psalm 46:5

a favorite verse.

may it encourage you.

xoxo-kimberly renee

believe

I finished this painting this weekend. I couldn’t have explained it at the time, but it has huge significance to me today.

the voices of my past, voices of lies, voices of disbelief sometimes completely overwhelm me.

sometimes i find it’s hard to believe. to believe that anything good could happen in a situation. to believe that God could use my past. what i’ve done. what’s been done to me. what’s been done to the people i love.

then i remember one of my most favorite verses:

He says, Look. Look with you’re eyes wide open at everything that God has done. Wonder. Be amazed. Be filled with Awe. Our God is big. BIG. He’s reminding me that he’s bigger than all of the things that amaze us.

Then  i remember that God’s in control. HE PROMISES that HE is working. That he is doing a work in my days {in OUR days} that we would not believe even if he’d told us he was going to do it!  He’s bigger than anything and everything that we face.

and all we have to do is

FOR SALE {original artwork}

I’m selling some of my original pieces! I’ve decided it’s time to let these little lovelies spread joy in your houses, instead of hoarding them all for myself.

{Click on the images to go to the etsy listing.}

Modern LOVE collage. i love this piece but would like to share it, anyway it will give me an excuse to make more like it! It is bible pages collaged together with the stenciled letters of LOVE.  It’s a simple and cool reminder that the Bible is God’s love letter to us.

**update: since putting this on etsy last night, it sold! whoo hoo! :) but i’m planning on putting it up anyway and just making more as i get an order. don’t worry. i’m making another one right now just in case ;)**

{also, i just had this thought, what if i did custom ones? you tell me what word you want in the red (or any other color)letters and i’ll make one up for ya! what do you think?? }

This sweet little angel is for sale at a really random time of year. but whatever. i think she’s gorgeous. And I’ll have her up all year long, so you can too! there is the original for sale as well as a 8×8 print.

the original & the print

this one is very random, but i love it. it reminds me of Hebrews 4:13, that i never should be afraid to draw near to God in prayer. it reminds me to pray. what a good reminder!

and i have more that i need to get up here… but i think that’ll be it for now. i wanted to get this post up and running before i sell more without you all having the first chance! :)

AND remember to use the Feb discount at checkout!!

Happy early V Day friends! :) xo-kimberly renee

a few things that are distracting me… {sweet finds!}

I’m totally distracted. I can’t focus on anything! Here’s a few reasons:

• my little sister Ams: isn’t she cute? man… i miss her. she keeps texting me these heart wrenching notes of how she wishes we could do this or that thing together… ME TOO AMY! :) if only we lived in the same state!

• i’m totally going to make these yummy little things for valentine’s day… maybe i’ll get them mailed out to both of my sweet little sisters in time! :)

• journaling… ART journaling. {journaling like this has been for some of my assignments for that art class I’m taking} Have you ever tried it? it’s fascinating. and so. much. fun. :) it’s so fun to just relax and put random things together and to just “journal”… it’s totally freeing because it’s my journal! and no one will see it unless i let them… like i’m letting you:
  

  mixed media: collage/transfers/paint/water color/pencils

• an AWESOME kitchen that’s so inspiring. THANK you Kelly Rae for sharing your beautiful home that you just renovated! i LOVE the light that is in this kitchen! i love the stools, the wood countertops, the simple, diy design. (totally different from what i’m used to seeing at work yet i love it!)

• for mom’s everywhere…chalkboard maps… um. can we say so cool?! and from the same artist: a Gumball Lamp! LOVE IT! i want it for my birthday! (husbuddy… you picking up what i’m laying down? ha ) i know i’ve featured this artist here before… shopdirtsa is an adorable shop though! i can’t help it!

• a cute picture from one of my favorite girls with my latest painting:

{via my sweet friend, Elizabeth! i love you guys!}

 

• a beautiful room designed by one of my favorite designers…well, a husband(architect) and wife(interior designer) duo… and i’m totally inspired because this architect paints too!! :) just like me! whoop! :) his are amazing paintings of water, so awesome!

• a picture of a cute little nursery that i helped to design!(in the broad sense of the word…we do live in these awful apartments, and most of it was the momma’s ideas, i just helped implement them!)  :) i’m so excited for the little guy who’s room this is… he was born this last weekend and he is completely adorable.

• my new blog crush: young house love… basically because i’m so jealous that they have a house to fix up{i CAN’T WAIT to have a house of our own!!} and they’re really funny & entertaining. and i guess they’re pretty popular. phsh. whatever. i’m not a crowd follower… i promise. :-p

• another blog crush: In the Name of Love: she is a very down to earth Christian writer who always has something profound to say. check her out. even today’s post is inspiring.

anyway… off to try to be productive. really. promise…well, maybe tomorrow.  xoxo-kimberly renee



fun times for February.

A gift to you:

a coupon to my Etsy Shop!

February is my birthday month! Yippi :) so as my gift to you, i’m giving you a coupon to my shop.

10% off everything in there if you use this code: FEB21FUN {feb – the month – 21 – a cool day if i do say so myself – fun – because it’s fun!:)}  at check out!

all you have to do is go to my shop here and then add something to your cart, and then where there’s a little coupon code space just put this in.

These are the last of my cards for a while… i’ve plumb sold out of them! so get ’em at this great deal while you can!

hold each other always

there’s this adorable little family that i know and miss dearly… “Family O”. :)

they are beyond cute. :) i love love love these peeps!

unfortunately they live in Idaho and we live in Jersey….way too far away! so… i haven’t even met the newest little member of “family O”!

when the littlest O was born in October, I offered to give them a painting of their sweet little family… and, i promise, i started it right away!

then all of a sudden it was Christmas and I was so busy that I never had a chance to finish it. I finally got my act in gear this last weekend to finish it! o, what a terrible friend i am to take so long! { and i think i started it a couple of times… then i painted over it two or three times to make sure it was perfect}

So here’s what it looked like when i started over the final time:

first i layered some pages from a bible. i thought this was a good background because it is fundamental in our lives and it’s a good foundation for a family to live by :)

Then i wrote a poem over the text that i like:

God is in every Tomorrow,

Therefore I live for Today,

Certain of finding at Sunrise

Guidance and Strength for my way.

Power for each moment of weakness,

Hope for each moment of Pain,

Comfort for every sorrow

Sunshine and joy after Rain

-LB Cowman.

Isn‘t it a beautiful poem? Husbuddy thought it was a little too serious for my painting… but i thought it’d be good to be in the background there.

Then, this is how it sat for a few weeks:

the floating heads are little weird, i admit….

and i couldn’t figure out how to calm down the background, get the words that i wanted on there, get the family word to look right…

really, i was just so scared of messing it up for my dear friends! i didn’t think i would do a good job.

it seemed like voices kept telling me that i wasn’t a good enough artist to do this for them. they needed a professional. i had offered to give them this out of my own vanity {what had i been thinking?} and i wasn’t good enough!

this weekend i realized that i just needed to face my fears.

i needed to finish it!

if it wasn’t good enough for them, they could just stick it in the back of a closet…

but i needed to just let it all out… do my best … i needed to  be free from the fear… then it would come alive…

and it would be good enough.

 

so… freedom was finally found :)

{sorry the picture’s seem just a little blurry}

The background finally calmed down, but i still have the pretty texture… and i added a little bit of randomness to  bring it all together… makes perfect sense, right?!  yup. thought so. There’s even a little map behind the butterfly of the state of Oklahoma… where they’ll be moving to in the summer! :) what an adorable little family.

The words around their heads read:

*hold each other always*

*may you always speak with love and grace

& always see the best in each other in hope and truth*

*God bless this family*

 

i hope “family O” likes it  as much as i do! :) love you guys!

now off to package it all up and put it in the mailbox. :)

xo-kimberly renee