{ thankful thursdays }

I've been thinking a lot lately about why do I post {thankful thursdays}? I want these posts to be received as genuine (because they are) and as an encouragement to you. God has blessed me with a joy that is deeply rooted in Him, which I hope it is contagious and inspiring. It can be difficult sometimes to think of things I'm grateful for (at least in the 5 minutes I give myself sometimes to write these posts). But not only do I want these posts to be encouraging to you but also a reminder to myself that I have been blessed with so much!

So this week, I am so ever grateful for living in Oregon!! Above is a picture I took a few Saturdays ago, filling up at our local gas station with beautiful Mt. Hood in the background. No - this picture is not photoshoped. Yes - Mt. Hood is right there in all of its awesomeness!

roma's mission statement

I'm working on refocusing roma (because I have creative thoughts flying in all directions!) and decided to come up with a mission statement. Here it is, what do you think?

Roma bags offer the opportunity of participating in an environmental revival.

We believe that waste can be reborn into beauty with a purpose in life.

Roma develops handcrafted products from the waste of the community, with the philosophy that waste can be reproduced into a functional item of beauty.


For more info, check out my about page. Link is on the left.

rice bags!

My friend owns a Thai food restaurant (it's amazing!) and he throws away 2 or 3 large rice bags away a week. So I thought, why not make a market bag out of them? And here is it! I love how the red colors in the web and print pop. I'm thinking about making a bunch of these and selling them as a fundraiser for the Thailand mission trip. I'm going to test this bag out first, to see how it holds up.

original roma poster

This is a poster I made my junior year of college when I first started making roma bags. I printed off the photos I took of my roommates (what good sports they were!) wearing my bags. I drew on tracing paper, and sewed them all onto a piece of vinyl. Sort of messy but fun! It's neat to look back and reflect on roma, where it's been and where it's going.

coin purses

I'm working on some vinyl and cloth coin purses. They will be ready to sell mid April on roma's etsy site as a fundraiser for Thailand!

{thankful thursdays}

I like to bike! It was sunny (and almost warm) on Tuesday and I got out on the trails with a friend. It was great!

Almond butter and strawberry jam sandwiches.

Cute hats that hide bad hair days.

Pinterest....my newest addiction that I discovered this week. I love how all the fun inspiring things that I find on the internet, I can keep in one place.

So thankful it's Thursday because tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!! Yahoo!

pinterest

I've joined a new online community called Pinterest. It's pretty awesome and definitely a time sucker, thousands of neat things to look at and find. It's a place where I can "pin" all the things I find online that are inspiring. Check out the link to the right called "inspirational board". I'm totally addicted.

{ photo via }

wrap clutch

I'm going through my old roma pictures and found this wrap clutch. These colors make me excited for spring!

{thankful thursdays}

My bestfriend, Emily, since 7th grade came to visit last weekend. We hadn't seen each other in a year and haven't hung out just us (without the husbands) since 2006....let's just say we had a ton to catch up on! Here are pictures from our hike in the rain, it was fun!

nothing is new under the sun

{ found here and here }

Snap button clutch

This one was a good one!
It went to a loving home last spring.

{thankful thursdays}

I found this print from Jessica at Vol. 25 etsy shop. Her prints feel like daydreams with whimsical imagery and soft lovely colors.

This week I've been thankful for....

- Having the whole bed to myself (sort of). My husband is on a dude's snowboard trip this week. It's been 5 days now and the first 3 days I was greatful for the whole bed to myself, but now I'm missing his snuggles.

- My familie's love, support and encouragment to pursue my dreams.

- Slow cookers, I made Chicken Apple curry and it was delicious!

- Rain in town because that means snow in the mountians!!

- Daydreaming and listening to the rain fall on our tin roof

- This season of Lent

i need a new hang tag design

Here is my old hang tag. I did the graphics and printed them myself. They are mini books, if you open them up there is this story:

"This bag began as a discarded unloved scrap of car vinyl left to collect dust. Its beauty was ignored, until now. Roma bags are handcrafted and designed from reclaimed car vinyl. Each bag is unique, one of a kind with its own story to tell"

I also added stitching to the edge. I'm pretty sure it's time to redesign this tag. I'm thinking something simple that doesn't compete against the colors and design of each item, affordable and unique. I got some ideas with shipping tags and stamps. I'm excited to start exploring this to see what I come up with!

wrap clutch details

I love detail shots!

oh hello friend, DIY business cards

Danni at oh, hello friend is the master at packaging and graphics. I found these business cards that she made for Alt this winter. I love that it's a package deal with a business card, tack and wooden balloon detail. See does such a great job at paying attention to every detail. See more pictures here.

{thankful thursdays}

I'm so thankful for my best friend and husband, Ben! We loving doing pretty much everything together, whether it's making pancakes for breakfast, snowboarding in the backcountry together or just relaxing. We love spending time together!

So thankful for my brother Mike, actually brother-in-law but that is a mouthful to say. Mike is just rad! Great story teller, fun to go on adventures with and is super encouraging!

So thankful for the chapter of life I'm in right now. We are flexible to play whenever (well almost whenever) we want. Above are pictures from our Saturday Mt Adam's adventures. We ride our snowmobiles out the 12 mile logging road, park them, and then tour up to epic pow lines! So much fun!

(Mike is in the black jacket, Ben is in the blue jacket. All pictures taken by me and I played with photoshop to try to make them look cooler.)

wrap clutch awesomeness!

What a beauty! There will be more of these, but in different colors because each one is ONE OF A KIND, coming soon! I'll be selling them to help fundraise for our mission trip to Thailand. More info about that here.

a little red ribbon

Check out this cute coin purses from Australian artist Gretel at a little red ribbon. I found her on esty. I totally love the linen, lace and pop lining. Her photography is also beautiful.

quote

Feathers are everywhere right now (in the fashion world that is) and I thought this print from Groundwork was beautiful.

Being present is currently my focus. Check out Groundwork for more beauty.