bread and inspiration

It’s true, after years of ‘wanting-to-someday’, the dream is alive and I have finally done it … made home-made bread!
Thanks to Bridge and Haley who are my Mama-inspirations, and who taught a group of us how they bake Amish bread. These ladies put spinach in their smoothies, make their kids’ clothes, are creative small business owners, buy organic, and leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Thanks for the baking lesson, girls, and for not minding that I got flour over everything

The look on Neil’s face is a testament to my usual cooking abilities They were understandably hesitant to try it, but after some cautious nibbling, the kids were surprisingly pleased with the result of my first loaf of bread. Raveen even got some seconds…go Shipra, go Shipra!!
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A few weeks ago I was looking around Etsy for some bird art (if you know me at all you know I have a slight obsession with colorful birds and spreading trees) and I found an artist who has a collection of bird illustrations I was instantly charmed by. I linked through to her blog, saw her watercolors and her hand-carved stamps, and no joke, spent the next several hours poring over her posts, all of them, and oohing & aahing over her incredible art and creative lifestyle. Here’s what makes her so cool: she’s a homeschooling mama of two boys living in Mexico with her super creative designer hubby, she collects my kinds of treasures (rocks, and feathers, and seed-pod type-treasures), she hand-carves delightful little stamps, loves succulents (ma fave!), is a genius with watercolors, and has a strong faith in God. Geninne is also the inspiration behind the artblog that the kids are starting with their friends (she has an illustration blog for her sons’ artwork)
I want to be her but since I can’t I thought I’d introduce her to you with a couple of examples of her work (thanks to her generous permission)
if anyone out there wants to gift themselves with something really, really special…go visit her store and treat yourself~ Geninne’s Art Store
Saw this image on her blog with the scripture – Psalm 145:20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him.
These are some of my favorites pieces by her. The birds are done in watercolors, and the goldfish is rendered with ink on kraft paper.
The following image is 3 seperate prints in a series. I love the sweet whimsy of these paintings. The bird sings her prayer to God and then builds a nest in expectation and faith, and then receives a nestful of birdies and a tree bursting with new growth.
Enjoy your day.