what is to be is up to me

rolling around in a thrift store yesterday and i found this little jewel.
oh my. i mean i really love it. and for twenty-five cents i gave it a little hug :) It came in a frame with some really old plastic flowers. it looked like it needed some air. So i got home, and fancied her up a bit with some Nena ( my sewing machine ) + paper love and joy... pure happy love joy beamed from my little heart to this little beauty.

Yes indeed. What is to be is up to me. Thank you for your kind and very wise reminders to keep on and keep the cheer. I do believe everything happens for a reason :)
I my dear friends am choosing JOY.
I'm choosing LOVE.
I choose up in the sky high dreams
and these little yet meaningful words are printed on wee paper bits + crochet + paper love all sewn into this pretty little banner.

**enjoy**
*dream**
** Love*
*wish***

I made three little pretties and am going to be putting them up in the shop

I also made some pretty cute journal cards and little paper kits as a way of rehiring myself :) Not that I intend to make a full time living off of my etsy shop, I just figured I got paid to be creative so why not do it for fun? I also love the hours :)

I am celebrating. September is my birthday month and heeeeecccccckkkkk no i'm not going to ruin it by complaining about my current situation. I have a fun yet temporary job designing beautiful cards at the moment and I'm beyond delighted. I keep shouting "I'm a card maker! I make pretty things!" just to shoo off any boo hoo moments. I can't believe i get to design cards. cards!!! hello!!!???? Never ever in a million years! hahaaaaa! yay me :)

joy in today:
-free snuggles with mister. I think these are my favorite happy moments.
-receiving my free birthday starbucks card :) it's totally up there on the list but I knew mister handsome would be mad if I put starbucks first lol!
- i'm a cardmaker!!!! it tickles just thinking it
- signed up for some free birthday stuff --->
**coldstone birthday club for free ice cream , you know it :)
** red robin eclub for a free gourmet burger , that teriyaki burger is amazing!
** friends of krispy kreme for some delish donut lovin', debee plus donuts = caloric happiness

totally frugal but i am a starving artist so it's good to know I will gain 50+ pounds on my birthday. I'm such a cheap date :)

I need to remember that joy is a choice. I know there are worse things in life and I'm not taking this for granted. I also want to dream bigger. Beyond any limits, expectations and reason. It's been a few years since I've felt free to do just that. September is my birthday month and I'm gonna party dangit. All month long :)

cheerio,

-d

think on this my love

{ fluttering thoughts }

“whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable— excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

When Elle asked if I would like to be a part of her free journaling class I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I don't journal on my pages. Not as much as I should anyway. But I've had this verse (philippians 4:8) in my mind and fluttering around my heart. And it has been a constant since finding out that I would be layed off at the end of this month. These past few weeks have been hard. But I can't tell you just how much my heart has been filled with reassurance and hope with just this one sentance. No matter what happens this time around I'm just at a better place right now to handle it. To keep on creating. There are some amazing opportunities coming my way all thanks to some really sweet and kind bloggers. I have to ask mr.handsome if I'm dreaming. If it's true. He's not a worrier. This time around I see myself taking courage from seeing his solid stance on faith that everything will work out. So I was telling him that san diego is the best place to be unemployed :) So many sun shiny lazy days at the beach, and its free :) here's to looking up. To making today a good day.

Two years ago I went through the same thing and wrote down my list of gratitude that still rings true today along with a heart felt prayer for you and me :)

things worth remembering:
- good things are just up ahead
- live a life that is content and not defined by material things
- to be rich in kindness and love
- generous with an open heart
- learn to be full of grace and wisdom
- know your needs will be met by faith
- face your circumstance with grace and dignity
- step out, dream bigger, always look up
- do not dwell in the hurt, but learn to appreciate this valuable life lesson
- embrace encouragement and follow your heart

you my friend are lovely, beautiful and strong. i pray you live your life to the fullest. I hope you are in a place where you excel above your own expectations. Where you shine amongst darkness and love even through the most impossible times. I pray for your protection and for strength when you need it most. And even some sun shiny lazy beach days...
xoxo
In His Arms,
d

daisy love

definitely loving being back on a creative team :)

Playing with paper & scissors... it can't get any more simpler than that.

yesterday my family and I went out to celebrate our father's birthday and i whipped up this fun little ditty to hold his birthday check :)

silly but he actually keeps the cards so I made it as cheesy as possible :)

I used to draw my dogs and sign their names in every card I gave him.

Sign my name debster hahahaaaa! srsly.

I used to say goody gerbers! for everything. even sign it in cards. man.

i am so much like my dad. cheeeeeesy >)

a page all about our happy wall of frames.

Kind of crazy how many frames we were able to fill up. I feel like I need to change the pictures out already... we look so different.... putting that on the famous to do list. ( I used the journaling cards available in my shop :) cute!

And one made specially for my love of crochet.

I feel another blanket adventure coming on. Except the heat is killing me. I made that little flower in the bottom right corner. It was one of the first things i learned to make about a year ago. Sitting next to 8 year olds learning to crochet as well. good times :)

And the page that made me cry after sewing my last picture down. Oh dear.

this last sunday I managed to sneak behind the drum set and play a few songs at church. I have had this feeling like my drumming days are slowing fading away. And it makes me sad. First because of the tendonitis and then because I just didn't have time. I cannot believe it's been 13 years since I first picked up sticks and taught myself to play. I was so bad neighbors would close their windows and come over to tell me how bad I was. :)

I figured it was just not in me. but i can't tell you how much it has helped me overcome- I'm much braver. Stronger. disciplined. fearless. happier when i play. 13 years. it went by so fast. i want to play forever. I want to teach my children. I want to teach my grandchildren. i want to be grey and old and be a rockin' old grandmama. And live happily ever after xoxo

{ journaling reads }

thirteen years ago i never thought i
would get it right. no rhythm. no teacher.
nothing sounded right, just loud noise,
bang bang clickity bang bang boom...
if it hadn't been for my sisters i don't
think i would've kept at it. I just wanted
to give up. take it back. never try again.
now there are tears just thinking about letting it go
the noise has become a reassuring pounding. the loud
kick snare crash makes me love music even more.
it flows. it moves and refreshes my little heart xoxo
13 years later and i think this is the end
my days of teaching my loves how to rock the drums
are slowly fading. can a drummer be a
DRUMMER without her drums???
i want to remember what it is to play with
MY WHOLE HEART. to play for an audience of
ONE. to have this purpose.
these are my most beloved memories of you
telling me to play on.
YOU LOVED THE NOISE XoXo

I'm beyond thankful for this time and talent... it's taught me well. I can do anything.

anything at all

xoxo

-d

A cup of peace for you me Dear :)

Good morning xo

I am having a pretty happy day already with this cute little deer. And a sweet spot of peace tea :) Perfect. Perfect indeed. That's just what we need this morning right? xo

I snuck in some yogurt in my fancy tea cup. Mr. Handsome is always pointing out that I almost always end up scrapbooking his cups and plates. But in the end I'm pretty sure he also enjoys a pretty breakfast too. I always end up warning him that if he stays put long enough, eventually he too will be sewn onto something or end up in a tea cup :)

So this is what my morning looked like. Color. Sweet honey. Vintage fabric. love. xoxo

The shop is finally now live with little bits of goodness xo

enjoy your cup of peace today :)

xoxo

-d

happy & sweet

making life a little bit happier here in my little corner of the world with a nice picnic with mister handsome.

And an easy breezy bike ride around coronado with my super cool bike. I kept daydreaming about a nice date with mister handsome. I bought a pretty pink plaid vintage blanket (seen inside my basket) and immediately knew it was perfect for a delicious picnic with food ( fetta pizza and a gyro) from our favorite pizza place. Oh man. I almost lost the pizza :) We were riding our bikes to this cute little picnic area between houses and with each bump the pizza box would jump right out of the basket! lol! I don't know how I held myself together because between watching the pizza almost fall out of my basket and screaming each time it did I couldn't stop myself from laughing my heebie jeebies off ;) Mister handsome kept asking if the pizza was okay. srsly. I about got run over hahaaa! that mean mister. So the punishment was him taking pictures of me on my little bike. :)

Onto some happy news shall we?

#1 I will now be sharing some fun artistic adventures with this lovely group of daisies :)

#2 so happy to be a part of this inspiring class put together by the amazing Elle over at Elle's Studio ( love that its free :) And she featured one of my all time favorite artists: Dina Wakely SWOON! love her fearless art. And she's just as inspiring in person xo

And lately I've been trying to keep my little heart thinking happy thoughts with some prettiness around me. I thought I would share my pretty cup a friend recently gifted me. I selfishly have only purchased the same cup but with the letter D on it. And I've had it in the back of my mind to go back to Anthro and purchase the letter R. I was so giddy with excitement when I received this little lovely. I think it makes the carnations look good :)

and even this pretty new garland I made to keep up the good mood {Happy & Sweet}

I wandered into my local scrapbook store and found these really cute pockets with a tag inside each of them. I had been wanting a solution to keeping garlands "tucked safely" somewhere and this just seems to fit so nicely. A little doily love and voila!

I only made 3 of these garlands. I added some crochet love :) yep. I'll sew anything into a garland baby. I will be updating my belladrummer etsy shop this monday afternoon. As always there will be the fun $1 dollar item ( plus shipping), the {Inspire Lovely} class will be available for purchase via PDF ( It's like a book srsly! So much good stuff in it :) I almost want to print it out like a magazine) and some digital elements, handmade tags, and crochet flowers.

It's looking like a lovely friday over here. :)

xoxo

-d

artful blogging

good day to you :)

I offer you a little cup of tea with a dainty daisy and a pretty book to enjoy this morning.

This weekend was filled with so many fun things. I had a little party for my { Inspire Lovely } class yesterday. I made strawberry cupcakes with delicious buttercream frosting and sweet heart sprinkles. xoxo Mr.Handsome and I enjoyed a beautiful time at the farmers market here in Little Italy. We totally ate our faces off :) I even did some pretty shopping: a new garland, hand embroidered wrist bracelet, and a new book full of ideas to get some loveliness on our walls. I hope to finish the project and share it soon! I'm really excited I can't even contain myself. It has nothing to do with painting my walls in my studio, BUT it does have something to do with adding some much needed style with a can of spray paint. *wink* of course it has something to do with spray paint lol!

Over the weekend we also received this a copy of this beautiful magazine, "Artful Blogging."

It's been something I've been really excited about since being approached to send in some art + words. I was so surprised at how colorful the pages look :)

I have made it one of my goals this year to be more creative with my color choices. Until now, I never really thought I had made the effort. I am totally a work in progress but thankfully, the color is coming through for me and I am really loving it.

I love all these pictures with Mr.Handsome. He's such a nice guy :)

I had such a nice time flipping through the magazine and reading the various excerpts of many amazing artists and why they blog. Very inspiring indeed :) I would definitely encourage you to pick up a copy and check out the blogs featured. Can you believe it? An entire magazine featuring blogs? I love that.

I do hope you enjoyed your sweet cup of tea. I am loving those tea cups to pieces!

a sweet day to you,

xo

-d

playing in the corner again

Happy saturday love! I wanted to say hello before mr.handsome and I head out to our farmers market for some fresh tamales for breakfast :)

So my new yarn came in. Can you spot it?
:)

I made a few changes to my little corner yet again. I've had this yellow chair the same amount of time as my orange one. But this pretty chair hadn't seen any corner lovin'. Into the corner she went :)

New items in the corner:
Anthro "D" cup
New Anthro drawer knobs ( I love when they have them on sale :)
New butterfly garland ( this one has shimmery golds and aquas- so pretty! )
New thrift store frames ( they are making a nice home to my little peruvian lama pins.
( obsessed with lamas- how weird is that? )
New to me thrift store yellow wire case ( excellent home for balls of unruly yarn )

I'm trying to convince mr.handsome to help me paint the room back to a nice crisp white. But I haven't even had this blueish color up for a year. How long do you have to have a color up until you change it? I think it's all about what makes me happy :) I want to try some wallpaper on one wall. Maybe even an installation piece. Oh goodness, is it just me or do you think i look like a giant on that small chair in the corner? lol! eeeeeeewww my feet! oh man.

Now that my class is finishing up I am so ready for a vacation from paper. I just want to relax into this cozy little corner for some wonderful grandma time :)

xoxo
long live pretty little corners

-d

I'm all fuzzy

(photo credit to dear miser handsome)

I've been sleeping late
doing a lot of day dreaming
taking much needed naps :)
and teaching my on-line class. (how did I think it was going to be easy? hahaa!)
I've been sharing my fuzzy inspiration and it's been such a good learning experience for me too. I feel like I'm relearning everything. Good times indeed.

I've been itching to get back into crocheting... my yarn order came in. It's been pouting at me and its looking very convincing :) I need what i like to lovingly call "my grandma time" ( AKA: crochet time ). So many family and friends pregnant with little ones on the way... I've got a lot of baby cuteness to make!

But for now, I'm just teaching sweet lovelies how to ruin their carpet with spray paint :)
Gosh, it's a tough job. But somebody's gotta do it.
:)

rockin' the fuzzy inspo,
xoxo
-d