The Ecstatic Joy of Heaven

This is my card 'studio' (aka the corner of my bedroom). It's been a pretty lonely place lately. It's been just over a month since my sweet little kitty, Bliss, lost his battle to cancer.
Every Friday, we had a tradition to sit on my floor together and bust out some new Lisscat Creations cards. Well, thinking back, I did most of the work, while Bliss would oh so helpfully chew on paper, ribbons, paint brushes, and whatever else was necessary in the making of that card.
In Bliss' absence,  I taped a picture of us to the wall in the corner. The only problem was, it didn't help inspire me, but only reminded me of how much I missed him.

So, needless to say, the card 'studio' has been quite neglected. For those of you who have received cards in the past month, its miraculous those ever got done!

Whats funny, er, not funny, but ironic is.... The night before Bliss died i started writing a blog (it was never posted). I was grieving, but was ready. I was ready to let him go, and ready to let his constant playful joy in life inspire me to keep actively following my passions. But as soon as he was gone, any joy I thought I would have was overshadowed by grief, loneliness, anger... all those feelings no one likes to feel. So sadly, I confess, I let myself grieve, and ignored my art that I had wanted to create inspire others.

Then on Wednesday I received a text from a friend. The preview of the text read "In memory of Bliss".
When I opened the message, I saw this....

My dear sweet friend and her amazingly talented husband thought to draw this out for me. I was floored! Aren't you? Its so freaking amazing and beautiful!
For the first time in a month, I was reminded of how a little drawing (made with a little love) could evoke such joy. When i opened the text, i smiled. Really smiled, like one of those big cheesy grins that make your face sore. :-)
So.... THANK YOU so much to Laura  and Marco Garcia for the beautiful picture, and for digging out a part of me that needed to breathe.

On a final note: Since he was young, Bliss endured so many surgeries, procedures, medications, etc. But he was a fighter, and he chose joy. Despite all the pain and sickness, he was always playing and NONSTOP purring. I want to be like that. I want to ignore the circumstances, and CHOOSE JOY.

bliss  (blɪs)
— n
1.	perfect happiness; serene joy
2.	the ecstatic joy of heaven

Puppy Luv

Ok first things first! Incase you don't follow us on Twitter or Facebook, we announced the winner of our "Suggest us to your friends" contest. The lucky winner of the $15 gift card is Casey Huber!

Did you guys like the giveaway? I think we need to have more of those in the future, maybe with some free Lisscat Creations merch! :-)

And for our second announcement, here is the next featured, furry, and adorable card!

It is brand spankin new, and titled "Puppy Luv".  Each card is hand painted and illustrated by moi, so I will personally make sure every card I create is made purrr-fect for you! (ok, cheezy, I know).

Card's are $15 each an $5 of every card sold will be donated to help the "Humane Society". They are one of the most well known animal protection services in the US. They make sure that our furry friends are treated well, from domestic animals to farm animals and wild animals. 

You can check out more information about them here.

Puppy Luv cards are available now by clicking HERE!

Thanks again for everyone's support on our latest contest. Enjoy your week and stay blessed!

Paging Dr. Me....

Hey All,
No super amazing updates this week but just wanted to check in and show ya a couple of new cards.

Oh by the way, I am keeping the pink font again this week since its still October and still Breast Cancer Awareness month. If you haven't checked out the featured card this month, please do.
Remember $5.00 of every card will be donated straight back to Susan G Komen. 

  (click the picture for more information)

I know money's been tight for everyone, so as much as I would like to encourage you all to pick up one of these hand painted cards, I understand if you can not. What I will ask though, is if you would please take 5 seconds and repost this on Facebook or retweet on Twitter. The more exposure we can get, the more money we an raise for a great charity. And hopefully a few extra smiles will be had when they get their new "A Shade of Hope" card.

Last night I got a random burst of creative inspiration and popped out 4 new custom cards. This was for 2 birthday, a wedding, and a sympathy card. I felt like a Dr delivering babies, running from room to room trying to find the materials to build each of the cards. It was fun and refreshing! Hope you like them!

Remember you can always email me with your special card requests. melissa@lisscatcreations.com

Stay blessed this week and thanks for reading! :-)

It's good to have a little CATtitude...

Dear readers,

So sorry for the amount of time that has passed since my last blog post. Guess I havent done so well with posting consistently every week this year! As usual life gets busy and it seems dreams get pushed aside only to remain dreams for a little while longer. And to add to my list of excuses, I've been hit with a bit of discouragement lately. Last week was a slow month (for sales), not just with my day job, but with Lisscat Creations as well. Trust me, I understand its hard for everyone right now, me included. I guess the part that is so hard is the possibility of disappointing others. Though a fun little card, the "Truth Hoots" card wasn't a big hit, and when I say wasn't a big hit, I mean it didn't hit at all. Last month we tried to raise money for my brother in law and his college ministry at Marquette Univ. I hated to tell him that the fund raiser didn't go so well.

But enough of the excuses and not-so-happy posting...that was just a little dose of honesty that needed to be vented across the WWW.

Instead let me introduce the new cards, and share a little quote about persistence.... 

"The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places" and "Nobody trips over mountains.  It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble.  Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain. "

.....Pretty good, huh?!

So I've been getting a lot of requests for affordable printed card sets with the same Lisscat Creations design....so here they are introducing the new 6pc card set "CATtitudes".
Each set comes with 2 of each design shown (6 cards total), and 6 envelopes, all for only $12.50. And as always, shipping is free, and 10% will be donated back to the charity of the month. This set can be purchased at here.

Please help me to help you! Just drop me an email or leave a comment to tell me what kind of cards and sets you want to see. Special requests are always welcome! Email me at melissa@lisscatcreations.com 

Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Fighting with a paintbrush...

I always try to make my blog titles way more interesting than they actually are, but hopefully you all enjoy them anyway! :-)
This week's title is a play off of 'get art.give hope' and our featured charity. This month LC is donating $5 of the featured "wings of hope" card to help fight Lupus. We are donating to a great charity called the Dorough Lupus Foundation, founded by Howie Dorough after the passing of his sister to Lupus. (For more information please visit www.doroughlupusfoundation.org)  I really do believe in our little slogan 'get art.give hope' and I guess thats how it came about so naturally. By getting art from Lisscat Creations, you are helping to give hope to the charity we are donating too. You are also giving hope and inspiration to the soon to be receiver of the card you purchased. May sound cheesy, but we really can help fight this Lupus with a paintbrush!
Please consider picking up one of these cards over the next week. Maybe you have a friend or family member effected by Lupus. One of my 'adoptive grandma's out in Arizona is living with Lupus everyday. She is a strong and beautiful woman and is a shining example of hope!
I hope this card can touch you or someone you know. Right now we are at $15 raised for DLF, thanks to all of you who have contributed.
As always you can order your card at www.lisscatcreations.com/cards

God Bless!!

Mending Melissa

This week's random blog title brought to you courtesy of my dear friend Alyssa who told me "glad you are on the mend." I hadn't heard this phrase before, but apparently its an old saying to wish someone well.

Anyway, I am mending right now after a crazy week last week. I was admitted to the hospital Sunday night before Memorial Day and had gotten 2 emergency surgeries within the next couple of days. What I had thought was 'indigestion' turned out to be a very serious case of desperately needing my gall bladder out. I am home now, recovering slowly, but surely. Thank you to everyone for the prayers and support. It means the world!

So needless to say I didnt have too productive of a week, artistically speaking. (But hey, I think I have an excuse!) I did however, make a Father's Day card, titled "Blue Star Dad". This card can be purchased at Lisscat Creations.com and remember, 10% of all orders will go back to charity. For right now, we are still raising money to help the Nashville flood victims.
If you need a gift for Dad, this is a personal piece that he will love. You can pick up a frame from your local craft store, personalize the card, and now hes got not only a unique card, but also a framed piece of art. Just throwing out some suggestions for you guys....
So while in the hospital, I started to get overwhelmed with the upcoming very expensive medical bills that would soon be arriving in my mail box. I had just made an agreement with my bosses to cut down my hours at work so that I could have more time to focus on my art. I started to worry a little bit, thinking I would have to pick up extra hours again to pay off these bills, once again pushing my art stuff back. BUT, no matter how big and bad and scary those bills are, I still have it in my heart that God wants me creating these cards. So I'm going to stick with my plan to keep my hours cut, and give my art the much needed time it deserves. I am trusting God that he will provide, and bring me through, even though realistically, it doesnt make sense it my head.
Dont let yourself be consumed by your circumstances. Be thankful for your health, your talents, your gifts, the people around you. If all is looking dark, try to turn your efforts to something positive that you love. You dont have to have it all figured out. Just keep believing and keep pushing forward.

Standing on the edge...

You've worked for hours, days, years climbing that steep mountain. Each step was a struggle, a lesson learned, an opportunity to grow. You are so close to the peak that you can already imagine breathing in that crisp air of success. And suddenly, out of nowhere, is the ledge. You catch your balance looking over the edge of the cliff at the vast beauty spread out before you. This is the moment you've waited for, all you have to do is jump.
Suddenly the view seems a little too high, and the air is a little too thin. You knees feel weak and all you want to do is slink back down the mountain on to flat, stable, dependable ground.

I wonder how many people have felt this way. They work all their life chasing a dream and when opportunity is laid out before them, they shy away. I know that this has been and is a struggle for me. I've talked to several other 'creative' people this week who face the same struggle. Its hard to think about, its hard to talk about. We would rather slink away from our dreams, than have to face our fears.

Art is it for me. The ability to create art is something God instilled in me since as young as I can remember. It makes me happy, really happy. It frustrates me, and challenges me in ways that constantly keep me growing and learning. There's no bigger joy for me than seeing a smile on someone's face as they look over a painting I've given them. If I could, I would just create just for the fun of it, and give just to see people smile. So in a sense, its hard for me to put my work out there and accept money when people want to buy it...because in all honesty, I'd do it for free.
But I am learning something, God gave me an ability, just like he's given you an ability, that no one else has. We can create and do unique things that bring other people joy. So its OK to put your work out there and try to make a living off of it. There is no rule, that you must hate what you do in order to earn money. Its a blessing to be a blessing in other peoples lives.
So how does all this tie in personally... I just recently activated paypal on my website, so yes, that means that people can finally buy my cards. And after all the flooding in Nashville, I felt blessed to be safe, and wanted to find a way to give back. So one late night, I created a card, called "River of Hope." I am donating $5.00 of every card purchase directly back to help the Nashville flood victims. In all honestly, I am pretty happy with how the card came out. But there are always those doubts in the back of your mind that tell you "People wont buy that", or "there's already so many people raising money out there, no one will want to donate through your cards." Yeh, its scary to come out and admit that fear of rejection or failure. But there it is, all laid out. Now what?
I wrote this honest post, not to guilt you into buying my cards, but to let you know whats going on in my head. I think alot of people can relate to it. Just remember when you have a dream, God put it there for a reason, so OF COURSE there are going to be voices from the enemy trying to bring you down. Just do what you love, support others, and just remember, if you hear those voices, you are not alone. People can't tell you how much they love your stuff, if you don't show them.
So thank you to everyone who took the 'jump' and risked it all. You are an inspiration to us all and God is surely using your gifts to bless.
I am attaching a picture of the Nashville Relief card. For more information about the card or purchasing, please go to www.lisscatcreations.com.  Let me know what you think. And please keep praying for Nashville.
Thank you for reading. Stay blessed! :-)

Rain, Babies, and Toilet Paper....

What do these three things have in common. Well, very loosely, they sum up my weekend!

1. Rain: To say it 'rained' this weekend in Nashville is an understatement. It POURED for two days straight, with the not so soothing sounds of the tornado sirens in the distance. The result = the worst flooding in the history of the city. I'm sure you have all seen the pictures...people being evacuated, cars and homes under water, collapsed bridges, houses floating down the highway, and of course my personal favorite, the Judd's buffalo roaming Franklin in the rain. I can not thank God enough for how blessed I am that my apartment and car and immediate surrounding area are OK. This weekend was weird. It was emotional. You don't realize how tiring it is to be checking the weather every 2 minutes, checking for twitter updates about the town, or reading devastating news reports until you sit down and it all hits you. Some people lost everything this weekend, some even lost their lives. But by God's grace, me and my family / friends are safe.

2. Babies: No, I'm not having one, but I do have other exciting news. Lisscat Creations Cards, specifically baby cards are being sold on www.bekaboobaby.com. This is an amazing online baby boutique ran by two good friends of mine. They carry everything from baby wraps, blankets, headware, and now baby invitations and thank you cards. As sad as it is, I have somewhat neglected my personal website by not activating paypal to allow people to purchase my own cards. So it is really nice to have an adopted online home for the baby cards. Please be sure to check them out. I think you enjoy them along with the rest of the goodies on the site!

3. Toilet Paper: I always joked that when I finally officially sold my first card, I was treating myself to nice toilet paper. For those of you who know me, you know I'm very frugal. I wont by anything unless I have a coupon, its cheap, or on sale. So, buying nice plush toilet paper for me, would be living the good life! ;-)
I'm trying to decide what brand to get. Charmin, Angel Soft? Any suggestions?? The double quilted kind is sounded nice! Oh! And thank you to a very special lady in Florida, I have sold my first two cards, and am on my way to getting some nice toilet paper. Incase you are wondering, she ordered 2 of the 'Baby Boy Blue" cards on bekaboobaby.com  Check em out!

Well, I think that wraps up this blog. Please remember to stay encouraged and inspired this week. Prayers going out to everyone here in TN who survived the flood. God is still with us!

Playing around can be successful

So last week I shared my excitement over the shopping trip to the art store. This week I just wanted to share some of the results of last weeks' "play time".
I have had it on my heart for a long time to make these cards, and get them out there. The making them part is fairly easy (other than trying to find the time!)...its the 'getting them out there' part that seems to be hard for me.
Last week I was particularly motivated to create, and stayed up late to finish some cards for a few co-workers. I just wanted to take the time to say "thank you" to them for who they are, and let them know how blessed I am to work with them.
Coincidentally (or not) a lot or drama and hurt feelings broke out in the workplace the day after the day after I handed out the cards. This is the second time I felt pushed to get the cards out to people, right before a chaotic event broke out.
Now part of me wants to think, "Ok last time I give cards to people! They are bad luck!" But it in my right mind, I know God had me create these for a reason. I am not sure how or if the cards helped those involved in the drama last week, but I do trust that God will use them to bring some healing and comfort. After all, that's why I created Lisscat Creations...everyone needs a pick-me-up now and then.
Go do something nice for someone this week. Don't wait until a chaotic event to happen. What you do might just brighten their day, or give them the strength they need on stormy day.