Rather than say {ok, TYPE} it out loud, I’m linking up with Life Rearranged for Insta-Friday. If you’re not on Instagram, you are completely missing out on my super favorite place in the whole of social media! So much visual eye-candy– and a great way to connect with friends.

I’d love to follow you. Click right here to follow along on my weekly adventures. Oooooo…and I just set up a LovespunStudio Shop account tonight {it’s still empty as I type, but it’ll fill up soon!} so click here if you would like to see what’s happening in the shop!

Enjoy your weekend! BTW, I’m taking the weekends off & away from the blog. With only one week of school left, it might end up being more than the weekends for the summer. But we can manage, right? After all, isn’t that what Instagram is for anyway? *wink*

 Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose. Proverbs 18:21 The Message

Which got me thinking about how much my heart craves kindness. And friends, our words MATTER. They matter a lot. A LOT! I hope that if you bumped into me at the grocery store that I would smile and chat a bit. Even though bad drivers make me cra-ZAY, my prayer is that instead of huffing under my breath in a tizzy when you cut me off, that I would smile and whisper a genuine prayer for you– because maybe you are having a bad day. I’m serious here. The bottom line is that someone is always watching and listening. Your spouse. Your friends. Your parents. Your brothers and sisters. Your co-workers. They notice your words.

And these munchkins?

They are ALWAYS listening.

Knowing that my children are always listening, and considering my words once again from earlier today, led me to noodling on what they hear from my lips.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized with a very very thankful heart that I don’t think that either of my children could give you an opinion of mine or Jeremy’s about a person. Because honestly, we just don’t talk about our opinions of people in this home {unless of course it’s praising them or sharing something neat and positive about someone that we love}. My breath caught a bit as it sunk in that one of the things that Jeremy and I have done well within our home is to choose not to spend our words speaking in a way that could ever be misconstrued as unkind toward our neighbor, our friends, our family.

Please hear me well. We aren’t perfect parents– far from it! I sigh a little too often. My patience runs too thin more often than I’d like. But gossiping is not welcome inside these walls. Not even between Jeremy and I. If it creeps in, it typically dies a quick death at our acknowledgement of the problem. You see, by guarding our words, we guard THEIR hearts. They are free to love. Free to learn. Free to explore their world without our 30-shades-of-cynicism distorting the view.

This is my public notice: If you hear unkind words from my mouth, please call me on it. {Gently. Kindly. Honestly…remind me that my words breathe life or fuel hurt} And please remember in your own home that your children {spouse, friend, co-worker, etc.} is listening. It’s up to you to determine what they will hear.

Are words something that you struggle with? What or who encourages you to speak with grace and kindness?  

Good morning and happy Wednesday! It’s *finally* warm and sunshiny here in the great Hoosier state. To celebrate and pay a little homage to my favorite place on Earth {no really…I’m not even kidding}. I decided to wear my brand new “Midwest Is Best” t that I picked up at the adorable little White Dog Vintage shop on my trip to Crimson Tate in downtown Indy last week.

I’m not even gonna lie. I was all swoony about it. I have another Indiana one that I might give you a sneak peek of next year. After living in Indiana and Texas {and ya’ll KNOW that Texans are proud of their state}, I feel like the midwest needs a few more cheerleaders!

This shirt was the brainchild of Megan Lee Designs {in case you want one too}

And although it’s a BE-U-TI-FUL day, I’m going to be sitting here in my studio working on turning this awesome stack of delicious fabrics into these amazing Zippy Organizer Wallets so that I can list them in the shop {If you want one early, you can click here to pre-order} They are PERFECT for keeping track of cash {ala Dave Ramsey Envelope System style}, foreign travel and handling multiple currencies and for all you coupon queens!

And just like every Wednesday, I’m linking up with The Pleated Poppy’s “What I Wore Wednesday” Please click on over and join in the fun!!!

1. “Creativity” is subjective-  “Creative” time means different things to everyone. For example, I am not “crafty.” No, really– I’m not!! I don’t spend very much time on Pinterest. I don’t enjoy getting out glue sticks, glitter and paper. And I can’t even imagine being one of those bloggers who fills up her site with a whole truckload of hands-on activities to entertain the littles during summer vacation {Kudos to you all! I stand in awe of that talent!}. However, that is not what creativity looks like in my life.

Around these parts creativity tends to look a lot like pulling different patterns and prints of fabric together to create something that will bring joy to someone else. During some seasons it means that I spend extra time in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes. Often it means strolling through my favorite local “vintage” shops to see what sparks an idea. Almost daily utilizing my creativity involves brainstorming about the blog and my little business too. It brings me joy and peace when it’s done in the right way — at the right time. {more on that later}

Your creative outlets might involve gardening, baking, painting, drawing, digital graphics, sewing, quilting, scrapbooking, photography, etc. The list is endless. Don’t waste one moment comparing YOUR creativity to anyone else. Take the time to let your creativity genuinely be a reflection of who you are. Your authenticity and your talent will shine through that because it reflects your heart.

Let’s chat:

What form of creativity fills you up and makes your heart smile? {please comment! I would LOVE to chat!}

If you find yourself looking at Pinterest or a blog and you leave feeling deflated, discouraged and disabled, please step away stop putting those disheartening imagines in front of you. Remember that lots of these people are professionals…and they didn’t start out where they are now. Let that be an encouragement for you to start right where you are and to do the very best that you can with the knowledge that you have! Ok? I’m cheering you on! Really!!

If you have any projects that you’ve recently created– leave us the link along with your comment so that we can enjoy your creativity too!

Here is my latest project that I finished up last night for a friend’s little girl. Gray Chevron Ruffle Leggings…

And just to prove that scrapbooking is not  my THANG…check this out: {backstory- my sweet neighbor girl invited me over for a Mother’s Day luncheon on Saturday– and it included “crafts” with prizes. Needless to say…”ahem”…Parker added the stickers to the bottom. Even she recognized my not-so-awesome scrapbooking abilities! I did manage to take home a sympathy prize. If you’re feeling like a creative dud, just sneak another peek at this beauty and giggle a few times! All better.}

Up next Monday: Your Purpose for Creativity