March It On Outta' There...

I'm just so ready to pitch it all....

no, I'm not having a bad day! lol

I'm just weary of all the STUFF.

everywhere I look, I am overwhelmed with STUFF.

boxes and bins and bags of stuff. cabinets and shelves and tables of stuff.

I have stuff for my design work, stuff for our vintage business,

stuff I collect, and stuff that has just been hangin' around.

and it's stuffed everywhere. 

some of it you can see...

{the books & magazines. tons of cookware & ironstone dishes.

the collections of seashells and glass decanters and 'K's.

some other decor stuff that just isn't US anymore.}

some of it you can't...

{art supplies, tools, paperwork, old stuff, new stuff,

decor for every freakin' season creating a wall of bins in the barn}

I've been a 'stuffoholic' for ever. 

Maybe it's because my grandma never saved anything. 

And then my mom, to make up for that, saved everything. 

{She still has it all, she just can't remember where it IS} 

I'm a saver. And a stuffer.

I've got closets and cabinets and BARNS full.

I've got boxes full of every school paper my FOUR childen ever had.

Photos. Art projects. Childhood bedroom decor. 

Sports awards. Jeni's first colorguard flag from fourth grade.

It's EVERYWHERE.

It's becoming a huge distraction and burden,

keeping me from feeling any sense of control over our space

or any breathing room.

{more on this concept in posts to come}

I'm not a hoarder or anything, our house looks normal!

Just.... really full.  Stuffed.

I'm just ready to let.it.all.go.

so,

I have a plan.

March is my birthday month. 

{Thank you Timi for explaining this concept to me.

It is no longer birthDAY. It is birthMONTH.}

I have decided that every day for the entire month of March,

I am going to get rid of one thing. 

I'm calling it the 'March It On Outta' There Challenge'

get rid of one 'thing' at a time. Every day. 

{relatively speaking, of course. I don't mean one magazine}

If there are magazines & catalogs to be tossed 

{and ohMY there ARE} 

they'll all go at once, into a box and out the door to the truck.

I've got empty flattened boxes, even. I can fill 'em up and move 'em out.

the local thrift store is going to LOVE me!

{It supports our Island's senior activity center, so I love donating stuff there AND shopping there}

Everything will go to a new home, to be loved and appreciated 

instead of just sitting in a box or bin or bag where I ignore it.

I figure that by the end of March, 

I'll have 31 boxes, bags, and bins FULL of stuff

that have left the building.

{do not panic, Kennedy kids. you'll get your stuff.}

I'll also have four bins for my three daughters and one son, 

filled with their childhood stuff and some special holiday decor that I know they want.

a nice way to start the next year of my life - 

more organized, lighter in spirit, and less burdened with STUFF.

Telling you all about this will help keep me motivated and on track.

I'll do a post each week and share what I've shuffled on outta' here.

{heck, depending on what I find, maybe there will be giveaways, too!}

anyone want to join me?

if you'd like to take up the 

'March It On Outta' There Challenge' with me,

leave me a comment below.

I'll send you thoughts, cosmic energy, prayers, 

and some Good Juju while we're all working...

but no STUFF.

;0)

Mon Petite Retreat...

 

We've been working on something special, 

and today we share it with everyone!

Lots of fun & inspiration in store at our shows north of Seattle...

{Visit our Retreat Style blog for info}

House Blessing

I shared with you awhile back that we named our house when we moved in.

We call her 'Blessing'. {For obvious reasons!} And oh, but she is...

When I freshened up the entry & front porch this weekend, I made a simple change to the wreath at the front door: I wrapped it with coarse linen, and finished it off with a remnant of burlap & baby's breath. It hangs from a thrifted jute belt. Simple changes like this each season make me smile! And the silver scripted 'Blessing' ornament is the perfect welcoming touch.

You've probably read my past few posts, so you know most of the weekend was spent junking. We were also taking photos at scenic locales:

 

One of my new favorites: 

A view of our Island & Bay from across Saratoga Passage...

 

These are bring printed so we can frame them for our home. What a blessing indeed!

{images are mine}

Spring Fling

This weekend was one of the most beautiful spring weekends I think we've ever had - and it's not even spring yet! The sunshine, warm temps, and breathtakingly clear blue sky have really been a pleasure. I walked into the dining room yesterday afternoon, and the sunshine was pouring in our southwest-facing windows and spilling across the table... I just had to snap that photo above. I love the high contrast.

Along with our junkin' trips over the past few days, I made time to do a bit of pre-spring cleaning and spiff up a few areas with our new finds... and as I was working, I again became captivated by the sunlight. It played with the petals of the tulips I placed by the front door and so I started snappin' away. I didn't realize the drama of this shot below until I downloaded it to edit:

 

Below, a 'real life' view of the same tulip:

{Bob laughed at me when those tulips shown above 

basically fell apart as I sat the vase there. Petals landed everywhere.  

And I just left 'em there!}

Most of my time was spent outside, though, reveling in the warmth and sunlight and soft sea breeze. The back deck and front porch were of tidied up, and I arranged the growing collection of galvanized accoutrements that we use for both decor and entertaining. I found six metal chairs on Whidbey Island yesterday, and am SO excited to have them on my deck now! {Until I find galvanized bistro chairs. I'm fickle that way!} Now how do I tell Bob that I'd like a nice long plank table to go with them???

I'll be putting some pots with flowers onto the deck this week, as my daffies have begun to go a bit crazy with all of this sunshine.... normally, I'd be thrilled. But I have an event coming up here at the end of next month, and I really need for my daffodils to wait and bloom for that! {I'll let you know how that works out... God is laughing at me, I know...}

The best part is it's not over yet - we get at least one more entire day of sunshine before the clouds move back in!

{all images are mine}

Weekend Junkin'!

 

We began our weekend with the arrival of THIS beauty in the mailbox on Friday - and Retreat Style is featured on pages 29,30, and 31 -
yes, THREE pages of photos! 

{I'm sure you all heard me gasp out loud...}
You can get your own copy here

Then we headed out junkin'...

  

  

  

...and we found some FABulous treasures 

for our upcoming private event in March, our public event in May, 

and our 'guest spot' on the BarnHouse Market next month.

  

  

 

 

There are even more - I didn't get to photograph everything -  

plus some goodies that I've decided to KEEP just for our yard & patio.

I'd say that's pretty good... and it's only Saturday! ;0)

{All images are mine}

Thank You, Robin!

Thanks to my Sweet friend Robin King, 

I am the blessed recipient of the Sunshine Award!

Robin is a masterful and creative paper artisan - she designs, she creates, she develops lines of products... and she does everything beautifully!

{Don't you just LOVE her Robin King logo?!}

I met this sweet girl a few years back when I was speaking at the Denver Gift Show. She attended my seminars and then came up to talk with me afterwards... and I am SO glad she did! She was just starting her business then, and I have been privileged to witness her growth and success ever since. Robin, thank you so much for this lovely acknowledgment {I hope you don't mind that I put it on this blog instead of my retail design one}.

With this award I am charged to:*Post the award on my blog.
*Link the person I received the award from.
*Pass the award on to 12 of my favorite blogs and share the link to their blogs.
*Let the bloggers know I have awarded them the award.

So, here's my list: 

Tracey's Notes From a Cottage Industry

Tiffany's Shabby Scraps

Timi's Come Junk With Us!

Patricia's Tippy Stockton Designs

Cindy's Queen of Tarte

Kimberly at Mimi Charmante

Another Robin's Bird Tweets 

Ruth's Beautiful Life  

Liz's Seabold Vintage Market
MaryBeth's Poppyseeds Shop

Patty's Sisters Antiques  

Coleen's Reflections 

{it's so hard to choose just twelve!!!}

I hope you enjoy visiting my friends... they are all SO talented and creative, and share their lives and their art so generously. I am blessed to know each and every one of them.

OMG! BH in FMS is F.A.B.!

It arrived today!

Bless the hearts of the BarnHouse Boys, 

I ordered Friday, they shipped Saturday, and it's HERE!

I've already read it all the way through three times.

And poured over the article on the BH Boys.

And oogled the photos in the story about the party on their farm, too.

GORgeous. FABulous. amAzing. 

I can't show you any of it, tho - 

I wish I could but they'd frown on that at FMS. ;0)

You'll just have to get your own copy from the BH Market online

{sorry, I just heard they are sold out already}

 or wait another few days until it hits the major newsstands...

The FMS team has really done a wonderful job - 

you are going to LOVE this magazine and be anxiously awaiting the next issue!

FriendShip

Yesterday I received an email forward {from my mom} about friendship. The message was about how most people come into our lives just for a season, to teach us or support us or lead us, and then they are gone. Some friendships fade out as we each grow in new directions or at different rates, others sadly end abruptly when something hurtful happens.

I pictured a bevy of ships in a harbor when I read the email - some anchored firmly, some drifting about, some sailing off into the sunset. All of them represented the various experiences I have had with 'Friend Ship'.

People have, indeed, come into my life for a season or two... and are now gone. I'll be honest and say that I have spent many hours looking long & hard at that fact, thinking that something went wrong with the friendship. In some cases that is true - and, in all honesty, the fault was always mine for giving the other person/s more power in the relationship than I should have. I played second-fiddle and let them lead/decide/take advantage of my position of needing them as friends and/or clients and/or partners in a project. From my school days to church involvement & women's groups, to co-workers and clients, I've made and lost friends over the years. And the ones I lost fell prey to me not knowing how to find balance early on in human relationships. {I usually let people walk all over me until I just can't take it anymore, then I finally stand up for myself - and they go ballistic because this just isn't how they are used to seeing me.} I should say I used to do that. Not any more.

Thankfully, this past year has brought me opportunities to learn from those mistakes and grow in my abilities as a person and as a friend. I've let those people and situations go, but this recent email really helped me to see that things just aren't forever sometimes - and that's not a bad thing. It's simply the way things are in the ebb and flow of life. Some friends last forever.... and some don't. Some are there for a project, to impart a life lesson, or to reveal something about us, and then they are gone. It's not a failure on anyone's part, it's just life. Just a day trip, instead of a cruise.

Life has been good to me, and I have friends whom I knew as a child, in school, and throughout the many stages of my adult life as we moved all over the West coast. They are the regulars who sail into the harbor every season, ready for adventure. My husband is my best friend, and has been since I met him in high school. Some friends in my past told me it was just wrong that my husband is my best friend, and that hurt me. {The fact that these were single, divorced, or very unhappily married women isn't lost on me}. I know it's not the norm, but neither is our history or our marriage, and I wouldn't change a thing. The love of my life and I have been through a LOT in 30 years, and to be able to say we are friends is something we are very proud of. We are like one ship - sometimes, I'm the sail and he's the rudder. Other times, he's the wind and I am the sleek hull. Only together can we make this journey.

The people whom I count as friends now are more numerous than at any other point in my life, and are a much more diverse and interesting representation of the many sides of me. Both online and 'In Real Life', I am surrounded by women & men, singles & couples, young & old, who are passionately living their lives, realizing their dreams, and reaching out to help & encourage others along the way. I can communicate with them about so many facets of my life and know that they 'get it' - and in my past, that has rarely been the case. These are the ships that pull up alongside, drop anchor, and choose a moorage beside me  - my tribe. I know that some of them will last a lifetime, some for a while, and other may be here for only a season, and in every case I treasure this time with them.

There are people in my life who are merely acquaintances and not 'friends' - we just don't connect, and that's OK -  and there are people who used to be close friends who are now just acquaintances, mostly due to major life changes on both sides. They give the happy 'boater's wave' and sail past on their way to another harbor. I've learned not to fret over that, or about people who have no intention of being my friend at all - I can let the comments & attitudes they have slide. I've grown past my childhood need to be liked by everyone {or to have the biggest group of friends/fans/followers} and though I always try to treat people kindly and from a place of expecting the best from them, I am sometimes disappointed by the words and actions of others. The big change for me is not letting their attitudes affect me anymore. {In all honesty, I get more perturbed when I see people like this affecting my FRIENDS negatively than when they pull stuff with me!} They are the flashy, loud, obnoxious speedboats with bad paint jobs. They roar past the harbor and kick up a wake to rock the other boats, just to get attention. ;0)

This quote is on a friend's Facebook status update today:

"Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark Twain

I'm sure you have had experiences in your life with people who do not support your choices, creative vision, dreams, or goals. I've dealt with friends and family members who shake their heads and murmur over my ambition & ideas, or stare blankly.  Used to bug me, now I'm better at realizing that they truly just don't know me or what I am capable of. And it's OK. I just know to think of them as the ships that are drifting nearer the edge of the harbor - not quite heading out to sea, but not moored securely nearby. {Some of them are drydocked. ;0)}

Through the generous friendships I have with people now, I've learned that they want the best for me, they cheer me on, they offer their help, and they pray for me. A few of them even step up publicly and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me when I stand up for myself & others, and I can't thank them enough for that gift of trust.  These friends will be the balast when I'm hit by life's high tides and strong winds. I endeavour to treat all of my friends that way, am loyal to them, and will do anything I can for them - but now I can say that I expect it as well. As the tides of life come and go, I know that now I will always have friends who enrich my life, until it is time for us to each sail away. Thank you to all of my wonderful friends who are 'ships' in my life's harbor.

(And yes, I got all of that out of an email forward
and a Facebook status update!)

Images are all by my husband Bob, from Jakes on the West Shore, Lake Tahoe, June, 2008

 

  

 

I'd love to thank you for visiting my blog
and leaving such sweet comments...
if I could, I'd deliver one of these loveycakes 
{that I made for my grandson today}
to each and every one of you!

Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day!

{Images are mine except the last one, from Facebook Flair}

Looking for a Few Good Knit-Wits

I have a speaking engagement coming up, and as part of my stage presentation I am searching for interesting fixtures, props, and products that relate to the fiber arts industry. My seminar is all about successful store design, and I'm presenting to independent yarn shop owners from all over the USA and Canada. When I speak, I build big displays on stage to illustrate the principles I teach - I figure if I am talking about communication through visual media, I should be setting a good example! {I could not stand behind a podium and pontificate if my life depended on it. Ditto for doing a Power Point presentation. I can't stand still that long! On-stage displays allow me to move around, interact with the props, and invite feedback from the audience. More energy that way!}

So my friends & readers, I need some good stuff to fill up the stage.
This means great exposure & promotion for the products I use. I figure with all of you incredibly talented, artistic, creative, crafty girls out there, some of you may be looking for promotional opportunities. Y'all know I love to share a great idea, and I love to help people succeed in business - plus your great stuff will make my stage look awesome AND make the attendees go stark raving crazy. So, it's a win-win for everyone!

If you are interested in providing something, find more info on my retail design blog about what I need and how you can benefit.

The Yarn Market News 'Smart Business Conference' from SoHo Publishing is being held mid-March here in Seattle. You can read more about the details here. I am SO excited to meet & speak with this group of creative people!

Image is mine.

Whitewashed

I just love white.

Clouds, snow, the foam at the edge of the sea, flowers in every season, the brilliant white light of mid-day sunshine, flaky white paint on picket fences and barns, crisp fragrant freshly-laundered white cotton sheets {on a clothesline or on my bed}, ironstone, seashells, vanilla bean ice cream...

Any white will do, really....

Timeless, classic, appropriate for every season, elegant, casual, vintage, and fresh, white just makes me say 'aaaaahhhhh'.

I've been surrounded by white for the past few days while painting. {Yes, it's on my hair and hands - possibly permanently!} My world is getting whitewashed, and I love it!

Tonight, I discovered Tricia Foley's web site {thanks to Linda over at Flea Market Style!} and am wallowing in perfect whiteness. sigh. Her photos are so luscious, I can almost smell the clean fresh cotton fragrance... oh, wait, that's my sheets just out of the dryer! :0) There's more wonderful white in store for me this week - how about you?

All photos here are my own...

Love is...

{my own image, July 2009. 

This rose from our yard was the only spot of color 

inside the serene Taj Ma Tent we created at BarnHouse...'}

When I was a kid, I had a little book called 'Love Is...'

It was filled with sketches of Peanuts cartoon characters,

and every page showed a way to describe love.

{I still have that book - not the exact same one, but a replacement

that my mom got me one year for my birthday.}

Around here, Love is...  

working side by side, 

hand in hand, 

heart to heart

with the love of your life

to reach your goals and make your dreams real...

it's the part where you share the moments 

and laughs and singing loudly off-tune to the radio and gasps of joy

when it all turns out better than you had imagined...

it's even the part where you end up sweaty and dirty

with a thorn in your finger from the rose bushes you tried to weed under

and covered with paint spatters at the end of the day...

and the part where you agree to eat crackers & cheese for dinner 

because you are both too tired to fix anything requiring any more effort

than opening a box of Triscuits and some slices of gouda...

and especially the part where you look at each other and grin

and say 'We're DOING it!' and know that every day,

it really DOES just keep gettin' better and better...

{even when  - no, especially when - sometimes the worries and the fears creep in 

and life feels like a tightrope, 

and you cling to your faith and keep pressing on...}

...and that, God willing,  we'll be spending tomorrow doing the same thing.

And smiling. And loving every moment of it. 

*

Love is also.... reaching 100 followers!

{Bless your HEARTS, you made my morning! }

Mother Nature's Finest...

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Just a few of the many shots I snapped yesterday at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle. In case you were still wondering, YES, it's a great show this year! You can attend through Sunday {and if you go after 3 PM, it's half price!}

If you are looking for even more inspiration, head over to Ruth's 'A Beautiful Life' blog and enter her latest GIVEAWAY!