Well, it's official!  Read all about my Go Fund me campaign here!  thanks for the support & love!!
https://www.gofundme.com/artgallerystudio

Friends and family and other supporters from the art community: I have been given the green light from God to pursue a business using my gifts and talents to bring art into our community for the common good. This idea came to me vaguely in April, through the busy months with graduation and my sister's wedding it never went away, then it really took root in my heart several weeks ago. I feel God brought me to this place step by step, confirming gifts (talents) He gave to me just three days ago (see my previous blog post), then clarified for what purpose He gave me those gifts during today's sermon on the Gifts of the Spirit. That included how "the church" has failed to be a light in our world, and these truths have solidified my goals. So amazing. That timing is not a coincidence! Please continue to pray for me: now for my preparations, budget plans, securing a fully funded building, and for me to fulfill His will through all of this! I am writing my business plan right now but I had already written my mission statement and vision a week or so ago: my vision includes words like peace, hope, healing, and breaking down barriers. I think I have a purpose to bring light into our world. I'm thankful to God for this opportunity~ Love

Here's the thing.

This will seem out of nowhere for most, but a handful of you know what I asked for prayers for and this is the answer I got last night:

A little back story first-

Despite what I have been told starting from when I announced that I would major in art in college, to having children, to being a stay at home mom, and everything in between...I have had very few cheerleaders, but of course there have been a few. Key people in my life have told me over and over either directly to my face, in the form of a "I'm just kidding" backhanded dig, passive aggressive job suggestions, and a million other ways… that my existence has always fallen short of...I don't know what, their expectations? 

I let people tell me they are smarter than me, that art is a dead end career, that I'm smarter than I look, and that staying at home with my kids was a waste of my education. (And those are just the literal quotations I can think of in particular.)  I listened to them. I let them define my value. I don't know what it is about my personality, but I took every jab and insult over the last 20+ years to heart and I internalized it. I was picked apart, piece by piece, until THAT became who I am.

I started standing up for myself about four years ago. I thought, "This is it!! That magical age I heard about where I finally don't care what people think!" That didn't last for long, I do still care. But I did start standing up for myself. I stopped being victimized and I stopped acting like a victim. I got angry. I started calling people out on their BS, maybe not with as much grace as I had wished for looking back now, but this was new to me. (FYI, when people expect you to continue to be their doormat, they don't like it when you say no to their crap). My key relationships have changed. People still try to put me down. They like me better if they can keep me just enough under them; it fills some need they have to elevate themselves at any cost. But bad news for them! (Inside joke.)

A lot has changed. Fast forward to this week-

I've been praying about something specific (which I hope to share with you all soon), and now I can say this with clarity and confidence:

Since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to be a mommy. Being an artist has always been a part of who I am. These two things cannot be separated from me. God made me who I am.  HE made me this way. On purpose. For a reason. And despite what others think, despite no material success to measure value for who I am, this I know without a doubt:

MOTHERING is important

ART is important 

and

I AM IMPORTANT

That's the thing. That’s the answer I got from praying this week and answered last night. I'm going to do what God made me to do. I know can do it well. I'm actually pretty freaking talented. I have always had a passion for people, for art, for healing, for teaching. Most people don't know that. I'm done hiding behind insecurities of who people have told me I am. I KNOW who I am.
God made me, I am His daughter.
And since He is the King, that makes me a princess...

Which is even more awesome because I always thought that growing up too ;)

Please pray for me to have more grace now that I know who I am~

I'm not a writer.  I don't have an abundance of beautiful words always bouncing around in my head waiting to be written...but sometimes I do find myself wishing to put my thoughts and feelings out there to the world.  Is this how bloggers feel?  Or are most of them officially writers?  Or maybe they have this urge to simply publish helpful tips, lifestyle change encouragement, or parenting advice.  I don't know really, I guess everyone is different (thankfully)!  What drives each of us in life may have different words, but I find passion and connection to possibly be the common thread that runs through each of our lives...meaning each of us as individuals, whether we blog or not.  It's just how people are.  So here I go again, picking up this little page I started years ago...I'm excited to see what happens next...

new look!

I updated my personal blog look!  We have a new family blog (theTucker6) and the template I had previously used on here was too perfect for the fam.  So this one reflects just me a bit more and what I'm all about.  Enjoy!

Do you love our Christmas card as much as I do??  I always trust Shutterfly to give us excellent quality products!  LOVE them!

a real church

I heard something new in church today (I'm 38 and have been a Christian for 19 years, I've never heard this) I wanted to share some thoughts on, I pray you are blessed with this. The word "church" was translated in King James' time from the German word Kirche, which means "location" versus the original greek word -Ekklesia- which means "gathering". Imagine if we went to church to gather as Christians instead of going to our church location...defining our faith by our time together versus our building.

I don't know about you, but I hate the typical "church" that is built on rules and doctrine, where the people show up for their dose of peace and leave unchanged, where they say one thing and act differently. When we moved from Ohio to NC, we didn't know what type of church to go to. Our past experiences left a bad taste in our mouths and we were sick of the garbage that is involved with the hierarchy of many churches today. But we had never known anything different. My church here is awesome. Our pastor is bent on making our church the type of church God intended church to be. After Christ died, people gathered to talk about what He had taught when He was alive. It was a movement that spread quickly. Later, interventions happened and church became all about the location and the building and the rules and separating one group from another.

Something amazing is happening at my church, but that's not why I'm there...to be a part of the next big thing or whatever. I'm there because I know Christ died for me, He has healed my son's injured eye beyond all reason, He has rescued me from the depths of despair, from my suicidal tendencies, He healed my body when I prayed and prayed (in an instance where it simply was not going to heal). I know with everything I am that this is true and good and that my church is striving to be what is good and true. Not the best, not the biggest, just true. I hope every Christian can know the truth and the joy of living for God's kingdom, not for this world, while you are still living.

This is what a real church is, one that gathers together to praise God and to witness to others what Christ has done for them.

The Fellowship of the Believers Acts 2: 42-47
" 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. "

Moving Onward!

Wow, it's been a really really crazy couple of months here! How about you??
Just in time for the most relaxing, uneventful time of the year LOL I am finally ready to launch my business! I have such a passion for all things creative, but I had to narrow down what exactly I wanted to do...sewing? painting? drawing? crafts? upcycling? reupholstery?

SO. I have decided to focus on hand painting canvases and furniture via...
drum roll please....


So in a couple days on December 1st, I will start to promote and sell my art I make here at home...for fun...for money :) But I love that I have something I love to do and can still be home when needed. Such a blessing!
So PLEASE come check out my website at
www.sunshineborders.com
And feel free to leave me constructive criticism -or praises LOL- on this blog here. If you see anything I can change, improve, that isn't user friendly, or isn't clear, LET ME KNOW PLEASE! I've constructed the site on blogger (like this one) it's pretty simple, but I've worked on it at all hours of the night in varying states of mind :) And HUGE THANKS to Dave Johnson in Ohio for the logo designs!! He was very patient and kind with all my little things he had to deal with when dealing with... me!

Wish me luck!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Jackson's Big Campout Birthday

The Inspiration
So I found some inspiration from this picture above found on The Hostess with the Mostess blog for Jackson's 4th birthday! Jackson and I browsed their amazing ideas and just knew the camping theme was all him. Here's the blog, you have to check them out!!
http://www.hostessblog.com/2011/03/a-camping-inspired-birthday-party-adventure/

There was no turning back. I had it all planned out and ready to go...friends were going to sleep over in tents outside! We were going to set up one like the pic above for entertainment! A campfires and outdoor movie was ready to go! It was going to be awesome!!
THENn we had a lovely storm the night before a bunch of preschoolers were going to show up at my house. This was my back deck the morning of ~ yes.. that's glass...

So the party moved indoors due to a very wet outside and a possibly dangerous backyard with unseen glass shards! But the kids did get some free play running around outside to start~

The Decorations
Guests were greeted with some old fashioned camp signage~

~and some more just inside to direct campers to their desired location~
The "outhouse" had a lantern, some leaves scattered about and a rustic plank of wood for an outdoorsy feel.

Last minute we made do with a couple kid sized play tents, this is actually at the end of the day. Jackson is relaxing in his own cabin

The Food
Food was fun! Campers got to top their own cupcakes with a variety of outdoor & camp themed goodies found in tin pails. Things such as gummy worms and marshmallow flavored Jelly Bellys

Of course we made S'mores in the microwave since it was too wet to do a real campfire. They were extremely gooey~

And strawberry topped cake was specially for Daddy & Jack who have their birthdays 1 day apart!

The Favors
Goodybag ideas also came from the HWTM site, they had some awesome backpacks filled with camping gear. We, however, had a a much more modest budget! I was thrilled to find these polyester toddler backpacks at Oriental Trading Company and thought to personalize them with camo patterned 1st initials. They were a big hit and filled with decent toys; a real flashlight, a magnifying glass, a whistle, grow-a-critter capsules, camping stickers, a compass and forest theme foam craft kits. Older kids and teens got a mesh backpack filled with practical jokes that looked like camper's food; a container of cheetos was a can of snakes, a stick of gum snapped you when you try to remove it and some real snacks. They were a big hit~

Prior to the good find on oriental trading, I was a little too ambitious and thought I could whip out a few toddler backpacks on my own for all of Jackson's little friends. Found a great free tutorial on indietutes

and this is what I made from materials on hand~ but decided sharpie markers on polyester was way much less work!

Super cute. Happy Birthday Buddy.

Ready...SET.....

So I'm getting ready to launch my painting business "SunshineBorders" September 1st! This may sound familiar to you, as I have used SunshineBorders to cover many business type things over the years! The name came from the song "You Are My Sunshine" that I sing to the kids all the time, they really are my sunshines! And "Borders" refers to painting borders in rooms. I *love* painting murals, etc and did it for quite a while, I loved it! Then having my last kiddo, I found between the 4 kids, often someone can get sick or if my kids are well, even the babysitter can get sick! I decided to put painting on hold until my kids were older (and avoid getting a bad reputation for cancelling jobs!). It can be a time consuming business and I didn't have the time to commit at that time. I have been anxiously awaiting the right time to jump back in!

Well, I am not going to jump just yet. I am going to sit on the edge of the pool and ease back in. I plan to start painting murals again in Fall of 2012 when all 4 kids are in school full time. This next school year I still have 1 kiddo in preschool part time. But while he is in school, I can work on my business which will be all about selling paintings and painted furniture, marketing primarily to families with younger children. I love to paint the fun whimsical style found in children's rooms and painting these things can be done at home, even if I have a sick kid watching a movie on the couch. It'll happen I'm sure :)

So I will check back in when things are up and running! Until then I will be painting away to build up my stash. And when I meet you in person, don't mind the blue paint under my fingernails.

A Vision of a Broken World

Now, this may not be accurate, but it's what I saw and it made sense to me. You know how a dream supposedly lasts only a few seconds, but you remember this whole elaborate plot? Well, that's what it felt like in church this morning. This is for church goers and non-church goers, because maybe this will make sense to you too if you've ever wondered how a supposedly loving God can cause so much suffering...

This morning, I was praying during a praise song for the people in our church (I am often overwhelmed with a burden for a whole group of people knowing they have individual struggles we don't even know about) and I was praying for God to come rain down on our service to touch the hurting and broken in my church family. And the term "broken world" came to mind. And I saw the earth like we see from space and it was literally broken, like falling apart. And God was grieved, mourning how broken it was. He was crying and so sad for everyone, for the whole earth. And I knew everyone was sick, scared, broken, dying, suffering, starving, hurting, lost, depressed, and everything horrible we know happens because of sin. Not sin like breaking-the-rules-of-the-Bible-sin and that's-what-you-get as a punishment type of sin. Not that at all. But sin as an evil thing that comes in and quietly takes over, like a presence we can't see, like fog that seeps through the cracks and affects people randomly. Maybe it affects people in the way that "bad things happen to good people". Or a child is stricken with cancer or a teenager dies in a car accident. Just tragedies we can't explain why they happen.

And in this vision I heard people ask, "if God is all powerful, why doesn't He stop this madness?!" And I knew... He will. He will. But not yet. I could go on to "preach" why not yet, but I just wanted to share that vision with you and hope maybe it makes sense to you too, maybe give you a new perspective on a "broken world" that God didn't cause nor refuse to fix. Even if you don't agree with it or want to accept it, I hope it makes a little bit of sense.
Thanks for listening, sincerely

Minor Kitchen Projects: before and afters

I'm a total Craigslist junkie. LOVE the deals I find on there!! I have to choose daily to NOT look on there for stuff, just window shop ya know. I have to be strong. But here's our new-to-us pedestal table we got from a guy...it's distressed both from the manufacturer and a little naturally ;) Thankfully, because our lives are a little distressed with 4 boys! But it's super sturdy and really pretty...and...it was only $60!! Gotta love it even a little bit more for that price!

(And those are craigslist patio chairs you see outside too...and some freebie chair cushions a fellow mommy gave me! You can't see the umbrella but it matches perfectly with white and blue stripes! Love it when a plan comes together!)

Our last table was not quite big enough, and the finished product was not quite perfect ...and was just taking too long. I gave up. This is an oval and fits 6 beautiful chairs around it!

About the chairs (not the folding metal chairs you see here LOL) I think I may have found a new place to shop for deals ~ Pottery Barn outlet! I was so excited I could hardly keep from hugging the cashier. They had their chairs (again, a little "distressed" or as they say, "scratch-and-dent") on clearance. AND the cherry on top?! They were BOGO freeEE! So SO excited. So, whew. I got so excited just talking about it again! LOL! Here's one of the 2 chairs that are padded (we have 3 pairs of black chairs that are similar but not the same). Linen in my house? HA! Gotta recover these babies. I wanted to get some of this new laminated fabric I've seen but I had some cute fabric at home I decided to use. So I thought I'd put clear vinyl over top, but the fit was too tight.

BEFORE

So here's the refinished chairs, I think they are so very pretty. ...But watching my 6 year old last night sitting on the chair with his dirty toes & feet tucked under him, I cringed...more convinced I should have bought the laminate. I got a tip that several layers of scotchguard will make it so I can wipe off the surface. I'm going to try that (because what's the point of having pretty chairs if you have to protect them with a towel from your grubby kids?). So you may see another switch up sometime if that isn't quite the protective barrier we need. ...Yeah... I need to be able to scrub my surfaces!

AFTER

Minor Kitchen Projects: before & afters

So anyone who has been to my house knows I really dislike my kitchen. Various shades of brown, tan, and what I affectionately call "puke" (I'm pretty sure that's an actual color...Crayola makes a crayon that color, right?) ...are not what I would have chosen. Ever. So in my efforts to brighten it, color it, tame it, anything really, my head just really hurt. We are not up for any major rennovations - cost wise or mess wise. I thought, "there has to be something I can do!" and I found this great stuff online, went to my local Lowe's and bought some Grout Refesh! I love it!! We are so very pleased with the results and I don't hate my kitchen anew every time I walk in there. Here's some before pics with our brown grout (who does that??)

And here's some in between pics. I bought the medium shade they had, there was at least one shade lighter and one darker. I got lucky, it matches so perfectly. Some different websites have a whole array of colors to choose fomr, i just wanted it to blend in! It's just like paint your scrub on with a toothbrush to fill in every little crevice, let dry, then wipe off the excess from the tiles. sticks to grout, not to tiles. Awesome.

And here's the after pics! I know! It's so uneventful, it's exactly what I wanted! (Of course, that's after my first choice of a custom glass tile backsplash...that's on hold.)

Yay! Bonus of this project is my entire backsplash, even behind the oven and the oven sides & back, got spring-cleaned like never before to prep the surface! It's so pretty and plain!

Painted Furniture Archives

Just for fun, a couple items from the past. An antique tabletop, a children's kitchen playset and a freebie coffee table from the side of the road we still have! Wish I could find pictures of the little kids' table & chairs sets from back in the day!

Tricky Days

Tricky Days here at the Crazy house! First the Leprechauns were very mischievous...they took everything green from around the house and made a mess! We think they had a party...looks like the green puffles did for sure! Now that it is April, Jackson still asks me if the lephrechauns did something we find out of order. They loved it :) APRIL FOOLS! Jackson asks me still, "Mommy did you April fool me?" Allen woke up early that Friday and I wispered, "sweetie, go back to sleep. You have a 2 hour delay it snowed out!" He looked outside and was not amused. I tried it on Nick but he just grunted and said, "Dad tried to tell me there was a sandstorm last year." The little boys took a while to catch on to the April Fools idea but they liked it. These pics are out of order, but I did have a bit of fun switching out mini pop tarts with pringles for the kids' lunches. Nick liked that joke the best... Here's a bag of the pop tarts taped back shut

And here's a peek at the pop tarts in the pringles package.

Hmm, what treat will you get?

I also traded colored bubbles for the regular bubbles for the little boys but we never got to that point. It was a rough afternoon LOL. But they're ready for some day. I'm not looking forward to that at all, it was such an incredible mess to switch them and those Crayola colored bubbles are smelly and really dark colored! My nails were stained underneath despite it being "washable".

Ah well, we'll see what next year tricky days bring!

Ribbon Archives

Found some older pics where I used Ribbon to make it pretty!! Enjoy~ This was a 1/2 dozen diaper cupcakes I made for neighbor. They each have a pair of newborn socks, a newborn diaper and a baby washcloth. Wrapped with a ribbon and placed each in a cupcake liner, delivered in a cake box. Love it!!

Here's my Kindle cover I made from an old sweater sleeve. Added a little ribbon tab to help to dig it out of my bag! Added a protective foam inner layer just to be sure.

This was a teacher gift I made for my son's 3rd grade teacher at the end of the year last year. I thought it turned out cute. That ribbon topper just reminds me of cheerleaders for some reason~

And I took a lilttle LKNM (lakenormanmommies) bow making tutorial and came up with these. Thankfully I at least had a little boy head to model...I don't think it will scar him for life :)

Sigh, if I only had a girl to use these on! I can always pass them on to my favorite-est niece if she hasn't outgrown bows. That's all! May look into other past creations to see what I've done and make more archives for you~ Thanks for looking!!

Scrabble Tile Pendants!

These are so fun and they make great gifts! Just used scrabble tiles, cut scrapbook paper to fit, decopaged that on, coated with more Mod Podge (try the glitter Mod Podge for the top coat!) and finish with resin for the glossy, hardened surface. Add a silver bail or magnet to the back and voila! It's just cuteness!

So I had this little wooden sign I decided to make functional...I thought it turned out pretty cute! I have to decide if I'm going to keep it on my front door or sell it now...