Monica Lee Studios

Thoughts on being a Parent

Good Morning dear readers! The last week has been a whirl wind. My house and my emotions where taken over by a kid crisis. Don't worry, no one is hurt and mom and son are fine. But I am a tad emotionally beat up. I am repeating over and over in my head "Children are a blessing...children are a blessing." I know they are and  as my son grows and becomes and young man, he gets to learn and I get to learn. We are part of a blended/divorced family and it is hard and I have days where I think we are failing miserably, other days other days I just ask for God's grace.

Last night Luke was at his dad's house and Tom and I headed down the street to have a quick night out.  The restaurant had a band set up and Tom and I (who are  ALWAYS in bed early) stayed out and danced and chatted with people and I could not have needed it more. The band was so good and I cannot think of the last time I danced. Sometimes a mom needs to be a grown up and just relax. Parenting is tough, I don't pretend I have any great tips except honesty and forgiveness and maybe a little dancing.

Technology has ruined the "snow day"...

"Technology has ruined the snow day..." my husband said that last night as we got ready for this Northeastern Snow Storm.  We still have to work from home. I just watched the news and at 7am we are in what the call the "jackpot" area which means our are is already 10 inches of snow. That is  a term for what towns get the most snow accumulation. I got an email from  a girlfriend last night trying to get the The Atlanta Gift Show and her flight was canceled. And that was from south Florida ! Ugh! If someone is trying to get there from Boston to Atlanta, they won't be doing it today. Bummer, I almost went to Atlanta myself but I sort of  gave the idea a "re-think" after our last storm.

In honor of everyone trying to get somewhere today, I thought I would dig through my files and post some of what I call "old art". It is actually on my computer in a giant file called "old art'! ha! I remember having such fun with the piece, if I recall it was a promo piece for a children's story that I wrote called "Turtle Travels". You can see the little turtle in her purse. This is the type of scene I witnessed quite bit during my career as a flight attendant!

Books! Oh, how I love them!

Here is a look at Kata Golda's sweet book Hand Stitched Felt. I cannot resist these wonderful craft books. I don't even want to confess how many I own. My mother used to buy cookbook's and read them like they were novels and I do the exact same thing with craft books. I think the difference between me and my mom is that she probably created the recipes in the books that she read! Me, not so much! I actually DO wish they all had more copy...I really like it when the author explains how they got the idea for a project or different ways that they tried to work them out! Kata's book is easy to understand, the projects are charming. I bought some  good wool felt right away...if a book makes me do that, that is a good thing. I made this little book  for a baby shower that I hosted for my neighbor. And baby Kelsey was born on Christmas Eve! Fun!

Create Joy

Oh Darlings! Create, create, create! My mantra for the new year was JOY! but I think I might have to add have the word Create! I wrote this blog post week ago deciding that my real goal for the new year was to spread joy, be full of joy and then I read Holly Becker's post on Hope and I am so happy that people are picking a "word" for the New Year! Isn't that better than a  long list of resolutions or to-do's!? I think so. So many opportunities are coming my way this year and my brain is in such a happy, creative mode. Can I just stop here and tell you how much I LOVE creating art for a living? Lucky, blessed all of the above...occasionally I have people ask me if I miss being a flight attendant. NO! (did I say that too loudly?) No, I  really don't. It seems like a lifetime ago! That was another life completely...of course it added to my life now, my perspective but I now  am...well,  so full of joy! SO maybe my mission is to Create Joy through my art. Gotta create it first so then I can spread it! ha! Here is a mini collage of how I am feeling today!

Pretty things out of Vermont!

OH mi! I had an entire post written and lost it all. Don't know who yell at typepad or my iMac! Here is what I wanted to show you really quickly...a pretty little thing to start your day. It is from a gal in Vermont who is creating bright happy things in the cold of winter.  Her site is Nest Pretty Things. She has 2 etsy shops and one is for children! how fun! I LOVED this color wheel bracelet, perfect for an artist-don't you think? She does this in a kid version or grown up version. I KNOW it is after Christmas but....don't you think it would help me  get through a coooold January? I can't stop clicking around her blog and shops! ACK! Help!

New year, new art, new resolution!

Wow! You can tell I took some time off because I can't seem to type today! Ack! Soooo...how was it? Your vacation, I mean?! Our kids headed back to school and I am back in the office. I DID do a lot of art over the last 2 weeks or was it one week?...ohmi, lost time! It was fun,fun,fun for us.  I became completely obsessed with these new  little smarty pant girls, or cutie girls, whatever. I could not stop drawing them! (see below) Now I just have to scan and color  all of them...decide on a palette, textures etc. I am planning on opening an etsy shop with them!!! THAT is a big New Years resolution for me....considering what else is on my plate. But I really want to...these girls just need to get out and about. And I don't think I will JUST draw girls only (although they are my favorite....) I have to decide how to print them too. Yipee, new printer for me! You may get to see  a lot of my "play" here with the art over the next couple weeks, like this cup above. I kept the texture of the paper intact....I have also developed a cursive handwriting style that I am going to use. Frankly I got a tad obsessed with that too. So what do you think? I do have one girlfriend  that thinks I am crazy and am biting off a lot since my licensing has taken off the last year but I figure I am feeling prolific so why not? Maybe getting older has helped me sink into my creativity and art in a way that I never allowed myself to before, maybe I just want to create a "spot" of my own. I do know this  'cuppa' makes my want a refill. Tah-Tah for now!

A Glimpse of Monica Land....

The January "clean up " has begun...and I got a head start on it because it is still December...woo-hoo! I made a trip  to Ikea yesterday and bought new everyday dishes. They are porcelain so they are light and no chipping.  ( Hey, chipping happens....3 boys, one girl in my house) I experimented awhile back and picked up some porcelain bowls there and have had them for months and the wash up well and don't chip. I boxed up all my nice Pottery Barn dishes for charity...although they are  chipped...is that bad?  Might have to rethink that. I treated myself to an  large orchid while I was there to brighten up the house when the Christmas decor came down. I got home and had some weird burst of energy and took down most of my decorations and actually ORGANIZED them and put them away. I am existing in some alternate universe of tidiness!
I wanted to show one of the drawings that I did over the holidays.  Again, a burst of energy ( may have been a sugar rush) but I sketched up a bunch of new girls. They are making me so happy. I figured you get snowed in with a bunch of boys and you just need to draw some girls to keep you sane  company. I am working out how to color them, or as my girlfriend said, "You need to think about where they live." Well, they live in Monica Land, of course! A place with puppies, flowers, dishes with no chips and cute boys. Care to join me? 

Time for "Snow Redistribution"

I woke up early and peeked out the window and the first thing I thought was...how are the dogs going to go out in this!!!? I climbed back into bed thinking maybe it would all go away. As I laid there I devised a plan to shovel a path before the dogs woke up (who was I kidding?) Dunkin did his "circle circle" at the back door and ran out side to completely sink on the deck. ( At which point he peed right by the door.)  We got over a foot of snow and he is so small! Here are some shots. Maggie finally just ran through it but is really  miffed by it all. I shoveled a small path thinking they would stay on the path. But Dunkin ran after Maggie and stayed on the top of the snow for a few steps (he is light) and then SANK and got stuck!  UGH! This is the heavy stuff, good thing we have boys to help us. Poor Connor, today is his birthday and he gets to shovel, ack! 

OH! guess we hit the JACKPOT (according to the weather man) and got 2 feet of snow!

 

 

Peace Joy and Jammie Pants!

I am trying to mix it up this week, photos, art, photos, art. This is some art from a "baby" Christmas collection from my licensing portfolio. It snowed much more than anticipated last night...not nearly as much as some of you have gotten but enough to shovel and build snowmen AND enough to stick to Dunkin's fur. I hate to cut the little guys hair short in the cold months but the snow really sticks and matts to it. He carries little snowballs into the house! I can't tell you how nice it is to not have a "plan" today...I am not going shopping for one more thing. I have art that needs to get done but no one is expecting it tomorrow. I had a LOVELY dinner out last night with a girlfriend...complete with fresh snow coming down and a fireplace. I just bought 2 new magazines, my new coffee maker arrived yesterday and I am still in my warm jammies pants. Frankly, it does not get any better than this! Oh! And my house is clean!!! Come on...you gotta love it, right? Is that just an age thing when, coffee, magazines, snow and a clean house excite you? I think it is just having the proper perspective. Peace and contentment, those are the things that make me happy. I am  so grateful that it has been a busy year for my business as well as with my husband's business. We are so blessed. Our boys are growing up, we are so proud of them. Teenage boys are an adventure, and we end up laughing over a lot of weird bathroom jokes. In fact Dunkin, the dog, pooped in the back of my car as I was taking Luke to school last week and we could not stop laughing (after our initial screaming!) C'e st la vie! 

I was making a list of things I wanted to accomplish next year...one of my art friends emailed hers  and I was  so impressed that I  decided to create my own list... a perfect thing to do in jammie pant weather! But I think what I really want to do is to remain joyful. Being joyful helps you be a better friend and spouse, sets a good example to your children and I personally think it helps create better art. The world could use more joyful art, right? So here is to a peaceful, content and joyful new year!

A Little Merry!

Here are few photos from my little holiday house. No the best lighting but I had to turn the twinkly lights on...ok maybe it is because I have NOT read the manual for my camera yet! One thing at a time though...in my move to give myself some "white space" I am not worried when it gets done. I am sinking into the rest of the week. At little bit of work, a little bit of holiday making and I am giving myself permission to work on some creative projects that are not necessarily  at the top of my TO DO list but that things that have brewing in my mind.