disappearing...

Good morning friends.  It feels good to be here.  I'm just gonna spill the few thoughts I have because lately I got nothin';)  So you all know I'm a cuffer.  That business is good.  We are working to restock the shop daily.  And even though this growth has come over the last few years, the majority is new.  I never thought I'd have a real job.  Never set out to have one.  I feel an identity crisis coming on.

I daydream about disappearing.  Is that weird?  Not up and leaving my family, but just disappearing from "view".  The most decadent delicious dream I have right now is getting so lost in a book I do nothing for days but read.  I can't remember the last book I couldn't put down.  I have a nightstand of sweet books beckoning me to open their pages, but I don't.  I plop into bed at night and numbingly watch a few shows...the Bachelor being one of them.  Are you guys watching?  Seriously weird this time.  Sometimes I like him, sometimes I want to smack him.  There's no way it's going to end good and yet I watch...wasting my precious book time:)


March is going to be a blur.  BLUR!  So much going on.  Stuff...lots of stuff.  People...trips.  Excitement.  Another opening.  Which I'm telling you will never happen two months in a row again.  So be forewarned.  It's just a bad idea.  Burnout is not a place you want to visit.  And in the midst of it all I feel this little voice in me whispering Becky...where are you?!  And I feel like shouting back...I HAVE NO IDEA!!!


I say all this in a frazzled place, but despite the crazy...I pinch myself at life.  I'm home. Making beautiful things...with friends.  I'm blessed.  I'm tired, but from good things.  My cup runneth over.  I'm just trying to figure out how to incorporate me-time into the mix.  Remember when you had your first baby and the clouds parted and one day you got the very rare treat to go the grocery store and run errands all alone and it felt super liberating and easy?  You didn't have to lug the carseat.  You didn't have to stop and feed the baby.  It was just you.  Just easy.  Your skin tingled from that free feeling.  I'm wanting a little of that easy free feeling.

So you all know I'm in love with Hawaii.  We're going back this summer:)  Kauai this time.  It's the last one on my must-see list.  It represents that feeling to me.  But I will find it right here too.  I think we have to carve out time in the midst of the every day hustle to find that feeling.  It's vital to our well being.  Maybe an alarm needs set.  Bbbbbbbrrrrriiinggg...you must open a book RIGHT now;)  Bbbbbrrrrriiinnnggg...GO SIT ON THE PORCH!  Maybe a mandatory blog hour is in order...cause I sure do miss it.


I've never been one to plan my days out.  Scheduling fun seems a little weird, but maybe I should.  I need to plan a few hours weekly to clean, meal plan and throw a ball with Fergie too.  When there's something stirring in your heart...when there's a little voice whispering in the background over and over again...we need to listen and obey.  


I'm not really good at the last part.  This is probably the tenth time I've written about this feeling and I haven't done anything about it yet. So maybe running away isn't the answer.  Disappearing might not be feasible, but stuffing down those feelings will not have a good end result.  So I'm asking for help...Heavenly Daddy help me listen.  Help me find time to balance work and life. I'm failing miserably and I want to do better. Teach me how to plan better. Show me ways to use my time better.  Stir in me the direction I should go.  Use me, fill me up...pour me out for You...in Jesus name.

Be a blessing.

what i wish i knew at fourteen...

Good morning friends.  It takes a snow day for me to carve time out to blog.  The shop was a HUGE hit again.  Thank you all SO MUCH!  I looked over at Tamara the other day as we were slouched over our work tables hammering away and said, "Remember when we used to go on nature walks? Remember when we used to go to lunch for fun?"  That seems like so long ago;)

This little side hobby has turned into a full time, hard core gig.  You see the five days of the shop being open...we see weeks before and after of prep, stamping, photographing, listing and really hard....very detailed work.  Have I ever mentioned details are not my thing.  Thank God for my helpers!  This growth is such a blessing...such an amazingly overwhelming "God is in this THING", but I'm trying to figure out how to grow with it and not be swallowed up whole.

So needless to say last weekend when my girl turned fourteen I was more than ready to throw down the hammer and escape the basement for a bit.  We hit PF Chang's for dinner.  Did a little shopping at Anthro and saw an action movie.  My girl likes action:)

My girls are opposites.  Little chick wears her heart on her sleeve.  If she's the least bit uncomfortable, sad, tired, hungry or whatever...you know it.  Big chick keeps her feelings stuffed down a bit until it finally bubbles up and she erupts like a full blown volcano.

The night before her birthday she erupted.  This being a teenager business is hard.  It's the balance between wanting independence to spread your wings, and wanting to feel safe and secure and little...geesh it's brutal.  There were tears about wanting to be remembered.  There were tears about a lot of other heavy things.  Things that honey and I listened to and identified with.  Sometimes all they need/want is a sounding board.  Guess what?  We went through the same stuff.  We felt the same way you do.  It's all gonna be alright.  Tell us what you're feeling.  We can help you...  This season is HARD, but it gets better.  We promise.

We listened.  We shared.  She wiped away the tears, smiled and left.  We cried.  Why?  Because that's what parents do.  We pour out. We take it all in, and desperately we wish we could walk the walk for them knowing what we know now.

Oh to be fourteen all over again.  Oh to know that being true to yourself and not worrying about everything so much is the way to go.  To know that this season is so short, such a small little blip in your life, and not the defining end all of what you will become.  That you don't have to have it all figured out.  That God allows you to struggle a bit at times to shape and mold who you will grow into.  Wish I could take all of my life experiences...struggles, pain, testings, joy, success, overcoming, confidence, love etc...and mix them into a little pill for her to swallow so she didn't have to worry.  So she didn't have to go through it unsure.  But that's not how it works.  We each have our own path to pave.  

I'm rejoicing with this girl.  I know she'll figure it out.  God has great big things for her.  She will be remembered.  She will find her voice, use her gifts, be surrounded with people who love her.  Her dreams will come to pass and unfold.  Why?  Because she has a heavenly daddy who loves her so much more than honey and I ever could.  And if we want these things for her...so does HE!

 Happy fourteenth baby girl!!! 

Be a blessing,

His mercies are new every morning. 

Finally feeling better...

fourteen years of motherhood.

my girl!

chocolate cake

grace

nyquil

SHOP opens NOW and the official tour!!!!!!

Good morning girlies.  It's a special day!!  Not only is the shop opening...YIPPEEEEEE, but I've been waiting to show you the finished shop space f.o.r.e.v.e.r!!!  So glad this day is finally here:))

It was late last summer that the switch finally flipped for me that we needed to swap out the girls playroom in the basement for my cuff shop that was currently in our upstairs bonus room.  We were cramped and hot.  Honey was working from home, so all the hammering and helpers coming and going was a big distraction.  So an idea took root and this is that beautiful beautiful flower!!!  Welcome to the new and improved FGP SHOP:))

These letters were the final special thing I was waiting for.  Last fall when I went to the Rose Bowl Flea I met the coolest gal...Anjanette.  So here we are months later with a SHOP sign design that literally surpasses all my expectations.  I sent her a picture of what I wanted and voila.  Gorgeousness!!!  The reclaimed wood even matches my floor in that space.  I LOVE it!!!  Her etsy shop is called American Vintage Inc.

This is our shipping station.  My hope is to eventually plaster the sides of the corkboard with your sweet cuff/selfie IG pics and map pin where the cuffs are heading off to:))

("Be awesome today" came from here. The "she turned her can't into cans" art came from here.) 

I wanted this space to be like a home away from home, so we've got a mini fridge, microwave and a Keurig coffee pot.  We pull up our TV trays at lunch and cozy in.  I seriously have to pinch myself that this my job.  That I get to work with my friends!  God is SO good.

We finished off the bathroom when we remodeled the basement.  This is our new girlie room:)  The vanity was purchased at an antique store for a really good price and then we bought the sink at a RESTORE store and inserted it.  I painted and distressed the dresser and added pretty glass knobs.  I've always dreamed of having a sink like this.  It was a perfect fit for down here.

I have a collection of handmirrors and I just kept having this vision of a handpainted one.  The words came to me and this is the final product.  From my favorite passage...Psalms 139 You are fearfully and wonderfully made...

The string art is just a handpainted chalkpaint background with nails surrounding it and yarn wrapped around the nails.  The hard part was figuring out the design and keeping the yarn from popping off the nails.  Other than that super cheap and easy peasy focal point for the space.  I HEART my string heart art!!

Obviously I have a thing for words and COLOR.  I got the Humble sign in Orange County last fall and the HOPE letters are from Joann's.  I recently painted them rainbow stripes.   

And here are the basement pics I've been promising you forever:)  We had a dark brown corduroy couch that was really ugly, so to disguise it I thought colorful afghans would do the trick.  From that the whole color me happy theme just kind of happened.  The girls and I punched every single heart and threaded them to string.  Then we draped lights (from World Market) across the room to help give the basement more light.

The BIG art is just draft prints I had made up at Office Max.  Super cheap.  I used spray adhesive to attach them to large pieces of wood that I had painted with chalkboard paint.  

This space gives me goosebumps.  It's exactly what I dreamed of.  If you would have told me a year ago this would be my life.  That working with friends and having a real business was in my future I don't think I would have believed you.

It's all been a wild daring adventure.  Stepping out in faith...believing for continued favor...and now having HELPERS.  It's out there.  My faith is stretched.  But honestly I believe that's right where God wants me.  He wants me to rest in his arms, trusting for every turn.  He wants to use me in a bigger way than I can obviously see.  So let's do this thing!!!!






The shop is open from today until FRIDAY.  That's only FIVE days!!!  We had to shorten our shop days because we'll be open in March as well.  It takes us several weeks to restock the shop.  So I hope you've got your words picked out.  Also the cuff give-away is still happening on IG.  To enter just post a pic of you and your cuff or future word you want and tag...#farmgirlpaintsetsy.  I'll announce the winner on Monday evening.

Oh and if you are following along on my @farmgirlfitness IG post a pic of the words that motivate you for a chance to win a fitness cuff.  Notice the little peek a boo blank on the back.  Such good motivation!!

A special THANK YOU to our February sponsors.  

Check out their blogs and IG for coupon codes:)

Laura from Finding Home

Sasha from Lemonade Makin' Mama

Tiffini from House of Belonging

Erin from IG @tweetpotatopie

**Art studio tour coming up soon!!

Be a blessing.

how DOG the bounty hunter grounds me...

True confession time...I have a little habit.  I'm thinking it might not be the healthiest one.  After I partake...I'm a little off.  My mind has trouble focusing.  I'm dissatisfied with everything.  I covet.  Which of course is a sin.  Seems small, but hmmmm.  I'm talking about my Hawaii Life addiction.  Have you watched this HGTV show?

A few years back we visited Maui and then the Big Island, and ever since then I've been a little obsessed and basically ruined. This of course is magnified a bit in the winter months, but I just have this yearning to live there at some point in my life.  I think about it too much.  I pick my memory for all the little places we visited.  It's like my mental vacation.  And I know it's probably not the healthiest thing in the world for me, because honestly it does make me wish for something I don't have, to be somewhere I don't live, and that's wrong.  Boo!  But I'm addicted:/

Since I'm all about Hawaii I watch anything to do with it.  I listen to the Descendants CD over and over again.  I even catch myself watching Dog the Bounty Hunter.  I was relaying this to my helpers this week and Adele had never heard of Dog.  WHAT!??  Seriously??  It was our pleasure to get her up to speed about all things Dog and his crazy family.  

So Adele you've never heard of DOG?!  Where you been girl?  Under a rock.  This show is legendary.  People dress up like them at Halloween.  Okay so it's this family of bounty hunters.  And they are rough and raw.  Dog is a Christian, but he's been in prison...oh and he swears like a trucker.  His wife Beth is rough too.  They look like cartoon characters. He's got a bleach blonde mullet. They both are decked out in leather from head to toe and she's very well endowed.  That's the physical.  They go in looking for these meth heads in THE most awful places in Hawaii.  They are hot on the pursuit.  Tasers and handcuffs ready.  It's thrilling.  When they finally find the fugitive, the people are like "whatevs dude...here's my hands, cuff me".  And they still kinda rough them up and throw them in the back of the van...just for intimidation purposes and TV drama.  Then while they are in the car DOG offers them a cig and is like "Bra...it's not too late for you to turn your life over":)  They do a little rehabilitation pep talk on the way to jail and at the end they usually pray with the dazed drugged out dude.  It's good TV.  Every episode is basically the same, but I'm hooked because I'm hoping the criminal will actually run or try to shoot Dog or something tantalizing will happen.  Shame on me.

Here's the point.  I do have one;)  The DOG keeps me grounded.  In my one track mind Hawaii is all lush tropical jungles and rainbows. It's endless beaches and blue.  It's magical light, flipflops and dew rags on my head.  But in reality just like every other "perfect" place, job, man, situation etc...there are good and bad things about it. Everything is not perfect. Work is WORK!  People are flawed.  Hawaii has drugs:/


I think the "grass is greener" mentality can keep us in a state of discontent, and that is a HUGE weapon the enemy uses to distract and discourage us.  Even as I type all this out it doesn't change the fact that deep in my heart I want to escape to Hawaii someday.  But I realize that it is an escape and that I am where I am right now for a purpose.  My heart and mind will be here while I'm here.  There's nothing wrong with dreams.  There's nothing wrong with wanting something else as long as it doesn't keep you from the course God has for your life.  Be present in your real life drama.  You only live it once.

Be a blessing.

happy mail from artbyerinleigh.com 

a week of cuffing.  shop opens MONDAY!!!

my first Big Cartel sales!