My heart on your screen...

Deep sigh....Life has been crazy lately...and beautiful...and exciting...and sad...and fun...and entertaining...and inspiring...and long...and hard.

But life has also been beautiful.  

I have been blessed with the pleasure of making some pretty awesome quilts that I pray will bring warmth and joy for years to come. They have been fun for me and have given me confidence in my creativity while also lightening the strain on the wallet at the same time.  Making money doing what you enjoy is pretty cool if you ask me.

I have made some Halloween hats too. For those of you who have lived in a closet for the last several months the first one is Anna from Frozen. And for those of you who haven't read the world's greatest children's book of all time the second one is Max from Where the Wild Things Are.

I have taken my 17 month old son to the neurologist.  He is having seizures just like his mommy. His are pretty frequent, especially for such a little guy.

Turns out his seizures may be more far-reaching than we thought. So tonight we started our little one on seizure medicine and we are praying that the first medicine is the right one. I just hope that he doesn't have a year-long journey to normalcy like I did to find the right seizure medicine.  And we will wait until December for an MRI to see if this is just a bump in the road or a long uphill climb.  Either way there is no other people I would want to share the journey with.

That being said I am trying to find the right balance in being a wife first, a mother second, a teacher third, and chasing my dream with whatever I have left.

And what I have left has left me with this...2 Pumpkin Painting Parties...

Super fun no doubt.

Every time I show up at the studio, walk to the back of that diamond in the rough to pull the drawstring that turns on the old fluorescent light bulbs and welcome people in it warms my heart, no matter how many people walk in.  I love being creative with other creatives in a place that inspires creativity.  But every time I post a new event to the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/scrapstashstudio and add 120 or so people to the guest list and send out emails I dream of what it COULD BE.  I dream of the picture I have in my head.  I dream of trying to pack as many people in as can fit.  I dream of needing more than the 22 chairs I have in there. I dream of needing a waiting list and having the same event on multiple days because there wasn't enough room for everyone. I dream of having beautiful art from local artists exploding off the shelf one night then flying off the shelves not too long after when someone treasures their art enough to buy it and take it home.  I dream of a place that brings people together, that is an escape or a treat or a blank slate or a bright spot or a rest in the madness or just a little dose of happiness.  Let's make it happen.  I need your help.  Who's in?

1. Go like the page.  https://www.facebook.com/scrapstashstudio

2. EVERY TIME I post an event, click on invite at the top of the page and invite ANYONE AND EVERYONE THAT MIGHT COME and tell them to do the same.

3. Invite your friends...your family...your coworkers.  Heck, drag them if you need to.  They will be back.  Send emails, post a flyer, tell your team or church or neighbor or all of the above.

4. Come sell your art....and make money.

5. Come teach your craft or skill or talent...and make money.

6. Share your ideas and your preferences. I can't read your mind. I want to know what YOU dream it could be. What would you want to make or learn or do? What days and times work best (besides weekdays before 4:30 and Wednesdays...those are off limits) for you?

7. Let me host your party or event. I promise to make it everything you dream it to be and more!

So what do you say? Who is with me?

Seriously. WHAT DO YOU SAY? I can't hear you! Respond below or hit me up on Facebook.  See you or hear from you soon....or else!

Fantastic News Friday!

Opening day is coming soon! Very soon! Like June first soon!

So get excited!

This Sunday at 3 I will be having a sneak peek at the studio. I will be hanging with some friends...old and new...painting old furniture in the parking lot of the studio. Fellow spray painters will get a tour of the studio in progress. Join us! You can bring your own color-lacking up cycle furniture to paint or help me paint mine. You know you wanna!

The address is 11321 N Oak Street, Soddy Daisy, TN. Be there Sunday or be there in June...June 1st...opening day. More details to follow.

Come hang out with us here.

Formerly Soddy Home and Auto...soon-to-be SCRAP STASH STUDIO! Hip hip hooray!

See you soon!

WIP Wednesday...work in progress...my dream and my afghan

So...I am glad I didn't announce my potential studio location because things have fallen through. God has a different plan. So it's back to the drawing board. I'll just be praying and waiting and waiting some more until God makes things official.

In the meantime I will be working on my afghan and playing ball with my son and enjoying his first snow day and working on my crocheted afghan during his naps. 

Until next time, my friends, stay warm!

And so it begins...

So begins the journey of SCRAP STASH STUDIO...or at least the website part.  This is a dream that has been years in the making, with the past few months being dedicated pursuit of the goal.

The concept behind Scrap Stash Studio evolved from the realization that Pinterest has become a booming site that has brought out the creativity and artistic ability that people didn't know they possessed.  So now many people, including myself, spend lots of time doing projects at home alone...or in the company of those not as artistically minded.  Then some of us try our hand at selling those projects on websites like Etsy while others don't realize their potential for profit at all.

Here is how I plan on solving this problem along with the help of my community.  The community I am referring to is Soddy Daisy, TN and the surrounding areas.  Here, if your favorite hobbies do not involve rifles, bows, fishing lines, or muddy tires, you don't really have a place to call your own.  In comes Scrap Stash Studio.

And keeping this studio up and running will take the effort of all of us "artsy folk."  It will rely on donation of leftover art and craft supplies, connections, furniture, and sometimes time.  It will rely on people like us trusting enough that our finished projects are worthy of a buyer...enough that we would be willing to pay in advance for shelf space with the belief that others will love our art as much as we do.  It will require confidence in the fact that others will pay to put OUR art on THEIR shelf or wall or yard.  It will rely on artists being willing to teach others how to do what they do, trusting that we will use our OWN creative ability to add a touch of uniqueness and creativity to the finished project.  It will require attendance!!!  It will require bragging about how fun and awesome and unique Scrap Stash Studio is so we can bring in the masses.  It will require people to love the studio so much that they want to have birthday parties, and team parties, and baby and wedding showers, and small group gatherings there.  Most of all, it will require the input of creative minds to make this place as unique and exciting as it can be and make all of those "city folk" jealous.