Interview with Illustrator Sandra Boynton

The second you see the critters Sandra Boynton creates, you'll say, "Oh yeah, I LOVE her cards (books, etc)!!!" This is a lovely, fascinating interview from CBS Sunday Morning...Sandra Boynton is a hoot!! Thanks to Paula Becker, who tweeted about this on Sunday...I would have never seen it otherwise...  It's seven minutes...well worth it...

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6470089n&tag=cbsnewsVideoArea.0

The "Hippo, Birdie, Two Ewes" birthday card that they discuss in the interview is one of my all time favorites. My older brother gave it to me years ago and he still sings "Happy Birthday" to me using the altered words from that card...amazing!

Never underestimate the power of art...even in its most simple form...

We serve an infinitely creative God...thank You God for sharing your creativity with us in all its wonderful forms!!

"What a wildly wonderful world God! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations."

Psalm 104:2-4

Mom & Me

Genetics....yep, no doubt we're related...

Similar attitudes, habits, mannerisms...

Similar tastes, similar experiences...

Similar insecurities, desires, fears, joys...

Generational bonds...

Yes, Mom and I are related in most every way that two people can be related...but the single greatest gift...the heritage for which I am most grateful...is the heritage of faith...

A godly Mom...a dearest friend...we are so very blessed...

I love you Mom...thank you...for everything...

Happy Mother's Day!

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

3 John 1:4

"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.' Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." Proverbs 31:28-31

50 by Fifty: Adjustments

Just a quick (and late) 50 by Fifty update...I had a small gain this week - .5 pounds...  I'm at a total of 7.1 pounds lost since March 27th, 2010.

I know from experience that there will be weeks where there is a gain, and it can have one of two effects on you - you can either get discouraged and start a cycle of defeat, or you can make adjustments and get back on track, moving forward. Although I did have a moment of discouragement when I thought the cute blue butterfly on the weight loss ticker (above) would turn brown and upside down if it had to go backward, I got over it and realized that I am more determined than ever to see this journey through.

One of the best things about keeping a food journal is the ability to review past weeks, good and not so good, and look for clues for improvement. It was fairly easy to see what went a bit awry this week, and make adjustments going forward. One mistake was having two days this week where I went over points and had to use a lot of extra points to cover it - poor planning and impulsive eating were the main culprits there. Another observation is a more tactical error - as you lose weight in Weight Watchers, your daily points allowance goes down, and I had reached a place in my weight where I needed to bring my daily points down and I didn't. SO - I'm making adjustments and moving ahead...

One thing we did do this week that I was happy about was go bike riding - it felt so great to ride again! We plan to do that each week on Friday mornings, which is a good start. Still, more exercise is essential, so it is still a priority to get back to working out with my exercise ball and hand weights. I'm keeping my goal simple - just get started...even if it's just one session on one day for 10 minutes this week, DO IT!

I'll be back tomorrow with a Mother's Day post for all you sweet Moms out there, especially my very own wonderful Mom whom I adore! Meanwhile, have a glorious weekend filled with God's goodness - it's everywhere, in abundance, if we'll only open our hearts to see it!

"Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come."

1 Timothy 4:8

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

2 Peter 1:3

Shopkeeping: Smaller Can be Better

(click any image to enlarge)

Hello friends - I hope you'll join me as I take you on a tour of our new smaller (but in my opinion better) space at Whispering Willow Gifts & Antiques...the photo above was taken as you walk in from the front of the shop...

...turn to your left and here's what you see...

...here it is with the flash and turned a little more to the left...

...and here's a close up or two...

It may be hard to tell from the photo, but this tray is an embroidered design behind glass. I wish you could have seen it when it was all brown and dated, with a $.50 sticker on it. I love what a simple coat or two of spray paint can do...

...a simple plate stand gives these vintage strawberry dishes a higher profile and more visibility...

This is one of my favorite finds ever - rusty old baby bed springs...I love using it as part of the wall display...it adds such texture and it's easy to hang items from it...

...I found the old springs leaning up against the outside wall of one of my favorite thrift shops...it had vines growing on it (but not in a pretty, planned way), and I loved the rusty-shabbiness of it, so I simply picked it up and brought it in to the ladies working the shop and asked if it was for sale. They looked at me as if I were a tad bit nutty, and said..."sure, why not....how about $3...? I happily paid my three dollars and have been waiting ever since for just the right place for it...

I'm hoping the new space, with its expanded wall space (my previous space though bigger had mostly windows instead of walls) will give me more opportunities to better merchandise some of my handcrafted/handpainted pieces, like these cabinet-doors-turned-coordinated-wall-hangings...

...or the hand crafted sign I shared earlier...

...and another cabinet door creation, this time using small china saucers, vintage knobs, and even a vintage earring...

...and though not part of the wall grouping, this galvanized bucket that I painted with a watermelon motif would make a great beverage holder for a summer patio party, but for now it is content to hold a pile of vintage doilies and linens...

I chose to group all my hand-made cloches, covered cupcake platters, and various other vintage glass serving pieces together on the baker's rack in front of the only window in the space...

My favorite furniture find of all, the old kitchen island/hutch we painted black still anchors the space and holds all my Universal Designs paper goods as well as my notecards from CafePress... I'm hoping that now that this island is not in a walkway like it was in the other space, shoppers will be able to stand on either side of it and take time to read the cards and shop without feeling like they are in the way of other shoppers...

Here is the view of our space from the back of the shop...to give you a different perspective...

From this direction, if you turn to your left you will see the last small section of our space...this part backs up to another vendor who has a small space behind it. In this space we put a new gorgeous furniture piece that my parent's bought to sell...it's a wonderful antique marble-topped buffet. Beside it is our small hutch filled with vintage ceramic and Pyrex pieces...

Well, there you have it...thanks for staying with me for the tour! I'm looking forward to seeing how we do in this space. I'm already enjoying the fewer workdays (no days this week or next!) It should be interesting to see how it goes...

I hope everything in your piece of the world is going well... I am doing my best to get caught up on visiting and commenting at your blogs...I've had so many lovely new followers and commenters lately - THANK YOU!...please know that I have read and appreciated your thoughts and I am visiting all your blogs and leaving comments as time permits. I am so very grateful that the Lord brought you to the doorstep of my little place - I look forward to getting to know you better as we share more in the future...

"From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another."

John 1:16

50 by Fifty: No Sweat

This week was a blur as we have been working pretty much non-stop to downsize our space at the shop. (by the way, our new space is looking  pretty darn cute - I can't wait to take photos to share!) It was, however, still a pretty good week for weight loss - I lost another 1.1 pounds for a total of 7.6! The key for this week has definitely been journaling my meals - when I have a crazy schedule like I have this week and we are eating out a lot, it is even more imperative that I make the time to accurately record the points...

I dropped the ball on exercising this week though...even though I did a fair amount of moving with all the downsizing, that's not quite the same as concerted strength and flexibility work that I wanted to do. But, I will simply move forward and get the exercise in next week. One of the biggest lessons I am trying to learn through this challenge is to not sweat the small stuff. If I mess up, simply dust off, try again, and learn from my mistakes. This can sometimes be as hard a lesson for me as learning to eat right - I have a tendency to beat myself after a mistake or shortcoming, which is just not productive. So, once again, I need to turn to the Lord to help me to learn and grow, through both success and failure...

Thanks as always for stopping by - I work at the shop tomorrow, then it's two whole weeks before I have to work there again (one of the nicest benefits of downsizing). In those upcoming weeks I am really looking forward to getting back to doing some illustration work as well as more crafting time in the studio... I'll be taking photos of the new space tomorrow and will do my best to post them on Sunday...

Hope you have a wonderful weekend - and remember...don't sweat the small stuff...

"Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?"

Matthew 6:27

Now THIS is Gonna Be Fun!

Now this is one party you don't want to miss!! I hope you'll join me and a host of other creative bloggers at Karen's (My Desert Cottage) second annual "Where Bloggers Create" blog party!! It is sure to be a feast of creativity as bloggers all around the world share their creative spaces!

My studio was just being started when Karen had her party last year, so I didn't participate, but I'm very excited to be a part of the action this year!! You can read more about all the festivities and giveaways here...they are awesome!! Whether you have a creative space to share or you just want to bask in all that inspiration, join us on June 19th, 2010 for one of the greatest blog parties of the year!!

Should be a LOT of fun!!

How joyful are those who fear the Lord - all who follow his ways!

You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.

How joyful and prosperous you will be!

Psalm 128:1-2

50 by Fifty: Balance

Welcome to the fourth week (third weigh in) of my challenge to lose 50 pounds by my 50th birthday! Well, it was a great weight loss week - I lost 3.3 pounds!! That makes a total of 6.5 pounds lost overall. Thank You Lord! I simply must give Him all the glory...He has made this so very do-able for me! He has given me dear friends who are praying and cheering me on and journeying alongside me, He is adjusting my appetites, and He is giving me heaping helpings of hope...

I think balance is really a key factor in this lifestyle change (I'm trying not to call it a "diet" because it will be a permanent change in the way I eat). I was looking back at some of my older illustrations this week and I found this one that I did for Illustration Friday back in 2007 - the prompt that week was "Extremes" and I did a piece that was focused on balance as an alternative to the extremes of over-indulgence and starvation dieting...

It's the over-indulgent eating lifestyle that got me to this place to begin with, and although I'm sure a starvation/radical diet would provide a pretty quick weight loss, it would not help me change to a healthy, realistic, sustainable way of eating in the long run. I need balance - life is real; full of pitfalls, crazy days, and good intentions gone bad, and I must have flexibility, based on a solid foundation, to deal with it all successfully. Food is neither my friend, nor my foe...it is simply my fuel....

So, I'm embracing the concept of balance for this journey. Mexican food and chocolate cake (yes I had both this week and still lost) balanced with smaller portions, more fruits and veggies, and much less sugar overall...you get the idea. By the way, please don't be offended if you are doing something different/more restricted as part of your own weight loss journey...I'm just sharing what is working for me and trying to apply the concepts generally... Everyone must ultimately walk this journey themselves with God's personalized plan for what is best for them.

Next week, I will be introducing exercise back into my weekly regiment...I'm looking forward to sharing more details and updating you on what/how I did next Friday...

Thank y'all again for your prayers and support! I appreciate it so very much!!

______________________________

"I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."

Philippians 4:11-13 (NLT)