This is My Cathedral

Happy Independence Day!! 

I was sitting on the porch (my very favorite place in the world so far) this morning while the family was sleeping sipping my coffee and thinking how grateful I am for our blessings.

 My boy got home safely from camp.

My girl had fun with her friends at a sleepover and pool party. 

My man had the yard looking nice, and we had a beautiful day before us with no plans to go anywhere or do anything except a little reading, a little writing and maybe some fireworks and a movie later. 

Some other fun stuff that's been happening around here~~~

My friend Ursula and I have launched our website where we are collecting information on all kinds of creative classes in one spot for your searching pleasure www.creativeclearinghouse.com..  Come on over and have a look around, create an account so that you can make a favorites list and keep up with all your favorite classes and instructors.  We'll be doing a grand opening soon.  Make sure you have an account! You won't want to miss out!

Speaking of classes...I'm taking one by Mindy Lacefield called Paint Your Story.  I painted this first venture into the cool layers she makes.  I'm sure this is not finished.  I'm not sure when it'll be finished. I'm just grateful to have gotten to put paintbrush to canvas, something I had no confidence would happen at all this summer.

Other fun views from the porch:

Max practicing his lounging.



Ruby checking the aroma.

Texas Sage that will soon be filled with bees.

And now I'm going to go get the pork roast out of the crockpot.  This arranging of photos is driving me nuts. 

I'll plan to be back sooner next time.  Until then, may the good Lord continue to bless you...because when you are living in the land of the free and the home of the brave, you are already blessed far more than you could ever deserve. 

<3 Lori

Might as Well Have a Sale

I'll come back later to do a real post, but I was sitting here thinking, "Why not have a sale?" 

So I did.

Use coupon code "MIGHTASWELL" for 20% off everything in my shop. 

It's good for the rest of the day and the next few days until I change my mind. :)

5 Things I Learned From My Dad

I missed the big Father's Day weekend posts.  We were at basketball games all weekend, so I was distracted. If I hadn't been distracted, I'm not sure I would have been keen to write about Father's Day anyway. 

I'm not sure if I've written it here before. (Surely I have.)  But my dad died very suddenly 4 years ago.  The pain of that sudden loss has subsided, for the most part, most days. But sometimes, I still think it is not possible that he's not here.

My dad was a tough guy.  He once broke both his arms falling off a horse.  He was stubborn.  He chased down a cow (literally running) and bulldogged it.  He was chasing another cow with his motorcycle. She jumped the creek.  He tried.  She made it.  He didn't.  He was a daredevil.  He bought an ultralight plane, but crashed it on its maiden voyage. 

(On a side note, my grandmother couldn't take a photo without cutting someone's head off.)

My dad could fix anything. He collected things that needed fixing in the event that he felt the urge to fix something just for fun, I guess, because with a bunch of rent houses, he had plenty of things to fix not for fun.  He fixed cars, trucks, tractors, lawn mowers, roofs, plumbing, electrical, water heaters, air conditioners, VCR's, televisions.  If it could be soldered, welded, bolted, rigged, jimmied or duct taped, he could fix it.  I miss being able to call him when something's not working. I think to myself pretty regularly, "My dad could fix that."

I learned a lot of things from my dad about being loyal and hardworking and diligently seeking the Lord.  Five other things I learned from my dad:

1.  "Can't never could."  When he said that, he meant do not limit yourself.  There are enough people in the world who will try to limit you.  Don't be one of them.  If you've always wanted to fly a plane, buy one and fly it, even if it's only for a few minutes.

2.  Yodel frequently.  It's just a good thing.

3.  "Use your head for something besides a hat rack."  Think first.  Try to figure it out.  Learn to fix things.  I don't always do this. We do pay for people to repair things that my dad would have had taken apart in 200 pieces on the living room floor. But my first thought is to try to check it out first. Maybe the shredder just needs to be cleaned out (scored a perfectly good shredder from the trash that way).

4. You cannot tell how much money a guy has by looking at him or listening to him.  Saving and giving alike are done with your mouth shut.

5.  Tell your family you love them and you're proud of them.  If it's your last day, you will want them to be able to hold that close to their hearts.

May the good Lord bless you today with sweet memories, forehead kisses, and silly yodeling.

<3 Lori

Blogiversary Winner Announcement

Thanks again to everyone for playing along with me on this fun milestone!  I've had a blast. 

The winners are:

Wini--Kelly Rae Roberts journal
Jamie Burch--Mae Chevrette print
Mydona--Flora Bowley book
Carlanda Brown Williamson--LeissnerArt original

I've loaded ink into my giant printer.  I'll be working on your friends and family prints tomorrow and, Lord willing, will get stuff packed up and mailed out on Wednesday. BUT I NEED YOUR ADDRESSES! :)

Please message me on facebook or email me at LeissnerArt@gmail.com as soon as possible. I don't want to have to pick second chance winners.

Happy Blogiversary!!!

This is how my day started not so bright and early this morning:

Honestly, how can you see that and not thank the good Lord for the day he hath made? 


Then I had to get on the road and actually face the world. 

diamondsandskinny.tumblr.com

What's the best way to repair a bad day?  Do something for someone else!!!!  Yea!!!!

This week, on Saturday to be exact, it will have been a year since I started this blog.  Unfortunately, I cannot now recall what inspired me to start that particular day, a seemingly random Thursday (Thursday??!!  Who starts something new on Thursday?).  However, I can definitively say that this has been a really great year.  I have learned SO much.  I've met some amazing people.  I have done things I thought I would never have had the courage to do. I may have overshared a little.  And I have had an absolute blast doing it all.

So for my blogiversary, I want to give you all a big THANK YOU!  Thanks for reading my blog. Thanks for liking my page. Thanks for hanging with me over there, for all your comments, for all your likes, for your shout outs and referrals, for your purchases and for just being YOU!

~~~~and now for gifts and party favors~~~~

I'm calling this a "friends and family" giveaway.  There are FOUR prizes--awesome stuff that I personally love and hope you do, too!

There will be four winners chosen on Sunday evening at 10 pm CDT (or thereabout) for the following prizes:

This awesome blank journal by Kelly Rae Roberts.  She is an artist/author/"possibilitarian" from whom I've taken two creative business classes. I also own three of her canvas prints, which I love. 

Brave Intuitve Painting, a beautifully rendered book by Flora Bowley.  I took her class "Brave Intuitive You".  Because I was one of the first 100 registrants for the class, I won a signed copy of this book (you aren't getting that one..sorry!).  I'd already pre-ordered one from amazon.com (you're getting this one).  Although I wish there were more painting photos, it's a lovely book and talks about the techniques she uses to create her AMAZING multi-layered artwork like this one ::swoon::.  If  you don't want to do art, you'll still love looking at the pictures.  It's beautiful!

 This print by one of my favorites---Mae Chevrette. She's a young, hip Bostonite who creates amazing mixed media pieces using her own photography, great typography and sweet, funky details.  I actually own this original, so we'll be artsy twins. :)

And, finally, this LeissnerArt original mixed media 8 x 8 artwork which uses my own photograph (of another little art piece), vintage papers and maps, decorative papers, sheet music and a little smidge of the Holy Bible.

The "friends and family" part of the deal is this:  Although not a requirement for the giveaway, I would greatly appreciate it if you would share my page and blog with your friends and family AND each winner (chosen by random selection from comments to this post) will also receive an 8 x 10 print of one of my originals (I'm not sure which one yet, so we'll all be surprised!) to either keep or share with a friend or family member!!!  I love a two-fer!!

I hope the options are awesome enough that any one of them will make you a happy winner because the prizes will also be selected randomly.

So to be entered:

1. Add a comment to this blog post telling me the thing you love most about your friends/family.  Make sure to include your name so that you recognize yourself when I announce the winners.

2.  You can get another entry if you will share my blog post on your Facebook page or twitter.  If you do share or tweet, come back here and enter another comment telling me you did that.  It's the honor system here.  I'm going to trust you.

Facebook rules don't allow giveaways on their site. Comments will only count if they are entered on the blog.  However, I've seen a couple of giveaways recently where the first winner didn't respond to the winner announcement. Don't lose out on your stuff!!  I'll announce on Facebook and here on the blog, so Like my page (and make sure your settings are such that you can see it) and/or follow the blog. I want you to know you won!!

Two possible entries to get signed up for two-fer. I'm so excited to share some of my favorite stuff with you for my blogiversary.  Here's to another year together.  It's going to be a big one.

Thanks again for being here.  May the Lord bless you today with many brilliant sunrises.

<3 Lori

Summertime

I was driving my girlie to her last day of seventh grade today. That means it's officially summertime.

Summer

Buggy windshield.

Frosty drink.

Sunny days.

They make me think of

Summer.

The wheat harvesters that are gathering in the fields are another clue. I love the wheat harvest.  That wasn't always the case, though.

When I was a kid not much older than my girlie, I drove the grain truck for my dad.  Our day would start early with maintaining the combine, which often included duct tape, bailing wire and harsh words.  Our grain truck didn't look like the one above, either.  It looked more like this one:

photo cred

I think our truck might have been cursed.  There was a hole in the floorboard on the passenger side.  The passenger side window wouldn't roll up, and the driver's side wouldn't roll down.  It also didn't have good brakes.  Since the elevator was at the bottom of the biggest hill in town, you had to be very strategic trying to get the truck into the driveway.  I missed it the first time and hit the culvert. The truck battery was not screwed down, so it jumped off its little platform and melted to the manifold.  Luckily, my grandfather was there to run interference for me when my dad finally came looking for me in the era of pre-cell phones.  A snake once slithered out of the dashboard while my sister was driving. She jumped out of the moving vehicle.  My dad was still inside.  The truck met an unfortunate end when my parents were transporting an open five gallon bucket of gasoline in it. My dad hit a pothole (not an unusual occurance in a field); the gas sloshed out of the bucket onto something important (and apparently also very hot) just below the hole in the floor board, and caught fire.

It was during those summers, sitting in the truck waiting for my dad to whistle at the top of his lungs (and sometimes, if I were particularly inattentive, he'd also stand on the platform of the combine frantically waving his cap around), that I realized that farm living wasn't really the life for me.

Other fun happenings around the place that have been keeping me busy:

Max

Ruby

A little bit of art.

May the good Lord bless you with a job you love, cute kitties to keep you company and a house full of people you love.  Amen.

<3 Lori

Blessed by Boxes

I love boxes.  Hinged boxes. Lidded boxes.  Wooden boxes. Wicker boxes.  Even cardboard and plastic boxes, if they are especially cute or especially utilitarian, I love 'em all.  I am so glad we don't have a Container Store here.  I'd be stone cold broke all the time.

Photo cred dwell.com

This is the first box  I remember being especially special to me.  I've had it since I was a little girl.  I don't remember who gave it to me or why, but I kept my most precious keepsakes in it--friends' yearbook photos that we traded, friendship pins made from safety pins and little colored beads, notes passed during English class, a Reagan/Bush 1984 button, the charm from my first gift from my first beau.  I still love this box even though it now holds extra iPod cords. 

My husband has a standing request to scope out boxes for me from the flea market.  These are recent acquisitions that are now treasure chests for keepsakes and Artist Trading Cards:

There are probably ten more performing various duties around the house right now.  I guess it's natural then that I am really incapable of bypassing a box without thinking about 1) bringing it home with me, and 2) giving it a useful life.  In fact, I recently came home with seven cigar boxes from the antique mall in town.  My mom delivered another 5.  I really cannot be trusted, especially not with accomplices!

The "useful life" part is the good news, though.  With these beautiful wooden boxes, I'm making Blessing Boxes like this!

And this:

And this:

The first two are Blessing Boxes for a baby shower and a baby's first birthday.  Guests can write blessings and prayers for the babies, and it becomes a keepsake for cards, those little hospital bracelets, and adorable little striped hats all the babies wear. The second one actually includes an original poem I wrote for my sweet little niece.  The third one that I just finished this afternoon would be a good place for a lover of boxes to keep a prayer list or gratitude journal.  It would also be good for a friend to store get well cards or other well wishes or for a favorite graduate to store keepsakes.  It's just a sweet little reminder that Jesus is always there ready to listen to our needs.

"...and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matt 28:20

I'll be getting to work on more little boxes to add to the section of my Etsy shop called "Other Great Stuff".  After writing so much about boxes and seeing all my boxes together, you would think I would realize I don't need anymore boxes......but don't be surprised if you see me at the antique mall tomorrow.

May the good Lord bless you today with pretty boxes in all shapes and sizes and sweet keepsakes to store inside them.

<3  Lori