SummerTime in the Colorado Rocky Mountains

  Living in the city, especially suburbia can get a little hot, noisy, stressful and hectic in the summertime.  This week I had a wonderful venture out of the cement jungle and headed to the hills for a wonderful afternoon with a girlfriend.  We celebrated my birthday at a quaint pizzeria, and then window shopped through wonderful artisan shops in this little bustling mountain town. 

When you take moments to look around, you can find re-purposed planting boxes, which is of course after my own heart!  I love this old basin that has been re-purposed as a clever planter.  Summertime in Colorado is so beautiful, and there are such wonderful surprises around every corner, just quaint little pops of colors, people dining outside on patios with their trusted four-legged side kicks beside them...it made me want to rent a little cabin and go explore for days!  For four hours, I was lost in the beauty, the sound of the stream moving through town, and of course the sparkling silver that shown through jewelry boutique windows!  I love looking at pieces of art, especially local artisans....I was truly inspired to get some fresh pieces made!

There was wonderful girl chit chat with my dear friend, and laughter, and there are seasons in your life when laughter is by far the very best medicine...and being out of town for a little break from reality never hurts either!  Life is really all about the little things, which is so odd, because we aren't suppose to "Sweat the small stuff," but on the contrary...it is all about the little things, and anything other than that should really be looked at as nothing more than just noise.  Shelter, food, health, friends, family, love and laughter, this is all you need to be complete...

The rest, well the rest is just gravy!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Detour AHEAD, Proceed with Caution, Don't Forget Your Compass, and Watch for THE RED FLAGS this time!

A compass, so that you may never get lost, and always know the direction of your dreams.
-Michelle Hansen

Life is pretty interesting.  The Compass is one of those pieces that I absolutely love the idea behind it, probably more that the image itself.   There are times where you think that you are on the path to living the life that you have imagined, and live throws you a curve ball.  One of the hardest things to do  is to start your life over, people come in and out of your life for a season, and sometimes you are left picking up the pieces of utter destruction or loss.  So, how do you find the strength to pick up the pieces, put out the fires, and continue on living a life with your compass intact? Well, this is the journey that I'm on.  I have been here before, I'm a widow and was married to a wonderful honest and loving man. So, I picked up the pieces and continued forward...I remodeled my home, kept myself busy, and just kept going, a strength that I'm sure he helped me with.  We fast forward 3 years, and I'm starting over again.  The wonderful thing though, is that I have the memories, and strength from him and God to get me through this, this time.  I find joy in the really simple things, and this has remained true throughout my life.  I do not need to live a life consumed with "if 1 is good than 10 is better," or "go big or go home." Or live a life that is just smoke and mirrors! Life and living a true life for me is about true friends, wonderful family, and having faith.  This morning as I drank my coffee and watched the sunrise, I was overwhelmed with a quote that I was reading.  I would love to share it with you, it said..."Each day is a new adventure pointing the way to an ever-better way to live."

So, know that during extreme trials and tribulations, be steadfast, honest, protect yourself, hear the warnings, laugh as much as you possibly can, and don't lose sight that where you have been, isn't nearly as important as where you are going.  So, where am I going? I don't know...but I do know that I'm putting one foot in front of the other and getting stronger by the day, so that much I know is true, the rest...well, the rest will work itself out with the help of my army of angels, fleet of support, and daily studio time, still being creative doesn't hurt either.

Summer Gardening, God is weeding out my Garden.

Today I have been cleaning out my gardens, weeding and sweating in the summer heat.  This season I have new arrivals that I planted years ago, roses that have never sprouted, perennials that had long since disappeared, and Iris that I have never seen.  There is beauty everywhere if you look hard to find it, and boy am I looking hard to find it.  So, God is weeding my garden right beside me, like he always has...to make room for the good that is happening and will happen.
Enjoy the pictures, and I'm back out to prune my favorite roses, so that the beauty will continue to re-grow throughout this season, that is changing faster than I can get my feet under me!

Memorial Weekend. Sunday Coffee Talk in The Tarnished Halo Studio.

    As I sit down in my studio, at my huge old beat up teacher's desk, I try to conjure up some sort of creative flow.  This morning I went for a walk, what started out as just a stroll turned into walking for miles...and experienced the sunrise for the third time this past week.  Life is messy, and this is the understatement of the year! -Well, the past five years if we are being completely honest with each other.  The hardest part of this messed up world is being able to pick up the pieces of your life and move forward...tough to do when you are still looking for that rug that was pulled out from underneath you!  Alas, here I am, sketching some sort of designs, trying to fight against the feeling that I would like to go and hide under a rock, or move across the country, anything to avoid this pain.  Time is the only thing that can fix pain.  When you are as impatient as I, Time is not your friend.  So, I'm reminded of my love affair with clocks, ironic as it is I have loved clocks for years. I even made a necklace in bronze that is a clock.   So, I did what any rational person would do, I boxed up every single last clock in my home and I'm sending them to my sister, maybe this is my way of trying to make time go faster? Or just start a new...beats me!

However, here I am, and I'm dusting myself off from this whirlwind of a life that is by far not anything like I imagined, and pray that God has something better for me then this, cause I have to tell you...I have to go and LIVE the life I have imagined...and it is so much better than this!  I'm full of plans, actions, hope, creativity, and thank goodness for this broken road of adversity, without it I would be broken like so many people.  Well, let the day begin, and it IS going to be amazing!  So, hang on tight!!