“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
PSALM 84:11
A Sun and Shield
08/14/2014
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Art, Art: music, Faith, Other, Other Things: Wise Words | Tagged: Faith, faithfulness, glory, grace, inspiration, quote, shield, sun | 
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Posted by mahlbrandt
“God doesn’t call us to be comfortable…”
07/01/2014“But God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we’ll be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.” — Francis Chan from Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
(You’re welcome to share, pin, use this graphic but please keep the tiny watermark in the corner that credits the creator of the graphic.)
Leave a Comment » | Art, Faith, Family, Family: Adoption, Family: Foster Parenting, Other, Other Things: Wise Words | Tagged: Faith, faithfulness, inspiration, pain, quote | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Pain is No Measure of His Faithfulness
06/09/2014
When I was struggling with anger, grief and justice recently, a thoughtful friend shared an encouraging note along with this song “Open My Hands” by Sara Groves. It spoke deeply to my soul, especially the two lines above. I hope it encourages you. Psalm 84:11 says For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
“Open My Hands” by Sara Groves
I believe in a blessing I don’t understand
I’ve seen rain fall on wicked and the just
Rain is no measure of his faithfulness
He withholds no good thing from us
No good thing from us, no good thing from us
I believe in a peace that flows deeper than pain
That broken find healing in love
Pain is no measure of his faithfulness
He withholds no good thing from us
No good thing from us, no good thing from us
I will open my hands, will open my heart
I will open my hands, will open my heart
I am nodding my head an emphatic yes
To all that You have for me
I believe in a fountain that will never dry
Though I’ve thirsted and didn’t have enough
Thirst is no measure of his faithfulness
He withholds no good thing from us
No good thing from us, no good thing from us
I will open my hands, will open my heart
I will open my hands, will open my heart
I am nodding my head an emphatic yes
To all that You have for me
No good thing from us
No good thing from us
He withholds no good thing from us
I will open my hands, will open my heart
I will open my hands, will open my heart
I am nodding my head an emphatic yes
To all that You have for me
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Posted by mahlbrandt
New Home: Kids Room Plan
05/23/2012At our last house, I designed a combined nursery and kids room as we were becoming foster parents. It had to be suited for 1 or 2 kids, either gender, newborn up to age 5…all within a 10×11 bedroom. In our new house, we’ll have a nursery for Precious and another bedroom that’s set up for our future foster kids. I’m not really sure what parameters we’ll set next time around so I’m planning this room for 1 or 2 kids, boys or girls, ages 2-12. The room is approximately 10×12. We already own the bed, dresser, curtain, book ledges, owl, sheets and chair. The rest would be new purchases.
Sources
1. Sherwin WIlliams Mélange Green – accent wall color
2. Sherwin Williams Greek Villa – other three walls
3. IKEA VANDRING RÄV duvet cover and pillow case $20
4. Woodland shower curtain from Target Home (as window curtain) – no longer available
5. Owl wall art – vintage
6. Dresser – vintage
7. IKEA VANDRING RÄV Soft toy, set of 2 $8
8. Jimco orange lamp with drum shade from Lowes $40
9. IKEA KURA reversible loft bed $199
10. IKEA RIBBA picture ledges (to use as book ledges), x2, $10 each
11. Target Home 325 Thread Count Wrinkle Free Sheet Set – Blue Diamond $28
12. Chair – vintage
13. IKEA RINGUM 2′ round rug in green, x3, $10
Floor Plan (to scale)
2 Comments | Art, Art: interior design, Art: new home build, Art: new home kids room, Family, Family: Foster Parenting | Tagged: bedroom, foster parenting, inspiration, interior design, kids, kids room, mood board, new home build, new house, precious, room plan | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
New Home: Nursery Plan
05/16/2012At our last house, I designed a combined nursery and kids room as we were becoming foster parents. It had to be suited for 1 or 2 kids, either gender, newborn up to age 5…all within a 10×11 bedroom. In our new house, we’ll have TWO bedrooms for set up for kids. Hooray! (And another bedroom that we’ll set up as a den/playroom for now.) Here’s my plan for the nursery, which will be for our daughter. She will be about 1.5 when we move in. The room is approximately 10×11 (not including the doorway). The only new purchase for us in this room will be the curtains.
Sources
1. Sherwin WIlliams Rosebay – accent wall color
2. Sherwin Williams Greek Villa – other three walls
3. Petit Collage Animal ABC – Basic $40
4. IKEA BARBRO curtains $15
5. Lamp – vintage, thrifted
6. Dresser – vintage (changing table height)
7. Mr. French Poster Pop-Tone Monkey $30
8. Mobile – handmade by me
9. IKEA SOMNAT crib – no longer available
10. IKEA RIBBA picture ledges (to use as book ledges), x2, $10 each
11. IKEA GOSSIG SPANIEL – no longer available
12. Braxton Studio Letterio White Cradle Chair $80-120
13. IKEA TOFTBO bathmat (x4, taped together, MACHINE WASHABLE!) – no longer available in this color $13
14. Nightstand – vintage, refinished by me
Floor Plan (to scale)
1 Comment | Art, Art: interior design, Art: new home build, Art: new home nursery | Tagged: bedroom, inspiration, interior design, kids, mood board, new home build, new house, nursery, precious, room plan | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Bathroom Vanity Inspiration
01/25/2012I was over on House*Tweaking the other day and I got some inspiration for bathroom vanities in our new house. Floating is nice but I’m a sucker for storage. I like these options, as long as their is enough counter space built around the sink. I think they’re both from IKEA.
Source: housetweaking.com via Martina on Pinterest
I’m generally not a fan of double sinks in master bathrooms but this might be good in a kids/guest bathroom where people aren’t as good at sharing.
Source: housetweaking.com via Martina on Pinterest
1 Comment | Art, Art: new home build | Tagged: bathroom vanity, dream house, IKEA, inspiration | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Pinterest December 2011 Additions: In My Dream House
12/21/2011Are you on Pinterest? Since we’re in the process of planning our dream house, I’ve been trying to remember to pin images of features I love for our future home. Here are a few recent additions and what I loved about them.
I love the art and the fireplace here:
Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Martina on Pinterest
.
Light airy living room with huge windows. Love it. Somewhere in the great room, if not in the living room:
Source: gallery.apartmenttherapy.com via Martina on Pinterest
.
Super cute breakfast nook, though I may prefer an island or peninsula in the kitchen with stools instead:
Source: designsponge.com via Martina on Pinterest
.
The next 3 images totally inspired me to rethink the “den” into more of a creative space, playroom, art room:
Source: designmom.com via Martina on Pinterest
Source: designmom.com via Martina on Pinterest
Source: designmom.com via Martina on Pinterest
.
Craft supply storage:
Source: designsponge.com via Martina on Pinterest
.
Remind me to make sure we create a space in the kitchen to store cookbooks. I love what they did here on the island. Also, I like the white cabinet doors and white subway tile backsplash:
Source: designsponge.com via Martina on Pinterest
Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: interior design, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Art: new home build | Tagged: dream house, ideas, inspiration, new home, pinterest | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Dream Home Inspiration: Exterior
10/25/2011Jason and I have been dreaming big lately… dreaming about houses. I’m not ready to tell you why yet.
Here are some inspiring images I’ve found.
8 Comments | Art, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design | Tagged: dream home, dreaming, eichler, homes, inspiration, mid-century modern, modern | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Kids Bedroom: Sources of Inspiration
06/30/2011I’m on my computer all day at work as a graphic designer. Whenever I have a few minutes free I’m browsing my Google Reader or Pinterest pages absorbing inspiration from all the amazingly creative people out there. I had been tagging ideas for kids room and nurseries for years so when I had the opportunity to design a room for our future foster kids, I already had lots of ideas. I had so much fun putting this room together! (Have I said that before?)
This room was the inspiration behind painting the wall gray and painting the little night stand bright green:
I first saw the book ledge idea here:
This blue crib blew my mind. (Then, I saw this version in the 2010 IKEA catalog.)
There are a lot of KURA bed mods out there on the interwebs but this one inspired me to cover up the super-bright blue panels with white contact paper. She used fabric here:
And, of course, chalkboard paint has been all over the home & craft blogs for a while now but this room is what inspired me to paint the back of the kids bedroom door:
Here’s a tour of our kids bedroom in case you missed it.
If you’re a new reader from Itsy Factor, thanks for stopping by! (And thanks for the blog love, Elisabeth!)
Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: Bedoom for Foster Kids, Art: interior design, Art: kids room, Family | Tagged: blogs, inspiration, interior design, kids room | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Cup of Inspiration
08/20/2009
I’m very sad to report that my favorite tea cup — the one I use EVERYday — the one that my best friend fellow graphic designer gave me — did not survive the office move. :: sad tears ::
I just discovered a new blog called Naturally Nina and it’s full of beautiful inspiration. Her mug shot post (where I found these pictures) gives me hope. I will find a new “design-licious receptacle” for my morning cup of tea.
2 Comments | Art, Art: modern design, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: friends, inspiration, mug, tea cup | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
myMCMlife.com 