Two weeks left!

... and if I allowed myself, I could fall into a heap of panic. But. I will not.



Consciously, I am breathing in peaceful breaths with every stroke of the brush. Telling myself that with each finished piece, I am crossing more off my list; getting closer to the day that I stand before those graciously attending the show ... buck-naked - figuratively speaking, that is - saying, "well - here I am, and here is my soul." It's a bit nerve wracking. I have wonderful family and friends who have been lifting me up in beautiful ways of kind words and encouragement. I am blessed. And, that is what keeps me pushing ahead with paint-spattered clothes and a messy house. :)



So, what have I accomplished thus far? (20) Pendant necklaces, (23) wine glasses-one broke during shipment; (3) varieties of note cards; (5) framed prints; (5) painted scarves and (1) lonely painted canvas. (soon it will be a partridge in a pear tree .... )



What's left? (10) scarves; (14) canvases; (maybe some) note cards; (a few) Pendants; (possibly) earrings; (many) painted bags/boxes for purchases ... and well ... I'll just have to see how much time's left! :)



Here's a sneak peek at the scarves ...
What do you think?



Well - off to do more. I'm hoping to bust my rump and finish them all today - - Positive Thinking. :)

Let everything about you breathe the calm and peace of the soul.

-Author Unknown

Wine & Bubbles ...

... some things just are meant to go together!

Tiny bubbles in the wine ... Makes me feel happy ...

Makes me feel fine.

- Don Ho

Toasting simple living ...

Here's a sneak peak at the autumn wine glasses that are waiting patiently to be baked.

I am finishing up the winter collection, as well as a few celebration themes, and will be moving onto the hand painted scarves ... hopefully by Monday. The clock keeps ticking, reminding me that my deadline is fast approaching. (sigh)

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed right now - and my body is definitely screaming at me for rest. Any mom out there knows exactly what I mean - actually, with the crazy flow of this world - we all know it - mom or not. The great treadmill of life ... I don't know about you, but I'm sweaty, out of breath and ready to drop just keeping up with the pace of it all. Whatever happened to the days of Mayberry?

There I go again ... wishing for a simpler time. One that didn't have conversations constantly interrupted by cell phones and texting or schedules that permitted children to relax at the end of the school day. Everyone seems to be in a rush, heading this way or that, with a Blackberry in one hand, an expensive coffee in the other, and their children trailing behind with the same. Now - don't get me wrong ... I love the expensive coffee (non-fat white chocolate peppermint mocha with whip, to be exact!) ... I just feel as though we live in a world that is supposed to be so "connected" with all of the electronic gadgets (mind you, I'm using one right now ....); yet, I can't help but feel that we are completely "disconnected" to one another as a community or even within our home, at times.

Take this for instance - I don't know about you, but blogging a post takes me forever, which is probably why I do not get to it as often as I'd like. When I post, I am distracted and tend to ignore my surroundings, which -at times- has been my 5 year old asking for a snack, then whining for a snack ... and yes - I am not proud to say, there has been a time or two that it actually took tears to tear me away from this machine. I know. Don't judge!

So, I resort to posting when I am alone; thus, not too often! LOL

Okay - I don't know how I got started with all of that other than my mind is fried and seems to be on autopilot and just might go in any direction that it desires. So, I should take heed and sign off ...

Well, I'm off to do what I've been doing for weeks - - pull the paintbrush from behind my ear and dip it in a bit of paint! Hopefully my eyes don't cross and I end up painting my nose ...

Happy Weekend, All!

It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.

- Laura Ingalls Wilder

One down ... 15 to go ... :)

Canvases that is.

I started this yesterday, but was detained in finishing it as my sweet girl came down with the stomach virus - No. 2 Victim of this nasty bug. My son had it last week. I surely hope that this is not how our October is going to roll. Please, Dear Lysol, be effective!!

So, painting yesterday ...

... and finished today ...

Note: The soft circles in trees are glittered - a whimsy bit of sparkle :)

Inspiration:

Nourish your eye and spirit with inspiring things. They will bloom with your tending.

-SARK

Back in the saddle ... yet again ...

Well, autumn is officially here and my posts have missed an entire season! There really is no rhyme or reason for it, other than just took a break from the computer, focused on the kiddos and painted when my schedule permitted.

Our summer was filled with book club meetings, field trips, house painting, some swimming and a few picnics scattered here and there.

Book club was especially busy this year, as we had something going on nearly every week. The girls covered six books, five art projects, including poetry, oil pastels, and acrylics, as well as a community service project. They also toured an art museum where they took a class on color theory, and received cake decorating lessons at a bake shop. An artfully, busy summer.

In closing our summer, it was decided that our group would host an Evening of Poetry for the community at our town's riverside park. The girls recited original poetry, displayed their artwork, served their homemade cupcakes and collected donations for the local food bank. The evening turned out to be so very heartwarming; seeing the girls so poised and gracious to one another, as well as serving the guests while wearing their adorable vintage aprons! Too cute for words. Definitely, one of my Norman Rockwell moments in life. (I tend to strive for those ... can't help it - would love to live in a Golden Book if I could or at least create that world for my children. Trust me. It doesn't happen often!)

The whirl of summer activities kept the days flying off the calendar, and before long ...

my children were riding that big, yellow school bus destined for long school days. It was difficult at first, dealing with my empty nest, but after a week or so, I adjusted. It helped that we were heading to the beach three weeks later ... the beach tends to have that effect on people - - makes everything better! :)

My in laws invited us to South Carolina with them and it took less than a second for our family to jump on the chance to pile ourselves and a ridiculous amount of gear into a vehicle with a map, and leave our home for the first time in five years!!! Oh yeah. A vacation was looooooooong overdue!!

We sunned ourselves, built sandcastles, enjoyed the waves, rode the water slides, ate incredible seafood, stayed up late, studied schoolwork (will not do this again during the school year!), and - the most memorable - spent time with family. My husband has a number of relatives who live in the area, so we were blessed to spend time with family that we rarely see.

We even had a Girls Day Out and made our way to Pawleys Island (a check mark off my Bucket List!). My mom-in-law, Aunt Marsha, Cousin Tami (who I like to refer to as my soul sister - as we share a love of painting, glitter!, reading, and chocolate!, to name a few :) and I enjoyed -

roaming the All Saints Cemetery

visiting Alice Flagg's grave

attending a Healing Service,

perusing the eclectic boutiques and galleries, hearing Gullah stories at a museum (the first few at least ... the curator tended to be a tad long-winded ...LOL), chatting over lunch, and most of all ... catching up with one another.

It was a time that I will treasure in my heart always.

So, since we've been home and back to the fall schedule, I've busied myself with a new goal ... some call it an Art Show - others call it a Trunk Sale - I call it, Art in the Barn. :)

I am hosting my very first show/sale/fun gathering with friends in November, and boy - when I say that I am a procrastinator and tight deadlines are the only way that I can work - I ain't lyin'! I have given myself exactly 5 weeks (one of which is already gone) to produce the following:

hand-painted:

• jewelry
• canvases
• scarves
• wine glasses

as well as:

• photography prints
• framed art
• note cards

So, needless to say, things are a little busy around these parts. :)

I am just wrapping up the jewelry - hand-painted pendants with sterling silver chain and embellishments, accompanied with either faceted glass or jasper stones. I have approximately 20 designs to offer and hope to put together a catalog and a new website following this event. We'll see how it goes. Keep your fingers crossed! :)

With all of the projects going on, I figured that this would be a good time to get up on that bloggin' saddle again ... hopefully making a better effort - - I know, you've heard it all before! :)

Well - off to the studio ... Happy Tuesday!