Popcorn Popping . . .

My kids and I pay a game every once in a while.

They give me a word or a topic and I have to find a song to go with it.

I have about a 98% success rate.

Granted some of the "songs" are actually radio/television jingles - but I do a pretty good job.

I never have been able to come up with a song for the word "waterbottle"  -

but if you give me the word "popcorn" I will sing a song from my childhood.

"I looked out the window and what did I see?

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

Spring has brought me such a nice surpirse -

Popcorn popping right before my eyes."

It goes on from there - but you get the idea.

And what I saw the other day, as I walked to my car from my office where my day job is,

was a whole lot of "popcorn" -

On days like this, I am really grateful for my iPhone -

it has such a great camera on it!

And look at the sky in the photos - it's BLUE - with big, fluffy clouds.

After all of the gray and heavy rain that we have had,

I felt like my heart was going to "pop" just like the blossoms.

In fact - I fought an urge to skip to my car!

Ahhhhhhh . . .

And in the meantime - if you happen to know a song with the word "waterbottle" -

do share.

I would love to get to 100% on my challenge!

Life is a great Big canvas.. .

At Christmas, one of my closest friends gave me a shadowbox frame with a wonderful quote on the outside glass . . .

"Life is a great Big canvas - Throw all of the paint you can at it" by Danny Kaye.

This last week (yes I know that it is April and Christmas was 4 1/2 months ago) I finally put a piece of art in the frame. (How the piece of art came to be is a whole other story. :)

And here is how the finished piece looks . . .

This a great quote and I love the way the finished piece looks hanging on the wall.

It hangs right by the light switch so I see it each time that I enter and leave my studio.

But I'm not sure which I love more - the quote itself or the fact that Danny Kaye said it!

I love Danny Kaye - always have.

I remember the first movie I saw him in as a child - it was "Hans Christian Anderson" - a musical about how Hans Christian Anderson became a story teller and how he came to write the story of "The Red Shoes" (another favorite of mine!).

In this movie he is humble and sweet, patient and kind.

There is a genuine gentleness about him.

Later I saw him in other movies and who could forget him in "White Christmas".

As a teenager I was invited to a concert downtown of the symphony.

Danny Kaye was the guest conductor.

I have attended many, many, many concerts throughout my life.

As a teenager - I attended close to a hundred. Of course - when I was a teenager, the "expensive" concerts were $17.50 - alot different than the price of today's concert tickets.

I remember that concert with Danny Kaye as one of my favorites. Still is one of my favorites to this day.

He was talented, funny, quick and he just seemed so approachable.

I remember feeling like it was just me and a few friends sitting in somebody's living room with him.

Good memory.

I think Danny and I were friends in another life!

See my artwork at Made In Oregon at Washington Square and...!!

What? You want to escape the rain and go to the mall this weekend?

OK - where shall we go. . .

I know - how about Washington Square!

Oh look - it's the Made in Oregon store.

Let's go in and see what they have. . .

Oh look - right at the front of the store. . .

What is all that bright, fun stuff?

Ooooh new products . . .let's take a look!

Are those Laurie Miller Designs?

Why yes! they are . . .

Thank you for letting me brag and wallow in happiness for just a moment!

Green . . .and all things magical

I remember being totally enchanted with the little daisys that would grow in the grass in the spring.

They used to grow in the baseball field of my elementary school.

I took personal offense when the maintenance crew would cut the grass because it would chop the tops off of my little flowers.

I mean. . .really - what were they thinking?

You don't chop down the flowers!!!

I always loved daisies as a child and I still find them to be some of the happiest flowers ever.

I remember weaving them into chains and crowns.

I would imagine that they were the skirts of fairies.

I would pick them and pluck of the petals, one by one.

I still think they are pretty magical.

And as much as I love a bouquet of beautiful roses . . .I'd choose a bouquet of bright daisys anytime!

These sweet beauties were discovered on a recent walk around a local golf course.

As tired as I am of the rain we are having in Oregon, you can't beat it for making the grass green.

And look at those droplets of water clinging on the blades of grass.

Magic!

 The other thing that totally enchanted me as a child was weeping willow trees.

I don't remember any weeping trees in my yards or my neighborhood when I was growing up,

but every time I saw one they invoked fantasies of hidden forts, princesses, fairies. . .

all things magical.I

And again . . .check out those shakes of green. 

New colorful Fan Fins!

New and improved ceiling fan blades.

I have been spending the last few days working on my new studio space. And I am a true believer in reusing everything that I can and doing redecorating projects with as little money as possible. I am not above rummaging through a dumpster if needed to find the perfect embellishments.

In this case - I didn't do any dumpster diving - but I did do a lot of re-using!

This is just a sneak peek of one the new elements - my ceiling fan.

I love having a ceiling fan - but they are rather . . .boring.

But not now - color and excitement all the way.

It will be perfect for sitting in my chair, gazing up and contemplating all of life's important questions.

Stay tuned . . .more studio pics to come as I get it finished up!

Made In Oregon . . .

It's official - we are in 4 Made In Oregon stores. This is a nice feather in our humble little cap! I remember going into these stores years ago and thinking only "real" artists have their things chosen to be in here. . .and now Laurie Miller Designs will be represented. We can be found in the Portland Airport, Washington Square, Pioneer Place and Newport stores as of this week. This is a trial order - if the items sell, we will work on a larger order. Keep you fingers crossed for us . . .better yet - drop into one of the stores!

This is a project I just worked on. I was contacted by a woman who conducts leadership and management trainings to design name tags. Because her workshops focus on creative approaches to problem solving and taking a leap on goals, she wanted to have name tags that inspire the same types of things. Check out her website. She is truly inspirational. She is an ultralight pilot and has accomplished some amazing goals. It gives me hope.

Other than that - my studio time is being dominated by a studio move and redecorating project. With my oldest daughter moving out of the house, a room opened up. My sweet husband has been painting and putting up shelves and such to get it ready for me. I will post pictures when the project is complete!

Now onto other projects. . . .

Have a great week!