Meet the Folks behind Simplicities of Life {and a Giveaway}

I had a little chat with Kessie, the artist who brings beautiful sacramentals to us from Simplicities of Life. Sit a spell and get to know her. You'll be blessed.

How long have you been in business and how did you find yourself making sacramentals and jewelry? 

We officially opened around August 2009. It all started when we wanted to give a unique gift to our in-home marriage prep couples. A friend in the community got us started with the gifts, then everyone wanted to start to purchase a family rosary or single rosary from us. With the help of the Holy Spirit---things have been busy ever since!

Is it a family endeavor?Do your kids help? 

When we first started it was just myself with an extra hand from Coby, my husband. As time went by, our oldest son helped very often. Then, most nights, Coby and I would work together in the studio. In the past year, Coby started the Diaconate program in our diocese. Needless to say, I "lost" his help:). I have currently hired 2 homeschool teenagers to come in, when needed and help string beads. On another day, I follow behind them, check the item and finish it with the crimps and medals.

This past Christmas season, was so much fun. I remember many days while our youngest was taking his nap and "everyone" was helping--from our hired help, our 12-, 9-, 6-, and 4-year-old, and my sweet godchild who was on break from school. Although it was crazy busy, it was a very blessed time. 

What inspires you?

 All of the credit goes to the Holy Spirit! People sometimes laugh when I say that and reply, "Well it's your hands putting it together and your eyes seeing the finished item--so give yourself credit." I do not and will not take the credit. The Holy Spirit is what guides my thoughts and creations while I am in my studio. Occasionally, when I am "stuck" on an item or trying to hard to create it, I will ask Our Lady to show me what kind of rosary or necklace she desires and it usually pops in my head. If I am able to be in my studio undisturbed and in prayer, as soon as one pattern is complete,  another one is there in my head waiting to be created.

Early on in the business, I remember sitting in my Holy Hour (not thinking of the business at all) and bead patterns started to appear in my head. I tried to ignore them, but they wouldn't go away. So I turned to the back of my journal, jotted them down and went back to my personal prayer time. This was the start of my confirmation that the Holy Spirit had a plan for our business.

Can you share a customer story? Someone who was particularly blessed by the work of your hands? 

One day we were at a conference and while the speaker was talking, my oldest son and I went sit on the side to rest. The manager of the building came up to us and asked us if we could remind him how to pray the rosary. After spending about a half hour together, we went our separate ways. As we were walking back to our booth, I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to give a chaplet to the manager. When I found him just moments later, he was standing in the corner (his back was facing me, so he could not see me), using his fingers and whispering the prayers to  the rosary. He needed the chaplet! I tapped him on his shoulder and gave it to him. He was shocked, but so very thankful. He kept offering to pay me for it, but I tried to explain to him that wasn't the point and that it was clear to me that the Holy Spirit and Our Lady wanted him to have this tool for his journey.

 

  

This is just one story of very many. Our family is very blessed to have a business that is also a ministry. We are grateful that Our Lord and Our Lady allow us to meet so many children of God. We are extremely grateful that He allows us to help so many people on their journey. We look forward to what God has in store for us in the upcoming years:).

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Giveaway: Kessie is offering a Sacred Heart chaplet for In the Heart of My Home readers. Just leave a comment below to be entered to win. If you have a story about a sacramental, share it and your name will be entered twice.

Do take some time to browse Simplicities of Life. These works of art make extraordinary additions to Easter baskets.

The winner is 

Mary Beth,  who said...

These rosaries are exquisite! I would love to have one to help me in my journey! I entered The Church last Easter, and it was a wonderful beginning to what was to be come the most difficult & heart-wrenching year of my life so far. My faith never wavered, but I feel like a baby bird who tentatively spread her wings, stepped out of the nest, and plummeted toward the ground without learning how to fly on the way down! I would very much like to develop the discipline and love of praying with a rosary, and one of these would certainly entice me to spend more time in prayer.

Mary Beth, please email me with you snail mail address and I'll forward all the details to Kessie!

For the Lenten Book Basket

Here are some favorites of ours. Be sure to share your suggestions in the comments.

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The Little Rose of Sharon by Nan Gurley This is the story of a rose whose outward appearance is so beautiful that it pleases the Creator Himself. The little rose learns that her life isn't all about what she holds here on earth and she sacrifices her lovely rose petals (her most prized possesion) to save a baby dove.

Petook by Caryll Houselander This story begins with Petook the Rooster and his wife Martha hatching 12 fluffy new chicks. They live a happy life in the garden until they a frightened when a young boy walks toward Petook and his family. No need to worry; it is a kind boy who years later hangs on a cross Petook can see in the distance.This is a classic Houselander story of Easter and new life. 

The Jesus Garden: An Easter Legend The passion of Christ can be a very frightening subject for young children. The grim reality of death is a difficult one for tender hearts.  This story takes on the task and follows Christ's passion from the perspective of the plants and flowers in the garden. Parent and child can follow the Passion from the agony in the garden all the way to the resurrection in a much more soothing way. 

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The Easter Swallows Also in the garden a pair of swallows are building a nest. Lovely text and illustrations. (Worth hunting down.)

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Twice Yours by Nan Gurley This one is new to us this year. It's breathtakingly beautiful. A little boy invests his whole heart in buliding a small sailboat. He loses it and someone else finds it and then he sacrifices to regain it.    
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The Story of the Cross by Mary Joslin  This lovely volume can be read again and again throughout Lent to bring the Stations of the Cross alive to children in an appropriate and reverent manner.

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The Easter Story I'm so sad this one is unavailable. 

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Benjamin's Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs by Melody Carlson Benjamin is a little boy who travels along with jesus and discovers who he really is. Fun story and can be even more fun when used with Resurrection Eggs.

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Tale of the Three Trees by Angela Hunt  This story follows three trees who dream of being big, marvelous things when they grow old enough. Their dreams appear to be crushed, but then they recognize that they were made for bigger things than they could imagine.
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The Proud Tree by Luane Roche This storyline is similar to the one of the three trees. Rex thinks he's a tree worthy for a king. But is humbled when he gets cut down to become a cross for a crucifixion and learns who Jesus, the real king, is.

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A Tale for Easter Tasha Tudor is always so wonderful. *Not overtly religious.

The Thornbush An ugly thornbush growing in Jerusalem becomes a crown for the King of Kings.
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The Very First Easter by Paul Maier  this is a lengthy book with lots of biblical quotes and beautiful illustrations. Lots of details in this one. 

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The Easter Story by Brian Wildsmith    This story of Easter is told through the eyes of the little donkey who carried Jesus through the streets on Palm Sunday. Beautifully illustrated and sure to please all ages.
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Through the Eyes of John This is Mary Beth's favorite.
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The Story of Easter by Mary Joslin this story follows the whole timeline of Jesus from the Annunciation to the Resurrection and helps your child to understand Jesus' whole life.
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Little Colt's Palm Sunday  Palm Sunday is recounted through the eyes of the colt who carried the King of Kings--Jesus himself--through the streets of Jerusalem.  

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Legend of the Easter Egg by Lori Walburg  Learn what Easter is really about as you follow the beloved characters you may already know from The Legend of the Candy Cane from the same author. When Thomas' sister, Lucy, falls sick, he goes to stay at the Sonneman's candy store and there he learns the story of Easter. 

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Legend of the Sand Dollar When Kerry's family takes a trip to the beach she learns all about the story of Easter through a small beach treasure, the sand dollar.   

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The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by DuBose Heyward this story is about a momma bunny who wants to be one of the official Easter Bunnies but first must prove herself to the wise Grandfather bunny. Mike's sister gifted this to us years ago and it is a perennial favorite.

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The Easter Egg. Another that isn't religious, but sure is a sweet read. I do love Jan Brett.

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My Path to Heaven this "retreat-in-a-book" is geared toward kids 9-12. As they learn the truths of their faith and are called to live lives of holiness with these newfound truths. 

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Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacco My children love to listen along in this delightful tale as Babushka she prepares her eggs for the Easter Festival. During this story, Babushka takes in an injured goose who teaches her that miracles can happen. 

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The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous Katy and Carl go on an egghunt while visiting their Grandmother's house and Katy has no luck finding any eggs. She ends up searching the attic where she finds very special eggs her Grandmother  painted when she was a little girl. 
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Easter Eggs for Anya Decorating beautiful Easter eggs was something Anya loved to do and was very sepcial to her family. But with Papa away at war, Anya's family is very poor and will not be able to purchase eggs to decorate this year! When Anya stumbles upon a nest of goose eggs she thinks she will be able to decorate eggs after all, but God always has a bigger and better plan. 

needle & thREAD

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One nice advantage to hosting needle & thREAD every week is that I can't get away with not stitching something for very long. I mean, there's only so much sewing room cleaning, project list making, and fabulous guest posting I can slip in here before I actually have to start sewing something. I decided to do a quick little project to prime the pump. 

As I set up all the components of our new language arts program, I noted that we'd need a family journal. This need reminded me that I wanted to make prayer journal in January, but never did. However, Lent is right around the corner, so that's a perfect time, too, right? And, I've long been promising myself that I would keep a food and execerise log. Need a pretty journal for that, too. Since I'd never made even one journal, it seemed like a good idea to dig in and figure some things out. 

So I did. I had some Anna Maria Horner fabric that I bought over a year ago, thinking that I would crosstitch rather a lot of it to make drapes for my bedroom. I thought they'd go with the pretty pillow around which I was going to design a quilt. Mike --ahem-- was not fond of the pillow. So, a quilt wasn't going to happen. And if no quilt, then no drapes. I put my one crosstitched flower on the shelf, still attached to yards and yards of fabric. 

And forgot about it.

Until I went digging for journal cover possibilities. Aha! I could fussy cut it and make something pretty, just for me. And I just happened to have some ribbon with which to embellish it. A couple hours later and I had worked out the math and stuff and come up with something super pretty.

My girls are begging to do one for themselves. And I just happen to have a stack of new composition books. Katie is eyeing a particularly pretty stack of fabric a dear friend sent last week. She's right; that would make some lovely patchwork covers...

I've been ever so slowly reading Folks, This Ain't Normal. Actually, I'm listening to it. I've changed up my gym routine so that I'm spending as little time as possible on those cardio machines and much more time in fitness classes and such. This is a very happy place for me, with one exception. My listening time for books has dwindled to about ten minutes in the steam room. Now, If I would focus a little on some sewing, I could easily listen while I stitched, couldn't I? I'm enjoying the book. We have been longtime supporters of Polyface Farm and very much enjoyed the fruit of the hands of Joel Salatin. He reads the audio version and it's just like hanging out with him and having a good chat. I admit to squirming a bit as he analyzes childhood in suburbia, but I don't really disagree too much. Highly recommended.

What are you sewing and reading this week? I really do want to hear all about it!

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Gathering my Thoughts

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

I just really wish it would snow. It's cold. It flurries. But no real snow at all.

::listening to 

silence.  

::clothing myself in 

Jeans, long-sleeved t-shirt, cardigan. The winter uniform. 

::talking with my children about these books

We are realllllly meandering down the Alphabet Path. It's "I" week right now. Please don't tell me how "behind" I am.

I is for Laura Ingalls. I so love these little picture books! Years later, Nicholas still knows them all by heart.

Winter Days in the Big Woods

Christmastime in the Big Woods

A Little House Birthday

Sugar Snow

Dance at Grandpa's

Going to Town

Summertime in the Big Woods

The Deer in the Wood

Going West

Prairie Day

A Little Prairie House

::thinking and thinking

Katie and Karoline have become obsessed with the indoor climbing wall at the gym. They're trying to scramble up every chance they get. Katie took a class before Karoline event attempted the wall and discovered she's quite good at it. When it was Karoline's turn, Katie was all about offering pointers and encouragement. Katie even quickly scrambled up an adjacent wall the first time Karoline looked like she was going to make it to the top. She wanted to be right beside her when she reached the summit. I've been thinking about Karoline's approach. We like to go when no one else is there. The wait is non-existent, but also, if it's quiet I can hear Karoline encouraging herself all the way up the wall. "You can do this. You are strong and you are getting stronger. You've got this. Don't give up. Don't look down. God will help you. Keep reaching higher." She's never taken a class. I have no idea where she learned this.  The things this child teaches me...

::pondering prayerfully

 On the days of Lent, from morning until the end of the third hour let them apply themselves to their reading, and from then until the end of the tenth hour let them do the work assigned them.  And in these days of Lent they shall each receive a book from the library, which they shall read straight through from the beginning. These books are to be given out at the beginning of Lent. ~from The Rule of St. Benedict

I plan to use Consoling the Heart of Jesus again this year. I cannot say enough good things about this book. It's life-changing. I read it last year, on an unexpected and unusual "retreat," and I shared these thoughts:

I spent Holy Week reading Consoling the Heart of Jesus. There are a small handful of books in my life where I remember exactly where and when I read them because those times and places are turning points. This book is one of those. It is easily at the top of that list. This incredibly readable volume makes some of the most beautiful truths and devotions of the Catholic faith understandable (at last)  and accessible (even to busy mothers of large families).  Fr. Gaitley brings together fine threads of several spiritual traditions and weaves them into a beautiful and exceedingly useful tapestry of a do-it-yourself retreat. It is Ignatian spirituality made accessible. It is the Little Way of St. Therese for all of us. It is consecration to Mary and devotion to Divine Mercy explained in plain language and made clear to little souls. Mostly, it is a rich volume of Merciful Words that brings Merciful Love to its readers. You don't have to have a weekend to make the retreat. You can just read a little each day until you are finished. If it's your heart's desire to get to know and understand Jesus better, tell Him.

I'm so looking forward to re-reading this book this year.

::carefully cultivating rhythm

We're definitely in our winter groove. But the emails are arriving, announcing that soccer practices are no longer optional and the pace is about to quicken palpably. I have major conflicts in transportation. I'm trying not to lose sleep over it. So far, I'm failing miserably.

::creating by hand

Someone please give me permission to put away the flannel nightgowns and begin sewing Easter dresses. I have three to sew during Lent. I hate the pattern instructions for the nightgowns. I'm stuck. I wanted to sew those before anything else, and so, I'm not sewing anything.

::learning lessons in

teenagers. I am not a quick study, but I do think I'm making progress. 

::encouraging learning 

Last week we began our study of Matthew.The verdict from the kids is that it's awesome. They really, really enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

And I'm all in with Primary Arts of Language. Almost everything I ever loved about teaching reading and writing in early childhood, all well put together in some tidy packages. All good. Dovetails very nicely with the Alphabet Path.

::begging prayers

for all the intentions of our prayer community.  

::keeping house

Up this week: Reorganizing the linen closet (It's been a long time since it looked like this, but I have photographic evidence that it once did, so I'm motivated). Also,  the storage room in the basement is in need again. Last time I did, it was a big emotional epiphany. I don't have time for epiphanies this week. I just want to clean it up. 

Fact check: I did neither of the above last week. But I made it to the gym six times. In my defense, laundry is all caught up and things are acceptably clean--just no deepdown projects.

::crafting in the kitchen 

Now that I have a reliable standby that I know won't challenge my digestive system in place and I know I won't starve or eat something I shouldn't, I'm really looking forward to beginning Heather's workshop. It's time to learn some new things and to sweep away some bad habits. I love that it will coincide with Lent. I intend to fully immerse Mary Beth in the workshop and to fill in here with some very intentional, hands-on grocery shopping lessons. I hope she'll have her driver's license by the end of those two months, as well. And she'll be all set to become the family's primary grocery shopper.

::loving the moments

When I have a chance to spend some time with a child one-on-one. My friend Jan called unexpectedly last weekend to let me know she was in town with her 16-year-old daughter for a dance competition. Mary Beth and I took the opportunity to sneak out for a quick dinner and to meet Jan for the competition. We had lots of time to talk in the car and I even squeezed in a little shopping at Athleta.

::giving thanks 

for a husband who knows best. I did not want to join a gym. I was not interested in adding more things to our day. I was just a wee bit resentful about being pushed. Unequivocably, we are all loving it. We're there together. There's something for everyone. I can avoid all the hardcore, competitive pounding, pulling, and pushing of the male component in this family and still challenge myself. And take care of myself. I honestly believe we are all getting healthier. And for some of us, that's long overdue.

living the liturgy

This week is all about preparing for Lent. More thoughts here. 

::planning for the week ahead

Just an ordinary week. The last one for awhile, I think. They're so rare. I'm going to relish it.

Preparing for Lent

Here's the quick tutorial to answer some questions and then some links to help you plan and give you some time to actually do this before next week. 

 Remember those wooden mantel letters?  During Lent, they say "Repent" (take the "Prepare" purple letters from Advent, and make an "N" and a "T"--you're all set to spell REPENT). For the Easter season, they spell "Alleluia." They are painted gold and covered with "diamond dust" glitter. On Fat Tuesday, I take out the ALLELUIA letters and make a big deal of spelling out "Alleluia." I let the children chant, sing, and even yell "Alleluia" in order to "get the Alleluias out." Then, I solemnly put the golden letters in a purple bag and explain that the Church doesn't say "Alleluia" during Lent and that we will "hide our Alleluias" until it's Easter.I hide the purple bag with the Alleluias in it (and tell someone where I put them;-). Then, it's Lent.
And it's quiet.

 

 

 

 

Talking with Your Kids about Lent

Lent is a Good Thing

Prayer Rule for all of Lent

What to Give Up?

Remain in Him

Thoughts on Fasting

Family Lent Project: Counting Blessings

For the last few years, there has been a daily Lenten Fast::Pray::Give prompt here for you. Shall we do that again this year? I'd mostly republish the old, familiar ones from Lents past. Would that be helpful?