The rest of the hearts

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, art, crafts, encouragement, home decor, Inspirational, photography, sparkling, Uncategorized, Valentine's Day, words

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art, crafts, hearts, home decor, photography, Valentines

On Instagram this month, I posted a heart a day, #amonthofhearts. AllSparkledUpDesign . Part way through the month, I wondered if I would have the stamina and commitment to finish. Some of these took hours to complete. The discipline of taking a creative photo every day for a whole month taught me so much.
~ You never know you can do something until you try.
~ Don’t give up. Just keep going.
~ God has millions of ideas. Scripture says God is the author of all inspiration. If you hang out with him, you’ll find that out.
~ Don’t over think it. Sometimes what you do doesn’t have to be big or loud or even shared. God enjoys the flowers blooming deep in a jungle, unseen by humans, the songs of birds unheard by ears. Some creativity is just for your and his enjoyment. It’s ok. Slow down, breathe deep.
~ I had more ideas for hearts than I had days in the month. So I’m hoping to do this next February too.
Today is Day 28, the end of the month of hearts. Here are the remaining heart photos I posted on Instagram. Enjoy!

15.

Date Marmelade Scone and Turkish Coffee

16.

French Beaded Flowers.

17.

Pennyslvania Dutch Heart. I’m still not finished with this one.

18.

Our Siamese kitten and her favorite stuffie and scarf.

19.

Marble Heart.

20.

Coffee Heart in a cup I used as a child.

21.

Peach Walnut Flip. I usually bake this in a U-shape but twisted the ends to form a heart this time.

22.

The old Remington Portable typewriter was really fun to use for the typed heart. I had forgotten how noisy but charming a typewriter sounds!

23.

A heart of Charms. Some from my childhood, some from my husband’s family, some from my mom and grandmother.

24.

I really didn’t want this month to be about sweets. But… Chocolates!!!

25.

Orange Ginger Cake. I didn’t write down the recipe as I made it up. It was scrumptious!

26.

I was feeling so rushed but decided there WAS enough time. And there was! I just had to believe it and it happened.

27.

I drew this four times before I decided to just let it go and do it freehand. Words of wisdom from I Corinthians, chapter 13.

28.

For the very last heart, I made a paper cutting. So simple and yet so deep. Love them all, ALL of them.

Never Never Never give up

09 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in allsparkledup, calligraphy, God, Inspirational, words

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All Sparkled Up, hope, inspirational, paper crafts

Some days are just plain hard. But God is powerful enough, loving enough and HERE enough to repair even the greatest brokenness.

Never give up.

Do What is Beautiful

22 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, art, drawing, encouragement, Inspirational, On my Worktable, travel, Uncategorized, words

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chalkboard, inspirational, Japan, On my worktable, trees, words

Life is complicated and one day a couple months ago I became extra conflicted. I just didn’t know what to do and was almost paralyzed with insecurity and fear. What should I do? I had trouble figuring out what was good, what was right, and how to please everyone. Nothing seemed clear. Even when I found a task that seemed ok, I quit as soon as it seemed fun. Really? Now how dumb is that, to intentionally sabotage something good?

But then a new thought suddenly filled my mind. That day, instead of doing what seemed good or fun… a clear thought came to mind.
“Do what is beautiful.”

I posted it on my refrigerator and said it out loud. “Do what is beautiful.”

That day, as I looked through photos I took in Japan last year, I was struck how looking at a tree, really appreciating it, the leaves, the bark, is beautiful.

Enjoy the photos slow. Look close. Each pine needle, each curled leaf, each thirsty root.
Do what is beautiful.

I breathed in deep, remembering the smell of pine and forest.

And there, sitting at my computer looking at photos, breathing deep suddenly seemed beautiful.

Everything started to be beautiful!

Washing dishes is beautiful.

Strength is beautiful.

Resting is beautiful.

Sacrifice is beautiful.

Never giving up is beautiful.

The slate from my childhood hangs on my dining room wall. I had not written on it for over a year and it was time for a change. Writing new words on the slate is doing something beautiful.
I started with a pencil sketch.

I sketched out the words to make it all fit.

I erased and edited.

Do something beautiful.

My sketch seemed off and I wasn’t happy with it. It took me a while to figure out that I wanted to do “what is beautiful” not just “something beautiful.” It was such a small change but it made a big difference to me. So I erased again and penciled in Do What is Beautiful.

Do What is Beautiful, the sketch for the chalkboard.

The old organizer box still holds chalk bits that I used 45 years ago.

I picked out a handful of chalk colors to make the drawing.

Colored bits of chalk

But I ended up using only neutral colors.

I’ve never minded the scritch and scratch of chalk on the board and even enjoy the dust on my fingertips.

Do What is Beautiful, written in chalk.

Do you see the tally marks in the lower left corner. Count them… there are
37 tally marks. I made them as I worked on the chalk drawing. Each one of those tally marks is when I erased something on this chalkboard and had to do it over. 37 times I made mistakes or had to straighten a line, or erase or start over. I left the tally marks on the drawing because they represent what is beautiful.

The last part of the message is to Never, Never give up. Never giving up is beautiful.

If you’re at a loss of what to do, do what is beautiful. You will know. And never, never give up.

Do What is Beautiful and Never, Never give up.

On my Worktable… continuing teacup cross stitch and embroidery

04 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in art, crafts, On my Worktable, projects, tea time, words

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crafts, cross stitch, embroidery, On my worktable, projects, teacups

Cross stitch nearly finished. The words will be embroidered. Then adding more embroidery and seed beads will be the really fun part.

Psalm 89 8-9

14 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, God, Inspirational, Scripture, sunlight, words

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God, inspirational, ocean, scripture, Sunset Beach, waves

Please feel free to print this 4″x6″ inspirational card. Click on the photo to access a larger image.

This photo was taken yesterday at Sunset Beach, NC. I still remember the sound of the waves and the warm moist breeze on my skin. Shh… breathe…

God is good.

Encouragement for you

02 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in Inspirational, nature, photography, Scripture, words

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inspirational, nature, photography, scripture, sunset, words

The first and third photos were taken at Sunset Beach, NC. The photo in the middle was taken in my backyard. Please feel free to copy, save and print these encouraging cards if you want.

Edited to add: I just remembered when that first photo was taken. My granddaughter and husband were with me to hold my camera gear as we walked to the beach. We had been at the beach house for five days and I still had not walked down to the beach because I was in so much searing pain and seriously disabled. I suspected my back was broken but it had not yet been confirmed. I could barely walk or move. But I was determined to not miss an opportunity to photograph my granddaughter in the sunset and asked God to please help me make it down to the shore and back. During the slow and painful walk, the sun broke through the clouds. I have never seen such as spectacular sky as that evening. Instead of remembering the terrifying unstable spine, I have photos such as this to remind me… God was with me.

I hung my old chalkboard in the dining room

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in calligraphy, family, God, home, home decor, Inspirational, projects, Scripture, words

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chalkboard, home decor, inspirational, scripture, words

The easel is long gone and the drawing scroll must be somewhere in the attic. But I still have the slate chalkboard from my childhood. I’ve been wanting to put it on the wall for many years. Now that the dining room is finished there is a perfect space for it. I got the cast iron fleur-de-lis hook from Hobby Lobby. We drilled pilot holes for the wood screws and carefully screwed the brass chain to the old wood chalkboard frame.
And then came the best part – learning how to use chalk all over again. After all these years, I still love getting powdery chalk dust on my fingers and feeling the smooth cold slate against my hand as I write.

This scripture is my prayer today for one of my sons who is moving out of state today. May the Lord watch over him and direct his steps.

Scripture – Deuteronomy 31:6

If you are facing something unknown, remember this verse. Fill in the blank with what you are facing, whatever it may be… The power company … The empty refrigerator… A difficult person… Illness… Impossible “To Do” lists… and trust God. He will not leave you nor forsake you. He it is that goes with you when no one else can, when no one else will. He will not forsake you.

4th of July 2013

04 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, party, sparkling, words

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4th of July, fireworks, sparkler, yolo

YOLO

Plan B

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, Inspirational, Scripture, sparkling, words

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All Sparkled Up, hope, inspiration, light, Plan B, scripture, sequins, sparkling

I Figured out Plan B. Isn’t that the best feeling ever… When you come up with a plan B that will actually work? :)
Sometimes things are really mixed up and messed up. There’s no order. There is nothing to grasp. You watch Plan A fall away in little bits.

Plan A, scattered like sequins.

You go through the motions of trying to clean up. Again.

And then you think maybe there’s another way.

You start over.

You try again.

Don’t give up.

Plan B.

I call plan B ….

HOPE.

Plan B is Hope. It’s not perfect. It still has cracks around the edges. Sometimes it’s fragile and not very clear. But Plan B will work.

And Plan B is always crazy BRAVE!
Sometime Bravery is all you need to come up with Plan B.

Don’t give up! God knows exactly where you are. Ask Him to help you make it through.

Go for Brave.
Sara Bareilles sings Brave.

[A huge public Thank You to my son Ethan. Ever since I broke my back last year and had 17 vertebrae fused, I can’t get down to ground level easily. As I shared my idea for this post, Ethan became my Hope. Sometimes Hope from God arrives in the form of a person. They bring light when everything seems fractured and dark. Ethan, you’re the best!]

‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11