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This was our first harvest together as a family. My husband grew up on this farm so this wasn't anything new for him. It was, however, a first for me and our girls. I grew up in a small farm town and each summer I would see all of the wheat trucks waiting in line at the elevator as I walked by on my way to the pool. But that was really the only harvest "experience" I had ever had until this year. Here's how our first harvest went...

Man, I haven't written a blog post for awhile. I should really get back to doing this thing... But, anyways! If you are here reading this then you have probably heard that we just released 3! NEW milk paint colors to our line up! Whoop whoop! And as always I have named them after some pretty amazing ladies and I'm gonna take this time to tell y'all their stories! So, here we go...

Let's start this off with our soft, and oh so sweet aqua milk paint color, Emmaline. I chose to name this color after my sassy and sweet little niece, Irelynn Emmaline. She has some serious attitude but she uses it in the sweetest way ever! She knows she's cute and she uses that to her advantage! If she is doing something she isn't supposed to or is giving attitude after being told no she likes to give you sweet smiles and adorable faces in order to get her way. By the way she's only 2. ;)

Next up is Johanna July! Johanna is our pale, happy yellow milk paint color. She was a Black Seminole. The community in which she lived was made up of black people who had escaped lives as plantation slaves in the Old South. They ran to freedom in Florida and lived with members of the Seminole tribe. In the early 1800s, the Seminoles were forced out of Florida and were relocated to a reservation in Oklahoma. Johanna and her family decided to head to Mexico to start a free colony. They did a lot of traveling back and forth between Texas and Mexico. Her and her family learned many horse skills from the Mexican cowboys and they were often employed by the U.S. Army and scouts. As a girl, Johanna became and expert rider! She learned to ride bareback with only a simple rope looped around the horse's neck and nose. After her father died it was up to her to take care of her mother and sisters. So, she started working as a domodora (horse tamer) for the U.S. troops stationed at Fort Duncan, Texas. She was famous for her knowledge of horse folklore and all the ways to keep a horse healthy. Johanna always wore thick braids in her hair, bright dresses, gold earrings and flashy beaded necklaces. She married but she wasn't the best housewife. She always seemed to burn dinner and her sewing tended to unravel. She never really learned how to keep house since her mother and sisters always kept house while she tamed horses. Her husband wasn't very forgiving. He became angry with Johanna and was a violent. One afternoon Johanna decided she'd had enough. So, she slipped quietly out of the house and in a nearby field picked a long stalk from a Spanish dagger plant, braided it into a bridle, and rode a horse straight out of town. She wasn't about to let a man control her happiness. She did remarry two more times, but only to men who shared her same passion for taming horses. She preferred to walk barefoot so she could feel the earth under her toes. On more than one occasion, she caught the local train (which didn't stop in her small village) by standing in the tracks when she wanted to get on. Forcing them to stop. :) She was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and she wasn't about to change for any man.

Last but certainly not least is Raven Wilkinson. Raven is our soft, sweet ballerina pink milk paint color. Raven was 5 years old when her mother took her to see her first ballet in 1941. The famed Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo was at New York's City Center Theater, performing the ballet Coppelia, about a doll that comes to life. After the curtain fell and the final dancer took her last bow, Raven turned to her mother and told her she was going to be a dancer when she grew up. Four years later, at age 9, she was able to take the first steps towards her dream: She began to study at the school run by the Ballet Russes. She was a natural-born dancer! Her teacher and the director of the school noted her refined, elegant form and nurtured her. In 1954 she was given a full contract and made a member of the Ballet Russes. Raven was the first African-American dancer to be a member of any major ballet company. She was quickly promoted to soloist, and she toured with the company for 6 years. Her time as a performer wasn't an easy one, though. It was marred by prejudice and discrimination. One night while staying at a hotel the threats became far to real. The Ku Klux Klan left a burning cross outside of her window. After that season, the company suggested that she might reconsider performing in the South in light of the prejudice and danger she faced. After 6 years of touring under these tough conditions she decided to take a break from dancing and joined a convent. But her love for dance refused to go away. After just short 8 months of life as a Catholic nun, she left the convent and returned to the stage. Despite all of the discrimination she faced both personally and professionally she never gave up on her dream and her passion. And with that strength and determination she helped pave the way for other African-American dancers.

There ya have it! I'm sure you can see why I have chosen these women (and that strong willed toddler!). Their strength and determination is both admirable and beautiful!

I can't wait to release more new colors and be able to tell you the stories of other inspiring, dream chasin', tough, strong-willed, beautiful women! :)

xoxo

Here is what the dresser looked like to start with...

The darker edges that faded to light reminded of ombre and I knew I had to give it a try! And I gotta say, I LOVE how it turned out!

I used our Wildflowers & Pistols Milk Paint Base with No Pigment with an acrylic paint added in. To lighten the color I just added in some of our Priscilla color (bright white).

Even if you add in an acrylic paint to your milk paint base it can still crackle and chip! So, you can make ANY color of milk paint while still getting all the awesome characteristics of milk paint!

II updated the hardware using Rustoleums Rosemary paint. It's so pretty! Similar to a rose gold color. :)

Check out all that amazing crackle I got on this piece!!

And not to mention all of that chipping!!

I'm seriously crushing over this ombre look! I love how the color fades!

I love this color so much!!

The colors remind me of the beach! This one is definitely going on my list of all time fave pieces that I've done! I love it so much! I hope you enjoy it and that it gets you inspired to create something fun and beautiful! :)

           xo