As I look back over August, it was a good month!  I had a lot of favorites as summer was winding down and fall started to creep in with the changing of the leaves on a few trees and school starting.

Usually, August is hot and it drags on, but that has not been the case this year, thankfully!

Here were some of my favorites…

Cool summer days

August has been unusually cool here in Minnesota and I am not complaining.  It has been delightful.  I love it when I can break out the hoodies and the leaves start changing.  Yep, I still love winter even after the polar vortex and record-breaking February snows of last winter.  Bring it on.

Steal Like an Artist

I loved Austin Kleon’s book Keep Going and I loved Steal Like an Artist, too.  It’s an easy read and it’s so encouraging.

You Will Be Found

I just heard this song recently and it’s such a beautiful piece of music.  The harmony at the end of this live performance gives me goosebumps.  It’s just hard to beat good harmony.

Climbing

Our boys started climbing on a team this summer and it has been a joy watching them discover their own strength.  They’re both lean and scrappy, so climbing has been great for them.  They are 17 months apart, so they are best friends one minute and in a tiff the next.  It’s so good to watch them learn to belay each other, communicate, and build trust.  I spend a lot of time sitting at the climbing gym, but it’s worth it!

Podcasting

I like to try new things, even if being a student again can be frustrating.  Shaunna and I put in a lot of time to learn all of the ins and outs of podcasting and not only am I proud of what we’ve produced so far, but I’m enjoying it!  I like the fact that we can share our conversations about creativity and business with people who might be encouraged by it.  And, surprisingly, I’m enjoying the technical piece of it as well.  We still have more to learn and I know we’ll get even more polished as we record more episodes.

You can check out our podcast through the TCe website or HERE is the link directly to iTunes.

Our new episode released this week is about the things you should be doing before starting a creative business (or to review if you already own one.)  You can find that episode HERE.

Gold Rush

Gold Rush this year was just so fun.  Not only did I find some great pieces, but it was exactly what I needed.  I was outside on a beautiful day, shopping for antiques, and hanging out with a good friend.  It was an awesome field trip.

You can read about Gold Rush 2019 HERE.

#outthewindowseries

I started this series because I realized I was painting several landscapes based on pictures I had taken out of the car window.  I have had fun painting these little landscapes and it’s been like a scavenger hunt looking for good pictures to take.  One evening, I was driving the boys to the climbing gym and the sky was unbearably pretty.  I was driving, so I couldn’t take pictures and it was killing me!  I told Marshall to pick up my phone and I was barking out instructions for him to take pictures of specific clouds, trees, and fields.  I ended up with a lot of pictures of the seat belt and inside of the car, but I think I can still work with them.  We both had a good laugh as it was happening.

As an extension of that, some of my favorite paintings have been these mini landscapes I painted for a tablescape and gave away to a reader.  I will definitely be painting more of these.

Decorating a Cake…

I decorated a cake because I was showcasing a cake pedestal in a post and I had a blog birthday coming up, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did!  I absolutely loved arranging the flowers, herbs, and fruit and plan to use baked goods for photo shoots more often!

A Package from Linen Bee…

As a last-minute favorite, I got a package from Linen Bee (my favorite linen dressmaker) just in time to pack for my trip to Europe.  I have a new dress, a couple of new shirts, and a new apron that will be making the trip with me.  I also got some napkins, which I’ll share in another post.

What were your favorites in August?