Aren’t you a little old to be playing with Shrinky Dinks®?  Why yes, yes I am.

Each month I design and craft a “Krafting with Kids” project for ToleTown.com’s “Paint the Town…” eZine.  My kids love that I have this monthly feature because they are the official testers/project makers!

For September the theme at ToleTown is “Jeepers Creepers”, sort of a Halloween twist.  The boys aren’t “into” Halloween, so this month Lydia and I crafted together instead! Ha!

Lot’s of fun to play with an old favorite! Watch for this project in September’s issue of Paint the Town… Creepy! LOL!

I love to write and tend to get wrapped up in a moment while I blog… have you noticed? LOL  I realized that my last few blog entries have been in my “Just Chit Chat” category, so I thought I’d take a moment to show a sneak peek of the Work-In-Progress on my table… it’s a sweet treat, but I promise it will not go to your hips!

This kitchen chalkboard design is for an upcoming class I’ll be teaching over at ToleTown.com.  A bit of whimsy to cheer up the chore list!

It’s 3:00 AM.

My day was filled with squeals of laughter, bursts of tears, cries of hunger, hugs of thanks, racing footsteps, pillow tunnels, secret agents, sleeping baby, Lego obstacle courses… the same wonderful things so many of you are or have been blessed with that fill up every second of our day while our little ones are awake.

After the house grows quiet at night, I enter Part II of my day… the hours spent updating websites, answering emails, designing new pieces and… painting!  I love the never-a-dull-moment-chaos of my day, but in the silence of the night I am able to reflect on my blessings while happily sketching or painting.

Tonight I am thankful for my wonderful husband, who left a sweet love note on my computer keyboard earlier this week and one for each of the boys in places where he knew they would find them right away.

I’m thankful for the summer camp where I met him more than thirty years ago (yikes!); the same camp my oldest son has attended three years in a row now.  Each year, when I pick him up at the end of the week, I ask him “Did you meet your wife?”  (He’s only 11, lol)  The first year he giggled, last year he rolled his eyes at me, but this year he said “Well, it’s kind of hard to tell, but you never know.”  Haa!  Love that boy!

I’m thankful for this cluttered room I lovingly refer to as my studio/office for it means I have a space to work.  For the baby crib tucked into one corner and the toys strewn about the floor for it means I am blessed beyond words once again in my old age. (LOL)  For the piles of things that clutter up my space in need of being put away for it means I am busy and have work.

I am thankful for the moments I have to share with you each week and the sweet notes that you leave me or email to me… I am thankful for the blessing of your friendships and the connection I have with my creative sisters.  To be a part of the inspiration that bounces around and reflects the hearts of so many, then returns to inspire once again.

 

One of the sure signs that summer has peaked and is sliding toward fall is the arrival of the blackberries.

In early spring the vines begin to make their advances, staking claim to every fencepost and downed tree branch in the area at the edge of the woods on our property. They grow quickly, and in what seems like no time at all their tiny flowers are bright spots at the edge of the darkness beyond. The flowers face and from their former beauty fruit begins to form.

All through the lazy summer days that follow the fruit is quietly developing, although from day to day it’s difficult to notice the changes. Then, almost suddenly, there are big, delicious, dark juicy berries everywhere.

If you have ever picked blackberries you know that before you can enjoy the fruit there is likely to be some pain involved… for as beautiful as they look, there are thorns on most every branch.  Reaching into the vines, the prize can be plucked from its growing place without a scratch only when done with care.

Reflecting on this (as I washed the blood from my scratched arm) I realized that there are many “blackberries” in my life- things that take time to come to fruit and whose true potential can only be reached with patience and enjoyed with great care.  My children are probably my most precious fruits-in-the-making, but I have others… there are blackberries in my studio!

If you love art, love to design, then you probably have your fair share of sketches laying about.  I have boxes and bins and baskets- they hold everything from quick ideas sketched out on a scrap or paper or a restaurant napkin to fully rendered designs just waiting their turn to come to fruition.  Each idea, each pencil stroke, has the potential to become a luscious blackberry if given the opportunity to develop.

Then there are the “UFOs”- “Unfinished Objects”- that I see about me.  They, too, have potential… to me, these are my thorns.   For whatever reason work on them has stopped and sometimes picking them up again is painful for whatever reason.  Maybe a creative stumbling block, perhaps a design issue to work through.  They are fruits still green, longing to ripen.

Finally, there are projects at the brink of completion or already finished- ripe and beautiful, worth every bit of creative energy spent to coax them into reality from just a blossom of an idea.   It is the sweet taste of these that starts the whole process again…

As Wednesday ticks onward and the summer days begin to shorten I hope that you have blackberries in YOUR studio (or kitchen table!) and that through your love for your art you will enjoy a cycle of creativity that blends one season into the next all year long. ♥

Next Tuesday I have the pleasure of teaching another decorative painting class at ToleTown.com.   This month’s project, a whimsical Santa stuffed in a stocking, was so much fun to design for their ”Christmas in July” theme.

ToleTown is a membership based community of decorative painters and crafters, but even if you’re not a member you are still welcome to purchase the class alone and come and paint…  or even download the class to paint later!  This project pack contains the full size pattern, complete instructions, step by step worksheet and lots of video clips (I think there are eight clips with this one!).

Come in out of the heat and paint Christmas in July… sure to cool you down this month!

Today’s WIP (work in progress) is a set of paintings for new personal check designs I’ve had in the basket for a few months now.  (Yes, it’s sad, but true!)  I have enjoyed painting them- they are little pieces of “happy” that make my heart smile.  I hope my licensor’s customers think so too!

Here is a sneak peek at four of the designs- there will be six designs total for three different sets of checks with two rotating designs each.

Whatever you’re working on today, I hope it is coming from a happy place that makes your heart smile!

 

So as I was working through a new design the other day I went too far with an idea and I *hated it*.  I was almost finished painting when I took this wrong turn that landed me in a lemon-face off!

I decided to leave the piece for the night to see my feelings might become less toxic in the morning, but sure enough… it was still one big lemon when I woke up.  Here’s my journal page for that morning:

 

Now I although I do enjoy cooking, I am no culinary genius… however I can make a mean lemonade!  Since that’s what I’ve always heard should be done when life hands you a basketful, I decided to see if this problem could be made sweeter with some SUGAR. (Yes, gimme sugar… gimme love.)

 

I carefully studied the area in question and sure enough, slowly I began to see something else living there.  A short time later… lemonade.

I hope you don’t encounter any lemons on your creative journey today, but if you do… make lemonade and make it sweet. ♥

So I gave the blog a bit of a facelift yesterday and in the process lost months of posts and comments… go figure?! LOL

I’ll just add this to my “be thankful” list and look at it like a fresh start, a clean slate… lucky me!

Speaking of a “be thankful” list… do you have one?  There’s no better way to keep a Joyful Heart than to be in a state of thankfulness for your blessings.   Keep an artful blessings journal for fun, and when the blessings seem in short supply revisit the mountain tops you’ve enjoyed in the past and watch how quickly you are able to climb out of a current valley!

Why not make today a fresh start day for you, too?  Think of something that fills you with Joy this very instant.  Bing!  :)  Now… help me get this place cluttered up with your thoughts and comments again… after all, what’s a clean slate good for if you never fill it up again?!

~Lorrie

One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies… “Mr Magoriam’s Wonder Emporiam”. Somehow I have been blessed beyond words to live this magical life with my three amazing children at an age when most of my friends are experiencing empty nest syndrome, grandchildren and college tuition!

Happily, my days are filled with play-doh, toilet-tube maracas and smudged pb&j fingerprints… Lord help me to find time for play and magic every day.

After a full day of organizing and packing, we are leaving tomorrow (today) for a long-weekend camping trip.   The pile of totes, bags and boxes stacked up in my dining room looks more like  two week’s worth than the “stuff” of four days!  We are prepared for late summer days and early fall nights (and everthing in between, by the looks of things!).

I love camping with my children… these are memories I know they will hold onto as they grow up, mostly because they talk about these trips alll the time.   “Big brother” has been counting down the days (for weeks!), with his backpack stash of Lego and other treasures ready and on standby for almost as long.  “Little brother” has been reminding everyone and anyone of the bee sting he got last year… within about five minutes out of the car!     Poor wee babe, only three at the time, couldn’t understand why that mean ol bee would want to go and hurt him like that! LOL

This year the “little princess”, just 12 weeks old, adds a fun twist to the whole camping scenario…she has three times the “stuff” as the rest of us!  Ahhh… all is well in the pecking order around here.

I’m looking forward to this time away and although I won’t be painting I know that I’ll return with recharged creative batteries…just something about the pine and the water and boys playing with glow sticks. ♥