An Obsession: Illustrated Faith

 

Have you heard about this fad (that I think is here to stay) called Illustrated Faith/Bible Journaling?

To say that I'm obsessed is an understatement. It's all the rage right now - popping up all over my IG feed and my Pinterest Page.

 

 

 

If you don't know what I'm talking about - check out:

 #illustratedfaith or #biblejournaling or #drawinginthemargins on IG.

 

Lovely ladies (mostly) from all over the world share their love of the Lord through creative doodles, drawings, scripts, etc. It's another way to connect to the word of God and to worship.

 

I started dabbling in the bible journaling community last fall while I was on maternity leave with Kingston. Before you knew it, life took over - I lost interest and my bible sat with all my craft stuff just waiting for me to find the time and inspiration again. Unfortunately, I hate the reason that got me back into bible journaling and really spending time with the Lord. If you read my previous post, you know that CT and I experienced a missed miscarriage last month resulting in an immediate D&C.

 

What a crushing few days it was for me. I recognized I needed an outlet and something to pour myself into and that happened to be creating - in my sewing room, in my planner, in my bible. Quickly I realized how much I missed creating for the Lord and how good for the soul it is.

 

My situation was perfectly stated in my daily devotional from She Reads Truth:

I cannot fully grasp the sweetness of God without knowing the bitter taste of life in a fallen world. What a truth this is. I'm ashamed that it took something so awful to bring me back to God, but now that I'm back - I'm more excited than ever!  

(side note: I was never really 'away' from Him - but I wasn't craving a relationship with Him like I am now)

 

Here's what I've been up to lately:

By drawing and doodling in my bible, I've found that I'm able to concentrate on the verses or themes that I'm creating - and this helps me retain the scripture better.

 

 

If you aren't comfortable drawing in your bible - start with a journal - but what ever you do I know it will bless you like it's blessed me!

 I wake up wanting to create in my bible and I go to sleep thinking about creating in my bible!

Rug Love: Recap

CT and I have been in our house about 4 months now and we've went through our fair share of trying out and returning rugs. Because rugs make such a major impact on the room design - especially if you have wood floors - we sent back 3 rugs and finally have a few we love, another we like and a few that were mistakes but we can't return. 

When searching for our rugs - my 3 main websites were:

RugsUSA

Wayfair

Joss & Main

RugsUSA is always my go to website because they always seem to have a sale usually up to 70% off. I can never pass up saving money!! 

About 2 years ago we bought Kingston's 5x8 chevron black and white rug for roughly $50. We love it and it will be a staple in whatever room design he grows into. 

If RugsUSA doesn't have what I'm looking for, I then turn to Wayfair. Their prices are extremely reasonable and they have a great variety of home decor. I usually 'favorite' things to my favorites board and then continue to check prices for a week or so. Every few days they have different categories go on sale - so sometimes if you wait long enough your item will go on sale. 

My favorite Wayfair purchase is this nuLOOM shag rug, which is also my absolutely favorite rug! It's so soft and plush and perfect for our living room. If I could, I'd have one in every room. 

We also received a complimentary rug pad from the Rug Pad Corner and it helps tremendously with the softness of this rug. Not only does it keep our rug from slipping because of its felt and rubber texture, but it also gives it so much extra cushion. It's so soft that Kingston will purposely walk over to the rug, sit down and then free fall backwards. He'll only do this on our living room rug because it's the only one we currently have a pad under. 

Finally, if I can't find what I want from either RugsUSA or Wayfair - sometimes Joss & Main will have a curated board specifically for rugs and something will speak to me. These boards are hand picked from different contributors with their favorite things - all with items on sale. You have to be fast though because they sell out quick and the boards are only up for a few days. Once they are gone, they're gone - unless you can find the exact same item on another website (but it'll be full price). 

We originally purchased both of these rugs (not sure the names) from Joss & Main- the grey for our bedroom in a 8x10 and the multi colored blue for our dining room in a 5x7. We ended up sending the grey one back because it was a darker grey then what the photo shows, and the multi-colored rug currently resides in our dining room. This is the one I'm only in like with. 

I think I would love it more if our flooring was different, but for now it does the job. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've also had good luck finding random rugs at the local Ross, TJMaxx and Nebraska Furniture Mart.

For example:

I originally bought this rug for the pattern on the front (because it matches the color scheme of the multi-colored dining room rug) but then I realized I could turn it over and like it even more. 


Another love purchase from NFM. 

It's hard to pass up a $9 rug in the perfect shade of emerald! 

I've also purchased white bath rugs for every bathroom in our house (because look how great the pictures make them look) ...

but don't be fooled - in reality they pick up every piece of dirt, makeup mark and piece of hair! These are ones I hate and can't take back. This was definitely a waste of $50 on bath mats. 

Where are your go to rug shops? 
A girl can never have too many rugs! 

5 on Friday

Man -- It's been a while since I've posted anything. Life and a baby got in the way and I'm okay with it! Just some randoms on this Friday . . . 

1. Today I'm taking a vacation day. I originally had this day off because we were suppose to close on our new house this past Monday and I was going to use today as a paint and projects day. Unfortunately we didn't close again ... going on a 100 day process, so I'll be spending the day with my boys running errands and watching lots of basketball. 

2. Speaking of my boys ... Kingston has been hanging out with CT all week and they have been having quiet the adventures. Falling off couches, cutting teeth, park surfing and playing the drums on pots and pans. 

They are a mess! I can't imagine the type of stuff these two are going to get into together this summer. 

3. I have a list a mile long of all the projects I want to do to the new house when the time comes. Paint walls, doors, and furniture (cream,grey,green,navy = we are totally a cool color family), sliding barn door for laundry room, stain concrete flooring in the basement etc. My list of things I want to buy for it is about 2 miles long - but I feel like I need to wait until we have paint on the walls and everything we already have in it's place to see what we are missing. Many more house posts to come once we finally get the keys. 

4. I really wish Iowa State wouldn't have lost yesterday because they totally busted my bracket. Scratch that, I guess I'm a tad bit okay with them losing because they beat KU last weekend and some of their awful fans yelled at my baby. 

5. Have you guys ever heard on a journaling bible? Look on pinterest or instagram under the hash tag #illustratedfaith. Such a fun and creative way to worship The Lord. 

Doodling in my bible! 

Linking up with these lovely ladies today: Linking up with: The Farmers Wife, Lauren Elizabeth, A Little Bit of Everything, XOXO Rebecca, A Blonde Ambition

Homemade Valentines - Baby Style

Back in the day before early mornings, long work hours and loads of laundry and dishes - I had extra time to do fun creative DIY crafts. Because I want to be that mom that's involved and creative and messy and most importantly FUN, I'm making time with my baby to do these things! 

Last weekend after breakfast, Kingston and I started on some DIY Valentine's. 

Supplies Needed

Card Stock

Washi Tape

 (because it's thin and not super sticky which makes it easy to remove at the end)

Washable Paint

 (because this will be all over your baby, the highchair and yourself)

1. Use your washi tape to draw your design on the card stock 

2. Dab on paint sporadically across the card stock

3. Tape the card stock to the highchair and let your little one go to town 

4. Let dry, remove tape and give away!! 

We plan on folding these in half and sticking them in the mail to send to all our loved ones far away. This DIY was super simple, super inexpensive and the boy LOVED playing in the wet/messy paint. Sensory play is beneficial at any age - but I'd say 6 months is the perfect time to start! 

For the LOVE of Rugs!

If you haven't heard yet . . .  CT and I are in the process of purchasing our first home. (I guess you call it purchasing even though we are really just loaning it from the bank) That's if the sellers can get their act together ... but that's a story for another day. Anyways, it has been so overwhelming and exciting trying to come up with color schemes, decor options and deciding on furnishings. 

The living room is the one area in our new home that I'm having the most difficulties making decisions on. It's the first room anyone coming into our home will walk into, it's the room where most of my time will be spent and it's just the hub of our home. Decorating this room is a huge decision and obviously one I don't take lightly. 

A few things that I've made decisions on so far:

1. Color scheme: Grey, White, with Emerald & Black Accents

2. Walls - Light Grey 

(still need to decide on accent wall which will be the color of our kitchen. Right now I'm leaning towards a light green.) 

3. Small sectional in front of our fireplace 

4. Kingston's former changing table by our stairs
5. Our watercolor portrait as the focal point when you walk in

Fortunately, we have wood flooring throughout the majority of the house, so I knew from the beginning that I wanted a fun rug in the living room. I'm still looking for one that 'speaks' to me without breaking the bank. I know if I could just decide on something, it would easily make the rest of the room come together. 

Here are a few that I've thought could possibly play the part. 

Bouvardia Crewelwork Rug from Anthropologie

(This is seriously amazing and on sale... but still $480 - which CT would never go for!)

Frontier Juniper/Winter White Zig Zag Rug from Wayfair

(If only I didn't have a chevron rug in King's room and chevron bed sheets ...)

Safavieh Retro Black/Light Grey from Wayfair

(Because we are totes a black and white family)

Marrakesh Shag Grey Rug from RugsUSA

(I love the texture of this but I feel like white couches is a must with it - which I'm not so sure I want to do.)

Couture Magnolia Grey Rug from RugsUSA

(This one is only $99 which makes me love it even more!)

Pantone Prismatic Watercolor Rug from Target

(My decor options would be endless if this was my rug. Plus it matches our painting perfect!)

So ... as you can see there are many different options I like and I don't really have any one distinct style. My mind is going in 6 different directions and it's time I finally decide on one. 

Help a sista out - which is your fave?

Kingston's Closet

Shirt // Baby Gap

Leggings // Dream Elephant

Socks // Nike

Moccasins // Feather & Filly

Lovin' the pop of color the moccasins give and the leggings make this outfit super easy for my cloth diaper wearing baby! 

Spring Scarves

Scarves have become one of my most favorite/coveted accessories. In the winter - I wear them with every single outfit. I have black ones, sparkly ones, colorful ones, infinity ones, cowl ones and grandma looking ones. 

I've recently realized that there are some scarves in my collection that can be worn longer than just during the cold winter months. And since my office building is the same temperature all year round (freezing) I don't get too many weird looks wearing them. 

Here is one way I wore my scarf into Spring. 

Make any scarf a spring time scarf by tying it into a fun little bow. 

Just like you would tie your shoes - tie the scarf! 

Check out some other Spring time scarves I found on pinterest!

via

via

via

via

So many cute styles/colors.

I need each piece in my closet asap. 

Which is your favorite?? 

Product Review: Bright Spring Time Lips

As a member of Influenster I recently was able to review the new Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick. 

I was sent As You Want Victoria. 

Let me start off by saying that I have never been big into wearing bright colored lipstick because I have such huge lips. I was blessed in that department but I have yet to learn how to be confident with color on them. 

As bright and vivid as As You Want Victoria is - it didn't scare me too much. 

Thoughts??

I love how moisturizing and creamy this lipstick was. Unfortunately, though I probably wouldn't wear it too often because it comes off on everything. CT's lips, the straw, my teeth . . . everything. It sure looks pretty - but I feel like I would have to continuously keep having to reapply it because it won't stay on long. 

What are your favorite drugstore lipstick brands? 

Looking at these photos - I may start experimenting with colors more!