2012

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The New Year is here, my how time flies in this life. It makes me want to capture and hold tight to each wonderful moment as it passes. This past year has been one of the most busy, stressful, amazing, rewarding, hard, yet blessed years of my life. A lot of changes, a lot of new beginnings. I look forward to this new year of settling in to a new home and a new city with excitement to see what God has planned for this year. Whatever it is it will be amazing.

I am one of those people who likes to set New Year's resolutions every year, but I don't stress about them. Maybe more than a resolution it's an idea I would like to achieve if possible. Then I think it's fun the end of the year to look back on my list and see how many of those things I accomplished. Sometimes it's surprising!

In 2012:

-learn to take better pictures

-read more books 

-write more letters 

-journal more 

-use what i have 

-eat better food 

-knit a sweater 

-finish projects 

-worry less 

-laugh more 

-love with out fear 

-look at each day as an adventure 

-be carefree 

-be a better friend 

-let my light shine

May your year be filled with love and joy!
~Anna

Making things

Yesterday mom and I took the long trip to town to get stuff for the wedding and we made a ton of progress. I also picked up this roll of cotton yarn to make my handmade cotton blanket into a queen size. I absolutely love cotton yarn. *sigh*

I'm in such a mood for making things right now. I finished a skirt today as well as a bag from fabric I bought in England almost 3 years ago. My goodness has it really been that long?

But the mood I'm really in...is to hand stitch something old. I am in such a costuming mood and I want to get back to selling costumes in my shop, I just feel like I have so much stuff to do for the wedding that I shouldn't waist time on those things right now. But I think it might be soothing and help keep me sane if I had a hand sewing project going. What am I saying!? I've got a massive list of unfinished projects and quite a few which are hand sewn. I suppose I could get one of those out and work away at it during my 'free' time. If such a word even exists when one is planning a wedding.

Well, I must be off to bed. Enough ramblings for one evening.

I hope you all are having a lovely week...

~Anna Kristine

Inspired but Unmotivated

Do you ever have those days when you're so inspired, but when you sit down to actually put that inspiration into something tangible, you feel like you've got a complete creator's block? That's how I feel today. I think the main problem is I made a master list of all the projects I've started but haven't finished and well...it's not pretty. The thing is, nothing on that list is what I want to work on today. I want to create something new. But I'm determined to at least get the list down into single digits. I can do it. I think.

So for now...here are some images by photographer Alexandra Grablewski that have inspired me today.

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under the weather...

I've got the beginnings of a little cold today...so I'm drinking lots of tea with honey as the 'doctor' ordered in my special favorite mug.

Can I just tell you a little bit about this mug? My friend Sharayah gave it to me as a 'prayer mug' when she went to Africa so every time I drank something out of it I would remember to pray for her. However, some one always pulled it off the shelf before I got a chance to use it so I would tell them they had to pray for her if they continued to use it. But all the while something was growing inside me...this possessive feeling about MY mug. I mean, I know it's just a coffee mug...no different than any other...it does the SAME EXACT THING as every other mug....it holds liquid. You drink the liquid from it. So what's the big deal? Who cares what mug I drink my tea out of? But you see...this one is MINE. This one is pretty. It has a nice shape, I like the way it curves and fits in my hands and the feel of the bone china and the swirly heart pattern. And when some one else grabs it off the shelf and fills it with coffee (oh the horror) I get this wicked feeling of selfishness (much like a preschooler) in which I want to tell them they can't use that mug because it's MINE and to get their own mug. (who's idea was it anyway that sharing is more fun?)
So there you have it. The confession of my mug possession. Do I need to work on this possessive nature that is bursting forth from my inner self? Probably. But for now I have my mug in my own hands and I feel quite happy. So I'll worry about it another day.

To be a turtle...

Driving home yesterday I nearly crushed this poor turtle on our driveway. I scared him out of his wits by nearly taking his head off with my tire and then tormented him even further by taking pictures of him. I was so tempted to take him home and give him a name but I figured he would be much happier in the creek, which I think he must have been on his way to. What must it be like to be a turtle? "Hmm...I think I'll be thirsty in about an hour...guess I better head toward the creek..." And then an annoying girl stops you to take your picture after nearly killing you...and all you wanted was to get to the creek before you died of dehydration. Who knew being a turtle could be so stressful?

But he sure is cute...isn't he? :)