shore and feather

Introducing my new Etsy shop
              shore and feather

I'm really excited to open up this shop, showcasing my inspirational art!

shore and feather blog

Opening Jan. 1st, 2016!

2016 Let's Go!

I'm BOUND and DETERMINED to make 2016 AWESOME! 

 Starting out with a prayer, a hope, and a dream, to fit the puzzle pieces into place.

 There's no room for complaining or arguing!!! Let's GO!!! 

 Maybe it's the cheerleader in me, but I'm hitting the ground running! 2016, 

Let's go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sky = limit

Xoxoxo,

Samantha

Cozy Country Christmas

There's just 3 things
   you need for a cozy country
                    Christmas...

 * love of family
* a little snow
* and goodies!!!

Mr. Snowman

Gingerbread House Decorating

~A White Christmas

Goodie Recipes...

Oat Cakes ~ Recipe from the Tartan Inn in Nova Scotia

Oat Cakes ~ Nova Scotia Cookies
   ingredients...
*3 cups rolled oats
*3 cups flour
*1 3/4 cup sugar
*1 cup shortening
*2 sticks margarine
*1 tsp. baking soda
*1 tsp. salt
*3/4 cup cold water

Mix well, drop by rounded spoonful on greased cookie sheet, bake 350 degrees, about 10 minutes until golden brown edges(see photo above.)
May be molded or rolled and cut if adding a little extra flour. :)

Christmas Snowball Cookies

ingredients...

*1 cup butter

*1/2 cup powdered sugar

*1 3/4 cups flour

*1/4 cup cornstarch

*1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix well, roll into balls, bake at 350 degrees, 10 minutes or until golden brown on bottom, immediately roll in powdered sugar. :)

Snowman Cake

I hope and pray you have a merry, cozy, loving, 
       sweet Christmas!

Xoxoxo,

Samantha

Be Brave! Just be!

Be brave...

just be!

Xoxoxo,

Samantha

Motivation Monday!

Happy Monday!
       Motivation...
                Motivate yourself, today and every day!
Dream!
   Never stop!

xoxoxo,

SE

Thankfulness

What does it mean to be thankful?

          This time of year we really focus on that concept.  We sit around a table, stuff our faces, wipe our mouths with pretty fabric napkins, and reflect on what we are thankful for.  We right lists and read children's essays and turkey worksheets.  But what are we really thankful for?  What is important to thank God for when we pray?

     Children are so innocent in their writings on thankfulness.  They state things like zebras and pumpkin pie.  Some mention friends, parents, and teachers.  Sadly, some have little to mention.  

     As adults, we tend to be thankful for things like our kids, our spouse, our jobs.  Some of us feel as if there is little to be thankful for sometimes. When we are asked what we are thankful for, we sometimes focus on what we DON'T have to be thankful for instead.  

     I would like to think of thankfulness as something less complicated. I would like to take off that pressure of having to think of big things that we are happy and content about.  I have always thought that, "Hope is all around us, even in the smallest of details."

     I aim to be thankful for EVERYTHING that is good, and even the bad stuff too (kickin' my feet, holding my breath.) ;)

I am thankful for all of the small things too, and it always seems to make my days better.  You never know what little thing... what little gift, God can present to you, that gives you a smile and moment of peace, and sometimes changes our way of thinking.  The smallest thing like, finding your lost keys, or not spilling your morning coffee all over your clean shirt, or noticing a cloud shaped like a heart...  

The smallest of gifts can be the greatest of blessings!

      So this Thanksgiving, and every day, remember to keep it simple, looking for not only big blessings, but those small ones too.  Know that God has a plan for you and you have so much to be thankful for!  He created you, he loves you, and His love will never fail!

Xoxoxo and Happy Thanksgiving, 

Samantha

Inspiration Saturday!

xoxoxo,

Samantha SE

Love First

Lately, God's been showing me many lessons.  Most of the lessons to be learned are about LOVE. I have been realizing more and more how I should treat those who I care for; putting their needs ahead of my own and really showing what love means. Of course I go to I Corinthians 13 for guidance.  I feel He has been calling to me, telling me to put LOVE FIRST.
To simplify, put 
GOD FIRST
OTHERS SECOND
YOURSELF THIRD
~A motto I learned at summer camp long ago, but being a wife and a mom, this becomes so much more to me. 

We usually don't learn lessons the easy way.  Unfortunately we learn the hard way, through difficult circumstances and many tears.
Sometimes we have clear moments where things just fall into place, but most of the time it's in the little details that He shows us whats most important.

I'm no prophet, no counselor, no woman wise beyond her years.
Just a wife, just a mom, just a believer...
but that is all I need to be.
All I really need to know is to put 
LOVE FIRST!
All you need to know is
LOVE FIRST!

I always say that God has a plan for us.
I believe it, I know it, I will try to follow His lead daily, in big details and small.
I don't know what that plan is, but I know...

LOVE FIRST

1 Corinthians 13New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I hope this has blessed you!

Xoxoxo,

Samantha

Fall At The Lake ~ God's Gift

      To me there is no prettier time at the lake than fall time.  Taking the camera and noticing God's beauty in the changing seasons makes for a great day!  Wild life is awake and active.  The air is crisp and refreshing.  The colors are vivid and rustic.  The ripples in the water shimmer like diamonds in the sunshine.
God is a glorious artist and His works can not be fathomed!  

Here are some photos of a day at the lake...

All of the above photos were taken by my son Joe, who at the age of 12, is already an amazing photographer.

Thank you God
    for your beautiful gift of creation! 

Xoxoxo,

Samantha

Inspiration Saturday!

From my heart to yours...

    I know it's rough sometimes, but you can make it through this day, and the next one, and the one after that!

Ya just need
  FAITH
   HOPE
and LOVE!

Xoxoxo,

Samantha

Love Contract ~ Putting Love 1st

Sometimes we have bad mornings 
with our kids.  Sometimes we just can't seem to get out of the house with out screaming and tears.  Some days we just can't get it together and start the day feeling defeated.  

Today was one of those days...

                       I go home and grab a doughnut and like my 7th cup of coffee and contemplate running away to Mexico.

But then I stop my self from my little temper tantrum and think what every parent thinks on a regular basis, 
         "Where did I go WRONG?"

Well I'm no counselor, and I'm not King Solomon, but I am a believer and a mom who loves her kids.  I know what's missing... 

I, we, have NOT been 

putting LOVE first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I decided what better way to remind the kids and me, than  ICorinthians 13:4-8

I typed up a lil' LOVE CONTRACT!

I will show you a copy. Feel free to print it and use it if you like...

Love Contract ~ Written by S.E. 

This is my parenting effort to make a promise; a promise to try, a promise to remember that in the midst of daily struggles...

LOVE must come first!

I hope and pray this post finds you well and that you may know 

LOVE NEVER FAILS! God said so!

Xoxoxo,

Samantha

Identity Crisis! ~ You are MORE!

Our identity,
   how do we define our identity?

How do we define who we are?

One of the dictionary definitions of "identity" states...
"the condition of being oneself or itself, and not another:"

I see the words in the other definitions repeated...

likeness
self
same
one
character

Identity must mean "being one's self."  

But how do we define ourselves?
What makes us ourselves?

    Is it...
where we come from
what we look like
who are family is
who are friends are
where we work
our career paths
our political position
what we eat
how we talk
our general out look on life?

The truth is, there's way more than ONE thing that defines who we are.  It's about so much more than we can see. 

God says,
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
Psalm 139: 13-16

God made us, He knows us, and most importantly, He loves us!

       I sit here and type, wondering what my future holds.  Yes, I am in a bit of an identity crisis...  
For the past 10 years, I have been the "cake lady"...  Samantha's Sweets.  So much of my life was consumed by the sweetness of butter cream and the art of creating desserts with a purpose.  That's been so much of my identity.

     I enjoyed being a part of my customers lives; planning a great dessert for their special life moments.  Making the shower cake, then the wedding, then the baby shower, Christening, 1st birthday-----WHAT AN HONOR!  I know it's just sugar, but I felt a part of something bigger that a sweet treat!  That's why Samantha's Sweets was such a success, because I baked with love. 

     Recent events, none due to the success of the business which was thriving, have left me to take a break from caking and baking.  I'm not sure of Samantha's Sweets future to tell you the truth.  Maybe God's got different plans for my family. 

    So what now?  What's my identity, my purpose?  

    I still create art, every day, for my sweet Etsy shop that is doing very well and celebrating one year open today! God's given me a passion for art and I will always create! 
    I created this blog to be an encouragement to others facing life's trials and troubles.
    I will be the best wife I can be.
    I will be the best mom I can be.
    I will be the best teacher I can be.

See, there's a lot to define one's identity.  There's so much more to see, to be, and to know!

I may not be Samantha's Sweets ~ Cake Artist at the moment, but I am still ME!  I'm more than I know. 

YOU ARE MORE!  Don't let one thing define your identity!  God has plans for you!  God made you MORE!  Simply...  more!

God says,
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."  2 Timothy: 7

Be BRAVE AND KNOW THAT YOU ARE 
       MORE!

Xoxoxo,

Samantha

Life can be sweet!