Simple Inspiration

It was one of those delicious spring days. The boys were playing outside, I was upstairs starting a project and the Dixie Chicks were playing on the stereo.

I was in the creative zone and didn't want to be interrupted again by a small person needing something, but when I turned around to see the sweetest boy, holding the sweetest little flowers, I stepped over the mess my melting heart was making and found the perfect way to display such sweet little buds

In a Dixie Cup.

No perfect day is complete without a good long walk with your favorite puppy. As Sunny and I crossed the street, there it was. Just waiting for me, lying on the corner. The biggest bird nest I've ever seen or found and I have many.

Isn't is beautiful? Now, look closer....

Beautiful and sad. There was no way to get it back up in the huge oak tree it had fallen from and it couldn't be left on the ground for the roaming bird eating cat that stays hidden in the shrubs.

So I took it home and stared at it for a long long time.

Mother Nature is sometimes, well...a bitch. I could have left the nest on the ground and kids would have shredded it and ants would have eaten the eggs. I thought that at least I could create something beautiful out of it to honor it. Which I did

In our neighborhood there are tons of pinetrees and a bizarre amount of doves that inhabit them. In the spring there are hatched eggs all over the sidewalks and in our yard and I save alot of them because they're beautiful.

This is a shadowbox display I made for my best friend who just moved to live her dream in Chapel Hill, NC. After 25 years of friendship, our most beloved gifts to each other are those made by hand. You can see her phenomenal photography at www.lorivrba.com .

I was terrified to hand this over to her because she was about to drive her life across the country with a van filled with 3 kids and a dog, so it had to be packed very carefully and creatively. Here's a peek...

It's hard to explain how I felt putting this together for her. I almost became obsessed with adding details and layers to it. I think I was working out some sadness over her leaving and I couldn't stop "making" it.

I filled a moving box with raffia and paper shreds. Tucked in feathers and quotes about adventure. The shadow box made the trip and so did my friend.

"Adventure is worthwhile".

Amelia Earhart