JO Blog

 There are awards for all sorts of blogs, but no one ever pays enough attention to the shelter blogs, so we started The Homies. It's our way of surveying the blogosphere each year for the best new home design blogs and sharing what we find. It's not so much a competition as a celebration of […]

    For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince Of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

This past weekend was full of pajamas, creating and lots of movies. We didn't shop or run all over the place. We created and made a lot of messes. We watched some of our favorite movies and of course we watched It's A Wonderful Life. It doesn't matter how many times I watch it…I always […]

We all love a night out with the girls. (My beautiful friend Juli. I would like to point out that I was the only one that didn't dress up.  I didn't know…I was thinking paint + me = a mess) Lets be honest….we all NEED a night out with the girls! The usual plan is […]

…..or it will be gone!    I can't believe that we are a week away from Christmas. I always think that I will do things differently each year….and each year I realize that it all went by so quickly. I closed my shop earlier this year but I still was shipping out the last of the […]

  I am so thrilled that so many of you loved the paper wreath! I got so many emails about how I made it that I am glad that I took some photos during the process. This idea is not mine. My friend Lissa had seen it somewhere and sent a picture of it to […]

  On Saturday night we had our yearly progressive dinner with our neighborhood. We hosted appetizers and cocktails this year and we had so much fun. The house was all cleaned (thanks to the lovely cleaning ladies that I hadn't seen since the spring) and we had finished decorating the house. I snapped some photos […]

   

…I have loved papers. What child collected vintage books because they thought they were beautiful and smelled amazing..that would be me. I can not walk past a paper shop…it is truly one of my very favorite kinds of shops in the world. I am a fan of vintage books, cards, sheet music and any vintage […]

  (originally $42) Today I am offering the discount on all my items that help you accessorize! This is through Thursday ONLY! These are the things that pull your outfit together and help you stand out.   (originally $56) Accessorizing is one of my favorite past times:-) (originally $12) You remember all my hats don't […]

  (originally $52) The discount for Wednesday is on all my purses that are currently in stock. ***remember that I can ship for you and everything will arrive wrapped beautifully*** (originally $28) I will show what their original price was and what the sale is for TODAY only! FREE SHIPPING still applies to the sale […]

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 […]