Happy Heart

Hello friends! I just got back from a much-needed trip to northern Illinois to visit my parents, and it was the perfect reset. I always treasure time with my mom and second dad, and this visit was full of meaningful moments. My momma and I shared plenty of laughs while spending hours in her incredible gardens—we weeded, transplanted, planted seeds, tackled the veggie beds, and even spread out pea gravel. My second dad treated us to peaceful boat rides (grand dog included!) and we even started dreaming up our next big adventure—hopefully happening this November. As always, I painted a picture for my momma during the trip… this time, it was a squirrel. Scroll through the photos to catch a peek!

To everyone who’s reached out about the classes I’ll be teaching at the Threadworxs Fair in June 2026—thank you so much! I truly appreciate your interest and enthusiasm. I’ll be sharing an update tomorrow (Friday) that will answer some of the common questions I’ve received, so stay tuned. Thanks again for your patience and support—I’m really looking forward to both classes and can’t wait to share more with you soon!

For now, I will leave you with my favorite photos from my trip to Lake Summerset...enjoy!

A Beautiful Beginning

Greetings friends! If you have been following me for a while, then you know I just took an incredible trip abroad with my momma and second dad. They asked me in August if I would accompany them on a trip to Paris and London in September...and everyone around the world probably heard me squeal. I was not only excited for the journey to new and unexplored places, but to spend time with my parents - something I don't get an opportunity to do nearly as often as I would like. With my husband and I living in Kansas City and my parents living in northern Illinois, we have found the easiest way to travel between our homes is by train...so, on an early September morning, I started my extended travel by making my way to their beautiful lake house property via Amtrak. I will be breaking down our travel into several posts, as I have quite a bit of beauty to share. 

This first post is focused on photos I took on their property in Illinois before we departed for Paris. As my regular readers are aware, my parents live in a wonderful, gated, lake community in Northwest Illinois and they have an extensive property. My momma's true passion is for gardening and every time I visit, I can't wait to take my photo skills into her incredible gardens. With her age, she has started to simplify her plantings to be more manageable, but to me they are just as grand. Here are some favorite photos from our visit, the day before our flight to France...and within these photos, you will find my favorite photo of my momma (in her element)...

When I tell you that this was the perfect way to start our journey, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. There is something so special about spending time with them at their home surrounded by the beauty of nature. It has the most calming, refreshing effect on me...oh, how I long to live next door...

This was day one, so be sure to stop back for my next update, when I share about our time in Paris...which exceeded all of my expectations...

Inspiration Along the Journey

Greetings friends - happy weekend! I am back from my quick trip up to northern Illinois to visit my momma and second dad...and I thought I would quickly drop in to share some photos of my journey. It was a good trip, minus the standard (extensive) train delays. They live in a lovely lakeside home with incredible wildlife, birds and gardens. We spent most of our time at the house, working/playing outside...but we did make a trip up to Wisconsin to a favorite apple orchard (Ten Eyck Orchard). We also took the pontoon boat out for a trip all around the lake....and I did a little painting at my mom's artist easel. It was a good, quiet, artistic week...and here are a plethora of photos I took...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit - I hope you feel happy and inspired! I will be back on September 20th with my latest project tutorial for Therm O Web (you can see it on the Therm O Web Blog on Tuesday, September 19th)...it is an autumn/Halloween project with a bit of magic. I hope you stop back soon...