Christmastide & New Year Greetings!

Well, 2019 has certainly been a “bumpy year,” as the Queen so wryly noted in this year’s Xmas address. In a lil’ over a year, we’ve lived in 3 states, experiencing wholly different cultures from slow, sweltering hot & soggy cold Appalachian country life to baking n’ bountiful Californian vibes to finally arriving back again in our very own cosy corner of Narnia, right here in N. Colorado, loving once again children and kin. All told, we drove well over 9,000 miles, flew to England to see my family, had my wallet & ID stolen and are still somewhat exhausted, must say. Oh, and did I mention, whilst in KY, Alexandra broke her back and was on bed rest for many months?! Yup, some deep lows, and highs.

With promises of helping fam/others in need, the chance for new opportunities and challenges, I had to give up a long time job/career I loved in order to meet the tasks at hand, sacrificing in the process, let alone taking these huge steps of faith into the untested unknowns for the better good. We gave it our heart and soul, poured into everyone we could and left with having built some lasting rewards that are definitely beyond measure whilst experiencing losses.

We started two companies, grew our creative potential, number of clients (nationally & internationally), and reach massively; created an awesome, diverse and strong portfolio; challenged ourselves to not accept the mundane yet easy (but oftentimes dulling) status quo and are excited to see where 2020 leads!

We overcame both petty and huge trials together by looking beyond to the promise of greater things. Our trust could have been easily broken on occasion - many situ’s were extremely challenging, if not wild -  but rather than stay mired, we dug deep, found the courage to fly, to try new things, to never give up or lose hope, to imagine and further realise bigger dreams.

My passion for life, others, let alone as a creative professional is bursting at the seams. I feel renewed, alive and can’t wait to see what these new ’20s bring! How about you?

 

BTW, if you’d like to catch up more, the best way in terms of social platforms (and through which we get much of our work) is truly on Instagram with mine (@itsrainingmarmalade) and Alexandra’s (@alexandrasillos) accents. In fact, there you’ll find our own recently completed joint Christmas Countdown Art challenge - The 25 Doors of Christmas! (With that said too, I’ll be sure to update my IG icon.)

Thank you to each of you for your lovely comments earlier (all of which I’ve replied to now). We’ve been quite busy with some new exciting projects and have at least enjoyed seeing a few of you out there in IG land! I’m going to now visit those of you who commented in the last post so s to catch up here a bit too...whilst able during this holiday downtime!

I do hope all of you have had a full, thrilling year.... but, perhaps not quite as much as ours! :)

What's that up in the air?

Well, peeps, judging from the handful of replies to my last post, I'm not convinced there's enough interest in re-starting Scribble Picnic yet! It seems, at best, more people might be able to commit once we get through these dog days of summer, possibly? So, at this point, we're going to leave it be and, if you want, I can simply ask again once September comes around.

As it is, that's probably for the best as with every year for all of us, summer's a busy time. Alex and I, as a case in point, will be back in Colorado for my youngest's wedding and then off to England on some super cheap tickets we actually bought last year, long before we knew all the unexpected changes that were to arise later. On the plus side though, we can use a portion of the trip for business as we have some potential opportunities there that could be quite exciting. Naturally, too, I want to see my remaining family there since 3 years ago.

Frankly, since then (when we went to take care of my mother), things have certainly not been boring, must say — quite the adventure — but we're exhausted taking care of others that we'll be ready to start to carve out some time for our own lives too...and place to call home again!

I hope everyone's summer is going well. Feel free to leave comments. I'll check in as able. Thanks to each of you who were able to leave comments and don't forget that Rain has her weekly art challenge too! In the meanwhile, while not feeling nearly as hot as humid Kentucky, the reality is that today was an incredible 107F so I'll be chillin', literally, as much as able. Thankfully, tonight the temps plunge down again with the promise of that lovely Delta breeze that so thrills and surprises me. :)

See you in September, if not sooner! :)

Scribble Picnic Challenge

Hi, everyone, I've missed you! And, like you, I too haven't made the time to illustrate as much as one might like. So... I'm ready to relaunch our art challenge co-op... IF you are too? Who's with me?

A lot can change in 4 months though, I know. I mean, we've moved from KY to CA, for starts! Let me find out first then, who's perhaps moved on to other things and who are wanting to jump back in here? If I can get, say, 5 of you to indicate interest then we'll get rolling again! :)

I already have some fun ideas lined up but don't want to scribble picnic alone in an echo chamber either. For starts, what do you guys think of making this weekly again... as the icon subtitle suggests?! I was thinking, one week would be for "concept" (that is, the initial looser sketch idea) and the following for the final "proof" (that is, coloured, if you want, and tighter, although doesn't have to be super tight either as this is a scribble picnic after all — up to you!)

If each of you could please let me know whether you can join in or not, that would be fabulous. Thank you! Thanks too for not only your understanding when needing to focus on other things but your patience in-between as well. In the meanwhile, I'll revisit our last few co-ops and catch up with each of you. That's my goal, anyway. I'm sure lots happened since I was last here in Blogger land. Hope all's well and if not, let me know that too!

I'll give this a week and let you know on Sunday, July 21st, if this goes forward or not, depending on how many are still wanting to pick this up or not. :) Thanks!!

Scribble Picnic Status

Friends, having still not been able to visit everyone for these last few themes (and currently sick with a week long flu after traveling), it's clear to me that I'm not being a terribly good host! While it's my joy to build and foster our community here, if it can't be done well, it inevitably leads to let down for the rest of you too and further disengagement which is something I obviously don't want for any of us. As such, it's clearly time for me to put our Scribble Picnics on hold for at least the foreseeable future. I'm afraid our lives have simply been in too much flux since we moved to KY! Many things have not panned out as expected, and some have come with a fair bit of delay, that it would be best to let our art co-op sit, only reconsidering things later after the dust settles and more of my creative focus can be given. Alex and I are well though, in spite of things! We simply just have a lot on our plates currently and need to focus on the tasks at hand.

Thank you for your understanding. I'm sorry for any disappointments here as for most of us, this has definitely become a family of sorts and to me is too valuable to only be able to give it minimal attention currently. Each of you who have participated in some capacity over this last month will be visited and your lovely works commented on as well. I will also be sure let you know if/when things should change here!

Thank you to every one of you for your creativity and excellent inputs for all of us. You mean more to me than you may know. :) TTYL...just not sure when! :)

A Picnic full of hearts

Hello, bloggers and fellow artists! I've been really absent here, haven't I? Still need to go visit everyone for the Market entries last time around which I will likely not get to, unfortunately, until this Saturday, actually. We are about to take off to San Antonio for an art suppliers tradeshow Alex has been invited to, as she was last year.

Below, is the sign in for our Hearts entry. I'm not going to be able to contribute this time around but will visit you all the same time I go back and catch up on those markets! As this itself is going up late, the deadline has been extended to tomorrow (21st) night. Hope that helps.

I'm terribly sorry to be so flaky as of late - too many things going on as well as some quite unexpected developments over this weekend that I have needed to contend with.

See you back here in a few days!

P.S. I will need to give us three weeks (March 13th) for the next sign up as am going to be out until mid next week. No idea for the theme so I'm all ears to any suggestions you guys might like to explore. Any? How are you too with such annoyances as delays like this? Thank you for your honest feedback! Wish I could be more present but things will settle down at someone point...if you can wait that long! Anyway, I'll post something on the side bar upon my return. Thanks again.

Scribble Picnic Market

(Drawing updated)

Tuesday felt like Spring, a welcome relief from the bitter cold many of us have felt on this side of the world anyway! It got me thinking of a project I have coming up for a Spring Market and this represents my first very rough sketch doodled up that evening. If I go this direction, I'll fine tune it but you get the idea.

Now, what kind of picnic goodie would go well with this? Perhaps a cheese and tomato sandwich...with the crusts cut off, of course. :)

Can't wait to see what the rest of you do!

Is it too late for a Holiday Party?

(Mistle-tip-toe)

Did you attend any Holiday Party this year? We actually did not, albeit that would have been really fun—in the right setting, that is—one done with some class and finesse. In fact, you know, I don't think I've actually ever been invited to a proper New Year's Eve Party! I do recall, some wonderful Christmas parties that my mother hosted. Though, being single, no one seemed to ever invite her anywhere, but loving to host, she'd invite a skew of fascinating friends to fabulous shindigs at our home over the holidays. My sister and I would walk around serving silver trays of nuts, dates and figs, or sausage rolls and cheese, and so forth. We had such a great time.

One of my particularly fond memories was how my mother placed mistletoe strategically above the inside front door so that whenever a someone rang the doorbell, she'd dash downstairs and promptly invite them in, "Dahhhling, do come in! It's frightfully cold outside..." At which point she'd feign surprise and cheekily look up at the mistletoe ball hanging overhead and exclaim, "Oh!" Of course, the gentlemen would always oblige a kiss, sometimes much to the chagrin of their accompanying wife. My mother—such a flirt—in the sweetest, almost child like way. But always very proper whilst exuding glamour, class and her distinct feminine charm. For some reason that memory just gives me such a kick. Mama was anything but a wallflower—larger than life... in more ways than one, yet, importantly, never once was she ever vulgar or inebriated. Again, charm to the 'nth degree. This piece then is my ode to those jolly Christmas/Holiday parties in Fulham all those years ago.

So, let's get this party rolling shall we? I'm, of course, going to have to bring a silver tray of sausage rolls and warmed up mince pies. Meanwhile, how about you show us your own contributions? Do tell some holiday party story whilst at it, would you? Such fun!

Thanks for playing along... and Happy New Year! :)