I Heart Fall

I know decoupaging pumpkins is nothing new this fall season... but I had to try it for myself. It was a lot of fun to make,

and I love the way it turned out.

Husband and I carved our first pumpkins
of the season this weekend.
He did the owl, and I did the bird.
I can't wait to carve more!
And now I have a confession that isn't popular,
I hate halloween.
I don't like the idea of glorifying death, decay, and ugliness.
And most of all, I feel strongly against glorifying fear.

But while I don't like halloween,
I do heart fall!

Husband, Maggie, and I hiked in the mountains this weekend.
The Aspens were lovely.It was this "little" one's first foray into the forest, and she loved it!
We rested on a high rock outcrop, where this picture was taken.
Who can resist a face like that?

Today's Creative Blog
Sugar Bee Crafts
Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night
Homework
Tatertots and Jello
Young and Crafty

Randomness and Packing

Randomness from today...

• I'm hungry.
• Husband and I are moving from our apt, to a HOUSE at the end of the month, so I'm packing.
• Three boxes packed so far today
• There's a bottle of Sriracha sauce on my coffee table
• I wish I had a project to share with you today...sadly I don't...soon!
• Moving is a lot of work
• I dread pulling out the stove to clean the sides (I'm a messy cook. Keepin' it real)
• I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to participate in a craft fair next Sunday
• I'm stalling because I hate packing
• We've had lots of out-of-state company lately, and still one more guest before we move
  
• I had a job interview on Thursday, in which I did not make a fool of myself...but that may be all that can be said for it.
• I don't generally idolize celebrities...but I can't help but think that Emily Blunt, and Kathrine (the Duchess) are two of the most beautiful women in the world...coincidence that one is a British Royal, and the other portrays a British royal in my favorite movie (The Young Victoria)?
  
• Better get back to the boxes

I'm working on a couple of crafty projects, and I'll have something to share soon. Don't give up on me.

Random stuff in the packing corner

Sharpie Surprise!

A couple of weeks ago, Husband told me he had ordered a surprise for me. He knows me well, and is good at surprises so I wondered what was coming. I thought of several different things it might be, was totally surprised when it was this...!
A long time ago, maybe even before we were married, I told him that I wanted a big assorted Sharpie set. I don't know if I ever mentioned it again, but he might have caught on as I oogled every set that we ever passed in any store. Even though it came almost a week ago, I couldn't bring myself to take them out of the packaging. I mean, don't they look absolutely lovely all lined up? Finally this afternoon I took them out. Can't wait to start using them.

Two Years

Today Husband and I are celebrating our second anniversary.
These two years have flown by!
We've been through so much already, but we're still going strong.
We started dating a little over four years ago.

The spot beside this tree is right where he proposed.
Of course, there was a foot of snow on the ground,

so it was actually prettier at the time. It's actually at the top of a tall, steep rock formation in the mountains.
Here's a snippet of the view. We also got married not too far from here.

A couple of Sundays ago we went back for a visit.

Here's to many more years of happiness!

P.S. Husband completely and 100% supports my crafting obsession...even when it means there's paper and twine bits on the living room floor. He even helped me set up, and figure out how to thread my sewing machine. He really is THE BEST!!!

Treasure

This is my grandma's house in TN. Beautiful, no? The original two rooms were built in 1913, and various owners, including my late grandpa, added on to it. This is what my family calls the summer house. When my grandparents bought the place, it was a shed. As there was already another shed, as well as a large barn on the property, they cleared this one out and and put beds in. I've always loved sleeping out there!


It's impossible to turn around inside the house without seeing multiple African violets. She even accidentally bred this speckled one. Also around the house are my grandma's paintings. She used to do a lot of tole painting.
She also has a large collection of tea cups from all over the world. I always love to hear her tell their stories.
During this trip, my grandma pulled out some treasures that I'd never seen before. This is the recipe box that she put together for her 9th grade home ec. class (she's 90, now).


Also for the same class, she was required to put together a sample book of sewing stitches and techniques. Since I've just started sewing, I found it particularly interesting.

She also had to sketch designs of her own clothing. She's quite artistic.

While there, I also got to do a little "shopping" around her house. I accidentally came across this box of scarves, many of which are vintage. I didn't take all of them, but I did take a few.

I also raided her button stash.

As well as her old book stash.

She had a whole stack of these Reader's Digest books with beautiful covers. I wish I'd had more room in my suitcase to bring more home (you know, so that they could sit in my house for the next 40 years. This particular one is from 1969.

In the Quiet

To my 21 "followers," and "stalkers,"

Thank you so much for your interest in my crafty creations. You don't know how having followers, and comments has increased my confidence. I love to share my creativity, and to partake in the creativity of others.

That being said, I'm sorry I've been a bit quiet this week. School got out last Friday; I spent part of this week closing out at school, and the other part resting and grieving the end of the year. I truly loved my teaching job, and now it looks like I won't have it next year (due to budget yuckiness). I love my students, and I already miss them terribly. I'm hanging on in faith that God has another job for me, and that He has a future for me, and that if I continue to say "yes" to Him, that future will be better than I can imagine.

I have, however, still been working on several projects that I'm quite excited about. Unfortunately, after only 6 months in my hands, my camera decided to kick the bucket. I have a camera on my phone, of course; the pictures just won't be as good. Oh well. I'll share them anyway.

So for now, I leave you with a picture that I took several weeks ago.

Hope you had a beautiful weekend!

Sirens, Tornadoes, Students, and Small Spaces

Admittedly this post has nothing to do with crafting; I just had such an "interesting" day yesterday that I thought it was worth sharing.

I was at school, supervising a period of 7th and 8th grade study hall, when the school secretary came into the room. She whispered into my ear, "A tornado was spotted in a nearby town, we may need to evacuate to the church."

Not five minutes later, the city sirens started going off, and the principal poked his head in to say that we needed to head to the church basement immediately. I calmly, but sternly, told the students that they had to stay calm since we would be sharing the shelter with with pre-k, all the way on up to 6th grade. (I teach at a tiny, 10 grade Christian church school).

When we walked outside to cross the parking lot to the church, I noticed that the wind certainly had picked up, and the sky was indeed very dark. I wasn't that worried, though. My main concern was keeping the students calm and safe.

We packed into the church basement, students kneeling down and facing the wall, teachers walking up and down the hallway in an effort to keep the kids from going too crazy. The hall began to get stuffy and stinky.

Soon we started getting reports that hail was hitting hard around us, and that it was coming our way. Thinking of our cars (mine very recently purchased), several of the teachers decided that it was safe enough for us to run out and get our vehicles parked underneath the church overhang. Afterward we went back down to the basement to wait it out. Fortunately all hail never broke loose, and finally we got word that it was safe to return to the school.

A half hour later I was teaching 5th and 6th grade reading when the sirens started blaring again. This time when the secretary came in she told us that there wasn't time to go back to the church. Instead, we put most of the students in the main hallway. I was told to take my class (9 boys and 2 girls) into the boys' bathroom. Ugh. It was smelly! So my job for the next half hour was to quiet a girl who was freaking out, and keep the boys from wasting all the paper towels.

Finally it was safe again. Sort of. By the time school let out, thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and rain came pelting down in torrents. I had to run from the 5th and 6th room, back to my office. I prepared myself for getting drenched, and headed out. I was about half way there when I saw an incredibly bright flash of lighting, I barely had time to think, "Crap, it really isn't safe out here" before the loudest thunder I've ever heard cracked overhead. I felt it vibrate through my body. I made it to the other building, and later found out that a younger girl had gone out to get her jacket during that same slap of thunder and lighting, and had gotten shocked. When she came back in her shirt was torn, nose bleeding, and lots of tears. Poor thing, I would have cried too!

Thankfully no tornado touched down near us, and the biggest "injury" was to all the teachers who were exhausted after an afternoon of wrangling lots of kids in small spaces.

Keepin' It Real, and Pretty Paper

I deal with depression, and anxiety. I'm on medication for it,
and I see a therapist every week.
I've dealt with it off and on since middle school.

There, it's out.

Thankfully I have Jesus, a wonderful family, caring friends,
and the most incredible husband.
And all of them support my crafting.

Sometimes I'm down, sometimes I have bad days,
but I'm so much happier than I used to be,
and crafting has played a large part of that.
And to be more specific, paper crafting.

I buy paper like some women buy shoes
(I actually hate shoe shopping, and paper is much less expensive...
which makes Husband happy).

I love to wander around the paper section
at Michaels, and Hobby Lobby,
dreaming all the possibilities.

And sometimes I go through my box of paper just to partake of its beauty.

A perfectly patterned paper is a flower that doesn't wilt.

So if you find yourself depressed, down, or just having a bad day,
remember the importance of surrounding yourself
with the little things that bring you joy.

Even if it's just a piece of paper.

My Hope

It's a gorgeous day in Colorado.
Today my hope
is that you can find the beauty in wherever you are,
and whatever you do.

Kristina

Known and Loved

I think perhaps one of the very best feelings in life is for a heart to be known and loved. I had a birthday on Tuesday, and several people showed me this kind of love, and I feel so blessed to be known.

From my in-laws, books that I've been wanting to read for a while.
From my bestie (who lives far away), a card full of beautiful paper
bits for me to play with, and a Jo-Ann's card.

From my husband, adorable clear bird and flower stamps, colorful new ink pads, a lovely tree paper punch, and a box of Cadbury Eggs (one of my very favorite candies).

From my mom, a lovely and intriguing piece of milk glass.

And from my dad, a gorgeous bouquet of flowers.

Thank you everyone for your love and encouragement as I head into a new year,
and dip my fingers into new talents.

A Bit About Me

Lets get the hard stuff out of the way first...my apartment is not beautifully decorated, I don't have any kids of my own, I'm a teacher (as in, I leave the house and drive to work), and striped walls aren't really my favorite. There, I said it...and now I expect to hear the DIY blogland police pounding at my door any minute.

It's not that our apartment is a barren wasteland or anything, we have pictures up. And we have lovely houseplants that we fuss over as if they were our children ("Look! More thyme sprouts came up today, aren't they cute?") The reason we haven't done more is mostly because we're renting, and might be moving again this summer. I'm also a first-year teacher...which means I come home tired everyday...and while I have a million decorating ideas floating around in my head, they've pretty much stayed there. But dream of how it could be. How it will be?

(This might be my favorite decorated corner of our place)

I don't have any kids. Husband and I have only been married just short of two years, and we're not mentally or financially ready. However...

As I said, I'm a first-year teacher. I teach classes at a Christian academy, and I often feel like I'm playing mom to 37 kids. Most days I enjoy my job...I try to make sure that I laugh a lot with my students. Some days are more difficult...sometimes they share their heartaches with me, and I hurt for them. Sometimes I'm not very well prepared. And sometimes I could swear that someone put crazy in the water and gave it to everyone, and it's all I can do to get through the day until I can come home and recoup by crashing on the couch. But I love every. single. student.

And as far as striped walls go...I don't hate them...I just much prefer a good accent wall. To each their diy own, right?

I'm married to the man of God's dreams for me. I say that because Husband is so different from what I thought I wanted, and yet he's SO MUCH BETTER than what I thought I wanted. God truly chose us for each other. We laugh everyday. And he encourages my crafting...even when it means tiny paper scraps all over the living room.
I heart crafting and diy projects, and have a penchant for pretty paper (and alliteration). I'm pretty much incapable of going to Michael's without buying paper. Good thing it doesn't cost much. The story of why I started crafting is for another post, but for now I'll just say that it fills a need for me to create loveliness.

An Explanation

Hello! If you take a walk through my blog, you'll notice that most of the posts dated before this one, were put up over a couple of days. To be honest, I started Always Springtime Flowers quite a while ago, and then got caught up with life, and forgot about it. Then I realized that though I had stopped posting projects, I hadn't stopped taking pictures of them. I didn't want to miss out on sharing them, so I put them up so that they could still be enjoyed.

From here on out, I will endeavor to stay more current.

Enjoy Springtime, wherever you are.