sketchbook

It’s already March! No way! Well, let’s hop to it before all of a sudden it’s April!

Grocery specials-LOVE even more when it is coffee!
Enthusiastic People-LOVE when I ask someone to help me and they don’t hesitate to say YES
Pleasant Surprises-Daughter gave me some pretty decorative papers I can use for projects. She received them from a friend who had more than she needed.
Sketchbook Revival is coming this month and daughter and I will participate in the program like we did last time. Click on the name up there and check it out and it is FREE!
It is both Woman’s Month and Reading Month and what a lovely combo! I am looking forward to National Poetry Month, as well. So, I am thankful for these moments to celebrate!
We had a package arrive and it took us a good while to order it because of all the specific details, and when we got it – it was all wrong, so wrong that it would cost us more money to resolve the issue, so we called customer service and returned it in the blink of an eye. I am grateful there was no drama.
Health goals are being met.
Writing goals are being met.
Connecting with people who share a spiritual belief, simply for the assurance that hope is real
YOU! What are you thankfuls? Come share… Rusty wants to know… In fact, he’s all ears!

Ten Things of Thankful – March 27 2020

March 27, 2020 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

59545325_438819810016387_3287070550463086592_n (2)

It’s that time again for TTOT, a time to reflect on the many things to be thankful for and to celebrate moments in our lives.

The world as we have known it has changed. There’s a pandemic happening and we citizens have been through many changes in a short period of time. Mother used to say things happen a reason, so naturally I am wondering about the reason. Some things are clear and I will have to accept the unknown isn’t meant for me to know, at least at this point. The expression: “You don’t even want to know,” may be appropriate at this moment in time.

I created the header picture a long time ago when trying to put together an article about stress management. Well, could we use some of that? I am thinking it is a “yes.”

I have a lamb who makes me think of peace, it’s actually a dog toy, but I like it and it’s on my book shelf, snuggles up next to my Wonder Bunny. The pillow is one my daughter made at a church camp many years ago, and it is also on my book shelf. I can see them from where I do most of my writing. The bubble bath is self-explanatory for relaxing. The candle goes right along with that. The Sleep lotion has lovely scents and relaxing properties and the quartz sits on my nightstand to stabilize the energy forces. All leading to relaxation and better sleep, which is something I must work at hard. And I would say my first thankful will be that my sleep has been better lately, so yay for that! I wake up kind of early, but I go to bed early so it’s a win. Sometimes I will wake up in the night, but my going back to sleep is better.

Second would be this lovely memory. There are my mother’s siblings. They all came out to Illinois where we lived to see my mother as she was getting close to her time to cross over. It was actually March 25 in the year it happened. Just this week, her last sibling, Uncle Joe, joined her and the rest for a Heavenly reunion. Aunt Dorothy and her husband came from California to spend time with mom and the brother all got in the car and drove from Louisville Kentucky. It was quite the gathering. And as much as they all liked to cut up and tell corny jokes, they all were most somber when they came to see mom. They all loved each other so much, a very close knit family. I am grateful they all came out and that there is no more suffering for any of them.

Halls
The Hall siblings:
Randall, Johnny, Dorothy (Gunnett), Joe, Warren, Ralph

mom
Thelma Hall Tomey – Mother

Third is the fun I have been having with my daughter as we have been doing the Sketchbook challenge. In a little while, I will be joining her for the next session. It’s nice to have her here and we are having such fun.

Here are some of the pictures I made from the event. She doesn’t want her shared, just yet.

watercolor breakfast

This was food art created by drawing with ink the basic picture and then watercoloring the subject matter. We were asked to draw what we had for breakfast and this is what I did. Charlie O’Shields – Having Fun While Sketching Food! was the video.

watercolor collage cup

This was a class on a combination of freestyling, relaxing and creating collage.

Mary Beth Shaw – Doodle Sketch was the title and she guided us on having fun.

watercolor qwirky bird

This is my Quirky Bird watercolor from Tamara Laporte – Embracing YOU, Quirks And All! It was a blast!

Fourth I am thankful that I have art supplies to be able to do these things.

Fifth I did a presentation about Poetry on Wednesday night for the Triangle Association of Freelancers and it went well.

Sixth Scored Toilet Paper today at Target! And a canister of disinfectant wipes. We were not desperate but it would be coming real soon.

toilet paper rolls on a basket — Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com

Seventh Zoom Rooms and figuring out how to use them. I had a lesson on them and am working on getting more proficient as the virtual world is becoming more of a reality. Nice thing is that with these I was able to meet with people online.

Eighth First Responders who put it out there to help others be healthy and safe.

Ninth People who wear scrubs. I brought out my old acrostic for their dedication. You can read it here: Scrubs

Tenth is the place setting for YOU! What’s you thankful today?

You can enter it here!

TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – March 20 2020

March 20, 2020March 20, 2020 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

selective focus photography of pink and yellow tulips flowers — Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com

Spring has sprung and it’s showing up big time around here! The Red Bud Trees are blooming, so beautifully. Enjoying them while we can because they don’t bloom long. Such a reminder to enjoy these moments which are ever so brief. Samesies with the Dogwoods and other blooms. We have had birds bringing nesting to the shelf on the porch, but they decided to build elsewhere. Leaving the leaves, for now, just in case. I was hoping they would stay, but trust they found better accommodations. Nature has choices too and I appreciate this, especially considering how much of nature has been comprised. We are seeing that the creatures are coming out to show us that they are important and I truly appreciate when I see this shared on the web and in plain sight. There are lots of geese in my area and I am just anxiously awaiting the arrival of the babies. It’s such a cool thing to see them marching along with protective parents. Since there is so much homeschooling going on, I see this as a teaching moment. So, I bolded the thankfuls in this paragraph and that makes 1-4 for this thankful.

5.-8. Daughter and I have been participating in Radiant You! It is a weekly, one hour webcast for creative. It’s a lot of fun and is designed to help take away the blocks for creating. Here are the pictures I did. I won’t share daughters as she is still in bed and I did not ask permission.
90114648_2895679630488842_1067564076185419776_o Day 1 – We focused on what prayerful intentions we might have and write them and then the blocks, which are represented by the triangles in mine. Many people used squares, but there are no rules. And you frame the blocks to create barriers. Each star on mine represents a prayer I made for individual concerns and general concerns, so chances are you were prayed about, as well. The lines or swirls are trip ups that could create barriers but that I trust I can overcome and even make them a part of the beauty.
90176177_2897888166934655_8556798734627766272_o Day 2 we spent working on overcoming imperfection. So many times there is that voice which says we are not good enough if we are not perfect. We created an intentional ugly page and then tore that into strips and placed on a page where you picked colors which make you happy or relaxed. So I used the purple and then created this tree or plant, whichever from my ugly piece. The bird, flower and lemon sun were just things I had on hand to add. So, basically I turned what one would call ugly into a work of art. It’s funny and fun!
90155466_2900255330031272_7611219125582430208_o Day 3 We focused on what brings energy and made a picture representing this. I chose fire and that is symbolic with the lady figure in the center. On one side was the stuff which gets in the way of energy and the other side what helps. Then I took the blue pluses to represent positive and the red to represent love. The wing like flames were to shield from the negative and I mentally merged the two sides to overcome negative with the blues and reds.
90416226_2902519826471489_9074594764858327040_o Day 4 We focused on the critic. The left side we wrote criticisms and drew a picture of a critic. On the right side you drew a picture of a representation of yourself. I decided on a vibrant look of happy. Then you wrote positives on the right side. After you painted over both sides, you wrote whatever you wanted to turn this into a piece of awareness.
Day 5 is today and I can’t wait to see what we are doing!
Here is the link to Elizabeth Foley’s website in case you want to get on her list and learn about participating in her online workshops.Elizabeth Foley’s Radiant Earth Studio

9. As I am happy for having supplies on hand for the current world situation and that others can be helped by all of us. What a way to unify the world! I choose to focus on the world around us as one need not go far to find needs. I am grateful for taxes to be extended for those who need this and that we have access to the news. I am grateful to the store workers and restaurants workers, the first responders, medical professionals, the teachers who have devoted time to help home schoolers, the delivery folks from all walks of life, and so many more than I can mention.

One more thing. There is another online workshop coming up with another person. We are signed up and perhaps you would like to join. It’s called Sketchbook Revival. Go to the link to check it out: Sketchbook Revival 2020

10. And last, but not least, I invite you to the table to share your thankfuls!