Listening To The Universe...

(Slow down.)

This week, Bob rushed my grandmother, Corky, to the emergency room.  (For those of you who remember Effie, my other "trouble-making" grandmother, she is doing well and has assured me that she will do her best to keep the "mischief" to a minimum! Ha!)

Tuesday was spent in the hospital preparing Corky for emergency surgery.  She is currently stable, but has a long road of recovery in front of her.  As a result of the continued medical mayhem in my life (There have been five, yes five, family medical emergencies since June!), I have decided to take an official break from the blog.  (You may have already noticed an unofficial slow down in the past few weeks.)

I will continue to help EVA over at the Paint Party Friday blog, but I will be taking a break here for the rest of December so that I can focus on family.  I appreciate all of the kind comments, messages, and emails you have sent to me... Your continued support has helped me through some very difficult times.

I look forward to coming back in January to a new year with renewed energy, fresh inspiration, and endless possibilities!

Until then, I want to wish all of you (and your families)

A Happy and Healthy Holiday Season!

xo

Kristin 

Paint Party Friday... Hand Painted Prints

"Heart In Hands: Love"  (hand painted print)

I'd like to start this post with a great big "thank you"!  I have definitely been feeling the love... Your emails, messages, and comments making sure that I'm okay mean more than you can possibly imagine!  Please don't worry - Life is good... Crazy... But good.

"All Tied Up"  (hand painted print)

Family fun, gift making, (and now jury duty) are keeping me busy... Very, very busy!

"Heart In Hands: Peace On Earth"  (hand painted print)

In addition to holiday preparations, I have been working on adding some items to my very neglected shop.  I am so excited about the hand painted prints I've been creating using a new (to me) technique...  

The process?

I scan and laser print my original drawings onto 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper.  Then I hand paint the print using a combination of watercolors, acrylics, prismacolor pencils, graphite, and ink.  I am thrilled with the results and tickled with the possibilities!

Custom "Heart In Hands" (hand painted prints)

Since this week's poll question over at Paint Party Friday is about gifts, I feel I would be remiss if I failed to mention what great gifts hand painted prints make (you can find them here)... Just sayin'.  

Hee Hee

Happy PPF!

Please Excuse My Absence...

I'm All "Tied Up"!

Savoring The Sweet (And Silly, Of Course!)

Joy!

This time of year it is very easy to get caught up in the hustle, bustle, and downright craziness of the season.  I am very fortunate to have a little boy who constantly reminds me to treasure everyday goodness...

"i love you and daddy"

I have discovered that guerrilla goodness starts at a very young age - I find fun notes from Tyler all over the house! 

But just so you don't get the wrong idea and think that my life is sickeningly, syrupy sweet...

"who farted"

I also find my fair share of silly notes too!

"oh yeah" (note within a note)

No piece of paper is safe... If it is lying within the reach of a pen or pencil, a little nugget of five year old wisdom is sure to follow!

These merry little memos are wonderful reminders to slow down and appreciate the abundance of awesomeness that can be found in the simplicity of daily life.

So today I will end this post with a little note for you, dear friend...

Turkeys In Disguise

Last week Tyler came home with a plain, black and white line drawing of a turkey and a homework assignment:

He needed to give "Tom the Turkey" a disguise to keep him from becoming Thanksgiving dinner.  Well, since I love me some silly, I couldn't resist making some of my own...

I had lots of fun creating concealment, but my favorite disguise was...

Tyler's!

Happy Thanksgiving!

For Mom...

I Love You.

xoxo

Honey

Paint Party Friday!

(For hundreds of years people have pondered the Mona Lisa's expression...  Could it be a "cat that ate the canary" look?)

Effie is doing much better (thank you for all of your well wishes!) and I'm excited to be back at Paint Party Friday!  Wheee! 

This week I was able to finish watching Amy's video and add paint, transfers, and colored pencil to the drawing that I started a couple of weekends ago.  It was a lot of fun to create, but in the end I think I prefer the black and white version.

Have you taken any of Amy's free classes yet?  They are so much fun!  This Saturday Manon is teaching one.  She also taught one last Friday that I can't wait to watch (because if you aren't able to watch them live, never fear...  they record them)!  Hooray!  To watch previous classes and learn more about Manon's Saturday class, click here.