New Painting - Let it Snow

Here's another small holiday/winter painting called "Let it Snow" of some whimsical, glittery snowflakes.  I'm really looking forward to our first snowfall of the year.  Hopefully it will be a white Christmas.  I know, we've still got time till that day comes, but the holidays seem much cozier with a good amount of snow on the ground.  Houses with their outside lights look so much sweeter with snow too.  Let it snow!

New Painting

I just posted my new painting,
"Follow Your Heart" on etsy.  I've been doing a lot smaller paintings than usual and I've been trying to incorporate more words and/or inspiratinal sayings in my work.

Brave Girls

I found this new website called the Brave Girls Club that's quite inspiring and I like this artsy quote one of the bloggers Melody created.  These ladies are positive and have lots of great ideas, so check out their site for some inspiration. 

Christmas is Coming

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and brought with it the stomach flu in our house.  Usually we start our decorating but we're not feeling quite up to it yet physically.  However, as soon as we come alive again, the house will start to be transformed with lots of candles and sparkle.  I love this cozy room and its wooden beams.  Though I love lots of sparkle for Christmas I also love rustic and cozy rooms as well like this one from HGTV.

New Painting - All is Calm

I just finished this new painting titled "All is Calm" of a deer standing peacfully among falling snowflakes.  The title was inspired by the song Silent Night which gives me a sense of calm and I envision a cloudless snowy night.  Though I'm not a fan of snow overall, I'm looking forward to those first snowfalls and going outside and enjoying those nights that actually do seem silent.

What Gives you Joy?

Patti Digh of Life is a Verb says that, "...it is about doing small things that give you life, bring you joy, help you inhabit the stories of your days--and by extension, help change the world and the others around you...To fully live, you must be present in the biggest way possible."  That's a lot to ponder for sure.  I really do agree that small things really can bring joy if you stop to notice them and breathe them in.  These little things are the ones that make up our real lives, the ones that can make your heart swell.  The giggle from your baby, a vase of fat white lilacs in May, hearing your daughter read aloud to you at bedtime.  What are the small things that truly bring you joy?  That stop you in your tracks and make you feel so damn lucky sometimes?   

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is less than a week away and we're getting pretty excited for the holiday season.  This year we are cooking for my immediate family which will total about eight people plus one little newborn nephew.  Ever since I was little I couldn't wait to wake up and watch the Macy's parade and I still look forward to it though it's not as relaxing to watch when you're prepping for a big meal.  There's just something about the parade that thrills me (still).  I love the high school bands, the colorful floats, the Rockettes and even Santa at the end.  Maybe it still makes me feel like an excited little girl.   When that parade ends all I can think about is Christmas.  It's such a cozy time of year and I'm already in the spirit and can't wait to decorate the house!  I love all the beautiful rooms people share on their blogs that give such decorating inspiration.  Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!  I wonder what things other people are thankful for right now. 

A few of mine:  my sweet and funny daughter Isabella, our adorable puppy Mazie, the sun shining in the front window right now, having a great friend and her daughters coming over while the guys are out of town hunting.  I'm sure I'll be adding more as the holidays approach.

Gratitude Bag

We started something last night called Our Bag of Thank Yous.  We decorated a plain brown lunch bag and hung it on our pantry to put strips of paper inside it with random things we are thankful for.  Our plan is to read each of them on Thanksgiving.  Originally I wanted to keep a jar of thank yous during the whole year to remind ourselves to write things down throughout the whole year, not just holiday time, but my good intention fell by the wayside.  Instead the holidays are approaching and I've been reminded of my idea.  Better late than never.  It's fun to read them a month from now and see what we all put.  Usually my husband is quite the comedian and doesn't take it too seriously, but I still thinks it's a good family tradition to start.

White Decorating

My last post was about white Christmas trees and now I found this picture of a mostly white kitchen during Christmastime in Midwest Living Magazine.  Again, I love it.  Don't know why, but I have a soft spot for white cabinets and white Christmas trees that look like they are covered in snow (not the cabinets).  I think I might actually enjoy cooking in this kitchen.
.

I Got the Holiday Bug

I'm getting excited for Christmas and seeing decorations all over already!  I'll admit it is a bit early though.   I look forward to pulling out my containers of decorations and making the house sparkly and cozy.  This white tree sparked my eye today from the House of Turquoise blog.  I'd love one tree with sentimental and personal ornaments and one just beautifully decorated and "matchy."  I love love love it. 

New Painting - Purple Dawn

Here is a whimsical new painting I just finished.   This was fun to create because I really just played with colors and stamps and didn't try too hard to get it to look a certain way.  Hopefully the coloring is accurate.  I've been trying to work on taking better pictures of my artwork.  I'm going to try to scan it tomorrow at work and see if that helps at all.

Good Book - Every Last One

I've been reading the book Every Last One by Anna Quindlen for a few days now.  I thought it was pretty good, kept my attention, but no major suspense.  Family with three kids, one son a bit depressed, one son a big jock, the daughter a funky writer about to go to college.  Daughter breaks up with long-time boyfriend and he gets really upset.  Well, just in today's reading so MUCH has changed.  I truly feel like I got the wind knocked out of me with something that happened.  Obviously I don't want to give it away, but wow, the grief in this story now.  I almost feel numb like one of the characters does.  My husband says, "why don't you stop reading it then?"  I told him I guess I like books that make me feel.  Is that normal?  I have a friend who just won't read books that upsetting.  Is there something wrong with me?  I guess when they make me really feel, almost physically, they are memorable and they are more meaningful.  They are worth my time.  Maybe they help me become more compassionate to get a slight peek into someone elses world, someone that could be me.  Have feelings for the grief others do go through, even though this book is only fiction.  I just had to write an entry because it really took my breath away today.  I'm not done yet, but I'll say I know it will leave me with quite an impression.

Yeah!

Yeah!  I just won $200 on a local radio station just by signing up and calling in when I heard my name!  Perfect for Christmas coming up.  I really don't think I've really even won much in my life that I can recall, so this is really exciting.  I guess I can say I'm having a lucky spell right now.  If I keep thinking that way, perhaps more luck will come my way!  I're read so much about positive thinking and putting thoughts out into the universe about what I really want to happen.  There are times when I have done some "visualization" and thought, "this is going to happen" and something good actually did in regards to my art.  I just need to keep this luck and positive thoughts in my mindset.  I wonder how many others think this way and do good things happen?? 

A Wonderful Life

French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette said, "What a wonderful life I've had!  I only wish I'd realized it sooner."  Pretty powerful.  Things don't always seem wonderful or spectacular but maybe they really are or maybe they don't have to be.  Maybe just the ordinary moments are wonderful.  Maybe if we look at them differently we'll enjoy our one and only life more.  Perhaps I can look at my messy kitchen and just love it because it's mine and dinners and memories are made there.  Things don't have to be shiny and perfect to be wonderful, right? 

New Painting - Our First Snowfall

I love snowmen, have for years.  I even have quite a collection that I can't wait to put out in December.  Don't know why, but maybe it's the simplicity and the whiteness--I know not very specific, but there's just something about them.  I just finished this new painting titled "Our First Snowfall" and it's just a cute little 8x8 canvas to bring some whimsy into someone's home during the winter/holiday season.

Good Book

I just finished the book Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.  Near the end I couldn't put it down.  It had some mystery, suspense, murder and some big surprises throughout.  It took place in Mississippi and it was a story of an unlikely friendship in the south in the early 1970s between a white boy with a cruel father and a very poor black boy with no father.  The white boy was accused of kidnappinig and murdering a girl after a date with her but her body was never found so he was never convicted; however, he was an outcast in his small town his whole life afterwards.  Years later another girl went missing and he was blamed again.  Some shocking truths slowly come out and it turns into a page turner for sure. 

New Painting - Joy to the World

I've already got the holiday bug.  Once it gets colder, I look forward to Christmas and its cozy season.  I just added this new painting on etsy called Joy to the World.  I love the first snowfall of the year especially at night when the sky is clear and all is quiet. 

Cozy...Ahhhhh

Even though I'm not a fan of cold weather, I do enjoy this time of year when you can snuggle up on the couch under a blanket, reading a book or watching a movie.  Life seems to slow down more when the temperature drops.  I want to stay home more and just hang out.  I don't feel like I have to run run run.  I found this picture and it just says ahhhh to me.  I'd love to be in that room reading a really good book on that cushy white couch, at night the fireplace lit up.  Ahhhh.


(image:  Cote de Texas via Pure Style Home)