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!

Truth Hoots, yeh you read it right!

I always felt like I was different while I was in school. Not because I had some super powers, or was incredibly smart, but because I loved God. It seems like not many Christians populate in art school, especially in south Florida.
Of course God did bless me with some awesome friends during that time. But I'd say my one regret in college was that I didnt get more involved. It was hard to find a group of people that had similar morals to my own.
Sometimes ya just want some one to come up to you and make you feel welcome.

That's why the group that Lisscat Creations is sponsoring touches pretty close to my heart.
This month I created a fun card called "Truth Hoots." $5 of every card purchased will be going to support a college ministry group called Intervarsity. (Specifically proceeds will help the Intervarsity chapter at Marquette University in Wisconsin.)
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is an evangelical campus mission working with more than 32,000 students and faculty on approximately 550 college and university campuses. Their goal is to transform lives, renew the campus, and change the world. I think its pretty awesome that this group is trying to encourage students, not only in their walk of faith, but to help change the world for the better.
As I always say, sometimes it just takes a smile, or another small nice gesture to turn some ones day around.

So, if you are college student, were a college student, love God, like owls, or your favorite color is blue, then you have a good reason to get the newest hand painted Lisscat Creations card now. Then send it to a friend, and feel good that you made them smile, while helping to other organizations (Lisscat Creations and InterVarsity).
"Truth Hoots" is depicted above, and is available only $15 at www.lisscatcreations.com/cards 

Blessings, love you all, and thanks for the support!

If you lived here....

Slightly exhausted after an insane work week, I decided I should add a new blog post. This may have been inspired after watching the blog-filled movie, 'Julie & Julia'. Ok, who wants a personal chef to have them make those meals?!
Anyway, this week was filled with 13 hour work days which unfortunately didnt leave much time for the creative stuff. Anyone who knows me, knows I am always counting down till the weekend.  But this weekend, I am EXTRA happy Friday night has arrived. I have some great ideas for new card sets, who we will work with on the next featured charity card, and also some fun things for the blog and website. It will be nice to have a little time to start on all of this.
So for quite a while I've had this itch to travel. Not exactly do-able at this point in life, but I did find an awesome opportunity for my art to travel. Its called 'The Sketchbook Project 2011." For $25 I will be sent a blank sketchbook and can use my own creative license to fill it up, with my own art (based off the theme and title for this week's blog "If You Lived Here"). My sketchbook will then be packed and ready to do a multi-city art show tour across the US. Each sketchbook will be tracked so I can see who has been checking out my book. It sounds pretty exciting! I should be getting the sketchbook in the mail next week and cant wait to start on it. Since my Lisscat Creations was made to encourage, inspire, and bless,  I was thinking the sketchbook should be inspirational, uplifting, and fun. I will be sure to post pictures along the way on this journey. And if tour happens to come visit your city, please go check out my little sketchbook. It would appreciate the love! :-)
For more info on this project be sure to check out this link:
The Sketchbook Project 2011

Have a good weekend everyone, and until next time, stay blessed!!

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!!

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!

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.

2-Ply, or not 2-Ply...

To follow up with last week's post....its SCARY to put yourself out there, to take that risk and share your dream with no guarantee that support will follow. But I did it...its been a slow but steady start. With all of your help, we've already raised $41 dollars to help Nashville flood victims! Thanks to everyone who has supported this effort. As news of the flooding starts to fade from the headlines, please know that the clean up effort here is a continuous long term project, and anything we can give back is a huge help right now.

So I feel that in taking that big scary leap last week, God really blessed me! I received an email last week from someone by the name of Ashley. She worked for Quilted Northern and had come across my post about wanting to upgrade my toilet paper. Only a few days later, I recieved a huge box of Quilted Northern toilet paper. And as if heavenly softness of 2-ply was not enough, they threw in a pack of 3-ply toilet paper. I didnt even know they made 3-ply!
A few days later, I get an email stating that I have won a VIP concert package to meet John Tesh. For someone who never wins anything, this was an awesome surprise! John Tesh is not only an amazing musician and radio host, but has been one of the driving forces inspiring me to go after my dreams. If you know anything about this guy, he's all for spreading positivity, and sharing your dreams and talents to help other people. So, looks like pretty soon I'm gonna get a chance to tell him he has been a huge encouragement, and then enjoy an awesome concert, dinner, soundcheck and who knows what else.
You can check out the silly picture that helped me win here..... http://tesh.com/ittrium/visit?path=A1x97x1y1x2264x1x65y1x1ee97x1x65y1x1ee9ax1x83
So then, just so God could be funny, I get another email from the John Tesh team saying I won another contest for free cereal bars, and an IPod Nano!
Maybe some people would pass that off as just luck. But I fully believe this was one of God's creative ways to bless me for taking a risk, and trusting Him with my dreams!

All these little blessings have been nice. They kept me going this week. I pray the cards have found a way to bless the lives of each of you who have received one or purchased one this week. 

So big thanks to Quilted Northern for providing some awesome toilet paper, the John Tesh team for making my week awesome with the 2 contests I won, and last but not least, God, for fulfilling your promise that when we trust you, you will provide everything and more than we could ever want! :-)

As always, thanks for reading and stay blessed!