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

Tag I'm It

I wasn't going to do a blog post today.  I already have a draft for one in my draft folder to introduce a new product in my shop (YEA!!) but my friend Janet over at Tattered 'n Worn tagged me in a little blog hop game.  So, I figured I'd give it a whirl.  Here's how it's played:

~*~THE RULES~* ~

…you must post the rules
…answer 11 questions the tagger posted for you
…create 11 questions to ask the people you tag
…tag 11 people
…let them know you’ve tagged them

Here are the questions I was asked:

1. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?  Wow....my life probably would not be very long if I did this, but I can't imagine getting tired of warm buttered bread.


2. When you are creating, what do you have going in the background?  A lot of Audrey Assad lately.  Sometimes NeedtoBreathe.  Sometimes Third Day.  A little Justin Bieber thrown in (HEY!  My daughter shares my iTunes account!  She does. Really.)


3. Do you have a decorating style, and if so, what is it?  Hoarder Chic.


4. If you could live anywhere in world, where would it be?  I guess I would probably stay right where I am.  Maybe plant some grass since our yard died from 3 years of drought.  I'm not sure anywhere else would really understand me, nor I it.

5. What would you do with your lottery winnings?  I would help out an orphanage that I know is in need, locate the lovely ladies that worked at the daycare where my kids went when they were babies and give them the back pay they deserve for being the comfy laps that I could not be, send some kids to college (in addition to my own) and adopt some seniors in some nursing homes.  And I'd buy some grass (see #4). (I was going to post to my Facebook the other day that we needed some grass and ask if anybody knew a dealer, but I thought that didn't come out quite like I intended.  We still need grass.)

6. What is your very favorite saying?  "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Phil 4:13

7. What are you most looking forward to? Heaven!

8. What is your favorite outdoor activity?  Is "porch sitting" an activity?

9. Do you consider yourself politically aware?  I try really hard not to be. 

10. What is your most prized possession?  Hmmmm...I don't know. We have a lot of stuff that I would be sad to lose, but it's just stuff.   Family photographs would the hardest to lose.  :::adds--"scan family photographs" to list of things to do:::

11. If you knew the world would end tomorrow, how would you spend today?  Hanging with my family.  And eating lots of ice cream.


That was hard!!  Maybe I can go a little easier on my taggees, which are:


Elissa Brown http://thefreckledarmy.blogspot.com

Frauke Schramm / quilthexle http://www.quilthexle.blogspot.com

Hilary Courson http://hillarycourson.typepad.com/hillary-courson

Julie Hernandez http://jaeartworks.com/

Kim Critzer http://www.3wishesstudio.wordpress.com

Lannette Ring http://www.abundant-faith.blogspot.com

Mary Cottingham http://www.barnbugstudio.blogspot.com/

Ruth-Mary Smith http://www.patchworkfamilieshub.blogspot.com

Stacey Brown http://staceybrownarts.blogspot.com/

Tammy Olson http://kickapoochronicles.blogspot.com

Tracy Bante Yarbrough http://www.chickpeastudio.blogspot.com/

 

~ * ~ Their Questions  ~*~

1.  Mountains or beaches?

2.  What is your favorite childhood memory?

3.   If you had to change your first name, what would your new name be?

4.  What's is your all time favorite book?

5.  If you could go back and redo/relive one moment in time, what would it be (or the second or third....whatever you are willing to share)?

6.  What was your favorite piece of clothing in high school?

7.  Laverne or Shirley?

8.  What do you want to be when you grow up?

9.  What's one non-art related thing you really want to learn to do?

10.  What's one art related thing you really want to learn to do?

11.  If you had to be somewhere else right now, where would you choose to go?

Hop around and see what these lovely ladies have to say.  In the meantime, may the Lord bless you today with easy questions and lots of porch sitting time.

<3 Lori

Waking Up the Blog and a BEtter KIND of Monday

It's been a while since I've been here.  I don't know whether to apologize or say "You're welcome." :D  Life just sometimes really throws up speed bumps, and I just have to decide that's okay. 

I'm not sure whether I've mentioned it here or not, but I'm a basketball mom.  Every November, I break out my SuperFan Shoes, warm up the vocal chords and prepare to be my kids' #1 SuperFan.

Now that it's March and our "madness" is over (get it, basketball fans?), we are coming out of hibernation .  While my son is polishing his Academic All District, All District, and All Region honors and my daughter is proving that brainiacs can run fast, too, I have hung up my SuperFan outfit until next year, and we can get back to all the stuff that gets left undone through the winter.  For me, that includes things like art (Woohoo!), blogging (::waving:::), tax preparation (eeek!), and developing new products (Yea!).

All the critters were also overdue for a vet visit, so my husband Christopher took them.  Dot, the loner, decided that being locked up with the other cats and in such close proximity to the dogs was not her favorite thing. So when they got back, she made herself a little harder to catch.

~*~A BEtter KIND of Monday~*~

You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you. ~John Wooden

Since all those basketball schedules have been deleted from it, my brain has started working a little better.  I've been thinking a lot about what the mission of LeissnerArt should be. After much consideration, this is it (at least until I decide to tweak it again):

"To use art to share the gospel, humor to lighten the mood and love to create a caring community of kindred spirits who cooperatively inspire."

This is where YOU come in! 

One of the ways that I would like to bring that mission to life is to make Mondays a little nicer for us all.  Mondays are hard.  Most of us have to get up earlier, and we often run a little later.  We might start out a little crankier or get that way before the day is done.  I would love for us to do as Coach Wooden suggests in the quote above and make Mondays better by doing some deliberate kindness.  Anything of any size will do.  Then come back here and share what you did. You can add your comment anonymously if you like.

Here are some helpful links to websites that will give you ideas:

RandomActsofKindness.org

helpothers.org

I would like to repeat--It does not have to be some big giant gesture.  It's about doing something nice for someone that, because it happened, makes both your Mondays better. 

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE and did I mention LOVE to hear the little love bombs you drop on Monday, March 19.  Will you join me for a BEtter KIND of Monday??

Until then, may the good Lord bless you with super fans, forgiving pets, and better Mondays.

<3 Lori

This post is also a part of the Fly Tribe Shoe Shot Blog Hop

Please consider following the hop here on the Fly Tribe blog.