Kelsie and Cody

What it means to "make" Love....

"Some things just happen", they say...like Love at First Sight....but I don't believe it.   Attraction.  Yes.  Infatuation.  Definitely.  Chemistry.  You know it.  I've experienced all those things.

But Love....I believe you have to make it, build it, nurture it and choose it.  I say that, because Love is not one of those things that just happens to me.  And I'm a "Lovey" kind of person...not really a poofy rainbows and butterflies kind of person, but I am one of those huggy, kiss you on the cheek types (even if we just met) and I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable but it's true about me:)

Elle&R Photography

Elle&R Photography

Love....the real kind...from my experience...comes from sacrifice and sometimes pain...and most definitely putting the one that you love before yourself.  It's about reaching beyond what comes naturally to you and showing your love to someone else in a tangible way that they can understand.  Sometimes for me, that's really hard.

Elle&R Photography

I've loved the same man, the one that chose me-- for 24 years.  He's the one that still makes my heart jump inside me when he looks at me a certain way.  I love his laugh,  it warms me and seriously....he has the most beautiful eyes.
He is creative.  He knows how to fix things and build things and he works hard.  He is generous-- and I LOVE that about him.  He is incredibly strong and I respect his strength because it is balanced with kindness, tenderness and compassion.  Together, he and I, have made two beautiful babies that have grown into amazing teenagers.  We've built a life....we've made Love.

But hear this....you incredibly adorable Brides to Be....You precious things that I LOVE to meet with and talk flowers.  As I listen to your plans, and we talk about colour themes and Pinterest pins and envision the most beautiful and romantic of days....

Elle&R Photography

In all the years of sweetness with my man...we have also shared in the hard part of Loving.

Elle&R Photography

Love is built, formed on a foundation of truth and twice as much grace.   Love is alive and living-- and to survive, it has to be nurtured and fed and cared for with every intention of keeping it growing and healthy.  You are going to have to "choose" to love when you don't feel like it more times than you can ever count.  And sometimes, you are going to have to choose to love...and I'm not talking about just your man here, I'm talking about with your family, his family, your kids or a dear friend.  You are going to have to choose to love when it feels like your heart is being ripped out of you and the pain of loss, or whatever circumstances have been thrown at you are threatening to tear down all that you hold dear.  To love when it hurts, to love when it's hard--that is the making of a woman.  You choose to Love.  Because you are strong.  And you know that Love is worth it.  Real love...the kind you want...the kind you choose to live out in the day to day...is just that...a choice.

Human Love-- it's conditional.  But Spiritual Love... there's nothing human about it, and this is the kind of love I'm talking about here.  It is when God gives you his own love so that you can give it out to others in some crazy supernatural strength that is beyond yourself.  That kind of love is unconditional and able to stand in the storms of life.  And that kind of love, and the choosing to make it, for all the ones close to your heart...is the kind I want.  The kind I need.  The kind I'm just lost without.

Elle&R Photography

Elle&R Photography

Elle&R Photography

So I think on these words..."Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

 And to a young Bride that inspired me with her grasp of this kind of love...keep making it, building it, nurturing it and choosing it.  You are truly beautiful.

Elle&R Photography

Thank you for these gorgeous pictures by Elle&R Photography and for sharing them with me!

Nicole and Kerry

This wedding could have been named after a song I love from my movie namesake! That's right...maybe not what you were expecting to hear, but there was a whole different name picked out for me until my parents went to see a movie on that fateful night and saw The Sound of Music!  It was to be Julie Ann after that, and its a good thing I was a girl.

                                         Succulents...Dahlias...and darling details... Oh, Yes....

                              "These are a few of my Favorite Things!"

What makes these little boutonnieres even sweeter is what you can't see...Yep, that's right...no pins.
                     Extra strong magnets make putting these on-- easy as pie.

And these pictures....the ones I'm getting ready to show you...sent to me by this lovely bride and taken by Ashley Martens Photography made me just want to keel over I was so excited...

 

And This! I Loved This.
   A barn board flower box made by the father of the bride and hand painted by the sister of the bride.          I couldn't hardly wait to put flowers in it!
   I'd be in love with this-- even if it wasn't totally adorable because... I'm sentimental like that.

                                                     And this cake...is so one of my favorites!

My Crazy Freedom Story

I wanted Freedom.  Freedom to be here for my family.  Freedom to Create on my own terms and in my own style.  To work half the night away, in my own space, if it meant I could go to my kid's games and drive them places.
That's right,  I've found that chauffeuring them around is like these sacred little moments where I find out things and we talk without interruptions and I listen to their music and get to know their friends and all of the extra stuff that goes on in their teenage world.  Who would have guessed!

So I needed it....and so it began, this crazy adventure of starting a business....In My House!  I hadn't worked full time in 14 years.  When I left floral design, I left it for my family.  Now I was going back to it...for my family.  Because it didn't take me too long after the kids hit double digits, to figure out that teenagers cost more money and it was a pay cheque that I needed, but even pay cheques have their own price tag.  How do you have your cake and eat it too?  I wanted to work.  I needed to work.   I had this inner craving to create again the way I used to.  And I wanted it all...on my own terms.  Who even dares ask for that!  It seemed too much but I prayed for it anyway...this crazy wish list of what I wanted and needed most.

That was three years ago, and in that time,  I have learned more lessons about God's faithfulness and grace to me than in any other space of my life.  I have worked hard.  And I'm not gonna lie, the first two years....I feel like I cried almost every day even though I didn't.  There were days when I was overwhelmed with gratefulness because I had forgotten how wonderful it was to create with these gorgeous flowers and I would just smell them and touch them and thank God that I was a florist!  And then there were days that I thought I'd never make it.  Days where I was discouraged and didn't know what my next step was supposed to be or how to get more clients or how to pay the bills.  There were days where I wanted to give up and just go work at Starbucks.  (Which isn't a bad thing:) I've done that too and it was a great time in my life and I loved it and I do love me a latte but this door had opened for me and I was trying my hardest to keep it open.  Trying my best to figure out what it was supposed to look like and how.
My insecurities surfaced thick and escalated with each turn as I struggled to create my own vision instead of trying to fit into others.  I made some big mistakes.  I lost money when I really needed to make money.  I learned how to operate the business on a dime.  It was stressful and crazy and I never would have made it I'm sure, without the love and support of my family and friends and growing number of clients that never stopped encouraging me.

And right now, as I look back on this great wedding rush from May until now, I can't help but wanna hug each and every one of my dear clients...my heart is so grateful for the opportunity and trust given to me to play a small part in the most important of days.  I'm so glad I didn't give in to my fears of not making it and give up a part of me that brings me so much joy.  Thank you so much.  My heart is full.

Bringin it Back....without the Polyester

She ordered one.  Something I make all the time but not for this...not for Mother's Day.  I smiled when she ordered it because...well....it brought back all these memories for me.   Memories of my childhood that flashed in my mind like faded polaroid snapshots.  My grandmothers, my great-grandmother, my great aunts, my mother....all the women I knew got one.  They wore it proudly pinned to polyester.

I even used to get one...a baby one...from my Dad, that man that has always given me flowers because he knew one day I'd be a mama.  We wore them to church like badges of honour, which is what they were.

I asked her about it today when she picked it up...and she said she always does it every year for her Mama...and I just smiled because I loved it!

A Mother's Day corsage for her Mama.

And I told her when she picked it up that she inspired me...because she made me want to make one for my Mama.  A badge of honour...a memory relived...something fresh and beautiful to wear to remind her that she is truly a blessing in my life and she deserves to be honoured!

So I had to do it.  I had to make my own Mama one.

And I'm so excited to give it to her!

Thank you Corinne for inspiring me...you have a beautiful heart and I just can't wait to do your wedding flowers!

Poplar Market...

I always get this crazy creative rush that ignites around market time!  I only do a couple a year but there is something so inspiring and infectious about setting up in a room full of unique artisans and being surrounded by beautiful things, beautiful people, and this pouring out of creativity that overflows into each marvelous display!

You can get a little taste of what I'm talking about from Lianna's beautiful pictures through the view of her lens here.

It was a joy for me to have my beautiful daughter's help and company through the day and here are a few of her pictures of our little spot in the creative circle.

Thank you to everyone that made the Poplar Market a great success and also to all the dear people that stopped by my booth.  I loved seeing all of you and being part of such a great day!

To Be Honest Tuesday....

I'm a woman.
I'm a wife, a mother, a friend...a florist...and I've got an anxious mind.

It's a strange thing...these minds of ours.  Mine...just seems drawn to worry.  I feel like a little hamster running on my wheel of anxiousness somedays.  It gets tiring.  I get tired.  All I know is that when I finally realize that I'm there...in that place...like a shadow dark and smothering over me and I'm exhausted from all the work...of worrying...I know then, that it's time for me to get off that wheel.

I know what to do and how to do it.  It's just that when I get into that shadowy place...it's like deep down inside me, I wrestle with, if I really want to or not.

I've learned that I can't stop worrying about the things that make me anxious,  just by telling myself not to.  I have to do a little work to gain my freedom.  Kick something bad out and bring something good in
to take it's place.

About 5 years ago I started making something for myself and some of the girls in my Bible study group.  Something to carry around with me in my purse, sit on the window sill while I was washing dishes, or lay next to me on my bedside table if I needed a quick reminder.  Within that first year, I gave away over a hundred verse cards to encourage sisters that were struggling in the same areas that I was.  And for a couple of years, I made verse cards to sell to anyone who wanted them.  But as it does, life got busier for me it seemed and I stopped making them.  That was about 2 years ago.

And then it happened, I got asked....for more.  And I realized, that I needed them just as much.  I'd given away all that I had.  I was in that place again myself...tired, frustrated, worried...anxious with the future, anxious with the now.

So Here they Are.
They're not my words.  They're God's words.  Comforting.  Restoring.  Reminding.  Refreshing.

Words full of Hope and Life and Light to drown the shadow.  Words like water....living water to  quench deep thirst in a dry and anxious heart.  I've been prompted to make more for other thirsty people like me that want to live in practical faith, fighting the anxiousness and don't know where to start.

I'll be meditating and praying through these words myself.  If you'd like a set of laminated 'Sweet Freedom' verse cards on 'The Anxious Mind', let me know.  You can email me at
sweetnothingsfloraldesign@gmail.com  or contact me through Facebook Here

Blessings on you all,

Julie