Poetry of Place – the unique, distinctive, cherished aspects of a place where stories, art, memories, beliefs, and histories are woven into a tapestry of great beauty. Your home should mirror who you are and the stories you carry. It is sacred space. It is the stories of our days, nights, celebrations, and everyday journeys. Stories that bring us joy and lead us to reminisce. A poem that doesn’t need to be recited, because it is seen and felt. …
Beach Cottage Chronicles | Alexis Garrett Featured
For those of you that have been here for awhile you will have heard about my friend and cherished friendship with Alexis Garrett. We met over 13 years ago on a trip to France. I have always teased that she was the most precious treasure I brought back from that adventure. We have traveled the world together ever since, spent time with each other’s family, I laugh harder with her than anyone in the world, create art together, each …
June Round-Up | Free Beauty Found on the Internet
I am constantly in awe of the beauty that is all around me if I have my eyes open to it. Sometimes I find it in weeding the garden, bare feet to the ground with a cup of coffee in hand, the beauty of a workshop and the women sprinkled all over our land, reading a book with words that drip with intention, a day of doing absolutely nothing, random texts that speak life over me, incorporating something from our …
Gift Guide for the Beauty Chasers | Christmas 2021
We are all beauty chasers in one way or another. My friend Timothy Willard often says that, “Beauty Defies Despair”. Do we have our eyes open to that beauty? The beauty that is all around in people, nature, circumstances, love, forgiveness, faith, gathering, the work of our hands, the sound of laughter, the comfort of touch, the gifts of others and a million other moments of beauty that defy despair? We are a small business, I love to purchase …
The November Round-Up | Free Beauty Found on the Internet
I am constantly in awe of the beauty that is there if you have your eyes open to it. Sometimes it will be the little things like digging for vintage treasures with dear friends, foraging in the woods, building the first fire of the season in the studio, and the beauty of paint-covered hands. Sometimes you will even find beauty on the internet. I found so many beautiful little treasures on the internet this past month and I wanted to …
The Roundup |Free Beauty Found on the Internet
I am constantly in awe of the beauty that is there if you have your eyes open to it. Sometimes it will be the little things like the sound of the fountain as I am pulling weeds in the garden, the kids wanting to tell me about their day, an orange and pink sunset, the horses neighing across the road and even beauty found on the internet given by complete strangers. I found so many beautiful little treasures on the …
The Roundup | Beauty Found on the Internet this Week!
I am constantly in awe of the beauty that is there if you have your eyes open to it. Sometimes it will be the little things like the sweet change of season happening here in Colorado, the smell of the plants at the nursery this time of year when everyone is beyond ready to play in the garden, the piano being played in our home, an unexpected gift from a friend and even beauty found on the internet given by …
French Picnic Baskets | Shopping Guide
Thank you for the beautiful response to the French Picnic Basket video! I loved all of the comments, emails and private messages about the video and also your memories of being at one of our live workshops and enjoying the picnic yourself. Knowing how much beauty means to you always inspires me to never be ashamed that I love things a certain way and it is one of the ways I show how much I care about you …
How We Started Live Workshops | The Art of Gathering
This post was originally shared on May 29, 2013. I never want you to look at where we are now with our business, art or live workshop etc. and not see where we started. I am the biggest believer in starting where we are with what we have! I KNOW that has been the “secret” to growing my gifts, art, and business and it the “secret” to growing yours! This post was originally shared on May 29, 2013. …
Make the Ordinary Beautiful | Watch the Video
Join me in this next video where I talk about little ways to bring beauty to the ordinary in a live workshop. I am loving hearing from you in the comments and all of your excitement and feedback about our previous videos about our French Picnic Baskets and our Live Workshop Checklists. Over the past 13 + years we have gathered others through live workshops here in the United States and abroad. Whether we have been …
Create Your Own French Picnic Baskets | Video + Ebook
Gathering others is one of the sweetest gifts. So, whether your heart is to bless your family, celebrate a friend’s birthday or incorporate more intention in your own workshops I hope our French Picnic Baskets become part of how you love on others. Download our FREE French Picnic Baskets Ebook HERE. Over the past 13 + years we have gathered others through live workshops here in the United States and abroad. Whether we have …
A Moment of Quiet
| Matches | Notepad | Mug | Sage | Blanket | “It is December, and nobody asked if I was ready” said Sarah Kay, poet and teller of the hard truth of the cold end of the year. Do you feel that? Like time is running out before you’ve had time to check the time? I’ve found that during this season, finding time for myself, time to breath, is maybe more important than ever. But I’ve also found that carving …
Guest Baskets | Loving on those that stay with you
Opening our doors and loving on those in our lives is such a sweet gift. The more I gather the more I learn how important it is and that so many just want to be invited. Invited into community, authentic relationship, and the joy that comes from that. The holidays are right around the corner and one thing we do in our home for company is to place a guest basket in the room where they are staying. …
Eco-Friendly Christmas Wrapping
Wrapping up gifts for those that I love is half of the fun of giving. I love to wrap gifts in vintage French linens but you could also use yardage of any fabric you have on hand or use other vintage linens. Vintage napkins are very generous in size and will be large enough for most small to medium-sized gifts. I wanted to share my sources for the gift wrap materials I use throughout the year. 1. I …
The Leave of Absence | A Late Fall Cocktail
This fall cocktail was created by our team member Diane Reeves! Here is a recipe for a slightly citrus-y and a little cider-y drink to help you have a mini escape, a “leave of absence”. We all have cause for a little furlough in our schedules, the need for a moment of calm, and I find the mixing of a cocktail to be a perfect little respite. And for the Fall season, the flavors in this drink emulate …
The Christmas Collective | Get Your Free Ticket
Since everyone is putting up their Christmas trees early we might as well get our hearts ready too! Melissa AuClair has created a FREE holiday series with so much inspiration and encouragement for this time! It begins today! I am so honored to be included and to share a little bit about how we decorate for Christmas but more about the power of opening up our homes to others. It may look way different this year but that is just …
Butternut Squash + Sausage Soup | With a Video Tutorial
I love having friends over and casually and comfortably entertaining. The biggest thing that I have learned over the years is to cook things that I love to cook and things that I have cooked so many times that I am not stressed with my guests. So, make a fun cocktail for your guests and enjoy cooking for your friends and family and keep the focus on them and having a great time. Today, I wanted to share one of …
Shop The Look | Late Summer Gathering
Last week I shared my late summer gathering post inspired by friend Courtney’s brand new book, Inspired Gatherings. Everything used in the photos was pulled from our cabinets and foraged on our land but I have been collecting pieces for years. One of the most common questions I get is regarding where I find some of the staples I share in my entertaining or home posts. When possible I love to share my favorite shops and also suggestions for …
Late Summer Gathering | Inspired by Nature
In a world where gathering may look a little differently and definitely a little smaller, it is still one of the things our hearts and lives need the most. We are made for each other, community and connection and we are now being given a new opportunity to figure out new ways to use our gifts to bless those around us. When many things have come to a halt there are still graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, first days of school, milestones …
Fall Tablescapes Past and Present
I love that I have had the opportunity to be a part of many home tours over the years because our real holidays do not get documented. When you have company over, you are rotating what goes in the oven and you are talking with your favorite people and there is little time for picture taking. I do love preparing for the gathering though. It is a part of my creativity and simple tablescapes are so fun to do. …
The Front Porch | A Late Summer Cocktail
An unexpected gift of this season, spending more time at home, has been getting to meet more of our neighbors. One such new-to-us neighbor spent last summer farming in Europe, and whenever she feels a nostalgic pull back to that most significant of times in her life, St. Germaine liqueur takes her there in her memories. She introduced us to this floral liqueur in a refreshing drink she made for cocktail hour on our little front porch in downtown …
A Video of What is Inside our Entertaining Cabinets and Favorite Sources!
Last weekend I finally got around to cleaning out our laundry room and organizing our entertaining cabinets. That room had been a dumping ground since Christmas and with workshops (hopefully) starting back up again late June I knew it was time to tackle it. It was fun to share the process in IG stories over the weekend and after it was organized I made a quick video below answering some of the MANY questions that came during my clean out. …
Come and Get Your Free Course | Art of Home
We have members from all over the world and like never before we see each other and can relate on a whole new level. I wish it wouldn’t have taken this pandemic but I am thankful for all of the ways I am seeing people reach out, encourage, give what they can and to spread joy. While we are all spending more time at home on lockdown we wanted to make sure you have some creating to do. Each week …
How To Make Birthdays Special For Children During Sheltering In Place
I love birthdays! One whole day to love on just one person. One day that allows you to give a person a glimpse into how much their life means to you! It is almost 22 years ago that our birthday tradition began. It was my birthday during our first year of marriage and my day started off with a stack of envelopes. Keep in mind that we barely had any money in those years but what followed made me …
Our Whole 2020 Live Studio Workshop Schedule | Just Announced!
When we bought this home and land almost four years ago it was for the gathering of creatives and non-creatives alike. We knew it was to be a gathering place and it has fulfilled that desire and promise over and over again. We are so excited to announce our full 2020 studio schedule. For many our studio workshops are a yearly journey and maybe you have been waiting for the right event to make your own trip here. Our schedule …