Look to the Sky

Connie of Dirty Footprints Studio lost an amazing friend in June and asked her readers to go outside and take a picture of the sky.  She was making a memorial to her friend John.  I immediately went outside with my i-phone--I'm a daydreamer who loves to just gaze at the sky--I wanted to participate in her project.  My daughter's name is Isabella Sky, so you know how I feel about the sky. It mesmerizes me, relaxes me, makes me feel grateful...so much I can't even put into words.

She has put together this sky-filled and moving memorial that I just watched with awe.  326 readers submitted their sky photos for her memorial - she put it together with music, her painting and a tribute to this man in her life.  I feel subdued and wowed after watching it.  She's asking that we blog about someone in our life we've lost and also share a picture of the sky here.   Five years ago I lost my dad to lung cancer.  We found out he had cancer and lost him three weeks later.  Too fast, too quick to process.  I do look up at the sky sometimes and talk to him and wonder if he's with us in spirit.  I ask for a sign.  I usually don't notice any except the day we planted a tree for him on the land near his beloved up-north cottage in St. Germain.

A big group of us, my family and his up-north friends decided that planting a tree near the lake would be an ever-lasting memory of him.  As we stood around quietly looking at the tree, some of us adding water to it and some adding beer (my dad loved his beer before he got sick), a beautiful bald eagle came soaring around us above the tree.  It seemed like a sign to me.  It had to be.  It was at the perfect moment and the eagles usually stayed closer to the water and to their nests in the evergreens, not near us on land.  To this day I keep that moment with me as a sign that he was watching us celebrate him that day.

Thanks for doing this Connie--it is a reminder to remember our loved ones and to notice this beautiful sky that we are connected under.

Goals, Dreams and Starting a Fire

It's been a few weeks since I've written a post.  We just got back from a week-long vacation "up north" as we say it in Wisconsin to Lost Lake in St. Germain.  It's beautiful, peaceful, full of trees, bald eagles and right on the water which is the best part of being there.

The day I got back I picked up a book that I had on hold from our local library called The Firestarter Sessions by Danielle Laporte.  Wow.  She's feisty, vibrant, enthusiastic, sarcastic and I'm loving her approach to creating "success on your own terms." I'm not even done reading it yet, but it sure is leaving an imprint on me.  It really feels like a fire is started under me...I've been painting with a fever for the last two days ever since I started reading it.  No way can you read this and just sit there.  Her attitude and personality really are motivating to me.  She is unconventional which is inviting because I don't feel like I have to take the "normal" route to create the life I want.  Here are a few of her statements that resonate with me and get me really moving:


"Being your true self is the most effective formula for success there is."  Hmmmm...how's that for eye-opening?!


"Your desires reflect what's truest about you."  Makes me want to focus solely on this so my true self shines through; surely this equals joy, right?

She also boldly asks:  "Would you rather be sufficient or masterful?
                                      Would you rather be bright or a freaking supernova?
                                      Would you rather be well-rounded or on your own leading edge?"

See, I told you she's feisty and motivating!  This one she quoted by Thomas Moore I'm going to share is soooooo spot on it blew me away:  "The need to be normal is the predominant anxiety in modern life."  Wow.
I hope these few words I've shared might light a little spark for you or maybe just get you thinking today.  Thanks for stopping by!

Some New Girly Art

Those of you who know me well, know I tend to make art that leans toward the girly side.  Not that I'm overly feminine by any means...I probably wear maybe one dress a year to be honest.  But I do love girly, pretty things.  Here are a few of my newest creations that could definitely be classified as girly, for little girls and even big girls like me who love whimsy, pretty and color!

These sweet birdies were so fun to paint...I really enjoyed the creating the background -- it was very freeing!

Here's another one that I really loved doing the background too...hmmmm...seeing a pattern here in enjoying making these free and whimsical backgrounds.  The "dream big" flower above is actually a long narrow painting; I love painting on these oblong canvases though I can't always find them in the store.

I hope you enjoy seeing my girly creations and they put a smile on your face!  Thanks for visiting today.

Sweet Summertime - ATC Swap

Last year about this time if I saw the letters ATC I had no idea what they meant.  No clue.  Well, now they have been part of my life and my vocabulary for over 6 months I think.  An amazing group of artists whom I now call friends and I pick a theme each month and create little ATC's or artist trading cards and swap them with each other. Here are the four I created for the month of May "May flowers."  We typically create three to be traded and one extra for the sweet hostess.

Here are just a few from some past swaps that I've received from these friends from around the whole country.  They are sweet, inspirational and full of the heart of the person who made them - it's nice to have little keepsakes from these people who share a love of creating with me.

For July I'm the hostess and I picked the theme "sweet summertime" - I just love how those two words go together.  They make me think of lazy afternoons reading in a hammock under a shade tree...humid nights sitting outside in the dark watching the fireflies and the full moon...juicy watermelon...splashing in a pool...ice cold lemonade out on the patio...hearing the cicadas buzzing in the afternoon heat.  What is something that makes summer sweet to you?

I hope you're finding little ways to enjoy this season and have a sweet summertime too.

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Me

I'm reading Susannah Conway's book This I Know and she's talking about her world of blogging and she suggested to write "ten things you might not know about me" and I thought I'd give it a whirl.

1.  I always have my toenails polished.  Always.  Even though I have big feet and long toes, they are always polished, a bright color.

2.  I was adopted when I was five days old and have met both my birth parents.

3.  When I was little I really wanted to be a beautician; now that doesn't appeal to me at all.

4.  I still am disappointed that I had to have a C-section when I gave birth to Isabella.  That was eleven years ago.

5.  My grandpa committed suicide about 13 years ago.

6.  I love arranging flowers in vases, especially ones I've grown outside myself.  I can get lost in doing this and placing vases all over the house.

7.  My husband and I have been together ever since April of our senior year in high school.

8.  I can't stand sweating but I really love summertime!

9.  My favorite animal is the giraffe.

10.  I really miss my grandma who told really great stories about my dad and his brother pulling pranks when they were younger.  She just brought these stories to life even though I asked her to tell me the same ones over and over.

Well, a few of those put a bit of a lump in my throat, but it felt good to reveal a bit more about me and what has shaped me as a now 40-year-old woman who still feels like a girl inside.  If you'd like to share ONE thing most people don't know about you, share it please.  Only if you feel comfortable though.  Thanks for visiting today.

Summer Days and Summer Nights

We sure don't need a date on the calendar to tell us it's summer this year - it's been in the 90s for days in Wisconsin.  During the day I've been mostly staying inside to avoid this crazy heat.  Anyone that knows me, knows that I struggle if it's over 80 degrees.  I'm off in the summer so I feel super super lucky to spend time doing things at a different pace than the rest of the year, but then I get that nagging worry that I'm not enjoying it enough.

Every year though I tell myself I'm going to find a way to deal with the heat better and just get out and enjoy it.  Well, good intentions I guess.  I think if we had a pool or lived on a lake where I could get some relief with the water, I'd be outside much more.  Last night it cooled down a bit--probably to 80--and Shane and I did some vegetable garden weeding and then we just sat outside and enjoyed a bottle of Sangria and the night breeze.  It was really relaxing and fun just the two of us.  He works really long days so he usually doesn't want to do much at night, even just sit outside.  He wants to "relax" on the couch, but last night being outside on the patio was a great way to "ring in" the official first day of summer.   

Since I go back to work at the end of August and summer flies by I also tell myself every year that I MUST really live it up, enjoy every moment, do special things...you know relish every single moment and make them extraordinary.  A lot of pressure when I come to think of it though.  But when August hits I always seem to feel a bit disappointed that I didn't seize the day more often.  I wonder if other people feel the same way or if they just live each day and "be" not try to "do" so much.  Like am I taking away from the moment by trying so hard to do something exceptional?  Well, all that aside I do vow to spend more nights outside just enjoying the starry sky...that isn't a crazy goal at all and it's something that I love love love to do.  I just got a magazine yesterday where they had a summer "bucket list" and I'm wondering if I should put together one of those or I should just take each day as they come. 

Do you have anything you really feel you must do when summertime hits?  I'd love to hear about it.

Photo Highlights from this Amazing Week

This has been an amazingly beautiful week.  First of all the weather has been theeeeee best!  Sunny, birds chirping, no mosquitoes yet and amazing temps in the 70s and low 80s.  It has been heaven in my book.  Oh, and school is officially done for me as of tomorrow, so I have the summer off to enjoy my daughter and my art!

I want to share a few of the highlights through photos I took with my i-phone this week, starting off with a peek at my "new" desk I got from the local thrift shop.  Since the weather is nice now I'm going to paint in our sunroom that is connected to our bedroom, except when it gets too hot because there is no air conditioning in it.  So far I love painting out there because there are tons of windows; I can hear our outside fountain and the birds singing.

We also enjoyed taking Mazie to the dog park.

Saw this great message on a shirt at Target.

Yesterday after going to the library Isabella and I took our books and magazines to the park nearby and sat by the lake and read for about an hour.  I honestly felt so relaxed and at peace there and on the drive home.  I cannot remember feeling that serene in a long time.  I guess "they" are right about the power of nature and being outdoors.

I hope you had some beauty this week as well.  If so, I'd love to hear about it!