Prayers for Angie

A dear friend of the art studio is having surgery today. Her name is Angie and she is a wonderful woman with an extraordinary passion for life. Angie inspires all of us with her positive outlook and refreshing view of the world around her. She has currently been in the hospital for two weeks following her first surgery and when her doctor asked her how she was doing, despite the pain, she smiled and said that she was surrounded by loved ones and relaxing, so she felt like she was on vacation! Angie always has everyone smiling when she visits us at the studio. We all wish her a speedy recovery and hope to see her smile around the studio again soon!

Atlanta Gift Mart

I just returned from a wonderful weekend at the Atlanta Gift Mart. It was a very busy weekend of meetings, signings, and showroom visits. As always, we had a wonderful time catching up with many of our friends in the industry, sharing our newest designs, and meeting new friends at the gift signings. We were able to see so many wonderful new products that are soon to hit the market! Check out these photos for a sneak peak of some of the wonderful items coming soon.

A Package From China

Yesterday my family received a wonderful surprise in the mail. It was a box full of precious treasures, from our daughter Erin - and it came all the way from China! She sent a special gift for everyone, and a letter explaining the significance of each. The gifts included a scarf for her grandmother, a jacket she had worn on the Great Wall for her cousin, and a beautiful silk tote for me. One of the most precious gifts in the box was a special letter she wrote for my husband, her father, Al. It was wonderful to receive these tokens, as they each carried so much love. In a way we felt we were experiencing part of her journey abroad, through these items she had thoughtfully gathered while in China. Erin is now in Uganda, click here for updates on her travel blog.

Happy 2009 to You!

I always love the transition from one year to the next. True, there isn’t a huge leap from the last day of 2008 to the first day of 2009, but for many it will represent a fresh start. The New Year offers an opportunity to leave bad decisions behind and resolve to work harder at being the person you want to be. One thing I know I can always improve upon is spending more quiet time with the Lord, praying and studying the Scriptures. This year I gave everyone at the studio a morning devotional book that was introduced to me by my daughter Erin. It is called Morning by Morning and it is by a wonderful author, Charles Spurgeon. If you are looking for a jumpstart in your spiritual life, I highly recommend reading any of his work. Be renewed this year and enjoy celebrating the countdown to 2009 with those you love. God bless!

New at Cracker Barrel – Nature Walk!

I am delighted to announce that our latest Cracker Barrel program, Nature Walk, is now available in all of their stores. Many of you know I love to paint scenes of nature – birds, butterflies, flowers, and other plant life. Nature is where I find my sanctuary and personal retreat, whether on the farm watching the birds feed with my family or vacationing on the nature preserve we visit in South Carolina – I just can’t get enough! All of those things are what inspired this collection and why I hold this program so dear. Nature Walk offers a wide range of products, including dinnerware, plaques, albums, and notepads, to name a few. They even have Nature Walk apparel! Please visit your local Cracker Barrel to enjoy a great meal and see the new Nature Walk program. Also, take note of our new rooster program – Elegant Rooster – that is now available in all stores. It is a fun take on weathervane roosters rendered in a beautiful blue, green, and brown palette.

Christmas 2008

I hope you all enjoyed a very merry Christmas this year! My family enjoyed another wonderful holiday together on the farm. It was a typical Christmas in many ways – gathering together with Al and our children around the tree, opening special gifts from one another, and giving thanks as we remembered the ultimate gift from God this season. However, in other ways this Christmas was very different. As many of you know, our daughter Erin is away this year on a mission trip around the world. She is currently in Kenya and was spending Christmas feeding the hungry children where they are working. We miss her dearly and missed her even more over Christmas. But, the delight and fulfillment we hear in her voice when she calls and in her blog entries helps us to know that she is exactly where she needs to be this Christmas. Erin shared another part of her life with us from so far away. Her friend Nikki has been living in our guesthouse this year and helping us with so many things around the farm. 

It was a great blessing to have her spend the holidays with us this year! Nikki brought some of the extra cheer we were missing in Erin’s absence and was a true blessing for us. So, this year, our joys of Christmas were by our side with Nikki and our children Sam, Mac, and Megan as well as afar as we kept Erin in our hearts. I found the following quote in our new book by Harvest House, God Bless Our Little Nest and thought it so appropriate to share this Christmas.

"Our home joys are the most delightful earth affords and the joy of parents in their children is the most holy joy of humanity. It makes their hearts pure and good; it lifts men up to their Father in heaven.”
Johann Heindrich Pestalozzi

Go Panthers!

One of the painters at the studio, Mary Beth, made it into the Charlotte Observer online! Mary Beth is a huge Panthers fan, as many of us at the studio are, so she made us proud. She and her husband always go all-out for the games with tailgate parties, signs and of course plenty of Panthers gear. Here’s to hoping all of our Christmas, and Panthers, wishes come true this season as we cheer for them to go all the way!


"A Carolina Panthers fan displays her Christmas wish during the 4th quarter against the Denver Broncos at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers won, 30-10."