Monday, April 30, 2007

Change is Inevitable...

I keep telling myself that....Without change you can't evolve, right? For the past several months I have felt increasingly restless with my business, Lone Star Primitives. I think this stems from the passing of my Dad last September. When I had children (oh so many years ago), I thought "Now I feel Like a grownup". When I lost my father, I thought "Now I just feel OLD". My Dad had a cerebral aneurysm on June 3, 2006. He fought a good hard fight (just like I would have expected) but it was too much for him. I miss him terribly to this day, although it gets better with time (as I'm sure many of you know). The one thing the death of someone near to you will do is make you take inventory of what's good and not so good in your life.....Luckily there is much more good than bad in my life.

I love primitive folk art and I always will. The rusty reds, mustardy golds and deep blues give me a sense of warmth that I truly appreciate. And I LOVE writing patterns and working with Create and Decorate Magazine. That being said, I have really been feeling a little boxed in by the "Primitives" part of my old name. I want to spread my wings a wee bit and explore. I think it goes back to that whole "life is short" mentality that has been running around in my mind the past six months or so. Life is short, but full of all sorts of wonderful little moments to remember and many different ways to express creativity. Sunshine and Ravioli is my way of remembering both of these very important tidbits.

Think I'll start with Altered Art....

Monday, April 16, 2007

You gotta Start somewhere!

If every time it rains, it rains, pennies from heaven (Shubby Dobby)
Don’t you know each cloud contains pennies from heaven (Shubby Dobby)
You’ll find your fortune falling all over town
Each red and yella umbrella is up up up up upside down and...
Trade them all for a pack of a gum, sunshine and ravioli (Macaroni)
If you want the thing you love, you must have a pizzioli baby
And when you hear thunder don’t run under a tree
It be pennies from heaven, for you and for me


Well.....never thought I'd find myself here.....
And not so sure where this whole blog thing is headed, but it looks like allot of fun! Right now, that's enough for me....
Sunshine and Ravioli is the name of my new Etsy Shop...a new adventure for the whimsical, light hearted side of my artwork: my alter ego, you might say. My other half is Lone Star Primitives- folk art with a more serene feel. Love it too, but the whimsy of lighter colors and subject matter has been luring me to the "bright side" for awhile now.
I have already gotten many questions about how I came up with the name. Have you seen the movie "Elf"? Louis Prima's version of Pennies From Heaven is featured in the Will Ferrell movie. My kids LOVE this song- we bought the soundtrack just to hear it over and over, and you guessed it! Our favorite line from the song is the sunshine and ravioli line (we love to sing MACARONI! as loud as we can).
When I was starting my new Etsy shop, I had one requirement. I wanted a name that made ME smile every time I thought of it. Came up with many great names- every one of them made me smile. Of course they made at least one other person smile also, as every single one of those fantastic names was taken (I hope they are ALL smiling too). It took some extra thought, but I finally found my name and I couldn't be happier!
My new philosophy for life is to submerge myself in things that make me smile. Our time on this Earth is too short not to....
So let's explore this new- fangled idea of light hearted whimsy together, shall we??