Friday favorites.

T.G.I.F!
Did you use to watch the line-up of TGIF shows when you were a kid?! Family Matters...Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Step by Step...
Ok, nothing to do with this post but I seriously remember anticipating getting to watch these shows on Friday evening.  So funny! 

I have a post coming up soon about a real world look at my eating/working out....like how a "normal" gal actually approaches health.  But who wants to read about that on a Friday afternoon?  Not me.  :)  Let's have some fun instead!  

I thought I'd share a few of my share-able art journal pages, along with some favorite links from the world wide web.  A few Friday favorites that will hopefully brighten your weekend before it's even started!  

I've been a lot more personal in this art journal so these are the pages I feel ok sharing for now.  I think of the verse that says Mary treasured these things in her heart.  I have learned lately to start treasuring more and talking less.  
My original goal was to create a page a day.  But let's be honest, some days you're just not feeling it or are running on very little sleep.  So those days wait.  

I actually went back yesterday and added a bit more excitement to some of the pages, more color, pattern, etc.  So what you're seeing today are the pages after I've worked on them several times.
You'll want to ponder this poem for a bit.... trust me.




Journaling much? 
I'd love to hear about it. 

The internet can be such a kill-joy, can't it?  
Sometimes, yes.  
So that's why I only stick to reading what consistently fills my mind with good, happy, thought-provoking things. 

Here are a few favorites for your Friday I encourage you to check out! 


and for extra fun, you should browse my Pinterest boards! I was going to put my favorite pictures up but realized I could never narrow it down. :)

Happy Weekend! What are your plans?
Please include: paint, warm covers, music, coffee, hand-holding, and photography. 

Angels among us...and a paper flower DIY

 How has your week started off?  I captured this breath-taking sunrise through my bedroom window this morning.  I admit, that morning time (after my coffee and shower) is my favorite time of day now.  It's like a breath of fresh air, a huge sigh.  A time to start over, blank slate in hand.   
I saw the COOLEST photo project idea here, where one of my favorite bloggers photographed the sunset each day and then printed the pictures and made a gallery wall out of it.  Brilliant! 
 I'm a sucker for old, faded, antique-y looking things.  Which is why I just couldn't bear to throw the dried flowers away that the girls and I treated ourselves too.  These prized beauties are sitting on my dining room table.  I'm thinking they would look lovely laying on an open book, as photo props.  I'll add that to my spring list of photo ideas...I've created a little extra photography project for myself I'll tell you about soon.  
 "Look Mama! I'm an angel!" 

 It snowed a bit today.  As begrudgingly as I watched it come down, I stepped outside quickly anyway because it was a goal of mine to capture at least one snowflake up close.  The intricacy of it.  I mean, can you believe this?! This much detail into one tiny snowflake?!  There is truly beauty among us, even in the tiniest of places.
 This little crowded vignette is such a delight for my eyes this week.  Lots of my favorite things (and people) all tucked in nice and close on my craft room window sill.  I'm dreaming of getting in there one night soon and lighting a bunch of candles.  Doesn't that sound wonderful?

After I exercise (which isn't happening near as much lately, sleep is limited right now) I'm usually so tired I sit for a chat with Brett and then go to bed.  Does anyone understand or are you super productive in the evenings?


 So I saw the most brilliant, GORGEOUS idea in the last Martha Stewart magazine to make crepe paper flowers.  It's actually an idea from Paper to Petal, which looks wildly inspiring.  I wanted to make the paper flowers so badly but my motivation for running around town to gather the "correct" supplies was like nada.  With two babies and limited funds....bring on the creativity for using what I already have on hand!  So that's just what Anna Ruth and I did.  

We started by painting several different paper types we already had at home: Coffee filters, plain white paper, old book pages, and Q-tips.



 Next I began to assemble the flower.  To make the center (I have no idea what the correct flower terms are so you'll have to excuse me!) I taped four Q-tips around a kabob stick, used normally in the kitchen.  

Then I cut some large petal shapes from the coffee filters we painted, which were actually 3 or 4 coffee filters stacked on top of each other.
I rolled the coffee filter petals up and placed them around the Q-tips.  I taped all of these in place with washi tape, because it's the only thing I had on hand.
 Next it was on to the old book pages, which had also been painted.  I cut a petal shape out of these too and then pinched the bottom of each petal to make the top part more curved, like a real flower.

The book page petals were then placed around the coffee filter petals.  I held all of these in place with washi tape, wound tightly around the flower again.
 The last step was my favorite. I cut much bigger petals out from the plain white paper and placed them with the color side facing up.  These were layered around the very outside of the flower.
I twisted a rubber band around the entire flower to hold all of the petals in place. 

I was so pleased with the final result! 
 I think these would be gorgeous in big, colorful clumps, with paper leaves attached.  It surprised me how much time and how many materials were needed to make just one of these but I think the reward was worth it.  I plan on making more of these soon and creating a pretty spring arrangement on our dining room table with them.  Or maybe a wreath....or toppers for a present, or a garland. 

So many possibilities. 
And in case you're wondering if I really mean the term "happy mess" when I use it, I do. 

Anna Ruth was happily playing with her bag of fabric scraps and art supplies while I assembled the flower.  A happy mess, indeed.

What are you up to this week?  

Getting down-garden style and Anna's first haircut.

 I was in a bit of a slump the last time I wrote.  Admittedly, my physical body has spent this week trying to keep up with the warmer temperatures as fast as they are changing.  I'm positive I've had a sinus infection (I've had enough to know by now) but am also positive that with rest and lots of fluids I can get rid of it without an antibiotic.  And so I've been resting this slump away. 

When I wrote my last post I wasn't feeling too excited about the lack of direction or plan for this stage of my life.  Forget Plans A, B, or C..I would have even taken a plan G! Just a plan. Something to express my creativity through.  I'm not used to free time and so even a tiny little bit of it sometimes feels like it needs to be the MOST productive, the MOST thought out.  But, with some serious praying I can say God has done a very quick, dramatic heart change in me, in just a matter of days.  I'm content with putting one foot in front of another and bravely following hard after God.   And doing things I like!  Learning to paint, for example.  

I also want to do a better job of taking care of the friends and family around me.  Responding to the opportunities to give (like taking food to a local center that teaches classes to expecting moms).  

This little package above is for a new nephew that will be born on Brett's side of the family in May! We are so, so excited.  There is a tiny bunting (in boy colors) inside..
 I packaged up this gift as beautifully as I knew how, using some of my favorite scrapbook supplies and an Instagram photo of mine.  The "package" is actually a book. 
 The craft room is always such a happy, happy place for me.  It's my favorite spot in the house, full of all my favorite things.  I like to paint and sew in here...
and just spending time in here alone lifts my spirits. 
Do you have a place like that?  
In getting honest with God He spoke very clearly to me, showing me how to best use my passions right where I am in life, right now.  He showed me what a gift this season of time is...kind of the middle for our family.  There are so many opportunities surrounding us every day for living beautifully and creatively and showing the love of Jesus. 


 Pretty pictures of my pretty girl......Anna Ruth will be THREE this summer.

 The girls and I also "got down" in the garden.  
Boy, how we can get down in the garden.  Give us a little dirt, a shovel, some boots.....
we are livin' the good life.  
 Brett is expanding our garden this year and I am excited to tell you more about it soon. 
We can't wait for garden food.  Friends, I have never eaten so well and so beautifully as we did last spring.  I felt fantastic and ate colorful, rich foods straight from our back yard last year.  I'm fairly certain if there's food in heaven, there will be a garden.  The best food is garden grown! 

 Do any of my city-slicker friends know what Brett is doing here?! 






We love dirt.
I am definitely not a cautious mom when it comes to dirt.  Of course, I keep a watchful eye on the girls like any parent would.  But I don't squeal at the first sign of a mess.  I think it's natural and wonderful and exciting to see the girls digging in our dirt, making up their own imaginative play as they go.  

And then we come inside and scrub real, real good because we are girls after-all. 
We might be Torbett girls (which will probably always include cows and pick-ups), but we are still GIRLS...
and we do girly things like get haircuts.

Anna Ruth had her first haircut this weekend. 

She looks serious because she is serious! 
Friends who know her well have seen her wild/contained side.  The Anna Ruth that likes to shout and yell and follow the rules.  The non-stop talker.  The holding hands with her friends Anna. 

A lot of times the rest of the world sees serious Anna.  Both are genuinely her and celebrated in our house!
 I *almost* can't stand these pictures. 
The cuteness overload,
the preciousness.

The fact that she looks so big and old and...
where's my tiny baby?!?!?!?!


Isn't that the sweetest little haircut ever?!
Doll. 
This pulls on all kinds of heart strings. 
It was such fun getting to take her to get her first haircut.  And she was SO excited to go.  She's been asking me about it all week.  

She also loves getting my "nake-up". 
(don't tell Brett, but I think he's in for a wild ride)

What are you up to this weekend? What's lifted your spirits and what are you doing to relax?

I've got a new blog! Come see. :)

Room for the Rosy  is my new blog. I hope you'll come see.