UPDATE: The winner is…Michelle Levan!
*~*~*

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I’ve been working on a couple of art challenges during my self-isolation: the #100dayproject, where I produce some piece of art every single day; and #icad2020, where I do something artful on an index card every single day. I have to post every single day, which keeps me motivated.

I’ve always dabbled. I made jewelry for a long time because I considered myself a crafter only. But I always wanted to paint. The thing was, I was surrounded by really good painters—my mother, the art guild I belong to—so, I was hesitant to even try, because I really can’t sketch a thing. However, I began doodling last year, and then adding watercolor blotches to doodle on top of…and now, I’m painting. Not anything that will ever hang in a museum, and mostly quirky things or abstract things. However, it’s giving me a lot of joy. So, I thought I’d share some of the pieces I’ve created over the last couple of months.

This is my comfort zone—more “water-doodles” like the school of fish above.

I’ve been trying out different kinds of paints. This postcard is done in NeoColor crayons and pen. I’ll love mailing that to someone!

This is a bookmark I colored using soft pastels, another new thing I’m trying out.

And now, I’m combining what I’m learning with something I already love doing. These are handpainted blanks I’ll use to make earrings! Cool, right!?

So, a question! Is there something you’ve really, really wanted to try but either don’t have the confidence or the time to pursue? Answer for a chance to win a download of your choice of one of my recent releases!

These contests are still open!

1. Flashback: Quincy (Contest–3 Winners! Plus an Excerpt!) — This offer ends soon! Win a free story!
2. Flea Market Finds and a Puzzle & a Contest! — Win an Amazon gift card!

It’s my blog. I get to do this. 🙂

My daughter, Kelly, is my best friend. We’re not sure how that happened. When she was 15, she stole my car and drove from San Antonio to Corpus Christi with a girlfriend to go to the beach. I was sure my wild child would be the death of me. But I should have known. She is me. We’ve both defied the promise of our youth to become productive, law-abiding citizens. LOL

Our annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. Kelly and I at her old place a few years ago.

As she’s matured, we’ve drawn closer. I was sure when I moved from Texas that our bond would be stretched a bit. She’d get on with her life, and we’d see each other at holidays. However, a few months later, she called. She couldn’t stand it. She was coming to Arkansas, and we’ve been tight as thieves ever since. In fact, we share the same house now.

Us at an antique car show a couple of years ago.

She’s an amazing friend to her children as well. Yes, she can get loud when she’s displeased, but she’s always fair. And she’s very much “in” her kids’ lives. She knows their friends, throws parties for the kids (pre-COVID!), takes them to the games… She’s always on the go and never complains. Her oldest girl is just like her, and they are so close. I know when I’m gone, my dd will still have a lifelong friend.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how special she is to me. Every woman should have a best friend in her corner. Someone she trusts, someone she can lean on. For me, it’s my daughter.

Happy Birthday, Kelly!!!

So, everyone out there, do you have a special best friend in your life?

Living in the time of COVID-19 has its burdens. We trashed our plans to go to New Orleans for a long weekend in March. We’ve put on hold plans to visit family in Virginia, indefinitely.  We call in our orders for groceries and meals and have them delivered curbside, rather than spending time roaming around stores. And yet, we’ve adjusted. Our family is even prospering because we’re doing so many things together rather than running around to drop off kids for all sorts of activities. We haven’t had huge blowups from being cooped up together. Instead, we’ve had tons of “projects” we’ve all pitched in to do, like building a fire pit, getting the pool ready for swimming, lawn cleanup, building a goat pen, painting rooms…

Today, my dd is hitting the Sherwin Williams store (in a mask) to pick up more paint for two more projects, and the kids helped with the grocery list so they’d have ingredients for cookie recipes they looked up on Pinterest that they want to try. There’s been lots of cooking/learning going on. Here’s a pic of the 16-year-old making his first meatloaf…

The kids did make a trip to the dentist, en masse, because it was easier for the dentist’s office to schedule them back to back since we’ve been isolating together. The 6-year-old had some help losing her first tooth!

We plan movie nights with popcorn made in our theater-style popcorn maker because the kids love to watch it overfill the kettle then add their own flavorings, just like at the theater. We swim every day it’s warm enough to do so. They have their “animal” chores: feeding, walking, and washing dogs, goats, and horses. We gather on the back porch in the evenings under the dim solar lights to watch the fireflies and catch little frogs and lizards (yes, we release them!).

And the house stays cleaner. Imagine that. 🙂

I’ve been deep in editing and writing—all my usual tasks. However, I’ve added art projects to keep my time filled. So far, I haven’t convinced any of the other inhabitants of the house to join me. I’ve painted, made some jewelry… Tonight, I’ll start work on a set of potholders. My dd wants a set in red-white-and-blue for July 4th. I’m agreeable because I love making things people actually use.

And I’m rambling. But this is my outlet. Sharing what’s happening here and hoping to hear what you’re doing because then I feel connected to the outside world.

Outside politics, which have weighed heavily on me and my family, what are you doing this summer to keep busy and inspired?

“We kids feared many things in those days—werewolves, dentists, North Koreans, Sunday school–but they all paled in comparison with BRUSSELS SPROUTS.” ~ Dave Berry

So, I was looking for an inspirational quote to share today, but I found this one instead. Since it made me smile, I figured it was worth as much as any uplifting quote. And it got me thinking about what I feared when I was a kid…

Heights (still have that one), being called on in class (I got over that one because I was almost always smarter than the teacher–or so I thought), nuclear bombs (I did those “get under your desks” drills in school), being left behind at a rest stop by my parents (they did that one time with my little brother), or my parents being taken over by aliens. I never feared werewolves or vampires because I wanted to be turned into one; didn’t matter which.

So, how about you? What did you fear when you were a child?

And speaking of children, here’s the 6-year-old feeding goats. The goats were one of our stay-at-home projects. 🙂

These contests and offers are still active!

1. Diana Cosby: Nature – Amazing Muse Inspiration (Contest) — Win a SIGNED book!
2. Open Contest–Reminders–A New Puzzle/Contest! — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Two Important Notices about FREE Reads! — Everyone gets 2 FREE reads!
4. A Puzzle & a Contest! — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

So, I’ve been in town three times since mid-March, using precautions (masks, gloves), and I’m amazed how lackadaisical people are about this pandemic. Of course, I live in Arkansas—one of the states that never issued stay-at-home orders. Now, our governor seems confused about how we have a county with the highest rate of infection in the U.S. Duh. More people sick, more people who can reinfect others—especially, when you do nothing.

The kids are getting restless. They understand the need to remain in quarantine, but still, it’s summer. They miss their friends. I miss the flea market. It’s open again, and I may mask up and glove up and head there soon, but my dd says they don’t have staff to sterilize, so anything we bought would have to be sprayed with bleach when we got it home… So, instead, we’re doing projects at home. She’s doing home improvements, I’m painting.

And of course, I’m editing, editing, editing. Seems writers got busy during this pandemic. Lucky you! 🙂

A Puzzle & a Contest

Solve the puzzle and then tell me what you think this picture is all about for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

These contests and offers are still active!

1. Diana Cosby: Nature – Amazing Muse Inspiration (Contest) — Win a SIGNED book!
2. Open Contest–Reminders–A New Puzzle/Contest! — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Two Important Notices about FREE Reads! — Everyone gets 2 FREE reads!

Sometimes, things work out the way they’re supposed to.

Take for example, the #100dayproject, which I’ve been completely faithful to since I began on April 7th (I’m on Day 51 of the challenge!). I planned to participate, not knowing 1) how difficult it was to produce a single piece of art every single dang day, and 2) how much I’d need something to put all that effort into.

Sure, as a writer, I create almost daily. But, unless I’m in the buzzy tail-end of a story when the action is speeding up, writing feels like work, and I know I can do it and do it well. The only challenge I face, these days, is getting to the end when I’d rather be doing anything else. However, I am not a mixed media artist. I can’t draw worth a flip, and I don’t know a lot about the different mediums. Over the past few years, I’ve only dabbled. So, I accepted the challenge, and then made my commitment very, very public by announcing it and then posting my daily attempts at art on FB and Instagram. Sometimes, with embarrassing results!

The challenge came along at the perfect time because, now that we’re living in Corona-time, we all need reasons to stay home. I love getting on FB and seeing folks who are baking for the first time ever or building something in their yards that they’d been promising themselves to do for years. My dd has been getting after it, too. She built a goat pen and bought goats! She also built a fire pit in the yard near the pool, and she bought a projector so we can watch movies outdoors, with a fire and lots of citronella candles going to keep away the mosquitoes!

Some states are loosening their stay-at-home orders. Our state never implemented any. However, we’ve been doing our own sheltering, keeping everyone close to home, with only rare visitors and only those who’ve also sheltered. We plan to do this for as long as we need to keep everyone safe. So, we’ll be looking for new challenges and around-the-home projects.

How about you? Are you still self-isolating? Have you finished any longterm projects on your To Do list?

Oh, and here’s my #100dayproject–Day 51 entry. 🙂

Contests/Giveaways

These contests and offers are still active!

1. Thom Collins: The Anthem Box Set (Contest—3 Winners!) — This offer ends soon! Get a FREE box set of books!
2. Reina Torres: An Idea, Some Spare Parts, and a Little Bit of Magic (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
3. Diana Cosby: Nature – Amazing Muse Inspiration (Contest) — Win a SIGNED book!
4. Open Contest–Reminders–A New Puzzle/Contest!  — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Two Important Notices about FREE Reads! — Everyone gets 2 FREE reads!

UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Preston!
*~*~*

For gift-giving celebrations, my daughter and I like giving each other a bunch of little things rather than one big gift. It’s always been our thing. I love little tchotchkes, little figurines, pretty Post-Its, little bits of inexpensive jewelry, things I’ll clutter up my desk with.

My dd nailed it for Mother’s Day.

First, she gave me one of those engraved silver bar pendants with my mother’s name inscribed on it, with a little angel wing beside it and my mom’s birthstone-colored crystal on the other side. Perfect. We both got teary-eyed. I’ll wear it often. I have it on now.

Next, she got me the perfect coffee cup, right?

Lastly, she got me this little inch-and-a-half long figurine of a snail riding a turtle’s back. A long-running joke in my family is that I know only one joke. It’s true, and it goes like this:

What does the snail say as it rides on the turtle’s back?

Wait for it…

WHEE!

Yeah, I know. The lamest joke ever, but I remember it because of the imagery of that little snail going for a joyride. So, perfect! The kids couldn’t wait to see my expression, and of course, it joins all the snail figurines they’ve given me over the years that reside on my desktop!

Mother’s Day was almost perfect. The 15-year-old made breakfast for the moms—featuring French toast. Our dinner was carryout from our favorite Mexican restaurant.

However, mid-morning, our dryer went kaput. Not sure what The Powers That Be are telling us, but dang, it would konk out just as I NEEDED to wash my huge pile of laundry…

Contest

What’s your most memorable Mom’s Day Gift—either that you received or gave? Comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!