I Want to!

I really do!
  I want to post a clever, fun, imaginative, enlightening, thought provoking post!  

But I am apparently using all of those "doing words" working on this e-course, preparing my blog for bigger and better things, and making art for my heart and soul.  Who knew you could use up so much creative energy in one swoop?  Ha!

Leonie's e-course is kicking me into a new orbit.  I am considering things I've never even though about before ... which are business ideas that have never crossed my mind's threshold.  So not only have I gone back to school, (even though it's in the confines of my studio) I've been able to consider BRAND NEW thoughts and ideas for BUSINESS ... and been inspired to put them into action for little ole me!  I've found her course to be HUGELY helpful and am so very grateful for having the gentle nudge from afar to have joined up and jumped in! (thanks to all of my sweet friends who encourage me to grow and thrive.  You are so precious.) And I really have already seen results, like having my art accepted into the Gallery! And actively wanting to MAKE art daily.  And all kinds of new and delightful ideas floating around waiting to get out!  A lovely reboot, I tell you.  

 My friend, Heather, (look at her stuff here) took some shots of me smiling my head off last week.  WHERE did all those smiling lines come from? Oh  yeah, all those years of smiling on stage, I'm sure! Good grief.  Well, gladly I love to smile ~ lines, wrinkles and all!  But it was a bit of a jolt to see them.  Where has all the time gone?  THIS I could post about but will not!  Ignorance = Bliss. 

In our "real world", our first born grandson, Austin (on the far left) turned 12 years old this past week! He, his cousin Christian and his brother Cade celebrated at White Water!  

Holy Smokes! Where does the time go?  Austin is such a sweet, intelligent and handsome young man.  Happy Birthday, Austin!  We adore you.  And the rest of the three amigos, as well!

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Also, the Mr. and I are working mucho hours in the catering world for all the lovely souls who come up to our mountains seeking refuge from the heat down below the 3000 foot elevation mark.  This is our busiest tourist season.  We work at a place that is a PERFECT wedding venue .... as well as a perfect place for reunions, golf get-a-ways and tournaments, business meetings, and relaxing vacations.  We get to meet so many new friends, watch lots of weddings and receptions, and enjoy the outside splendor, all while we work.  It's a pretty good gig, for real!  Did I mention, it is GORGEOUS here?!

So, I leave you with a few images of works in progress and things we "see" to keep you up to date.  Hopefully, I will be back with news and finished art type things sooner than later!

Ms. Dragonfly --- waiting for grouting now.

Rich in day lilies around here!

 

 The Appalachian influence is evident every place up here.  A lot of times you will see quilt "toppers" on tables for catered events.  They are usually over burlap or muslin, and the glass ware is usually mason jars.  It's interesting to see it the first time!  This quilt top was on one of the tables at an event we worked and I thought it was an interesting pattern.  So Paul has drawn it onto a window for me...only without the big middle points, which made it a bit different.  That is what is on my table now!  Stay tuned ... should be "glassed" by week's end.

Blessings to all!

Happy Summer! Celebrate the Solstice!

I love the summer time, don't you?  A lot more light, a lot less cold, a more relaxed world for the most part.  And today (or tomorrow?) we celebrate the changeover from Gemini to Cancer, the sure enough mark of half way through the January thru December year.

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It's a great time to review your goals, celebrate your successes and re-evaluate your priorities.  Sounds like a full time job, huh? 

The cats and I celebrated our successes this very morning in the art studio.

See?

 They have absolutely perfected the art of napping!

I was celebrating art, of course and finished gluing the glass on this last night.  

So as I wait for it to dry I will continue counting my blessings, celebrating each and every one of them, and sort out what I would love to see happen the 2nd half of this beautiful year.

So, officially, happy summer to all!

Blessings!

 

In the blink of an eye

Things change. The sun sets or rises and the apex of that is in an instant.  The tide is washing away your sand castle as it comes in, or taking your toys out to sea in a very brief blink of an eye.   You realize you are out of sorts and the answer is before you, but usually it's a hair out of reach.  And life goes on. And to quote master song writers of my youth, "The Times, They are a Changing". Peter, Paul and Mary, how I adored you! And in my "folk singing music career era" you fueled me!  And still ...

Paul and I feel it.  And with my gypsy heart RAGING to figure it out, I'm sure everyone around me feels it!  I love Kermit the Frog's "it ain't easy being green" ... but have often changed it to "it ain't easy being me".  Oh! How diva-esque, Cheri!

WHERE is the invisible line, that when you step across it, life has changed forever?

It's all in the blink of an eye, timing wise.  Or it seems that way.  

But in reality, the build up is more like an eternity.  

It's THE MOMENT of the event that is only an intake of breath or a blink of an eye.  

With each breath I am given I give thanks that I have had all these mountains of build up, times of change and blinks of an eye.  I cannot even begin to list all that I'm grateful for, as it will go on for pages and pages.  But I will say I am doing my absolute best to live with grace, dignity, faith, humility and LOVE.

I have been taking an e-course, which I have mentioned several times.  The "goddess", Leonie Dawson, is an awesome bundle of precious energy and love.  It's a bit over the top, but it works for me and I have SO VERY MUCH benefited from it!  She starts at the beginning of what to do for your business/passion ... and carries you through to the very core of getting it done!  I have not one regret about this commitment with her.  She has absolutely fueled my fire from her tree house in the rain forest of Australia!  if you want you can check her out ...

This photo is the "horn of plenty" with beauty, the music, the peace and the grace.  This fella was practicing for the wedding last weekend.  I couldn't help but take this shot.  Meet Edward from Atlanta. 

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SO, Yesterday I took some of my art over to the Crossnore Gallery.  The director there, Heidi Fisher was so very kind and generous with her time and willingness to meet with me and view my art.    The Gallery there is associated with the Crossnore Weaving Room ... and on the campus with The Crossnore School where you have read Paul and I have been active in working with the children.  I have taught dance, we have mentored, we have played games with the kids, made friends with the counselors, etc.,  and I took a weaving class last year which has been a great benefit to me.  

Well, some of my art pieces ended up staying there and being displayed in the gallery!  I am still kind of pinching myself to see if I am dreaming and have a little bit of "walking on cloud nine" syndrome.  I go back to grateful, feeling very loved and accepted into an elite and wonderful group of folks.  It's a very surreal experience for me.  I vacillate between  jumping around like a 5 year old (even a cartwheel of two) and being extremely zen about the whole thing!  The whole thing, which took a very large amount of emotional energy on my part, ended up happening in the blink of an eye.  And there are lots of friends and family members who believe in me and support me.  And there is the course I am taking.  And there is a boatload of gratitude I have to hand out to them all.  And then there is the redheaded determination and the passion that I have NO CONTROL over.

The mountain you have to climb to get to the top is part of the journey.  It would be a shame to miss out on the climb.  I just want to say, it is amazing to live out the journey and get to the top.  No matter WHAT the name of the mountain is or how/when you get to the summit.

Life is Good.

Blessings,

On making Dreams Come True

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of meeting with an amazing and wonderful woman for coffee and chat time.  The world of art is truly a magical world.  It is because there are some very unique and heart filled people who are the artists! 
I met Cindy Michaud at the Avery Arts Council when she did a conglomerate event.   It was a delightful evening. And it even had a poetry reading to go with the art and visa versa! And I knew Cindy was one of the magical people right away.  Warm, friendly, enthusiastic, down to earth and filled with light.
In the Beginning ...
Back in January I wondered what my "word of the year" should be.  I struggled between action and permission.  Cindy simply suggested permission might be the key for me as I seemed to stay in action.  And her very gentle nudge was enough to point me in the right direction.
We met and chatted and she suggested a very valuable "do some more glass windows NOW" idea.  Cindy has unknowingly become my information angel!  Everyone needs one, and they are so lovely when they arrive.   I just adore the way the universe works. 
Anyway, please check her out.  She is an amazing artist!  And an even more amazing, lovely and delightful person!  She travels a lot and has painted some amazing pieces from her travels.
Go HERE !
And as a sweet reminder, she sent me this!!

How absolutely PERFECT!
So I am going with her suggestions, glassing quilts and moving right along.

The other gift is that I just went back through last summer's blogs looking for something.  And I realized I did a LOT of art for shows!  And it sold.  So, I AM an artist.  Humph!  What about that!?!  Dreams coming true.  Permission granted.  Fears realized and released.  Humans are such interesting and complicated beings!  Goodness.

I wish you information angels and gobs of Blessings!!

Crossing Bridges

This weekend just passed was lovely beyond words!  The Mr. and I took off on a mission to retrieve his scooter from the gentleman who was so very generous about trailering the scooter from San Diego, CA back to his home on Folly Beach, SC.  Omar was on the Scooter ride and his family was his support vehicle with a large RV and a trailer behind.  So they very kindly just hooked Paul up with a place for his scooter so he didn't have to go through the shipping hoops.  It was a very appreciated offer, and we were ever so grateful to have had that opportunity.  It allowed for Paul's return trip to be much more relaxed than initially planned.  And he was pretty tired, no kidding!

And so, we went down to Charleston and visited with Paul's sister, Janet and the family in their lovely home in Mt. Pleasant.  It was so nice to visit with them again and to finally see where they'd "pitched their tent" after their move from Orlando. Getting there gave us a bridge crossing opportunity from our house to Charleston (above).

Look closely and you can see the full moon!  Amazing!

Next up on the list was Folly Beach.  Omar and his family own Bert's Market there on the beach.  Getting there gave us this bridge crossing moment! Such a cool bridge - very interestingly constructed.  And it was thrilling to cross it ... we are such nerds, I know.  Anyway, The whole beach thing was a trip, in the "whoa, dude" sense of the word.  It'd been a long time since we've been to a beach area of any kind.  I was in a wee bit of heaven!  Hippie gypsy chic that I am.  It was very healing and a wonderful gift to be able to be in the sun and get warm!  We met up with Omar and had a wonderful breakfast overlooking the water.  Then we went to his house and met the family and loaded up the Vespa.  I think I saw tears in some one's eyes when he finally was able to get his hands on her again ;-).

And Omar's wife, Julie tried it on for size too! 

 And it fit her perfectly!

After we loaded the scooter up, I requested a walk on the beach.  My sweet little gypsy soul was ready to jump out of my body and make a run for it if I didn't escort her, and I do believe my sweet Paul recognized that.  He is such a wonderfully good sport and a kind man.  And he also loves the water, but prefers to actually swim in it (and scuba if possible).  

So, back we went into the beach area with the other 4 million cars at quite the snail's pace.  But Omar had given us permission to park in his store lot and it just made everything so easy and possible!  And FINALLY, after 4 years or more I once again was able to see the sea ... the beautiful blue horizon meeting the water, the birds dipping in and out shouting about their adventures, the happy people playing games and building sand castles, and I got to put my feet, ankles and legs in the majestic healing waters of the incredible ocean.  And I got to shed my tears of joy and raise my heart, throat and face up to the sun and fill up (as much as I could hold) with the love from the universe.  And I was in pure, absolute, amazing BLISS.  And suddenly my entire existence was sweeter, calmer, more colorful, and happier than it had been in AGES!  OH MY GOODNESS.  And the gratitude is still just oozing out of my body and soul.  

Then we found Omar again,  and he escorted us back I-26 so we could climb back up the mountain

and start our season in full speed with happy hearts.  Thanks to you Omar, and your sweet family, Julie, Evelyn and Yoshi mi, and of course, Bert!  I hope we will be back again sooner than later to pick up another scooter!

 On to the more serious part of the post ...

 This post is entitled crossing bridges because this past weekend we literally and figuratively did some bridge crossing, and we weren't the only ones.  For one thing, my business stuff changed from a ho-hum kind of hobby art world to a viable real live art business.  There will be all kinds of changes going on, so please stay tuned.  I am totally excited, super excited even! And I have a lot of thank you notes to write to all of you who have helped me make this transition and believe in me and what I want to do with it.  And I am also giving a lot of the credit to Leonie's Business Goddess Course and a bunch of her other free information courses.  She has given me a paint-by-number course for a business blitz.  You can do it too if you are interested.  Just go here.

This little girl we've come to love, Isabella is crossing a bridge also.  She is crossing from this world into the next, and is in the process of being fitted for her wings so she can transform and move on.  Paul & I have recently been blessed with knowing quite a few wonderful souls who have struggled with, battled and been defeated by leukemia.  The adults we have "lost" are one thing.  We miss them, we grieve for them; but we can almost reconcile that.  But Isabella will make the second child (why?) in a very short few months who we've seen consumed by this disease.  My heart breaks for their families, and for them!  (Dylan was the first) They both had to fight for so long, and have been so very sick most of their very short lives in battle mode.  I believe they are warriors, heroes, and then they become angels.  But goodness, it is wretched no matter how or what you believe.  Isabella is at Disney today.  Some very generous people arranged for her, along with her family, to go see the Princess castle and the fire works before she leaves earth.  The generosity of people is equal in "off the charts" to the losing of the children in the other direction.  My mind reels and my heart breaks.

  God bless you, Princess Isabella.  

and your family too.

You can read about her here.  Her mom's post today is so honest and noble, and of course heart wrenching - so be warned and get a Kleenex.

 Count your Blessings

and then say Grace,

 

Happy June!

Happy Friday, Happy June! Wow! It's finally here ... summer time in the mountains.  My very favorite.  I am in absolute bliss ... and I so hope you are too!

This week has flown by.  We have been getting ready for the craziness of tourist season, club events and our own desire to get the things done you cannot do around here in the winter, like home repair stuff.  So the time is flying as we're having fun!  

I finished a journal this week!

I harvested strawberries from the garden, along with the garlic scapes so I will be producing pesto and jam!

 Paul hung a chandelier on the front porch for Girls' Night on the Veranda ... and all other times.  I turned it on last night to find one of the fur balls and it lit up the entire street. Sweet!  My plan is to paint it turquoise and swag it to go over the table ... then add another one to the other side.  We'll see how that plan goes??!!

I have begun a business plan.  This is mildly hysterical - an artist trying desperately to understand numbers and business practices.  Oh. Good. Grief!  I have a template, gratefully!  My CPA friend, Teresa says I need to find some already filled out ones for reference.  I would have never thought of that! It's a good friend who will try to escort an artist through a financial event of any sort!

Today I began my e-course that I'm so excited about I could just cry tears of joy!  You can check her out here if you want:

https://www.facebook.com/leoniedawsonpage

This weekend we are going to pick up the Mr's. scooter from the fella who was nice enough to trailer it back from San Diego at the end of the Cannonball Run.  Poor Super Scooter is in withdrawal.  We need to get those little 13" wheels home!

I have been doing my daughter's 500 Challenge for a little over a week. It is working wonderfully to make some changes in my mind AND body that were stubbornly giving me grief.  Check it out here:

#500 Challenge

or check her out on facebook 

here

Jenn Hall is a fitness expert and can help you if you want/need that in your life!

I just finished my "bout" of 50 for my first round of this day

10 pushups

10 squats

10 walking lunges

10 jumping jacks

10 standing crunches

if you do one set per day or 5 sets per day, it's better than NO sets per day! Right???||

SO .... what are you waiting for???

Off to write my business plan and begin my long awaited e-course!

Have a very happy WEEKEND and

Blessings,