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(Sorry for my lack of blog-posts last week … I was in Florida! If I was more organized and had planned ahead more I would have had blog posts pre-written and scheduled to post while I was away. But .. well, that didn’t happen. But the week in FL was awesome – it was a road trip with my extended family, I got see my siblings at college, attend a week of Bible lectures, and see my brother in the Spring musical. WooT!) And now I’ve returned from the 80+ degree weather back to the chilly snowy days of February. … Read more

‣ ‣ ‣  1. Several of you commented on Friday’s post asking “how are you still blogging while moving?” I can’t claim I’m keeping up with everything perfectly – but RememberTheMilk.com has been hugely helpful. I can plug in tasks I need to complete for moving, tasks I have to complete for my shop, and anything else – and it sends me handy email reminders so I don’t forget anything! Super helpful. ‣ ‣ ‣  2. I absolutely love rainy days. The sound of the rain against the windows is just so soothing and lovely. I think Tim is the one who showed me … Read more

These are a simple little roll-up I came up with – they’re not overly sweet. They would make a nice mini-pastry for a special breakfast. Or serve with coffee for a subtly sweet dessert. Take care not to burn the walnuts – they don’t need very long in the pan at all. 1 Pie Crust 1 Tablespoon Butter 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar Scant 1/8 cup very finely chopped walnuts ¼ cup Raspberry Jam or Preserves (not jelly) ¼ cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips 1- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2- Roll out pie crust on a cutting board. Spread jam evenly … Read more

This week, for our Adventure-a-Week challenge, our adventure doubles as a craft project as well. I was in a used book store one time and saw a book on “rubbings” and it captured my attention, and we gave it a try for this week’s adventure. So grab your art supplies and head outside! For this week’s activity you will need… – Paper. And plenty of it. I found that I like using very thin paper, personally. I bought a cheap sketchpad and I really liked the texture and thinness of the paper for this project. – Rubbing Materials. There are … Read more

I wish I was a naturally organized person. The whole “a place for everything and everything in its place” idea is wonderful – but the first problem for me is finding a place for everything! Back before the holidays, orders started flooding in for my art and I felt like all I was doing was packaging and shipping orders – and the packaging was taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r. For one thing, I didn’t have a good inventory storage system. Also, every time I needed to package something, I had to go gather all my supplies together. I don’t have a separate studio, … Read more

I recently saw a little cartoon where it shows a woman in the morning, thinking to herself, “I’m going to get so much done today!” Next block, she had been punched in the face by a figure saying, “Nope.” That figure was labelled “Internet”. There is a sad and growing trend of people’s online lives beginning to eclipse their real lives. We read of social media addiction and people frustrated that their offline life is not as full as it is online. That is NOT what I want. I see my online presence as a way to chronicle and supplement … Read more

I don’t know about you, but when we’re in the middle of a summer heat wave I don’t feel like turning on the oven and eating a hot and heavy meal. Something cool and refreshing sounds soooo much better. This meal idea is something my sister-in-law served one summer while I was visiting, and it fit the bill for a delicious meal on a hot summer day so perfectly. It’s kind of a coleslaw-meets-Waldorf-Salad-meets-chicken-salad dish, with a refreshing flavor mix of lime and thyme that my family has nicknamed Summer Thyme Salad. I’m including a printable of the recipe at … Read more

Are you a local explorer? You’d love it!! Few things inspire me creatively more than this. Not sure? Ok, I’ll give you some reasons – and then some helpful tips and tricks. 🙂 All of the photos in this post are from my local explorations here in Knoxville! I’ve lived in several awesome places in the past — places that other people take trips to go visit. (Prague/Czech Republic, Gettysburg/PA, Tampa/FL..) But one thing that completely took me aback was how people who had lived there their whole lives had never taken the opportunity to go see the sights! I … Read more

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” I almost wish C. S. Lewis hadn’t said this, because its so true of me that I probably would have said it myself, and then everyone would be quoting me instead of him. Well … ok, maybe not, but I do love this quote. 🙂 (In fact, I loved it so much, I embroidered it on this book tote I made! I call it a “quote tote” and I stitched my paper beads on it – WooT! One of these days I … Read more

I’ve been making some changes to The Flourishing Abode, to make it easier for you to use, and to help keep it running! I’m pretty excited about some of these changes, and so I wanted to share them with you. There’s a ton of great stuff I want to tell you about ranging from free classic vintage clothes, to a DIY gallery, to a exclusive deal for my readers, to milkweed kisses. Um, I guess you’ll have to read on to understand that last one. ‣‣‣ First (and this is just a small change, but might make it easier to … Read more