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Posts from the ‘Bonnie Rose’ Category

Dec 17

Bonita Rose: Holiday Tinsel Wreath DIY

I made this gorgeous wreath this morning, and it only took me about 15 minutes.

You can do this. You can! And what’s really important to mention? You can find most of what you need at your local thrift store! Ready? Here we go!

What you need:

  • an old wooden embroidery hoop, 12 inches (I used the 12 inch size, but you can use whatever you have on hand — bigger or smaller, up to you!)
  • a package of vintage holiday tinsel (my tinsel was gold, silver and white, use whatever you can find!)
  • white paper wire-stemmed roses
  • glass glittered star
  • silver ornament hook

How to make your wreath!

  1. sit comfortably.
  2. open up your embroidery hoop and slide one end of the holiday tinsel between the two wood hoops, then screw tight, with the tinsel end attached.
  3. loop around your tinsel through and over your hoop until the entire hoop is covered in tinsel. (as you are working, you can smoosh or spread out the tinsel as you see fit, to get the look you want!)
  4. when you are nearing the end of your tinsel strand, tuck in the last part of tinsel, and voila!
  5. place star on ornament hook and hang from top of wreath.
  6. use wire-stemmed white roses and wrap around wreath in bunches of three. No need for glue!

Ta-da!

You can loop a white ribbon at the top of your wreath for hanging, or you can do as I did. I didn’t attach a ribbon.

My plans are to lean this beauty against a pretty white wall.

The part about this wreath that I LOVE is that you can remove the flowers so easily, just unwrap the wire stems. You can remove the hook and the star and change it up if you like. Nothing is permanent. I love that.

So so easy! I honestly love how easy this was and how sparkly and pretty this turned out!

So next time you are thrifting, be on the lookout for embroidery hoops and tinsel garland.

What do you think? Don’t you just love it?

Make a holiday tinsel wreath in no time at all!

Happy Holidays!

XOXO

Bonita Rose

Aug 24

2 Comments

Bonita Rose: Boundaries

I am learning more and more about boundaries.
About what it feels like to stand up for myself and proclaim that something in my life is not acceptable.
I’ll admit, it finally feels good.

For so long, I’ve felt I wasn’t worthy.
Not worth standing up for myself.

Being in this course right now is helping. It really is. I’m learning to look at myself and see that my life is worth living happy, instead of full of manipulation and other peoples’ issues.

It feels great.
So so freeing!
I’m happier now than I have been in years.
Years.

This book is on my bookshelf right now:
Boundaries: When to Say YES, When to Say NO, To Take Control of Your Life

Highly recommended and really good reading. It helps me to understand myself and others in my life that have and continue to hurt me. It helps me to realize:

That I am not defined by others’ perceptions of me.
I am defined by the woman I am.
The soul that’s inside me.
That is what makes me.

And if others in my life fail to see it, or fail to recognize the value of my person, that’s okay. I am learning to understand they have their own issues, their own perceptions to work through.
I can only work on my own.

And make my life happier.
Each and every day.

XOXO

Cross-posted from A Life Unrehearsed.

Jun 23

5 Comments

Bonita Rose: Thoughts on Worthiness

Today, I wanted to write about something I think all of us struggle with at some point in our lives. The feeling of feeling worthy.
Feeling deep inside — your own worthiness.
Self-worth. Self-esteem.
So many of us struggle with our own sense of self.
Our own identity.

The world often wants to make us into something we are not, something we just can’t be. Some of us conform and live a mediocre life. We settle. We think to ourselves, that this is the only way to live. Everyone else seems to be living this way, why not us? We decide it’s just the way things are.

Dare to dream?
“Why should I?” we sometimes ask ourselves.
The doubts creep in. The negative thoughts we meditate on consume us. We feel ourselves even deeper in that well of darkness, wondering if there is ever going to be a way out.

And then one day, we wake up.

Through divine intervention or from life’s circumstance, we suddenly wake up to a new day. We look in the mirror, and suddenly realize the life we’ve always wanted is there, just waiting for us to grab it. It was there all along. We just had to open our eyes to see its magnificence. To grab hold of the opportunity.

Read more

Apr 26

1 Comment

Bonita Rose: Vintage Sewn Paper Gift Bags

I’ve been having fun in my studio these days, and am playing with all kinds of new things like fabrics, buttons, fancy trims, fabric paint and more!

Aaaah, the life of a passionate creative, right?

Recently I had fun creating some FUN and colorful Sewn Paper Gift Bags!

I made these with simple kraft paper lunch bags, some vintage fabric and trims and black thread. Not hard to do, but the results are so so beautiful! I am making each one unique and each will be available in my shop here.

Some people have told me I should ask more for these, but for now they are listed in the shop below for $3.95 USD each or 2/$5.95 USD!

Each one has a shipping tag tucked inside, stamped with ‘Just a Note” in Victorian Script. The perfect place to write a little something.

Use them to give someone a special gift — jewelery, a gift card, cash — you name it! Aren’t they pretty?

Remember, give handmade.

I had fun!

Thank you to my dear friend and online teacher, Roben-Marie who every day continues to inspire me with her creativity!

Mar 9

2 Comments

Bonnie Rose: Walk Around Your Neighborhood

I want to encourage you today, no matter where you live, to do this:
Walk around your neighborhood.
Find inspiration.

It’s all around.

I took these photographs at one of our local garden centers.
Bright colorful garden pots.
Big bold color.

My kind of place.

Discover your world.
Walk around your neighborhood.

And discover something NEW.

Are you looking to infuse your life and your world with more color? Check out my self-paced e-course COLOR YOUR WORLD here. Classroom opens April 1st!

XOXO

Feb 10

1 Comment

Bonnie Rose: Treacherous Roads

Once upon a time, there was a woman that was going down
a new road.
An unfamiliar road. Her friends at first, were right alongside her, cheering her on. Applauding her. Supporting her. Uplifting her. Believing in her. They were cheering her on. 

This road looked dangerous.
Unfamiliar.
Almost scary.

ND roads, Feb 6, 2011

But this woman —
she believed in herself.
She had FAITH.

She took the time to listen to that still small voice deep within her soul. She wrote feverishly in her daily journals. She wrestled with so many ideas and thoughts.

She knew the road looked unfamiliar.
And she also knew some of her friends would fall away. Stop supporting her. Go on with their own lives and their own plans.

She knew she had to go down this road
herself.

And make her own decisions.

ND roads, Feb 6, 2011

And despite the disappointment she felt, knowing those friends were no longer beside her, she pressed on. She pressed on. She gained more faith in herself daily. She grew stronger.She started to believe in herself even MORE.
She walked down that dangerous road with more purpose, with more tenacity than ever before. 

She recognized the people along the way that were only there to sabotage her plans. Inside deeply, if they were to stop and think, they wanted her to fail. They wanted her to not succeed, for it would make themselves look better. These people would indirectly try to thwart her determination, they would try to rain on her parade. These people would try to squash her dreams.

As she walked on the dangerous road past them, all she could do was walk by and smile. Just smile. These people were once her friends and now, were becoming part of her distant past.

This woman grew stronger.
She recognized those people in her life that truly had value.
Lasting value.

The people that were still there, cheering her on and helping her along this dangerous road.
This unfamiliar road.

ND roads, Feb 6, 2011

At times, she couldn’t see what was to come, but these friends —
they held her hand, and assured her that THIS is where she should be traveling.

So she pressed on.
She pressed on.

ND roads, Feb 6, 2011

They gave her even more FAITH.
They truly believed in all she had to offer the world.

They saw the value of her person.
And they celebrated it.
They celebrated her.

HER.

And this woman?
What did she learn?

She learned to follow her own path, her own road, no matter how scary it looked. For she knew she had good friends and people in her life, that would be there if she fell down. If she took a wrong turn. And these same people would be there for her when she reached her destination. They believed in her. They so believed in all she could be.

IN ALL SHE COULD BE.

This woman learned to press on.
And believe in the woman
she was becoming.

XOXO

[Crossposted from A Life Unrehearsed]

Jan 20

5 Comments

Bonnie Rose: Look Closely

I’ll admit it.

I’ve been neglecting my scrapbooks lately. I have.

I’ve been playing so much with color and different mediums, that I’ve neglected adding to my scrapbook albums on a regular basis.

And time is going by.

I used to be such a faithful scrapbooker. So faithful.

Not doing pages in chronological order — because that’s just too impossible for me! — but I used to be a lot more into creating pages than I am now.

Now I’m more into evolving as an artist.

Playing with textures, different mediums, and exploring the color wheel. I am evolving.


So last week, when my girls were here with us, my daughter Bethany made the comment that I haven’t created any pages in a while, and you know, she was right. Dead right. I haven’t.

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t feel guilty about that at all. I am evolving. And there are days when I journal, days when I play with color, days when I write, days when I meditate, days when I learn, days when I read, days when I play with canvas, days when I play in my sketchbooks and art journals, and there are days when I don’t create much. I just get inspired.

I am always filling up
my creative tank somehow.

So this morning, I decided to create a new page for my daughter’s album. Something I hope she will look back on and realize how often her mom thinks of her.

It’s all about
looking closely as you travel life’s journey.

Supplies used:
gingham 12×12 scrapbook page
dictionary paper
acrylic paints
white acrylic gesso
glimmer mist
flourish stencil
Japanese washi tapes
jillibean soup journaling sprouts
Black pitt pen used for journaling
rubber stamp from CatsLife Press
black alphabet stickers


I hope she loves it.

XOXO

[Cross-posted from A Life Unrehearsed]

Jan 11

2 Comments

Bonnie Rose: Color Your World, the e-Course


Registration is now open until January 31, and is open to the first 50 participants!

I hope you will join me!

Color Your World — The e-courseis designed to help you change the way you see yourself and your world, using art, color, photography, and journaling to access your hidden thoughts and dreams and encourage your own personal realizations, all in the safe space of a like-minded community.

Your own safe place.

As I guide you through this process, I’ll be sharing my own personal insights and inspiration gleaned from my own life, my own story; when participants come together online a tribe is formed, and the encouragement and fellowship found in these dynamic groups supports each person in their own journey — so if you’re yearning to reconnect with the real you and color your world — this is the place to start! We’re going to learn how to color our worlds. To add color. To add life. I’m here to teach you, how to live your life happier, more creatively, and so much more in color!

How is the Color Your World course run?
This course (session) will be eight weeks long.
It will begin on February 1, 2011.
It ends on March 31, 2011.
Last day to register will be January 31, 2011 at midnight, CST.
It will be a safe place, for women only.

This eight-week long online course includes:
  • eight weeks of DAILY creative jumpstarts, ideas, inspiration, prompts, and writings to help inspire you to live a more peaceful, happy, colorful life. I want to help you color your world with joy. With love. With truth. With bravery. With hope. And yes, with bright, bold COLOR!
  • oodles of INSPIRATION, special posts full of photos, links, art, interviews and more, only available to class participants (not posted on my personal blog).
  • personal FEEDBACK from me.
  • feedback and critique on artwork.
  • accessibility to me via my e-mail, Flickr, and facebook.
  • accessibility to a private COLOR YOUR WORLD Blogger Blog with daily posts for you to read, to get inspired, and to comment on! This blog will be available ONLY to paid participants.
  • our very own private Flickr group to build our own strong sense of COMMUNITY! A place online where we can all share each other’s art, lives, and photos. A place for all participants to post photos, participate in discussions, and grow more into the strong women we already know we are. A place to discuss the course content. A place to ask questions. A place to grow and build strong and loving friendships and lifelong connections. A place to share all the color in our lives!

More info and the registration page is here!

I hope you will join me!

Bonnie Rose

Jan 5

7 Comments

Bonnie Rose: Navigating creativity and motherhood

I’m Bonnie Rose Kempenich of A Life Unrehearsed. I am an artist, passionate blogger, writer, amateur photographer, and card designer — living my best life right now in Fargo, ND. I am growing as an artist, experimenting with new mediums and playing with bright and bold color. Bright colors just make me happy! I am a big believer in sending real mail, the warm fuzzies kind of mail. My goal for this New Year is to grow more as an artist, and to inspire you with my art and my writings. I have so much in store for you!

I have a unique story. I believe in being completely transparent, in the hopes of helping other women out there with similar struggles and stories. Click here to read more of my story in detail. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

No one lives a perfect life.

I live a different life than most of you, I believe. My children live apart from me, about three hours away. They are now teenagers, and honestly, our relationship together and our friendship has grown stronger over the years. I see them about every three weeks throughout the school year, and my ex-husband and I share holidays and school breaks. Negotiating my time with my children has gotten much easier with time. I am thankful for that.

For me, art has helped me so much as a mother who daily, misses her children. In the beginning years after our divorce, art kept me alive and sane. I would create photo albums for my children and fill every hour with creative things I could do for my two beautiful girls.

Now I am coming into my own as an artist, and love sharing my art with my children and with the world.

They see me blossoming and are so proud of me, their mother. They know all the pain we all endured years ago, and we all are happy now. So much happier.

I will always need to be creative. I will always need to express myself through art, through my writings. It’s what makes me, me. I strongly believe as women, we often live our lives being everything to everyone, and somewhere along the way, we lose ourselves. We struggle. We want more for ourselves, but are often scared to express our wishes, because we don’t want to feel selfish. I remind myself of this. No one can make me feel badly about myself without my permission. This is true.

It’s a choice.
Yes, our families and our children give us unending joy.
That goes without saying.

But in the quiet times, we must learn to give ourselves that joy.
Make ourselves happy.

As a mother who spends days and weeks without seeing the smiles of her children, I’ve learned to be comfortable in my own skin. To look around, and give myself snippets of joy.

Joy is everywhere.
We all need to open our eyes and look harder to see it hiding.
It’s there.
It’s there.

Joy.

You can read more about my life and art on my blog. I am a prolific blogger — meaning there is always something new and wonderful to share every day. Please come visit my Etsy shop for unique artist supplies, original art, and graphically designed greeting cards. A portfolio of my creations can be found on my Flickr page here. You can find me on Facebook here. Custom art and card design orders are always welcome! Wishing you all a fabulous New Year filled with dreams come true!