Friday Fill Ins

I'm playing along with Friday Fillins.  :)

1. Paisley _is the name of my cousin's new baby girl, who is adorable____.
2. _Sometimes a____ hat _will work as a weapon____.
3. Where is __my tooth guard?  For real.  I lost it___.
4. __Sometimes I like to read the very last page of a book first.  Isn't it fun to get a hint about how it's going to___ end?
5. Sometimes, less is _enough____.
6. __No, sir, I do not have any___ Grey Poupon.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _a crazy important playoff game___, tomorrow my plans include __sleeping in, making a big breakfast, staying in my pjs all day and doing arty things___ and Sunday, I want to _worship, nap and read____!

You can play along here.

Praying the good Lord makes  his face to shine on you today.

<3 Lori

It's Time

My week, or at least the last parts of it, from instagram and some silliness from YouTube~~

 My week started off beautifully when my "Love Birds" accompanied a great message about persistence from Brave Girls Club.  Sqeeeee!

  I got a happyhappyhappy shipment from Blick's Art Supplies with a load of canvasses and some other fun things to use during the holiday weekend.

These 4 x 4 canvas panels became spirit gifts for our girls basketball team who competed in the Area playoff game on Friday.  They didn't win, but they played their hearts out.  I heard they liked their little keepsakes.

Super sized red velvet cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting and Neocolor II's for Valentine's Day. :::googlyeyes:::

I restarted on a canvas that was a reject from my Flora Bowley class.  It was a joy to paint over that ugly thing.  When I got the this point, I stewed on it a while and didn't really want to go farther because I liked it.  I sought advice from my arty friends and had a closer look at it and decided I could do some things.

This is not a very good photo. I need to figure out a better photo set up for night time picture taking.  But this is what happened.  It looks better and brighter in person.  I've done a little more black detailing and need to do a little more coloring and paint the sides and it'll be good to go!  The words are from the chorus of "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons.  It was playing on Pandora while I was painting.  When I hear it, it makes me happy and sing at the very top of my lungs.   I've looked up the lyrics, and, honestly, I don't know what they may have meant to the writers. But to me, these few words are all I need. 

Whatever it is that you are waiting to do until the "right time", do it.  It's time to begin, isn't it?

And finally, a little silly thing from YouTube to share.  During halftime of the girls' game, the student section made a video. The kids gathered costumes from who knows where.  My son was wearing a gigantic blond wig and a collection of Mr. T-like Mardi Gras  beads. You might be able to pick him out on the  left side of the stands  about halfway up.

 

I'm not counting on this week being as great as last week. But I'm already blessed way more than I deserve, so I'm grateful to God for dumping that bucket of happy on me last week. 

I hope He has a bucket with your name on it this week.

<3  Lori

Grand Theft

I went to get my hair done today, which I really needed because I have two teenagers at home.   Since it takes a few hours, and I'm antsy waiting so much, I always take a big stack of stuff to do.  I read my Somerset Studio magazines, make lists, and sketch sometimes.  I got these little journals a while back from Target. They have really durable, happy-colored covers and lines so my OCD doesn't get itchy when I try to write in them.  I love them.

I was going to write some notes in it. When I opened it, though, I realized at some point I had designated it as a poetry journal.  I found this silly poem I don't remember writing.  It's dated May 15, 2012.  It's not titled, so I'm calling it....

Grand Theft

The cat lost her mind.

The cat took my phone.

She went through my wallet,

And then she left home.

The dog asked to borrow

The keys to the car.

He said, "See ya later!

We won't go very far."

It's crazy!  I know!

My pets ran away

With my car and phone.

Oh man!  What a day!

I yell to my pets,

"Come back! You can't drive!

You also can't talk!

Can I get change for a five?!!"

But now I am petless

And carless, to boot.

They've left me alone

And taken my loot.

You cannot trust mammals.

That's what I've heard.

Now I've seen it first hand.

And I'm getting a bird.

"Date Night" available as a print in my Etsy shop today!

May the good Lord bless you today with sweet mammals in your life.

<3  Lori 

I Am. I Am. I Am.

"I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart.  I am.  I am.  I am." 

Syliva Plath 

The Bell Jar

A wicked smart, mature-for-her-age, 16 year old girl posted this on her status on Facebook the other day.  It hammered me in the head.    It spoke to me so loudly that I immediately wrote it on my fresh, clean table paper.

And then it taunted me.  

It needed to be something.  

Something special.

I mentioned a while back in this post my love of boxes.  My friend Susan of Susan's Charming Trinkets hooked me up with another huge stack of boxes.  This is my box shelf in my new arrangement upstairs.

Since I replaced my desk with folding tables and lost all my drawer space,  I need a place to put all my Pitts and Sharpies and Microns and Inkssentials.  So I combined my need for a pen/pencil box with this quote that spoke to me. 

Now I have a really special pencil box.

 

I still don't like to call this space upstairs a "studio".  The title "artist" still sticks in my throat.  I don't want to assume an identity that is not mine to assume.  But, you know what?  

I am.  I am.  I am.

Praying the Lord blesses you this week with that which quiets your braying heart and turns the harsh, loud cry to a sweet melody.

<3  Lori

Growing

I know a lot of you guys are familiar with the fairly-new-to-me practice of choosing one word to guide our new year rather than making a list of New Year's resolutions.  Last year, my word was "peace".  While I didn't achieve perfect peace, I did come to realize this, which I continue to practice:

"Grow" is my word for 2013.  This word holds meaning for several reasons.  The first is based on 2 Peter 3:18, "But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To him be glory both now and forever. Amen."  I want to spend this year studying God's word intentionally, making a place for it in my daily life, setting aside time specifically for that purpose and keeping it sacred.  Although the flu bug has already put me behind schedule, I'm using an amazing community of women called #shereadstruth to help guide my studies. They have a wonderful system of emailed devotions, guided Bible studies and social networking through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  It's really been great to meet several of these ladies already. I'm anxious to catch up and then spend every day with our Lord.  It kind of makes me cry just thinking about it.  Yea!!!!

Secondarily, this is the year that I plan to really start growing my business. LeissnerArt has been on a virtual hiatus during the 2012-2013 school year so that we can do senior parent things--last basketball season, graduation, help prepare for college, etc.  By June, that will be all done and my son will be starting his new life as a young adult.  What that will look like for LeissnerArt, I'm not sure yet.  But some changes have already been implemented.

I'm making new art.  Because of the flu, I didn't get to get these scanned and listed.  But I'll be working on that as soon as I can.  I'm anxious for you to see.

I upgraded my studio space.  Three plastic tables from Sam's have replaced my tiny desk and yard furniture.  Now my work surface is huge!  I have a designated painting/crafting space; an office space for blogging, record keeping and perhaps printing; and a surface for packing and shipping.  I'm so excited to have so much work space and so much organization!

Who wouldn't be inspired sitting right here?  :::pinches self:::

But wait!  There's more!!  Just kidding. That's all I got right now.  I'm planning to make to some business goals for the last six months of year.  I'm hopeful I'll have some things to share soon.  For the time being, just hanging out in my space and continuing to make art that makes me happy to make and happy to look at is success for me.  Having you guys here to share it is a huge bonus!

And now the giveaway!  To help me keep my word and my goals in mind every day for the year, I bought this beautiful bracelet from Brandy Klaers at Bound With the Word:

And to help one of you keep your word in mind, I bought one for you too!!  Your word doesn't have to be scripture. It can be just a word, a phrase, some other quote or saying that encompasses the message you want to speak to you this year.  You can have whatever you want on the bracelet if you win and you can choose any background you like.

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You can get entries for the random drawing in the following ways (Please make sure I can contact you.  I'll give you a shout out here and on my Facebook page, so if you aren't a liker there, please give it a click, too.  I've had some people miss out on giveaways they won because I couldn't reach them.) :

1.  If you leave a comment here on the blog telling me what your word for the year is, you get one entry.

2.  Share my blog post with your friends on Facebook and leave another comment saying you did that and you get another entry.

3.  Follow me on Instagram (LeissnerArt) and help keep me accountable to #shereadstruth.  Leave a comment here letting me know you followed and that'll also be an entry. :)

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That's it. Easy peasy.  I'll use a randomizer to select the winning comment on Saturday, January 12, and will announce the winner sometime that evening.  Oh! I can't wait to see what inspiring words you've chosen!  I really do love wearing my bracelet, I'm so happy to share Brandy's art with one of you.

Thank you, friends, for hanging with me on the blog.  You are blessings to me.

May the good Lord bless you this year with whatever your heart desires, in His name.

<3 Lori

Please continue the blog hop and read what my friends have chosen to guide their new year.  Click here to continue the hop.  Fly Tribe Blog Hop

Happy Flu Year

I don't think I've ever had a more inauspicious start to the new year than this one.  The morning of New Year's Eve, I started feeling not so good.  By Tuesday morning, I was flat on my back with aches and chills and fever and the whole Happy Flu Year bling bag. 

It's now Friday evening and, after hoarking down half a Sam's club sized bottle of Nyquil plus a whole box of Dayquil and using a box and a half of tissues, I think I might be coming out of it.  My advice after all that is this:

1.  Get a flu shot in October. (period) (end of sentence)(I'm not kidding)(do not pass go do not collect $200)

2.  Have a ready stock of super soft tissues and over the counter cold/flu medicine at all times but especially during flu season.  All tissues begin to feel like 40 grit sandpaper after enough blowing, so start as soft as possible.

3.  Don't visit the ER or any drug store/pharmacy during flu season.  There are germs there. Lots of them.

4.  Make sure when you pass out from flu symptoms (assuming you either didn't complete #1 or you didn't get the full benefit of #1), make sure there are people around you are are willing and able to take care of you.  The flu is no joke.  You'll need someone to bring you water to keep you hydrated and lip balm for your parched lips and to help you pour the Nyquil from those big heavy bottles.

Now that I'm feeling a little more sunny side up, I might actually be able to accept that it's 2013.  My friends from Flying Lessons are doing our 2nd Annual One Word Blog Hop in a few days. I'm having a coolio GIVEAWAY, so make sure you check back on Monday for details!

Until then, may the good Lord bless you with good health.  If you get not-so-good health, may He bless you with soft tissues, soft pj's, and soft pillows until good health returns.

<3 Lori

Sentimentally Ornamental

For the first time in many years, we managed this year to get our Christmas tree up during the Thanksgiving break.  Last year, I think I kind of boycotted Christmas.  Our tree is 9 ft tall and weighs at least 87654 pounds.  Wrestling its three sections downstairs by myself then trudging back upstairs to get the ornaments out of the oven-like attic, then decorating it myself isn't my idea of a good time When I asked the family to help, they were less than enthusiastic.  So, last year, we had a 3 ft tree that weighs about 3 pounds and comes in a box that fits under the guest bed.  It worked out just fine.  This year, everyone was more amenable to getting the big tree down and set up. (We've decided to ditch the ginormous tree when the trees go on sale.)

 Tree is bigger than it appears.

I actually do love decorating the tree.  I like an eclectic tree full of ornaments that have been collected from travels, family and friends.  Those partial to satinized matching balls and color coordinated ribbons would hate my tree.  I love seeing all kinds of colors, all kinds of shapes, mismatched and homemade and full of memories.

In this post, I'm going to share a few of my favorites.

My kiddos

The essential AOL CD ornaments

Love the Heartwood Creek by Jim Shore

My sister-in-law  makes beautiful ornaments for the family every year. This is one of my favorites.

From a fun trip to Lake Tahoe many years ago and a heart one of the kids made after 9/11.

Inherited from my husband's sweet grandfather, Baba.  We used to visit him every Sunday afternoon and eat snacks and play cards and laugh and laugh.  I miss that silly old man.

 One of my daughter's angel ornaments we've been collecting for her for years.

I got this adorable fellow from my friend Kathy May at Kathy May Designs.  She's in the midst of reworking her website.  Love Love Love her stuff.

I even made an ornament this year.

As I was walking through JC Penney today, I took a look at their ornaments and made a commitment in my head.  From now on, I'm going to make every effort to buy handmade ornaments as our family ornament and our travel ornament.  There are too many great artists and artisans hand making great ornaments to waste my money on any more Made in China things.  

Here are some of my arty friends who have some ornaments available for purchase. There are many, many others, as well.  Buy handmade this Christmas.

Flutter Before You on Etsy has these adorable little "Captured Fairies" ornaments. There are several to choose from:

Jill at Jill's Dream has some really cute little mini canvas ornaments in her shop.  I'm loving that little pink and turquoise bedecked snowman:

Melanie at Sunshine Girl Designs has so many cute ornaments.  She had mini canvases, as well as hand sculpted ornaments.  I love this one:

Please visit these shops or search in "handmade" for "ornaments" on Etsy.  Made by hand. Made in America.  Perfect!

My friend Kim at 3 Wishes Studio posted an awesome giveaway  on her facebook page on Monday.  She'll be your secret Santa for someone who you think could use a special treat this season.  All you do is leave a comment on that post or send her a message that you have someone in mind.  On December 14, she'll pick winners and contact them for the name and mailing address of their nominee.  She has great art.  Go like her page and let her know if you'd like her to spread some Christmas cheer secretly on your behalf.  Here's a sample of her beautiful fused glass:

Now that I've been wandering around the Christmas aisle at Etsy, I'm going to have to get our family ornaments, too!!  Yea!

May the good Lord bless you today with light weight trees, cooperative helpers and sweet memories to flood your Christmas season with love.

<3 Lori

PS: If you are an artist who has Christmas ornaments available for sale, feel free to add your links in the comments.  It'll go in the spam folder, but I'll check them and publish them as soon as possible.