Hard work, Risk, & Prayer

It is that time of year for beginnings. Risks. Resolutions. Goals. Shaking off the old and taking a big deep breath as you dive into something new.

                                            Happy New Years!!!! -2012-

Now can anyone tell me where December 2011 went? I am so thankful that I was blessed to be painting what seemed to be non-stop, up until Christmas. Thank you to each and everyone of you who showed Lisscat Creations some love in 2011. Whether it was purchasing artwork, reposting tweets/ FB posts, or just shooting us a sweet compliment, please know it was all appreciated! 

It's so crazy to think another year has come and gone. We shared with you the struggles of losing our beloved Bliss last year. I am still amazed when I remember all of the support and love that was received.

I'm sure your 2011 had its share of ups-and-downs too. But is a a new year! A time for a fresh start. It's not like there is something magical in the air that allows us to suddenly become productive and successful upon the new year.... but there is a sense of letting the past be in the past, and allowing ourselves to dream and be prepared to be better in the coming months.

Today I read a great post by the very talented, John Tesh. I posted this to our facebook page. (Click HERE to check it out!) It is about not being afraid to take risks. We can never really grow if we are living in fear. I'm sure this is something we can all relate to. So I know for me personally, and for Lisscat Creations, I want 2012 to be a year about taking risks. It might bring us up, it might bring us down, but in the end it will help us to grow and reach other people.

So I leave you with this - Figure out what it is you want this year. No matter how far away it seems, you can go after it with a lot of hard work, risk, & prayer! (Thanks J. Tesh for this!)

Blessings to you all and Happy New Year!

Glow

I feel like I have 1000 thoughts buzzing through my mind. They all want to explode out onto this blog as one massive deep thought...BUT all of those thoughts must have bottle necked because that one massive, deep thought is not here yet!

I've spent alot of my free time lately trying to nurse Bliss back to health. When he's sleeping I am finding time to paint or read or pray. All the things I need to and love to do, but dont seem to find just enough time for.

I just finished a book called "Heaven is for Real". It is about a 4 year old boy who went to heaven during surgery, and later tells his parents everything he saw. There were so many parallels in this book that mirrored my situation with Bliss. Just from the stress and struggles of caring for a sick one, to the unknown, to  the miraculous outpouring of emotional and financial love from friends and family. Somehow this book acted as a comforting reminder of God's love for me.

The book also talked about how many colors there are in Heaven. It sounds AMAZING! So I was inspired with this weeks painting. In the midst of life there are always gonna be dark days. Things we dont understand. But like a cooling summer breeze, God's presence is weaving its way in and around us while we  struggle to stand on our darkest days.
This is a mixed media painting on canvas with everything from spraypaint to latex paint, acrylic and watercolor. The dark texture in the back was back from layers of spraypaint and droplets of acetone.
I then layered vibrant strokes of watercolor over the top to give off the colorful glowing effect.
This painting is titled "GLOW" - 7" x  9" and is available for $35 (free shipping). If its for you, send an email to melissa@lisscatcreations.com.

Also, thank you to all of you who helped with Bliss. He was doing better, but now is not feeling quite him self again. Healing prayers are still appreciated! :-) Hope you all got your cards that "he" sent out out this week too!

PINK....is the new HOPE

As many of your may have noticed, it is October. And with that comes cool weather, beautifully colored landscapes, warm apple cider...and Breast Cancer Awareness month!

I spent a lot of time trying to find a good charity to give back to this month. And then God laid it in front of me to help to find a cure for breast cancer! It seems that everyone has been effected, or atleast knows someone who has been effected by cancer. So for all those of you who have dealt with this, my prayers go out to you. I hope that this week's painting will help to give you the hope and peace you need to keep pushing forward. 
I would encourage you to send this to someone who may need a pick-me-up, or a little hope to keep on living!
Just a reminder that no matter how rocky your journey seems, God is with you the whole way, and in only an amazing way that He could plan, there is a special purpose lying for you down the road.

Each hand painted card is only $15.00 and $5 of that will be donated directly back to charity to help fight breast cancer. For  those confusing legal reasons, I am not allowed to  mention the charity's name but they are extremely well known and the initials are SGK. Trust me, your donation will be going towards a good cause. 

Please consider getting one and sending someone a smile in this new fall season!


Click here to get your "A Shade of Hope" painting for Breast Cancer.

www.lisscatcreations.com/cards 

TGIF!

Wow, sorry about the long delay in writing! Life's been crazy since the surgery....recovering..working...traveling...working...ya know, the usual!
Well TGIF to you all! Today was special, not just because its Friday, but because this is the first Friday of many more to come that I have taken off from work in order to spend more time on my art.
It was one of the hardest easy decisions I've had to make!
Easy because, I obviously need more time to dedicate to my dreams. Hard because, well money is necessary to survive, and cutting my hours at work sounds like a stupid thing to do.
BUT this was the solution I came up with. I work my butt off during the week at my job, so I guess in a sense I owe an extra day a week to my creativity.
I can't imagine getting to do this every day. Must be so awesome to live out your dreams!
I was able to re-design the website, paint a new card, and post a blog!
When you get a chance, please check out the website. It will be under some construction for the next week or so, but for the most part its looking pretty good! The ordering process is ALOT easier now for all of you who want to purchase your Lisscat Creations cards online. And if you are thinking bigger, I will have paintings up for sale soon too! :-)

Well thats enough ramble from me! Just please remember to go after your dreams. You never know what you could do that will change someones day or life for the better!

happy accidents...

Do you ever have those days where you realllllyy realllly want to be productive, but all you can do is sit there and beg the universe to instill some form of creativity or inspiration in you?!

...Well that about sums up my last week on the creative front!

I wracked my brain all week trying to find not only the time and energy, but the right creative designs for the cards. As much as I was loving painting, it felt like pulling teeth trying to conjure up the 'right' images. I repeatedly asked myself what everyone else would want to see on the cards.

Now dont get me wrong, its good to ask yourself what you audience wants to see...but its not so good when you spend more time thinking, than you do imagining, and creating!

Finally frustrated, I found some scrap watercolor paper (although any part of a sheet of $6 watercolor paper should not be considering a scrap!!). I broke out the 'good' tubes of watercolor paint, put on some good music and just p-a-i-n-t-e-d! And needless to say, the result was pretty cool! It was a breathe of fresh air to play with the colors, draw fun shapes, and create some kind of abstract world that could really give reality a run for its money.

So I guess I can wrap up with this...What is it that you LOVE to do? Whether its painting, singing, acting, reading, playing sports, etc... dont put so much pressure on yourself to conform to what you think everyone wants to see....just do it because you love it. You never know when your 'happy accidents' might be the spark that some one needs to light up their day.

This weeks picture is a close up of one of the cards I made last week....just vibrant colors, fun shapes...a little escape....enjoy!

New Year, New Attitude

So it's 2010...Happy New Year to you all!
I personally am choosing to call this year "twenty-ten"...it just sounds cool!
And I am also choosing to keep God's grace alive this year. When we are fearful, we lose so many opportunities to see our lives be blessed.
So for this new year, my goal is to bring you something ENCOURAGING, INSPIRING, or BLESSED every week. It may be a quote, one of my paintings, a photograph, etc.... but the point is to help you stop, reflect, and hopefully smile.
(I bet this will end up being unexpected inspiration for me too!) Please feel free to add your comments or thoughts so we can keep God's grace flowing together!

"So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" Mark 11:24

Though it can be hard, uncomfortable, or even akward to come to God with our bold requests, we must come to him boldly! I beleive the true dreams that we each hold in our hearts, is for a reason. God placed those specific dreams in you specific heart for his greater plan. As you start this new year, remember your dreams, and remember that God loves you enough to listen and IN HIS TIMING, answer those prayers.
This weeks image is a custom card I made in '09 for Mr. Brian Littrell.

Preparing for a Creative 2010

I've been fortunate to get some vacation time away from the office for the holidays!

I can put a big check next to launching the website, woo hoo!! :-)

Today was productive but it almost felt a bit scattered. I wish there were more of me so that one person could be painting, while another is working on the website, while another is trying to network and learn the crazy business side of the world!

...But for now, its just me, and thats OK! I truly love what I'm doing and can not wait to see how the site grows. More importantly, I can't wait to see how people's live are impacted once I get the cards out there.

I will have some new features and artwork on the site soon...like SHOPPING! :-)