sharing little treasures

had to post this silly pic of the boys with a nice gnome friend....

also- my cousin sent me this (see link below) today: its fun to pass along little treasures from the world-wide-web as little treats to say- i love you- and this one is so fun... i love trying to name the artists as the slide show plays......
click: women in art



merry merry..........................

some things i like today: (well, really a list of things i like everyday!)
* yarn ball bouquets -christmastime magic -colorful * party pails covered in vintage images and glitter!
* plastic junk jewels
* kelly corrigan's, the middle place

-this yarn ball bouquet from a painting i did for the sweetest family... it makes me long for a day spent with a needle and some fiber arts (i keep a basket under my bed-side table of sewing projects- and always imagine a day when i might have time to work on them- last month i did get to work on embroidering a lovely flower on my yoga towel... see next photo)........ i adore the quiet days of christmas break...

... and i adore the magic of this season.

our kiddos are so excited to have a visit from santa. we have been reading eloise at christmastime today and now the kids have built a fort behind the christmas tree in the front room/art studio. its so sweet- except when lulu comes running into the kitchen yelling: " mom- julian just poked my bum bum with a screw driver!" my goodness- how did he get a screw driver in the 1st place? speaking of santa... this next pic is of one of the 200 little party pails my friend kim & i made for christmas and to sell at the sweet william holiday market. we had about 60 different images and every single one was a different color. it was color heaven for me. and the glitter was abundant (which is another slice of heaven). then- see the last pic... its of some of the playful badges we whipped up out of some lovely etsy finds... its all plastic and just as affordable as it comes. we got so into making these that we bought more supplies the day before our market- thinking we'd have all sorts of time to create more while we were there. no such chance- but oooooooooooh the fun we had creating new little goodies for christmas! i wish some of them had not sold. its been days since i've had a chance to pick up a paint brush- but, my word, this is a completely new and addictive creative outlet.
uh-oh!

and the last thing on my "tilt" for today: reading great books!!!!!!! that's all. i gobbled up kelly corrigan's book: the middle place yesterday and its so worth picking up- okay?

merry chrismas................
xoxo,
l i z z i e

p.s. my amazing momma found pete!

Need I say more?

TILT: things i like today:

* being in jammies all morning.

*phone calls from nice girlfriends.

*being able to laugh at odd dream sequence like moments that happen in real life.

*blackberries and creme fraiche on toast.

*christmas ornaments from childhood 

            (ohhhh Pete- where are you? ***)

*long luxurious stretches of time laid our before you that seem longer than they really are- ignorance is bliss! i just realized my stretch of time was coming to an end... and so i must dash & rally the kiddos.

*** Pete, here, refers to my grandma's childhood toy named Pete- who we think got tossed with a bag of wrapping paper in the 90's. i miss him like Abilene misses Edward in the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

random bliss

i'm on my way to california!

this morning i ran over the boxes we left for recycling with the car- on my way to get our tres kiddos to school... i could not get the key to pop out of the clever little volvo fob. swell morning so far (my back door neighbor witnessed it & called to check on me later- the dear)! actually, the glee of the impending lift off has me walking on clouds today... i'll surely miss everyone & everything i'm racing away from today- but pfew- i needed a little rest.

i love escaping into my projects... into lists of dreams, into paintings, and a good book. i'm just starting a book called the lazarus project. curious about it.

a friend of mine is amazing at making lists of things she likes today, aka: tilt, things i like today. here's my tilt:

*playdates that end up being ugly doll creation parties (see photo)

*julian's naked bum running around yelling barack obama!

*the page from some old children's book that's sitting at my desk with a picture of a lady carrying a basket and she's wearing a lovely blue and white stripey dress.

*cookies with extra dark chocolate!

*ballet flats with bobbles

*paintings with intense color- like the daniel richter exhibit we have that the denver art museum right now

*a funny game called goober's lab on webkins (yes, indeed- i'm a huge geek)

*pomegranates & persimmon

and like my friend says, that's about it... oh, except i forgot to share that like packing sun-dresses in my suitcase in november, too. random bliss.

things i don't like today:

recycling boxes stacked behind mother of 3's volvo. :)

W O R K

I have recently been commissioned by several families to do some very special works. It seemed for a few days in a row that a new work would come my way every day! They say when it rains it pours and I have had the honor of painting for some really special people celebrating really amazing life moments- one as she turns 60, another as their 50th wedding anniversary is recognized, a breast cancer survivor, a celebration of achievement in a prestigious ballet troupe, and a dear family as they welcome baby numero dos. All these works are so moving- just putting these stories into paint & symbols in my own quirky, colorful, floral way is so energizing. I feel blessed by God for this downpour of work. And now off I go... to work, work, work. Its been a busy fall. And I'm thankful for this pace. I adore these gifts I get to help make for all these amazingly powerful moments. This time in our history is, as a friend put it so positively, "fascinating"! I am trying to fill all of my work with light, love, hope, dignity, respect, honor, & peace. These are the intentions I have set for these works. I so hope the sentiment is felt.  

There is something about those pink dish washing gloves that makes me so warm inside. I think I got to wear them at the kitchen station in my kindergarten montessori class... My friend, Alli, here graciously posed for me in one of my goofy inspired moments. You just never know when inspiration is going to take hold & give your heart a squeeze.

Like flowered swim-caps.... 

Speaking of... I was at an exhibit at the Denver Art Museum this summer. It was called Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism & a lady near me whispered to her companion: he must have been really into red heads... I looked to see what she saw & sure enough the figures all had red hair... but I felt fairly certain they were swim caps. Maybe one day I'll look into it. 

Easy for me. I have, what you'd call, a thing for swim caps.