JO Blog

I just wanted to remind everyone that I am offering FREE SHIPPING in my shop until December 13th. The 13th will also be the last day that my shop is open until the New Year! I want to enjoy this amazing season with my family and get working on all the goodies that I am […]

(Our family and my sweet niece) I grew up in a small town of 3,000 in rural Illinois. We didn't have a stoplight or any fast food restaurants. Any store we went into knew who we belonged to and the barber was always the place to go for a piece of candy on our way […]

image found here We had a pretty hard week around here. We are getting back to normal but it is amazing how things can change in a moment and you are scrambling to stay above water. The day after Thanksgiving I got a call from my husband that he was in the emergency room because […]

Mixed media collage by Becky Strahle at Farm Girl Paints When your heart changes you see the world differently. You see yourself differently. You become stronger, wiser, braver, more compassionate, more lovely. When you see yourself for who you could really be….the whole world opens up. When the whole world opens up before you….you become […]

(photograph courtesy of my seven year old) This is a story of a girl who loved to clean. Loved perfection. Loved order. This is a story of a girl that married a boy that did not love the above. This is a story of a girl that needed to let go of some control and […]

I had the honor of photographing my new, little nephew last week. He was only three days old. He is perfect and beautiful and the world will be blessed because of his life!!   Abran's two big sisters.   Don't forget to squeeze YOUR pumpkins a little tighter. They are a gift and a blessing. […]

I don't know about most of you girls out there…but I need my girlfriends. I need talks over coffee. Laughter in the dressing rooms. Whispering during the movies. Crying over nothing and everything. I have had friendships that I wish I would have fought harder to keep. Friendships that were toxic and I needed to […]

  (One of the Bella's box of pretties) A year ago I read beautiful accounts across the blog world talking about Silver Bella and the creative experience they had. The photos were gorgeous and it sounded like the most incredible party of glittery fun! I signed up as soon as registration opened more than 10 […]

I was busy yesterday getting new things in my shop. I have added soooo many new things….here is just a peek…..         I will be adding a few more things today. I also wanted to let you know that some of your favorite items from the Fall Collection are back!!   I […]

I am very tired and busy unpacking and getting new things in my shop (like I promised)! I wanted to let you know that Frenchie & Flea has weeks of amazing giveaways celebrating handmade. Today I am offering one of my ruffle totes 🙂 to the winner of their drawing. Head on over and leave […]

It is 1 am and I am trying to wrap up some last minute projects for Silver Bella. I have tomorrow to finish and get packed. Thursday morning (early) I will head out for my 10 hour drive to Omaha….what was I thinking??? Airplane….ship my items…..think rationally….. I signed up for an art swap months […]

I have so much going on right now. I am usually really good at balancing a lot of things. This time there are so many things that I almost just sit and do nothing. I don't know where to start. Many months ago one of my best friends, Amy Jo, and I bought tickets to […]

I am really excited to attend Silver Bella this year. This will be my first time and I am looking forward to the art swap I am a part of, the workshops and meeting so many talented girls. I will also be selling at vendor night. I will have all of the things in my […]

Brave Girl Camp has made me think of many beautiful things about my life and the dreams I have for the future. I started to think about how many people I have told my dreams to. Why don't we always share our dreams? I quickly realized how many people in my life don't really know […]

I bet almost everyone in this country feels the same way...too much sugar! I can't believe how much candy the kids got this year. In the past I have even told them that I will buy them a new toy if they throw away some of the candy…it is for the best…for their teeth and […]

Every once in awhile I love showing you little things that I find that are so lovely. I hope you find them as lovely as I do. I am also starting to really get excited for Christmas…what about you? Are you dreaming of decorating and baking? Making gifts and spending time with friends and family? […]

I don't know if you remember my window seat. I posted awhile ago about my window seat makeover and how I was looking for a chandelier to hang above the seat. We bought a gorgeous chandelier a little while ago for our bathroom…and we have no motivation for the remodeling right now…. so we took […]

I know everyone says this. The time goes by so quickly. I remember…..really remember…. the day Madolyn was born. She was 4 1/2 weeks early and she was an emergency c-section. I remember like it was only a few months ago. It couldn't have been seven years ago…could it? But it has. Seven years and […]

I have to admit that coming back from Brave Girl Camp has been an emotional roller coaster ride. My heart and mind came home so full of ideas, joy, creations, promises, truths. It has been hard to find a rhythm this week.  Hard to do school, laundry, pay bills and even create. I think I […]

I started off my second day at Brave Girl Camp with an early hike with some of the girls. Idaho reminds me so much of Colorado and I really felt at home. Because I have three younger children at home it isn't often that I am out taking a walk as the sun is coming […]

This is a hard post to write because there is so much in my heart that I will never be able to express to you. I got home Saturday evening and every time I talk about the week I get tears in my eyes. It was just amazing. I will try to tell you little […]

Have you ever woken up….looked in the mirror….and not recognized yourself? Have you ever wondered what happened to you? Where did THAT girl go? I had such an interesting conversation with a friend this week. She is a stay at home mom with one child. She is finding it hard to find herself again in […]

On Sunday we met some of our good friends to go pick pumpkins. We drove 1 1/2 hours. When we got there it was freezing and I hadn't checked the weather for this town…and didn't bring any jackets (my husband had brought his winter coat). Mother of the year. If it makes it any better […]

I do not feel like cooking in the summer. I leave it to my husband to grill and I add a salad to it. I don't know what it is….but as soon as fall arrives I am wanting to bake and cook more. I want to nest and fluff the whole house. I am wanting […]