latest projects

I've been busy making, making, making. Here are some of my latests projects that can be found at Eclectic Design in East Nashville. Make sure to like the Sisters of Nature Facebook page to stay up to date on the latest projects. 

How-to Tuesday: Creative Cancer

I'm so sorry my posts have been few and far between lately. Thankfully it's been for a good reason though. My Sisters of Nature business has been growing wings (or wheels I should say... more on that later) and taking off which has led to me being very busy!

For How-to Tuesday I thought I'd share something with you that is near and dear to my heart. If you have been with this blog since the beginning you know that my mom passed away this summer from cancer and that my dad also has stage four cancer.  There is a route that the western medicine community will take you to treat cancer and it is the route that most people follow. Our western medical way of treating accidents and injuries is fantastic.... our way of treating disease is terrible and completely backwards.  I know this may offend some people and I'm sorry but it is just a fact.  So for today's How-to I thought I'd share some things I learned throughout all the seminars I went to, readings, and things I found while trying to help my mom. Unfortunately, I couldn't get her started on a more natural healing route in time, but if you or someone you know is suffering with cancer maybe it's not too late for you. Be creative with the way you treat your cancer and don't feel like you have to follow the route that most other people follow bc trust me the western medical route of treating cancer is not a pretty one. I know countless people who have had much better and longer lasting results from going the natural route.  Don't just jump into it though!  Do your research, talk to professional natural doctors, and talk to people who have actually gone the natural route with their cancer treatment. Remember this out of everything: YOUR DIETARY CHOICES ARE THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT INFLUENCE ON YOUR BODY'S ABILITY TO FIGHT DISEASE! Here are the top 8 things I learned:

1. Check out some of these great institutes with professionals who can help you treat your cancer. Here are a few I looked into and really wanted to get my mom to:
 Gerson Institute, Living Foods Institute, Hallelujah Acres

2. Get a juicer! Juicing is one of the best way to quickly let your body absorb nutrients into the bloodstream. The best ones I have found are the Champion juicers and Green Star juicers and here is a study comparing different juicers. You basically want a low speed juicer bc the high speed juicers that are cheaper like Jack LaLanne draw air and heat in, destroying the enzymes and heat-sensitive nutrients. We got ours used on ebay for MUCH cheaper. Here's my dad after we had juiced 82 jars of vegetable juice.

3. Eat mostly raw living whole foods. Your cells are living and need living cells in order to reproduce them effectively. Disease is simply a manifestation of malfunctioning cells. If you keep feeding your body the wrong fuel it will continue to reproduce bad cells which will lead to a variety of different problems.

4. Stay away from any meat products. God did not make your body like that of a carnivore. It takes more nutrients from your body to neutralize meat than it does give to you! The more you eat of it the less energy your body has to fight the cancer bc it's spending so much trying to deal with these foods. The link between animal-based foods and cancer has been well established and we are not carnivores. A carnivore for instance has a straight, short digestive tract with strong stomach acid to digest meat while we have a 30 ft digestive tract with twists and bends and our stomach acid is only 10% as strong as a carnivore's. Check out the picture below!

5. Eat alkaline not acidic foods! God created a beautiful and delicate system in your body that is alkaline with your blood being about 7.35. When I saw the chart below, this is when the lightbulb went off for me. Basically, cancer and other diseases CANNOT live, grow, or thrive in an alkaline environment. They only live and grow in an acidic environment. When you eat foods that are acidic, your body has to spend so much of it's time to neutralize those foods that it cannot fight the cancer or other disease and those diseases thrive in that acidic environment. Your body has to borrow minerals from vital organs to neutralize the acid and essentially will end up spending most of the day trying to fight the foods you ate instead of the cancer and hurting those vital organs.

Healthy Alkaline Foods - Eat lots of them! Vegetables Alfalfa Grass +29.3 Asparagus +1.3 Barley Grass +28.1 Brussels Sprouts +0.5 Cabbage Lettuce, Fresh +14.1 Cauliflower +3.1 Cayenne Pepper +18.8 Celery +13.3 Chives +8.3 Comfrey +1.5 Cucumber, Fresh +31.5 Dandelion +22.7 Dog Grass +22.6 Endive, Fresh +14.5 French Cut Green Beans +11.2 Garlic +13.2 Green Cabbage December Harvest +4.0 Green Cabbage, March Harvest +2.0 Kamut Grass +27.6 Lamb’s Lettuce +4.8 Leeks (Bulbs) +7.2 Lettuce +2.2 Onion +3.0 Peas, Fresh +5.1 Peas, Ripe +0.5 Red Cabbage +6.3 Rhubarb Stalks +6.3 Savoy Cabbage +4.5 Shave Grass +21.7 Sorrel +11.5 Soy Sprouts +29.5 Spinach (Other Than March) +13.1 Spinach, March Harvest +8.0 Sprouted Chia Seeds +28.5 Sprouted Radish Seeds +28.4 Straw Grass +21.4 Watercress +7.7 Wheat Grass +33.8 White Cabbage +3.3 Zucchini +5.7 Root Vegetables Beet +11.3 Carrot +9.5 Horseradish +6.8 Kohlrabi +5.1 Potatoes +2.0 Red Radish +16.7 Rutabaga +3.1 Summer Black Radish +39.4 Turnip +8.0 White Radish (Spring) +3.1 Fruits Avocado (Protein) +15.6 Fresh Lemon +9.9 Limes +8.2 Tomato +13.6 Non-Stored Organic Grains And Legumes Buckwheat Groats +0.5 Granulated Soy (Cooked Ground Soy Beans) +12.8 Lentils +0.6 Lima Beans +12.0 Soy Flour +2.5 Soy Lecithin (Pure) +38.0 Soy Nuts (soaked Soy Beans, Then Air Dried) +26.5 Soybeans, Fresh +12.0 Spelt +0.5 Tofu +3.2 White Beans (Navy Beans) +12.1 Nuts Almonds +3.6 Brazil Nuts +0.5 Seeds Caraway Seeds +2.3 Cumin Seeds +1.1 Fennel Seeds +1.3 Flax Seeds +1.3 Pumpkin Seeds +5.6 Sesame Seeds +0.5 Sunflower Seeds +5.4 Wheat Kernel +11.4 Fats (Fresh, Cold-Pressed Oils) Borage Oil +3.2 Evening Primrose Oil +4.1 Flax Seed Oil +3.5 Marine Lipids +4.7 Olive Oil +1.0

Foods you should only consume moderately Fruits (In Season, For Cleansing Only Or With Moderation) Apricot -9.5 Bananna, Ripe -10.1 Bananna, Unripe +4.8 Black Currant -6.1 Blueberry -5.3 Cantaloupe -2.5 Cherry, Sour +3.5 Cherry, Sweet -3.6 Coconut, Fresh +0.5 Cranberry -7.0 Currant -8.2 Date -4.7 Fig Juice Powder -2.4 Gooseberry, Ripe -7.7 Grape, Ripe -7.6 Grapefruit -1.7 Italian Plum -4.9 Mandarin Orange -11.5 Mango -8.7 Orange -9.2 Papaya -9.4 Peach -9.7 Pear -9.9 Pineapple -12.6 Rasberry -5.1 Red Currant -2.4 Rose Hips -15.5 Strawberry -5.4 Tangerine -8.5 Watermelon -1.0 Yellow Plum -4.9 Non-Stored Grains Brown Rice -12.5 Wheat -10.1 Nuts Hazelnuts -2.0 Macadamia Nuts -3.2 Walnuts -8.0 Fish Fresh Water Fish -11.8 Fats Coconut Milk -1.5 Sunflower Oil -6.7

Unhealthy Acidic Foods - Try to avoid them! Meat, Poultry, And Fish Beef -34.5 Chicken (to -22) -18.0 Eggs (to -22) Liver -3.0 Ocean Fish -20.0 Organ Meats -3.0 Oysters -5.0 Pork -38.0 Veal -35.0 Milk And Milk Products Buttermilk +1.3 Cream -3.9 Hard Cheese -18.1 Homogenized Milk -1.0 Quark -17.3 Bread, Biscuits (Stored Grains/Risen Dough) Rye Bread -2.5 White Biscuit -6.5 White Bread -10.0 Whole-Grain Bread -4.5 Whole-Meal Bread -6.5 Nuts Cashews -9.3 Peanuts -12.8 Pistachios -16.6 Fats Butter -3.9 Corn Oil -6.5 Margarine -7.5 Sweets Artificial Sweetners -26.5 Barley Malt Syrup -9.3 Beet Sugar -15.1 Brown Rice Syrup -8.7 Chocolate -24.6 Dr. Bronner’s Barley Dried Sugar Cane Juice -18.0 Fructose -9.5 Honey -7.6 Malt Sweetner -9.8 Milk Sugar -9.4 Molasses -14.6 Turbinado Sugar -9.5 White Sugar -17.6 Condiments Ketchup -12.4 Mayonaise -12.5 Mustard -19.2 Soy Sauce -36.2 Vinegar -39.4 Beverages Beer -26.8 Coffee -25.1 Fruit Juice Sweetened Fruit Juice, Packaged, Natural -8.7 Liquor -38.7 Tea (Black) -27.1 Wine -16.4 Miscellaneous Canned Foods Microwaved Foods Processed Foods

6. Drink a lot of water to flush out your system! 90% of North Americans are dehydrated. Your body needs it and thrives off of it. You should be drinking half of your body weight in ounces. For instance, if you are 150 pounds, you should be drinking 75 ounces a day.

7. Be in community with other people who also follow a healthy lifestyle filled with whole foods and plant based foods. There are tons of delicious, wonderful recipes out there. It's not all salads!! Here are some great places for recipes and lifestyle tips: Eat.Live.Make. blog , My Recipes and Juices Pinterest board, Going Home to Roost blog, Rabbit Food for My Bunny Teeth, and Hallelujah Acres Recipes.

8. Rest, rejuvenate, and spend time with God. Did you know that stress also is like an acidic poison in your body? Your body reacts much the same to stress as I mentioned in number 5 with food. It has to borrow essential things from other organs to neutralize the poison put out from the stress. It puts yet again another strain on your body where it can't fight the disease. Align your life with Christ and rest in His peace and comfort. Rest!

holiday travels

This Thanksgiving holiday I went to the white sandy beaches of Oak Island, NC to visit my dad at his new beach house, the bustling city of Atlanta to visit Jason's mom, and to sunny Florida to visit Jason's dad. Since I've been thinking quite a bit about traveling, I thought I'd post a lovely travel inspiration board with some talented Etsy artisans. I think I've decided to start traveling with the old hard case vintage suitcases. I LOVE them. Your stuff won't get all smashed up since they have a hard case and they are super stylish. There are quite a few to choose from on Etsy.

vintage suitcases
travel journal
travel poster
weekend bag
travel mug
luggage tag

and the winner is...

Thanksgiving freebie

Desserts are special and fun by themselves, but I love to make them even more fun! I made these little flags for you to spruce up your cupcakes, cookies, or chocolate truffles. This is what happens when I have more free time on my hands. I LOVE vacation!

All you need to do is:

1. Click this link to download. (once you've gone to the link, click FILE then DOWNLOAD)
2. Print.
3. Cut them out.
4. Fold in half.
5. Glue to a toothpick.
6. Make your Thanksgiving desserts beautiful!!

tips on doing a show

I am going to be in the Tinsel & Twine show in Franklin, TN on December 1st which I am really excited about! It's going to be in an old barn and the focus of the show it to "bring Etsy to the urban farm girl".  I have no idea what it will be like, but  it sounds dreamy in my mind. I'm thinking of decorating my booth with some greenery and possibly some felted ornaments. I LOVE Christmas. I think they are going to have hot chocolate too! Maybe it'll snow.... okay that probably won't happen.

A few weeks ago I had my first show.  A lady who works at a place called A Door to Hope was doing an event at their business. They wanted to have a band, food, and some local artisans featured. She emailed me and asked if I wanted to be one of the featured artisans and of course I accepted. Then I thought to myself, "Wait a second, you have never done a show. You have no idea how to do this!" I asked around to some of my creative friends and got some ideas. Thankfully the show was a big success! It went really well for my first show.  I thought I'd share a few tips with you I learned about doing a show.  Since this was my first show, I had a lot of learning to do. Thankfully, it was a small show (only about 50 people came) so it was a good one to learn on.

1. Don't wait until the last minute!
Unfortunately I didn't have a choice in this. I had a lot going on before the show so I had to wait until the last minute. It still all came together ...but barely in time.  I was still putting price tags on things as people were coming in.  It would have been a lot more smooth had I planned ahead a bit more.

2. Have a friend or loved one do check out.
My husband did ALL the checking out for me and it was a HUGE help. I was able to mix and mingle, talk to all the people, and answer questions. This took a big load off.

3. Invite your friends.
After talking to strangers all night it's so nice to see a familiar face. Your friends will always be so supportive and it will be great to see them!

4. Use a square card reader.
I didn't know this before, but the square card reader not only lets you run people's credit cards but it can keep track of all your inventory with pictures. It's a really cool program!

5. Buy one of those receipt books with carbon.
It's nice to have a carbon copy receipt from all your sales. Although the square card will send you an email of all your transactions, it's good to have a written receipt as well. And some people might pay with cash so you can have a copy of that transaction too.

Good luck with all your shows!

This is me in my studio space soaking wet the night before my show with a head lamp on because it was 11 o'clock at night and I was about to rinse out my silk screens outside in 40 degree weather. Now that's waiting until the last minute. I still look pretty happy though haha.

That's a stationery display I made out of an old door and some wood I found in the bard behind my house. I was REALLY excited about using it, although my poor husband was probably tired of lugging that thing around.

Everything did come together though!

And my sweet, sweet husband was such a huge help!

how-to Tuesday

how to make your husband feel special

I don't know if any of you have read the book The 5 Love Languages but I've heard it's pretty good. I still haven't gotten around to reading it, but basically I've heard it's about knowing and understanding how you and your husband both feel love. I know for sure that one of the ways my husband feels love is by written notes. I designed these cards so people can make their husbands feel special with a sweet little note. I had trouble finding cute "love cards" so I just decided to design some myself. You can find these on my Etsy site or if you live in Nashville I've got a whole display of cards at Eclectic Design in East Nashville. Write your husband a sweet note for no special reason at all... just because you love him.