Hello friends! First of all, I want to thank Carlotta for letting me guest post on her beautiful blog and for putting up with my indecisiveness about the post topic. ;)

After a few crazy hours deciding what I would post about, I chose to write about something that means a lot to me -- my Savior and His everlasting love. The song You Never Let Go is really close to my heart and one of my favorites, and in this post I'll tell you why.

It's so easy for us to praise God when everything is going great, when we have a job, when our heart is content, when our family is getting along...but what about when things start going down hill? It's not as easy to praise if you are going through a rough spot.

"Even though I walk, through the valley, of the shadow of death. Your perfect love is casting out fear. And even when I'm caught, in the middle, of the storms of this life. I won't turn back, I know You are near."  

When we are going through trials in life, it's hard to feel God there. But His perfect love is so comforting, and even if we don't feel Him at the time, He is always near. He never lets go of us -- in the good times and bad times. It's easier for us to depend on Him when life is great, but it's even better for us to depend on Him when we are going through storms in life. When life is not perfect.

"Oh no, You never let go, through the calm and through the storm. Oh no, You never let go in every high and every low. Oh no You never let go, Lord you never let go of me." 

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is praise God. Sometimes I am so caught up in praying for what I don't have and not praising for what He has blessed me with. Even in our hardest times we can still praise God. Because my favorite line of the song goes like this...

"I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on. There will be an end to these troubles, but until that day comes. Still I will praise You, still I will praise You." 

Still I will praise you -- what a strong verse. There is a light, there will be a time of happiness and joy. But even if the day of happiness is not today, keep holding on because it is coming. I just really want to encourage you to never stop praising God and to know that He will always be there for you, ready to wrap His arms around you, through the calm and through the storm. This song has gotten me through a lot and means so much to me, I am so glad for the opportunity to share it with you. 

Thank you again, Carlotta, for letting me post on your blog -- it was wonderful. :)

Have a lovely day!

-Danielle


ps. if you want to listen to the song my favorite versions are here and here 
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I'm Danielle: photographer, writer, and musician. Jesus is my everything, because without Him, I would be nothing. I love laughter, dancing in the rain makes me happy, floral is my favorite pattern to wear, I don't go anywhere without my camera, and I am the clumsiest person you will ever meet. Pleasure to meet you!

I would love it if you stopped by my blog!

These long, blissful, summer days have been putting me in a crafty mood lately. I just want to make pretty things all day long! So, I thought I'd spread the mood by sharing a lovely little DIY with you.

{delightful dry-erase boards}

you will need:

a picture frame with a glass cover

a sheet of scrapbook paper

acrylic paint {optional}

scissors or a papercutter

a dry erase marker {black works best}

{step one} Take the back & glass cover out of your picture frame and set them aside. If you'd like to paint your frame, now's the time. Make sure your frame is made of a suitable material to be painted on. Unfinished wood frames are perfect for painting. 

{step two} Once the paint has dried, measure the inside edge of the frame. Take your piece of scrapbook paper, and cut your square or rectangle with those dimensions. If you find that your square/rectangle doesn't fit in the frame easily, just trim it a bit. 

{step three} Put the glass cover back in your frame, followed by the square/rectangle of scrapbook paper, & then the back.

{step four} Sit back and admire your lovely handiwork. Grab a dry-erase marker, and doodle away! The marker is really easy to erase with a whiteboard eraser, or just a tissue. 

Use these pretties to decorate your walls, as a reminder board for your locker, or whatever else you come up with. Happy crafting! 

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Hello! I'm Abbey - an aspiring writer, photographer, and daydreamer, living in the Canadian prairies. It's a pleasure to meet you! Come visit me over at The Inglenook, my little space of lovely things.

Hey y'all! It's Anna from hazel&freckles speaking. I'm so excited to pop in for a bit while Carlotta is off on a trip! The weekend's almost over, but who says we can't plan for the next one? Here are some ingredients for a blissful weekend: Boating with the family. A blue sky with swollen clouds. Waterside restaurants. Vintage turquoise tables. Canvas Keds. Windblown hair that smells like the sea.

Anything y'all would add to that list? I'd love to hear. P.S. Carlotta has some rad guest bloggers lined up for y'all...be sure to look out for them. It's going to be pretty spectacular!

Sometimes random, especially while noshing on oreos, is good. Hence, this mishmash of topics, photos, and words on a Friday night.

The chirps of crickets and cicadas were a backdrop between the steady slap-slap of our shoes as my mother and I took the dog for a walk. The air, while still sticky and warm, had cooled off; i.e., ninety one degrees versus the one hundred and five earlier in the day. To prevent yourself from overheating, the only tolerable way to be outside is either early in the morning, in the evening, or in the pool.

Brought on by a friend's facebook status, I've been researching all the silly laws in states across the country. For example, did you know that it's illegal to bring an elephant into the downtown area in Oklahoma? And whaling is illegal. (Darn, no more cruising the street in my boat, harpoon in hand. Ahem.) In Georgia, it's not allowed to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket on Sundays. These are the quirky things that make life worth living, y'all.

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I'm a lover of change. I rearrange and shift things around before I'm even aware of what I'm doing. My room was my latest project.

After raiding the basement and going through forgotten about drawers, my room was in a state of disarray while I moved, arranged, and nailed things into place. My favorite element? The collage of inspiration covering  a wall.

It's a hodgepodge of clippings from all sorts of magazines; from Gourmet to miscellaneous fashion magazines, I can't stop staring at it. While I love Pinterest, sometimes it's nice to actually pin things physically.

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I've begun writing down rare and/or interesting words as I come across them. That makes me seem terribly nerdy, doesn't it? But if being called a nerd is the worst I get, it's worth it. After all, how else would I have discovered words like corybantic, prink, and clinquant? (Also, I'd like to point out the fact that neither of those three words were recognized by spell check. But I promise they're real.)

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I've been thinking a lot about simplifying lately. Every moment I spend on the computer is another moment lost. Thus, I've decided to close my Etsy shop. I've been pondering doing this for some time, by upon reading Arielle's post, I'm finally going through with it.
When I started my shop, I though it would be fun to make a little money on the side by selling my photos. However, I hadn't thought on how much work it would be. Heck, I'm still a student and not exactly knowledgeable in running a business. That's not to say I won't ever reopen it in the future, but for now I'm removing "entrepreneur" from my list of titles. I've had the best experience, but I'm happy to be renewing my focus on other things.

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If it wouldn't have made him run away in fright, I would have given the mail man a big hug this morning. Why? Because he brought this lovely to me.

I'm smitten, y'all. And of course half the apps I've downloaded have to do with photography. (any app recommendations?)

i love instagram.

And I smile every time I see my case.

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Happy weekend, friends! Any plans? Do tell!

-carlotta

PS I'm heading out of town again this week...be sure to watch out for some super cute guest posters! :)