Inspiration: Portraits

Hello my dears! For this week's inspiration I wanted to showcase some of my favorite portraits that I've come across. I would absolutely love to have my portrait taken by a studio that specializes in this type of photography, or better yet, try to learn myself! I found everything from glamorous, celebrity headshots to beautiful yearbook portraits. I'm also going to admit that about 1/3 of them are of Ginger Rogers because MAN was she stunning! Looking through these is also giving me the itch to cut my hair once again. I just adore the hairstyles, and especially makeup, that these women are wearing. Which is your favorite?

And my favorite:

God Bless!
KJA


Ecclesiastes 11:1
Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.

Gardening

Why hello! I thought I'd share a bit of what Sean and I did this past weekend-we finally put in our garden! We've been working on tilling it here and there for a couple of weeks (our soil is incredibly rocky and hard while also being clay like. It's pretty much the worst combination, haha) and it was time to plant. We got the seeds in just a few hours before we had a torrential rainstorm, but luckily the garden was on the opposite side from the blowing wind, so the house protected it somewhat. My sisters and I used to help our parents with the garden when we were kids, but I have never had one myself. Our neighbors, who are a couple around our age, were telling Sean and I that it took them about three years to get their garden just how they wanted it. That seems like a long time to me! I'm hoping I get at least a little of something this year to make me feel as though I accomplished a goal of mine :) We are also worried about bunnies. Our yard (or neighborhood really) is like a bunny factory. My cats just sit at the window ledges and watch bunnies all day long, so Sean and I really need to put up a fence of some sort once buds begin to grow.

I am trying out a few of my favorite vegetables for our first go round. Peas are my absolute favorite fresh vegetable, so I planted a regular pea, and a sugar snap pea. I then tried carrots, beets, green and yellow beans, cucumber, and spinach. The spinach says it could be fully developed in as little as 45 days, so I'm hoping for that! I'll have to get gardening tips from my grandmother when I go to visit (I know, I just mentioned she's going to teach me to sew as well-this woman is just amazing!) as she has an expansive garden that she tends to each year. I've gleaned information from her each year, but now that I'm actually putting it into practice I'll need to take concrete notes!

Are any of you tending to a garden this year? What did you plant?

Happy digging!

God Bless,
KJA


Genesis 2:8
Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.

Outfit: Navy Dress, and a little about my Etsy Shop

Hi there! Did you all have a nice weekend? Ours promised rain the entire time, but it didn't come until late Sunday evening and it was flash flood worthy. We had just put in our garden, so I was hoping this morning that it didn't all wash away! What can I say though, I love the rain.
Needless to say we haven't put away our coats yet around here and I pulled out my teal number one last time before summer! It paired so well with this 1940's navy dress that it was a no-brainer.

I found this stunning, stunning dress at a vintage shop in town. 1930's and 40's clothing in my size and good condition is difficult to find so I practically squealed when I got my hands on this number. It has an asymmetrical neckline, asymmetrical right pocket, nautical buttons, and the cut is just phenomenal. I feel so great in it that I just want to wear it every day! I even got the price down a bit by pointing out that I would need to mend some seams and re-sew in one of the shoulder pads.That is about the extent of my sewing skills at the moment.
I made my grandmother promise to teach me how to sew when I go to visit her this summer. Now I just need to find a pattern I like so that I can make a dress with her! I've wanted to do that since I was a little girl and I finally got up the courage to ask her. I didn't learn until I was a bit older that my grandmother was so great at making her own clothing and I'd love to be able to share that experience with her.

I also listed this bag in my etsy shop here! It is a gorgeous little handbag in such a fun combination of neutral colors! With this being the last week of school, I'm hoping to add a bunch of new items to the shop next week for spring and summer. I can't wait to focus more on my shop in the coming months as it is what I love to do!
ALSO I made a decision to start directing all of the money that I receive from my Etsy Shop into an account that will strictly be used to help others in some way. I want the proceeds to be used for things like community service projects, sponsoring our child in Kenya, buying donations for community organizations like animal shelters and low income daycare, etc. I really want this to be the focus of my business so that it won't be me making money, but rather something that will benefit others. That way you can make your purchase knowing that you get a wonderful item and you're doing something to help people, how great is that?!

 

Have a great start to your week!
God Bless,
KJA

1 John 1:5
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 



Wearing:
Dress- Vintage, Aviena
Bag- In my Etsy Shop Here
Coat- Grandmother's
Stockings- Charlotte Russe
Shoes- Crocs, Thrifted
Hat- Vintage

Devotional: Combating Lies 12 and Happy Mother's Day!

Good morning all! It's time again for a Sunday Devotional. My series right now is looking at different lies that we may believe about ourselves, and how to combat those lies using scripture. Here are number one, number two,  number three ,  number four,  number five,  number 6,  number 7, and number 8,  number 9 , number 10 and number 11 if you are interested!


The twelfth lie is this: I am not very smart. 

The truth is: I have God's wisdom.


Key Scriptures:

Proverbs 2:6-7- For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.

1 Corinthians 1:30- God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

Ephesians 1:16-17 - I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

Some of you may not have struggled with your level of intelligence growing up, but I sure did. It wasn't that I wasn't smart-just...not as smart as I would have liked. I had extremely intelligent older sisters, friends who were way better at math and science than I was, and teachers who had to spend hours working with me just to get a simple concept (thanks Mr. Bloem!). But you know what? I love that God's wisdom has nothing to do with any of those subjects that I was terrible at in school. I mean, there is nothing wrong with being a whiz at calculus or chemistry (that's awesome if you are!), but for those of us not talented in those areas, it can really bring us down as we go through the first 22 or so years of our life. 
I love that the verse from Proverbs states, "He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest." Common sense! Not, "a treasure of the core subject areas" or, "a treasure of science and mathematics principles" but a treasure of common sense! God doesn't care if I got A's in school, He looks at my heart and wants me to ask Him for wisdom and knowledge. He will grant it to me if I simply seek Him and ask for it. He wants to share "spiritual wisdom and insight" with me so that I can live my life with integrity and project a spirit of confidence. I am smart, I have the wisdom of God offered to me-all I need to do is seek and ask Him, seriously how enticing is that!? Any insecurities about feeling intelligent (or not) can be wiped away because I have the knowledge of Christ within my reach, and that's a pretty amazing feeling. 

Also, Happy Mother's Day!! How could I let the day go by without mentioning my wonderful, beautiful mama who is truly the most compassionate, amazing woman that I know. I wouldn't be a fraction of the person I am today without her love and guidance. God gave her to me as the rock and foundation of my life and I thank Him everyday for having a mother who always trusted God to be the center of our lives. I believe it was her constant communication with God that kept our family together and her goofy, exuberant personality always adds joy to the lives of whomever she comes in contact with. Thanks for always loving me mama, no matter what kind of craziness I have worked through in life! I love you!

God Bless, 
KJA

Flock Together: Black and Yellow

Hello and happy Friday all! I'm blogging over on Flock Together this morning! It has been a while since I have posted there, but I'm excited because I got to borrow one of Elana's beautiful dresses. Go take a gander to see how the Elana styled her dress and for more photos :)

God Bless!
KJA


Colossians 4:5-6
Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. 


Wearing:
Dress- Eshakti, Similar
Cape- Got as a Gift,
Shoes- Rummage Sale
Bag- Coach, Thrifted
Hat- Vintage, Thrifted
Blouse- Vintage
Belt- Vintage, Thrifted