our negative feelings. this is the easy way out. it takes, after all, very little effort to feel victimized.

ultimately, when you listen to your inner callings, when you 'follow your bliss', you are practicing the art of self-love. many of us have been taught that self-love is negative, narcissistic, and selfish. in fact, self-love is just the opposite. people with genuine self-love feel nurtured and complete: they have something left over for other people. when you look for the best, when you love yourself fully, and when you know that 'youre not fully OK, but that's OK', you are nurturing your SOUL on a daily basis. the soul accepts you as you are.

whether you know it or not, one of the most important relationships in your life is with your soul. will you be kind and loving to your soul, or will you be harsh and difficult? many of us unknowingly damage our souls with our negative attitudes and actions or by simple neglect. by making the relationship with your soul an important part of your life, however, by honoring it in your daily routine, you give your life greater meaning and substance. use your experiences, all of them, as opportunities to nourish your soul!"

~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.

...food for thought...

PEACE,
Laura

6.20.2010

Family and Friends :)

This has been an event filled weekend so far! Picture Heavy!!! I could have uploaded a million more, but I tried to keep it concise.

Me and my love from a few days ago. I cant remember where we were going now... but it was the first time in a while I snapped a pic of us on the way out the door, I usually try to do this. Im silly, I know...


Me and my bestie, Shelley, on our way to go see her sister's art show in Uvalde. It was a lot of fun and Im so glad I got to spend that time with Shelley. Between me working Violet Bella, and her raising two kids, our time is limited these days. We chatted non stop the whole way there and they whole way home.

And I officially decided that her and I are the perfect pair for best friends.

Yesterday morning was her son Xavier's first birthday party. It was soooo much fun. They just got a new pool so all of the kids swam and had a blast. I think it was the best bday party yet!

This is her daughter Isabel, whom I am utterly in love with. She is the most beautiful little girl I know.

And I love her little smile. She has quite a few different smiles, usually they are all silly.

Momma and the big boy!

i love his lips :)

and i thought this pic of his little hand was just precious.

ha ha, his zoo hat!

and this is my favorite pic of the whole day, omg i love it! he had such a good time.

and this is Elijah, an old friends newest little one.

me and Xavier :)

Then, last night we went to my nanna's house. My brother flew home to be here for father's day. So we had an impromptu spagetti dinner. My nanna's spagetti is my favorite. i could eat my weight in it.

And to my surprise when I looked out the window I saw this big birthday banner and realized they were also doing a little bday thing for me! (my bday is next friday) and nanna and sabe got me a new grill! i couldnt believe. Sabe overheard me talking to my dad the last time we were there about how i wanted a grill but wasnt sure if i could get one... and got sneaky on me and got one! I am so excited. My aunts and cousins also got me everything I need for it, the tongs and spatulas, a lighter, lighter fluid and even a bag of coals! I can now say that I got a bag of coals for my birthday, how awesome is that!!! I love it, it is just the one I wanted! I am allllll ready for my party now!

bag 'o' coals :)

my brother :)

and his little one who learned to use the doggy door!

i played my cousin emily a game of chicken foot. she loves this game and wants to play it everytime we are over there!

me and james :)

kiss kiss.

me and my nanna. i love her so much, my favorite woman alive. for real. i look up to her so much.

and this was what the amazing sky was doing on our drive home. too bad we were still in the city!

Happy Fathers Day to anyone who is a daddy :)

PEACE AND LOVE,
Laura

6.16.2010

Virtual Art Sale

I am purging my art room! and to your advantage, I am letting go of my framed photography for less than 1/2 price!!! Basically, I need the room desperately in my art room. These babies went with me when I did traveling art shows, but since I am no longer doing them, they are just sitting in my art room taking up space. Some of the have tiny flaws in the framing from traveling, but for this price, you could either re-frame it, paint, whatever! But most of the flaws are so minimal, you probably wont mind.

Some of these prints are oldies and are not even around anymore. You may not have even seen some of them, unless youve been a follower of mine since the beginning, way before blogging! So a few of them, this will be the only chance of owning them :)

So this is going to work like a virtual garage sale. Im going to put the specs and prices on each one (prices include shipping), if you want it, send me an email @ violet_bella@hotmail.com and I will send you an invoice through paypal. I will only be accepting paypal payments for these, sorry.

Okay, here we go!!!

The Butterfly Dreamer

frame: 9x11
photo: 4x6

*photo is mounted not matted*

$30

No Title

frame: 9x11
photo: 4x6

matted with thick matt

$30

Two photos:
In The Midst of Being a Woman (left)
She Found Herself Lost (right)

frames: 9x11
photos: 5x7

matted with thick matt

$55

Mirror Mirror

frame: 9x11
photo: 4x6

mounted, not matted

$30

Sink Blues
(discontinued photo)

frame: 12x15
photo: 5x7

matted with thick matt

$45

Dead Leaves on a Dirty Ground
(discontinued photo)

frame: 12x15
photo: 8x10

matted with thick matt

$45

Shadows
(discontinued photo)

frame: 12x15
photo: 5x7

matted with thick matt

$45

Nicest Thing

frame: 12x15
photo: 8x10

mounted, not matted

$45

Enamored
(discontinued photo)

frame: 12x15
photo: 8x10

matted with thick matt

$45

Southern December

frame: 12x15
photo: 8x10

matted with thick matt

$45

Autumn's Whisper

frame: 12x15
photo: 5x7

matted with thick matt

$45

Chasing Time

frame: 12x15
photo: 5x7

matted with thick matt

$45

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if you are interested in more than one, i will gladly combine the shipping...

Help spread the word, tweet, blog, facebook...

thanks guys!

PEACE,
Laura

6.14.2010

Happy Birthday Mom

Today's blog is going to be all over the place...

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Today, June 14th is my momma's birthday. Its also flag day. And now a day to remember. Its weird, it feels like this is her first birthday without her, but its already the third. I was laying in bed yesterday staring up at the photo collage I have of her up on her dresser, and just thinking about how when January comes along this year it will be 3 years since she has been gone. That is just so weird to me. I dont know how else to describe it. For the most part, it has gotten easier as time has gone by. But there are still those days you just cant hardly stand her being gone. I pray that she is in cahoots with God right now about some things going on in the family, and that somehow it is all for the greater good.

I dont know exactly how I will celebrate that it is her birthday today, I guess I will just be thinking of her alot. Luckily I have a long to do list, so I will stay pretty busy. I am in the middle of pet sitting and house cleaning about 25 miles away from here, so I will be somewhat distracted. Not that I want to be distracted from my mom, I guess just getting sad.

Of the few photos I have, this is one of my favorites of her and I.

Happy Birthday Mom, I love you.


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Onto a much lighter note (sorry)...

I finished Shauna's (PPP) custom necklace yesterday, and I think it is so adorable. How could it not be with those two cuties!!! It was an honor to take her family photos, but then to be able to make one of my photo necklaces from those photos, was just really awesome!



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Since it is such a process to make photo jewelry, I always like to make a batch if I can while I have everything out. So I have 22 new photo pendants coming to the shop! Here are the ones already listed. I have round and square ones.

I am listing all of my photo jewelry in my photography shop from here on out. So you can find them all there!

'serenity'

'undress'

'peacock feather'

'umbrella dance'

'the butterfly collector'

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And here is my diptych project for week 11 of Miss Match.

our theme was VOICE. I chose to photograph my mom's Janis Joplin vinyl on top of the quilt she made when she was my age. I love how it came out so much. The print is now available in the shop for all of you Janis fans!


right: me


PEACE AND LOVE,
Laura