It’s almost the weekend and seems like everyone’s trying to squeeze in all the summer events they can before fall arrives…camping, bbq’s, boating trips. I’ll be going to a wedding this weekend, which is either number three or four for the summer…including my own….I’m losing count. 🙂

Getting married changed my life more than I expected considering my husband and I had been together over 6 years.  It felt like New Years Eve, a time for transformation, and inspired me to look more closely at all the pieces in my life.  To reevaluate if they still fit and were helping bring me closer to my goals.  And I realized my creative side had been taking the back seat.

I designed and attached several thousand crystals to a pair of wedges for my wedding, which sparked (and sparkled) my desire to be creative again.

I’ve always been very visual.  My mom and brother are amazing artists, it seems like they can draw anything.  I’ve always felt drawn to all things creative, but painting and drawing aren’t really my cup of tea.  It wasn’t until recently that I realized how much I enjoy designing and creating wearable pieces.

And somehow…14 years or so after being the state leather craft champion in 4-H (woohoo! I know, pretty exciting) I found myself working with leather again.  It’s felt so peaceful to sit down and work with my hands on a project, to have my mind focused on nothing except what’s right in front of me.  I didn’t realize all those years ago I was practicing a form of meditation and being present in the moment 🙂

It’s taken a good week to wake up my leather crafting memories and learn some new skills, but I’m super woohoo yay excited to have completed my first bag!!!

The tag says ‘Passion’, so I’m calling it my Passion Purse 🙂

It feels so great to create something that means so much to me, a usable piece of art, that I hope will be cherished, used, and enjoyed by others as well.  It probably seems so different than what I normally do, but in a lot of ways it’s all the same.  A way to make the most of your experience of life, to surround yourself with beauty, to feel that you deserve to feel your best.  My hope is that I’m introducing another way for each of us to feel a little more joy in life.  Enjoy! Or maybe in-joy! 🙂

In Summary… follow your dreams, live in the moment, practice gratitude.

To Being Healthy, Wealthy, and Feeling Beautiful!