the abc's of thankfulness

Wow. What a busy fall season it's been! I was traveling last week and got to visit a few days with best friends down on the Eastern Shore, the Jerrells. Their little girl, my niece Holly Anne, (also known as Holls, Holly Boo, or Sweet Girl), came home from church last Wednesday with a thankfulness exercise that I really just loved and thought, that'd be so fun and easy to recreate and share on my site!

I've been learning (and experiencing) more and more the past two/three years, that developing a heart of thankfulness and gratitude is a game changer. No matter the "yuck" I've faced, whether in the form of discouragement, trials, everyday annoyances, fear, or big challenges, when I can actively shift my focus and prayers to the good things still going on around me, "counting my blessings," then my thoughts change, and with that, my attitude and outlook.

general, designsParapalla Design ShoppeNovember 23, 2015Comment

small world. big fun.

(somewhat of a) warning: While reading this post, a very famous song may or may not get stuck in your head. So you may or may not be slightly annoyed with me at the end of this post. I personally think it's worth the read, BUT if you want to abandon ship now, I understand. Otherwise, keep reading, but consider yourself warned ;)

This month, the "It's a Small World" ride turns 50 years old! To celebrate with them in my small way, I thought it'd be fun to share a design with y'all that I created back in 2009, inspired by Small World, as well as the artist behind the art, Mary Blair (my favorite!!)

designsParapalla Design ShoppeApril 16, 2014Comment

paint can inspired trick-or-treatin'

Well in anticipation of the holiday this week, I thought I'd add a seasonal project I worked on for school back in the spring of 2012.

The official project was to "reinvent time" . . . and I tend to describe it as creating “abstract time.” We were asked to select an event with a clear start and end time and then illustrate what happens during that event without using actual measurements of time. Instead, we had to use objects as measurements of time ( . . . abstract, right?? I think our whole class had a hard time getting our heads around this one at first!) Oh, and this all had to be illustrated on an actual object that would naturally connect to the event.

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