Modern Prairie Girl

A little over a year ago our dear friend, Leah the Fabulous, asked us for some help with her beginnings of her clothing line. We ventured out to her Cannon Beach house (gasps all around at this incredible house–even still) to be together and photograph some samples. It was a magical time wtih women I love very much. Who would’ve thought that a year later we’d be at it again, this time with the line complete and a Barn House show under Leah’s belt.

The infamous Art by Leah cow made quite the appearance this weekend…this time with feet!

Julia and Natalie were styling and cow-holding, respectively.

Julia (painter extraordinaire), moi, Debbie,   Natalie,  Robin  and  around the table getting some fuel before our big day.

It was a pleasure to shoot with Robin this weekend. We worked well together and got all of the shots covered that Leah needed. Robin and I were accused of talking shop a lot this trip, but it was just a blast to have someone to compare toys with!

Natalie, WonderBaker, made this little treat that appears to have landed straight on my tush…sigh…I can’t resist cake with pink frosting…it’s just so pretty.

Princess Fauna came out to play with Leah’s dogs. She did great—seen here (in her usual Queen fashion) taking the most comfortable and the LARGEST seat in the house.

Leah the Fabulous makes a rare appearance in my images (posing with Simon)…she’s a little, shall we say, HARD on herself. A more lovely designer you’ll never meet. Kisses Miss L.

Okay, lovelies…ON TO THE CLOTHES! I can personally attest that these garments make you feel like a million bucks. Of course, Debbie, the face of Belle Blanc, looks incredible in them—but the brilliant part is everyone looks great in these clothes. Thought you could never wear white? Look again! Thought you could never wear fitted clothes? Behold the power of the RUCHE…an optical illusion brought to us from this clothing line.

Sir George, another important part of the brand, poses here with his usual royal-ness….I love this boy.

So wonderful to see this dream come alive for my friend. For me, Leah is the one that is always building me up…helping me take leaps and jumps into the creative unknown. I’ve grown more brave because of our friendship…all of these women bring joy to my life. Thank you, ladies, for everything.

OX.

Off to the Oregon Coast to shoot Leah’s clothing line with my special girls. It’s been one year since we met at Leah’s fab beach house and I can’t wait to fall into a sea of white with some partners in crime today.

Looking forward to sharing next week~

Have a wonderful and SAFE Labor Day weekend, lovelies…

OX.

Another book to carry with me everywhere I go. Patti Digh, writer of this book and 37 Days blog, has an amazing way with words…and ideas…and philosphy…humor…you name it. I love her writing style, and more importantly, she’s really made me stop and think about the important things.

Her mantra is to be mindful and live intentionally…something I, uh, struggle with sometimes. So this week I had two moments that stopped me in my running-100-miles-an-hour tracks.

One involved string cheese.

Seriously.

String cheese.

I was having a there’s-nothing-in-my-fridge-to-feed-the-kids-while-we-fly-solo-without-PH.

Tired and I must admit, a little cranky.

Well the mood didn’t improve as I reached in the refer for some pizza cheese as I had a very heavy-with-sauce waiting Boboli on the counter.

Bugga! No cheese.

So the Blair women began scavenging for something to finish our dinner and voila’…we had an idea.

Yes, lovelies, that is string cheese in rows on our pizza. I was about to be sad about our pizza predicament, but instead we took a picture and got a good laugh out of it.

In fact, we laughed a lot that night. A little “Wipe-Out”, some funny dogs chasing around the kitchen island antics, mixed with some bedtime tickling and I came out of my funk.

Truly a mindful evening and I just wanted to eat up my daughters, because they know how to do this so much better than me.

Most kids do, in fact.

We could learn so much from these sweet creatures.

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Mindful moment #2 was simply a beautiful sunset (pic doesn’t do it justice..point-n-shoot being the only vehicle of sunset-catching devices on the seat next to me). We were rushing around like the activity hopping chicks that we are and almost missed it. I was at the stop sign, going through the mental list of all of the things that didn’t get done that day…and WHAM…

Mr. Sunset called to me and said “Halt, Activity Hopping Chick…LOOK AT ME.” It was a nice moment to remind me of all the blessings that summer has brought.

The MPG reading gals I met at BH Flea…thank you for your kind words…that moment was special for me.

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On a side note, got wind of a new book today that looks very, very good—cute cover too.

I heard about “The Handmade Marketplace” on Kimberly Wilson’s podcast and fell in love with Kari, the author’s, vision. If you sell on Etsy or at craft/art shows, she seems to have nailed it. I can’t wait to get it!

Book-buying…

yes…I have a problem, friends…there is just too much talent out there and I want to devour all of it in one big bite!

I hope this summer is winding down for you in a smashing way~

OX.

Some more (belated) images of Barn House Flea…I see a pattern with what I’m drawn to with my camera as I roam the booths at barn sales. Funny how I don’t see it until I download..

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Thought it would be fun to show some faces of our local flea market vendors (who also show around town at antique shops and other shows)—we love them all!

Sweet smiley-faced Debbie (Laurie too ) from Worthy Goods~

Joann and her pal from Camas Antiques~

Lisa and Isabel–our girls from A Thing for Roses and Maison Douce~

Our Tarte-girl, Cindy–who, btw, is hosting something that sounds fabulous called “Artsy Tartesy”

here with some Worthy Goods…

Sylvi (and Layla, the sweetest blond this side of Texas) from Little Cottage~

Duchess gals…

One lovely from Kindred Roses

Auntie Joy and her joy-filling booth…

Camera-shy Natalie from Sparrow…

Calamity Jane had a very cool booth…no one was ready for their close-up

Of course, our BOYS never disappoint…I got the sale of the day (in my opinion, anyway) of a rustic white farm table that is road-trippin’ over to my kitchen. Can’t wait to play “dining room” with my new chairs! I’ll show it when it’s all done and purdy.

Again, it was a perfect day and I was blessed to be there. Just wonderful…so long to wait for next year.

I hope your week starts out well today, Lovelies~

OX.

p.s. some serious happenings going on in the new art studio  at work…was flinging paint and moving stuff this weekend. I am one motivated cookie..can’t wait to begin to work on the pieces I’ve been dreaming about…also can’t wait to share them with my MPG pals.

What an amazing day…

Leah the Fabulous unveils Belle Blanc in all its glory at BH Flea Market~

Robin , Leah, Julia & Michelle worked hard to get that booth ready for the Flea Market–it is gorgeous!

Robin and I didn’t get to do our usual “mirror picture”, but I’ll settle for us all in Leah’s clothes feelin’ good…

I was fortunate to have two of my favorite girls stay with me before the BH sale…Robin calls us Paris Peach (Kim), Diva MPG (yours truly) and Cupcake (Tiffany)…I don’t get to see them enough and it shows—we cram about two weeks worth of conversation into a few hours.

Michelle, my future partner-in-crime for the Gypsy Junk Prom, has been an amazing help to L the Fab—she is a SuperStar.

Our sweet boy…where was the other boy?! Hiding, I think. Jermonne had no shortage of love goin’ around on Saturday.

Kim was saying that this image brought tears to her eyes because she cares for this guy so much—easy to do.

This was my fave shot of the day…

Okay…surprise #1…………………………

Kim is working the door at BH and comes careening over with a human person in tow…she plunks this lovely in front of me and who is it?!

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Seriously….

KELLY RAE ROBERTS!

My indy heroine.

Remember this?

and this?

and even this?

Such wonderful inspiration derived from reading and journaling in Kelly’s book, ”Taking Flight” and taking in  her heart-felt words on her blog. She is one-in-a-million to me and it was such a special treat to meet her (and that cute bump she has goin’ on…just a few more weeks left!)

Oh, my…do I even look star-struck from the back? teehee…

…it was a strange emotional thing that came over me when I saw her (a bit embarrassing, actually), but I think it came from deep, deep down place where all of these wonderful creative stirrings have been brewing for so long…In a word,

it

was

fantastic.

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Surprise #2….I got to sing a little.

Random, huh? For lovelies just joining us, this is my past life…my past love…my past dream of sorts. It’s what I did in college and while after and now…. not so much. BUT…this sweet boy who kind of became a strolling musician for awhile wandered over. I asked him what he knew and BOOM! We were jamming. It was a blast…felt so, so good to belt it out I think Tweetie Bird has the footage…maybe she’ll copy us in.

So…there was a lot of this….

(via Tiff)

…and a lot of this…

(Cindy, Kim and Heather B.) hanging out at the after-party…

But mostly it was just feeling the blessings that this group of people have brought into my life.

I am so very grateful.

Have a wonderful week, sweet Lovelies~

OX.