I *love* creativity, Etsy and Big Cartel Shops, and fabulous companies that all began with an idea. I’m looking for your favorites! I want to feature family-friendly companies, businesses, and shops here. If you have one or several that you think are fabulous, do share! You may email them to me or leave the link(s) in the comment section. If you are a business owner, please contact me! I am very interested in hearing about your story, business, and product.

Some of my favorites are:

Gussy

Let Love Grow

The Vintage Pearl

Tweet

Eclectic Whatnot

The Pleated Poppy

Shootsac

*Shey* [B]

DownEast Basics

Christa Taylor

Blush

Epiphanie

Moirai

31 Bits

CurlsLikeUs

Bel Kai Designs

Kelly Moore Bags

Something Blue

Fresh-Squeezed Fabrics

Pretty Presets

Spunk & Sass Designs

Allora Handmade

Cotton Candy by Natalie

Love is Loud – Africa Shirts

Wild Olive Tees

What are your favorite shops? How would you like to see them featured on here?

Memory:

The 5 of us children and mama, going home, windows down… We met God there with screaming babies, hungry bellies, and flustered nerves; laughing and crying.

Gift(s):

#8 Ice cold, homemade cranberry lemonade in a frosted Mason Jar.

#9 Little girls in pretty, twirly dresses.

#10 The wonderful boys I call my brothers.

#11 The moments, loud and quiet, where God meets you where you are. <3

#12 A wonderful site to contribute to like the HSBA Post.

#13 Dear, lovely blog friends like Darcy, Jen, and Sprittibee. (And so many more of you!)

Now, kick up your feet on the coffee table and I’ll grab you a drink. We can talk just like girlfriends in real life. What’s on your heart and mind?

There is something special about the way God whispers in your heart.

He has begun to whisper into my heart what He has for me. I asked God, overwhelmed from everything going on, “What do you have for me God? What do I really need to cut out?” He has begun to reveal that to me one puzzle piece at a time.

He’s told me I am loved [and that no romantic love will take the place of that.]

He’s told me that no matter how much I fail or achieve, I won’t mess up His plan.

He’s told me to reach beyond my world.

He’s told me and my family to move [to the middle of nowhere] and begin a totally different lifestyle.

He’s spoken many things; through songs, through you, through His Word.

What has He whispered in your heart?

P.S. He loves you!

This post was linked up to Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky.

…At least this one, anyway. You know, I could probably live without these things, but they sure do make my day more organized and run smoother.

1. My Bible. Reading it first thing in the morning helps my day run so much smoother. I do have my loud times, too, but for once in my day I must be still.
2. Bare feet. Inside and in warmer months (which is a good portion of the time here) I am a bare feet gal.
3. A pen and notebook. I can jot down ideas, to-do’s, blog post ideas, little thoughts, quotes, and more.
4. Some reading material. I am an information junkie. I love to learn whether though books or online!
5. An outlet to let my creativity fly. That might be a piece of fabric, a blog design, my own blog, a camera, or a meal to create. I love to create and give life to things.

What are your “necessities”?

Hello lovelies!

Yes, I do realize I have been having site troubles. No worries. They are all fixed now. I do want to give you a heads up though. . . If you look through my archives, none of my 2009 stuff is there. I am working on getting that back up.

As a side note, if you haven’t read all of the Photography Basics or Blogging Basics series thus far, now would be a good time to catch up. Just search “photography basics” or “blogging basics” in the search bar {on the right}.

Xoxo! Be blessed!

by Hannah Braboy on February 22, 2010

Scarves- You can get them at thrift stores (or regular stores) pretty cheep. They are a nice way to add some pop and color to any outfit.

Hats- You can have so much fun with hats! There are lots of different styles and colors. You are sure to find a couple that you love!

Growing your blog is a lot of work. The close friendships that are a result are priceless.

1. Commenting – Comment regularly on the blogs you read. When you receive a comment {from another blogger}, return the favor by commenting on their blog.

2. Social networking – Twitter, Facebook, and the like are all great tools to connect with readers beyond the comments and promote your blog. Use them to their fullest.

2. Email – Email you close blog buddies regularly. Set up times to meet with them. This might be a little more often for bloggers who live closer together.

3. Guest posting – Ask a few friends {with blogs} if they’d be interested in you guest posting for them. Also, you might want to throw the offer out to guest post on yours.

4. Word of mouth – Write really good, make your posts word of mouth-worthy, and make it easy to share them with others.

5. Blogrolls – Put your friends on your blogroll. When you do, they will most likely put you on theirs.

6. Advertising – See if you and a few blog friends can trade blog ads.

1. Write what you are passionate about.

2. Write from where you’ve been. You aren’t the only one.

3. Interact with your readers.

4. Write for God. Give it to Him.

5. Let go. Let God take you, your blog, and your writing over. Let Him be glorified.

This probably won’t be as confusing as ISO, you’ll be glad to know.

Composing a photo is just one way you can let your creativity flow. It’s what makes a photo uniquely beautiful. 50 people could take the same photo and not have the same compensation.

I see a lot of people get in the habit of standing in front of their subject, snapping the shot, and leaving it at that. It might be quick, but you don’t get a great shot! Next time, when taking a photo, get different angles and place the subject differently in your photos.You might sit down and take it, get up higher, or stand to the side of your subject(s).

When shooting people, don’t always have them looking and smiling at the camera; catch them doing something else. Catch the little moments you’ll want to remember- not necessarily the smile. Also, when taking photos of little ones and babies, remember to get down on their level.

Freezing is a great way to keep fruit! About once, maybe twice, a summer Strawberries will go down to about .99¢ a carton. (Price will vary from area to area. Just try to find the lowest price.) When they go down like that we buy a whole bunch, wash them, pull the leaves off, and freeze them. To prevent them from freezing in clumps, put them on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Then put them into freezer bags.

You can use this method with all sorts of berries and fruit! In our area, it is cheeper to do this than to buy them already frozen. I don’t know about you, but my family can eat some fruit! You can use this method whether you buy the fruit from a store, pick them yourself, or grow and pick yourself.

My family and I are also trying to eat a bit healthier. For sweeteners, we try our best to use Agave nectar and raw honey instead of white sugar. We do like us some ice cream, though. We have found a nice alternative for that- smoothies. I don’t mean thin smoothies, though. I mean thick like ice cream. The secret to getting a very thick, ice cream-like smoothie is not blending too much. Here’s the {not so} secret recipe.

Ice Cream Strawberry Smoothies

Ingredients:

about 2 – 2 1/4 cups of frozen solid strawberries

about 1 – 1 1/2 cups of plain yogurt

sweetener to taste

—–

Quickly chop the frozen strawberries in a blender. Add the yogurt and sweetener. Blend very quickly. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.

Recipe notes: If you aren’t going to serve this immediately, put the smoothie glasses in the freezer. You can leave them there as long as they don’t freeze solid. You can also add a Banana or two. The key to thickness is being very quick!

If you have any tips on keeping fruit or any favorite recipes, I’d love to hear about them in the comments! Enjoy~