I've been treasured...

Blue.  Circles.  Handmade.  Art.  It's a great feeling to be treasured.

My etsy team member, Tina Cauthorn, placed my blue window flower in this lovely treasury.  When you have a chance check out these amazing shops on Etsy.

Please be sure to stop in to her shop too.  She creates wonderful frames out of buttons along with other fabulous button creations.  Here's the link to her etsy shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/allbuttonedupbytina

a little of everything or a.l.o.e.

Have you ever stepped into a store and felt like you were home?  It's a feeling I can't describe completely but I love when it happens.  It's comforting.  I want to sit down, have a cup of coffee and soak in my surroundings.  I have found a few places in the community that are like this and I really enjoy visiting and shopping there.  When I have the opportunity to sell my handmade goods at such a store it's even better.   It's better because I'm part of something I feel so wonderful about.  What's the store name you ask?  a.l.o.e.   It's a great little place located in the center of Lewisville, NC in a cozy house and it really does have a little bit of everything.

They support local art and have a beautiful blend of different artists selling their work in the store.  Their products grow weekly and are changed out regularly so it's always fresh.  They have jewelry, hand-blown glass, fused glass pendants, soldered pendants, paintings, wind chimes, glass/bead mobiles, stained glass, window art, knitted products, refurbished furniture, painted signs, baby items, gifts for teens, and much more.  Basically, you name it and they have it.

Besides local art and refurbished furniture they also offer spa services- manicures/pedicures and massages.  And if that's not what you are looking for they also have yoga, social gatherings, kids night out events, host birthday parties and they are planning to offer art camps this summer.

So if you need to get out of your house for a breath of fresh air and want to be around good people or products that will inspire you, a.l.o.e. is where you need to go.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

Here are a few of my items you can find at a.l.o.e:

(all of the handmade products pictured above are handmade by me and can be found at a.l.o.e in Lewisville, NC.  I have more products at a.l.o.e. than what I have included in this blog post.  Learn more about a.l.o.e at http://www.aloeoflewisville.com/http://www.aloeoflewisville.com or visit their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/aloeoflewisville)

Strength

As a child I observed a woman who had an amazing strength. It was incredible to watch and learn from her and now as an adult I continue to learn from her. I really did not understand the magnitude of her strength until a few years ago but now looking back on it her strength was and is pretty incredible.

I know sometimes she thinks she is invisible and sometimes she feels like she isn't needed but that isn't true. Her presence is as strong as it was when I was a small child. Her beauty more radiant now then it was then and well her courage sings louder than the mountains. I have seen her when life's burden was wearing her down, I have seen her when life was lifting her up and I have seen her when no one else was looking. I have seen her in my direct vision and out of the corner of my eye and the strength, courage and wisdom that I see is astounding.

In my moments of fragility she has given me the strength to carry on even when I didn't think it was possible. She had (and still has) a ray of light emitting from her that shines brightly on me and gives me courage to face life's battle. I have seen the pain in her eyes as she held my hand and my heart and watched me twist in misery as my life unraveled and self doubt filled me. But she gave me words of comfort and breathed life back into my withering spirit allowing me to stand firmly once again.

I know that I haven't always told her nor have I always shown her what her strength means to me and even though I haven't I hold it dear in my heart. I am a strong, independent woman because of her. Because she taught me to fight, she taught me to stand, she taught me to see and she did it with amazing grace and beauty.

This amazingly beautiful, strong and independent woman is my mother. She gave me life and taught me to live and love life with strength even when she didn't have strength of her own. For that I am grateful and filled with an amazing amount of love and respect for her.

~Thanks mom for assisting in making me the woman I am today. Thanks for your beauty and your strength.


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Oveous Maximus has written a beautiful poem entitled, "DULCE DE LECHE" (ironically Dulce is the name of my beautiful mother.)

The link below is him reading his poem. Click on it to hear my feelings regarding an amazing woman who gave me life and strength.

Oveous Maximus ~ "Dulce de Leche"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjZvgULWHWY