The Best Part

by Judy

I know that many of you will agree that traveling - whether to a far off exotic land, or just two states away to visit your best friend - is usually a lot of fun.

All of the anxious anticipation starts long before one steps aboard a plane, or gets behind the wheel of a car.  The research, planning, buying, and packing is such a large part of what makes going away so much fun.  I mean, who doesn't love marking big red X's on a calendar as you count down the days?!

Traveling adds so much to our lives - the new experiences are beautiful opportunities to learn and grow. But don't be fooled by this post so far.  This is not as much a post about going away, as it is about coming home.  When I am away, no matter how exciting or relaxing my experiences, it is always so comforting to walk through my front door and think," ahhh, home sweet home."  In fact, I think sometimes, that may be the best part about going away.

While I wasn't traveling all of these past months, I was away from this blog.  Posting again today feels a lot like coming home.  Just as each time we return home from traveling we're a little changed from our experiences, I come back here today feeling changed.  More relaxed, more focused, a little wiser, and so, so grateful to be back.  I once again look forward to sharing this special place on the internet with all of the incredible women here at FOL, and with all of you!

While pondering this post I came across a wonderful quote by author Wendy Wunder:

"The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, 

and it feels even better to come back."

It's good to be home everyone - it's really good to be home.  

A Gallery of Inspiration

by Kelly

Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul — and you answer. ~Terri Guillemets

I blame Pinterest.

I swear I am going to have that tattooed on my forehead one day.

A few weeks ago, we finally got around to having the last bit of wood floors refinished in our upstairs. I ended up switching the rooms around too.  I moved my daughter's room to the back bedroom and put my office in her old room.  

Mother of the year... I know.

At any rate, once we finally got everything put back in order, I did some major purging and reorganizing in my office.  (The hacksaw may have been pulled out, but shhhhhh...don't tell my husband).  And after the dust settled (literally and figuratively), I was left with - HEAVEN FORBID! - a completely empty wall.

Hello Pinterest.

I decided that it would be fun to create a gallery wall in the wall space above the file cabinet and so naturally, I went to Pinterest where I have an entire board devoted to gallery walls.  And thanks to a little serendipity, I also saw this blog post by Jamie Pate on Heidi Swapp's website.  I think what I love most is the mix of shapes and textures in combination with typography and other elements.  Which is what I wanted to incorporate into my gallery wall.  

So the first thing I did was start with a little sketch.  

I wish I was one of those people that could just pull a bunch of things together willy-nilly, but I tend to do so much better if I have at least some kind of visual to get me going.  For this project, I knew I wanted to incorporate some marquee letters and I had an old, gold-tone, empty frame that I hoped to repurpose...that's where I stared.  Then I sketched in a few other elements (mostly unused picture frames and word art) to fill in the spaces and keep this project as inexpensive as possible ...knowing that the end result would probably look a little different.  

The one thing I splurged on were the marquee letters.  I decided to give them an aged, gold finish by layering on a combination of gold, cream, and silver acrylic paints (all things I had in my supplies).  I also used a tiny bit of an antique rub in between the layers to give it the aged feel.  

Once I had the letters done, I started experimenting with placement by arranging the pieces on the floor.  And in the spirit of full-disclosure, the layout evolved over the course of a couple of days.  I had the big gold frame, the marquee letters, and a chalkboard pretty much fixed.  Friday afternoon I visited Vintage Market Days and bought an antique fence picket which I thought would be a fun addition.  But everything else was open for interpretation.

So fast forward about 36 hours, and this was the final iteration.  I wrote out one of my favorite bible verses in chalk, added a quote by St. Francis of Assisi (the inspiration behind my word for the year - CONNECT), and printed out a couple of photos.  The next step was to hang it up on the wall.  Once again, someone like my friend Carrie could probably hang all this up with no map and all the pictures would be level and everything would be perfectly spaced.  But not me.  So I started by measuring and marking, then hanging the largest pieces - the frame, marquee letters, and chalkboard - and then added the other elements one at a time.

Here is the end result.

I just love the way it turned out.  Each of the elements speaks to my heart and makes me so happy.

If you are interested in creating a gallery wall for yourself,  I would offer the following pieces of advice.  First, try not to overthink it....this should be fun.  Next, choose a variety of elements in various shapes and sizes - word art, frames, photos.  Also, try incorporating a variety of finishes in gold, painted, and/or wood.  Then, as you put your design together, don't be afraid to move things around - my end result turned out quite a bit different than my original sketch.  Finally, I find that keeping at least one edge of each element aligned is the best way to keep all these different styles, colors, and shapes unified. For instance in my wall, the bottom of the letters line up with the bottom of the gold frame and the framed print of my daughter lines up along the left edge.

I know this type of display isn't for everyone, but I find it to wonderfully inspirational to have all of these things I love in the place where I create. And what a gift to create something beautiful just for yourself.

I'd love to see your creative spaces! You can upload them to our Flickr pool or share them on Instagram using the #focusingonlife.  

Until next time,

Kelly

Home for the Holidays

by Kelly

My daughter Kelsey got home from college last Thursday.  And since then, I have been soaking up every minute of time that I get to spend with her.

Over the weekend, she and I were invited to my friend Becky's house for her annual gingerbread house decorating party.  It was such a blast. Friendship and laughter and candy...seriously...so much fun.  

Sidenote:  My choice, however, to create a split-rail fence out of mini-pretzel sticks may have got me kicked off the invite list for next year though. #overachiever 

One of my favorite things though, was seeing everyone's finished houses.  Such awesome creative ideas!

All of those unique gingerbread houses got me thinking about about home...and what exactly that means to me. Part of it is a definite attachment to my physical dwelling.  I love cooking and baking and decorating for the holidays and for the most part, home is where that happens.  And then for the past few years, home has taken on the additional dimension of having my daughter home from college.  For weeks I look forward to the text that says she's finished with her last final and in the car heading home.  Yeah...I'm basically a walking Hallmark commercial.  

But I also know that 'home for the holidays' can mean different things to different people. Perhaps 'home for the holidays' means travelling to be with loved ones.  Home being the place where you grew up.  The familiar sights and the familiar faces of family and friends.  Or maybe, home doesn't look like anything like that...maybe being at home is on the beach or an exotic location.

Regardless, though, of whether it is a red-brick traditional or a thatched-roof tiki hut, I believe home is that place where we feel most alive.  Home is where we feel loved and inspired.  And so this week I urge you to celebrate it. Share with us what 'home for the holidays' means to you.

Wishing you every peace and blessing this holiday season.


Love, Kelly