2019 Recap

Well. Hello there, good old blog. It's been awhile!

Let's talk about 2019, shall we? 

There are only a few hours left in this year, and in this decade. I don't have the energy to think back on the past ten years today, but do want to look back a bit on the last 12 months.

I didn't have any specific goals for the year, other than slowing down and getting back to a life that felt manageable and aligned with my soul's purpose. 

What I didn't expect was that giving up some things that were weighing me down would open me up to so many new opportunities. I was amazed when I looked back on the year at everything I had been able to accomplish. 

If you follow me on Instagram, I created a highlight for the year with links to different posts. But for this blog post, I'm gonna keep it simple and list them with a few things linked up for ya. So here we go! 

In 2019 I...

• Showed art at my 2nd Surtex 
• Launched my 2nd coloring book
• Left my art agency
• Partnered to create printables for the Reset Girl
• Rejoined the Illustrated Faith team
• Created my first physical product for Illustrated Faith 
• Launched new branding
• Taught my first in person lettering classes
• Created lots of pet portraits
• Started creating gifs 
• (you can find them by searching "mandyfordart"!)
• Launched my first stickers
• Started meeting with a spiritual director
• I see Amy at Persimmon Studio.) 
• Moved to a new art space in our home
• Bought pink glasses
• Got to hear Lisa Congdon and Andy Miller speak together
• And chat with them both in person - such a gift!
• Moved to a four day work week at my day job 
• Had two super fun pop up shops

It was a YEAR. 

We capped it off on Sunday by getting in a scary car accident. 

Yikes. So the past few days we've been taking it easy and 

majorly counting our blessings. 

I'm so thankful for all of the support I've received this past year. 

I had no idea what it was going to hold, and looking back I'm in 

awe. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Here's to a 2020 where we give ourselves grace and grow 

even more into our best selves!

around here lately

February was a rough month at our house. A flood from our water heater and sickness that went on for weeks. 

I'm feeling especially pulled toward nature right now to help me find my balance again. 

Stones like this rose quartz ring that arrived in the mail yesterday (I'm really in love with it - from this shop) and the little bits of happiness I have arranged on my office altar of sorts. I've been lighting my candle and sitting in silence for a bit to start my day. 

The rose quartz is helping me feel grounded today. It carries the energy of compassion and peace, tenderness and healing, nourishment and comfort, helps dissolve emotional wounds, fears and resentments, and circulates a Divine loving energy. Umm yes to all of that please! 

I'm realizing how darn important self-care is to my mental health lately. 

I joked with a friend yesterday that I've created so much margin around myself that I'm not sure it's a good thing.

But she reassured me that it is. 

This past weekend we made a trip out of town to do some shopping. Our nearest Target is about an hour away, so you can bet I documented this self-care moment!

And also, I'm super obsessed with faux succulents right now. My goal is to have at least two in every room. 

I'm also obsessed with my newest mug purchase from my Society6 shop. This time I went for the larger size and it is pretty much perfection. 

So here's to lots of self-care, extra large coffees, and Instagram photo filters that make you look alert on a Friday morning! 



Sending you love and light,

{one little word 2016}

Have you ever had a year start with so much anticipation and thankfulness that it seemed too good to be true? 

I'm finding myself in that place with 2016. It is going to be a year of renewal for me, in so many forms and all at the same time.

I'm saying thank you under my breath, and out loud for that matter, quite often these days. 

While life has been good and blessed for us the past few years, it has also been tough mentally. Money has been tight, my anxiety has felt like an uphill battle more often than I would like to admit, and issues of the heart have left me with a crack that I'm still working on filling. (Although I've heard, and believe, that the cracks are where the light comes in, so I guess I'll let them stay.) 

Despite all of that I have been tremendously happy, learning bit by bit that the rough moments make the smooth ones that much easier to appreciate. But at the same time, an unwelcome scarcity mentality has creeped in, and I have accustomed myself to expecting things to not go well. Honestly I've convinced myself that the good stuff is for other people, and surely not me.

But then the past year happened. My coloring book happened. Things with my career started getting easier. An extra work project came along that is going to give us a bit of unexpected money, so we're, fingers crossed, planning a waaaay overdue kitchen renovation. And as if that isn't enough, my boss has approved a six-month sabbatical for me this year! (Never, in my life, did I think I'd be using the word sabbatical in a sentence about my own job.)

Six months of doing research and working from home or the coffee shop or anywhere I want to, thank you very much. 

Who gets to live this life?! This girl? 

I'm seriously expecting Ashton Kutcher to jump out from behind my couch right now as I type this and yell "You've been punked!" But then that would mean Ashton Kutcher was in my living room, which really wouldn't be a horrible thing. 

Everything is coming together this year in a way that, quite honestly, freaks me out and elates me at the same time.

With all that in mind, I've chosen "renew" for my one little word this year.

1. to begin or take up again
2. to restore or replenish
3. to revive, reestablish
4. to restore to a former state; make new or as if new again

This is going to be a year of beginning, of replenishing, of reviving, and of restoring. 

I don't think I have ever been this excited about a new year.

I'm ditching that scarcity mentality, saying thank you to God for this year of renewal, and finding every way possible to enjoy this ride. 

I'm gonna have renewal happening all over the darn place.

Starting with six months of not punching a clock. Whoa. For a girl who has worked an 8-5 office job for 17-ish years, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that one. The first block of time starts in March and while not on paper yet, I already have a list started in my head of projects I want to work on. I got a jump start today by cleaning out my sock drawer. Talk about renewal...how the heck can so many unworn socks fit into one 6x12 inch space?

I've been pinning kitchen ideas like CRAZY. I calculated that between our two houses, we've lived with horribly yucky kitchens for a total of 10 years. Get ready for some major renewal, nasty 60's speckled-counter kitchen. I also have lots of other house projects in mind, like cleaning out closets, painting, and refreshing my "art studio" in the corner of our rec room. 

And then there is the mental renewal I'm already feeling...space to dream and think and plan. Knowing I'll be able to start my mornings the way I want to (after we get the boys to school, that is) with a slow breakfast, exercise, scheduled time for my art, and fitting in my work research whenever and wherever I want. 

Goodness my mind is spinning in every wonderful way thinking about the freedom this will open up. 

And lastly I'm SUPER excited to keep the momentum going with This Girl's Doodles. I have no idea what this year has in store. I have no other plan but to keep my eyes, ears, and heart open to what is sent my way. The coloring book has truly been a gift, and if that can come my way who knows what is next. 

I know that this gift of time will open me up even more to inspiration, and I'm jazzed and anxious to see how that translates onto paper. 

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading and sharing in my excitement. I truly believe it has taken a community to get me to this point, and you are a part of that! 

Have you chosen a word for 2016? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Now let's go live the heck out of 2016!

XO,

{unique in the best of ways}

Often the things we hide and consider awkward or ugly are what make us unique in the best of ways.

I have a band-aid shaped brown birthmark smack dab in the middle of the top of my left foot. Until about late high school, my primary criteria when summer shoe shopping was if the straps strategically covered it. I treated it like an unhealed wound. I was embarrassed by it and thought people would judge me because of it. (And in those difficult teenage years I was probably partially right.) 

It wasn't until my early twenties that I let it free. I bought flip flops with abandon and laughed when children or the occasional adult would ask, "What happened to your foot?!" with equal parts fear and curiosity. 

Now, at the age of 36, my brown band-aid and I live in a fairly decent state of harmony.

The other day, a new-ish friend and I were enjoying a mid-day chat about all sorts of random life things and I must have mentioned my birthmark. And she said, "I love your birthmark!"

Our conversation kept going at the same happy pace, but inside those words stopped me in my tracks. This was the first time anyone had equated positive feelings with this part of me. She saw what I considered to be an awkward thing I tolerate as something that contributes to my uniqueness. 

We could all use more friends like this, right?

What is something unique about you or someone you love that you can celebrate today?

XO,

{one little word 2015}

As the new year approaches, it is time to choose my "one little word" for 2015. This will be my fifth year doing OLW, which is kind of hard to believe. 

The idea behind "one little word" is you choose a word to guide you through the upcoming year...to be your compass as you navigate life during the next 365 days. 

Last year I purchased a necklace from Lisa Leonard with my word, become, and wearing it really helped to make that word a part of my daily life. 

Here are my past four words...

2011 
action

2012 
commit

2013
grow

2014
become

In 2013 I chose the word grow, not knowing what was in store for me. In that blog post I said:

"I want to use the talents that God instilled in me. And right now I feel like I'm not doing that to the level He wants me to be." 

Wow. Reading that gives me major chills considering all that happened that year, and since. My word literally took form and my dream began to take shape that spring when I started drawing again.  

The past two years have taken such a huge shift for me. I've become an artist. A working, paid, professional artist. And that has been huge. But I still have so much work to do, and I'm excited but also a bit daunted by that challenge. 

This past year, become was all about allowing myself to become an artist. I signed a contract with an art licensing company and recently received news that my art was purchased by a major retail store {more to come on that hopefully very soon!}. 

If I can toot my own horn and pardon my French, but I used that sh*t out of that word. I'm pretty darn proud of myself. 

And now for 2015. I could recycle the word grow because there is so much I want to learn and do as an artist. Like I said above, along with excitement there is also a healthy dose of fear that comes along for the ride. I'm the kind of person that wants to be good at something without much practice. I'm getting better with that, but I still procrastinate trying new things because I'm worried I will suck at them, in all honesty. And I don't want to do that anymore. 

I know that if I want to turn my art into a full time profession I simply can't do that. I have to be open to trying new things, regardless of the outcome.

I need to be willing to take a few chances.

So my word for 2015 is...

 

I chose leap because I want to focus on the adventure of all of this, and not on the fear or anxiety, because, let's face it...I'm one anxious lady most of the time. 

And anxiety doesn't get you anywhere but curled up in your pj's eating ice cream on the sofa watching Project Runway. {Not that there's anything wrong with that...but I could be doodling instead of eating ice cream.} 

I don't know what all of the leaps will be, but I'm doing a few of them already. I'm taking courses on handlettering to improve my technique. I'm contacting art licensing companies about selling my work. I'm selling my art locally. 

So here's to a year full of leaps of all sorts, but mostly of the artistic kind.

If you have a one little word for 2015 I'd love to hear about it in the comments! I'd also love to doodle your word for you!

XO, 

{good-bye august}

This is the first year in my memory that I can say I didn't enjoy August.

August is my birthday month and so it has always been one of my favorites. But in the past few years that has changed with having children in school {that starts WAY too early} and my biggest work event smack dab in the middle of the month.

This whole month has been a huge contradiction of emotions. The boys started school on my birthday and that day represented pretty much the entire month...tears mixed with joy, anxiety rubbing up against gratefulness.

In many ways I'm happy to say good-bye to August. It was filled with tears and nervous stomachs and a mind so full that I really didn't know what to do with myself.

I said goodbye to a beloved pet {rest in peace my sweet Melvin} and hello to a schedule way more full than I would have wanted.

I gratefully and humbly accepted the love and support of family and friends when I was hanging on by a very thin thread.

It wasn't all bad, that's for sure. I said hello 36, to being the mother of 1st graders, and to new art adventures.

I'm so very thankful for the constant balance of difficult and defining moments.

But I've felt so out of balance and at war with the state of my life right now. One of my new goals is to find a way to balance my obligations with the very best things that I want to do, all while finding time to rest. Easy enough right?

I can't say I have much confidence I'll find a solution anytime soon, but it is a daily challenge that I need to fight for the sake of my sanity.

So, good-bye August. Hello September. I'm thrilled to see you. And I welcome you to be just as boring as you would like.

XO,

{illuminated sun rays}

Hello friends! 

I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing holiday weekend.

My absolute favorite time from the extended break was Sunday, when we spent a good deal of the day at my parent's house, which also happens to be where I grew up.

They purchased the home before I was born, so a lot of my history lives within those walls, and in the grass surrounding them. 

As sentimental as I am, I haven't felt a strong attachment to that house for quite a few years. But there was something about Sunday that felt so soothing, being there.

And taking the boys there feels even more special.

We spent most of the day in their garden and yard, enjoying the cool spring breezes while the boys played baseball and camped out under a card table covered with sheets.

They were so occupied that I was able to tuck myself away inside the garden fence and do some drawing.

Their garden hasn't changed a great deal since I was a teenager, although I sure have. 

I used to spend lazy summer days laying out on the gravel pathway in my bikini, with my walkman {yes...I'm that old} and a bottle of sunscreen. 

Sunday I plopped myself down in a brown plastic adirondack chair, wearing a great deal more clothing, soaking in the sounds of nature and five-year-old giggles and the warm breeze on my skin, pen and paper in hand.

Although I would love to have that bikini body back, I wouldn't trade the past twenty years of experiences I've added to this aged frame of mine.

Everything has so much more depth and meaning now.

Sun rays illuminated by fire pit smoke take on a new level of beauty.

S'more making is more than just an approved way to consume chocolate AND marshmallows in one sitting...

Flowers and concrete statues are opportunities for faux photo shoots...

And twenty years later, a paper plate marked with melted Hershey bar, charred marshmallow and graham cracker crumbs carries with it a host of new meanings and memories...

Thankful for that day times one million.

XO,

{what's in my bag}

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and U by Kotex but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #UbKKmart  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

It is pretty much a standing joke with my family and friends that I always carry a huge handbag.

I need something that can carry not only the essentials, but also my drawing pad and markers, snacks, work materials and sometimes my water bottle. Not to mention random stuff for the boys.

My current bag is one of my best ever thrifting finds...

...this lovely Fossil tote.

The pattern is so whimsical and fun, and matches my new Hobby Lobby pillow quite nicely, don't ya think?

It is also super roomy which is just how I like it. Lots of pockets and places for all of my "necessities."

Wanna see what's in there?

First of all, let's be honest. This is what was left after I threw away the random receipts, gum and chocolate wrappers, and other miscellaneous trash.

1. Shop Zeeuh coffee cozy
2. Bliss lemon + sage body butter {this stuff smells sooo good and is great on dry hands}
3. Doublemint gum...my hands down favorite.
4. Dove dark chocolates. These are a MUST have.
5. Business cards from moo.com in a cute holder from Moxie Mandie
6. Nine West wallet...a TJ Maxx find.
7. C.O. Bigelow lipgloss from Bath and Body Works
8. Cute owl pouch {can't remember the shop}
9. U by Kotex pads and tampons
10. Drawing pad and markers in my Orla Kiely pouch

Now I may joke about the chocolates being a necessity, but one thing in that list surely is. 

Yep...those things.

I honestly never thought about seeking out colorful "that time of the month" products, but these from U by Kotex are pretty darn cute. 

Can I call tampons cute? 

What the heck...I just did. 

The wrappers are my favorite colors. I mean come on...I'll take anything I can get to add some fun to that time of the month. 

I shopped for these UbK products at Kmart and was happy to find out that you can use their new Shop Your Way program to save $3 on a purchase of 2 UbK items. 

You can sign up for Shop Your Way here!

What about you...do you look for fun feminine products? What necessities do you carry in your bag?

XO,

{favorites}

Happy Thursday friends!

I thought it would be fun today to share some of my current favorite things. 

1. If you know me very well, you'll know that when I find new music, I tend to obsessively listen to it. Right now that music would be anything by Greg Laswell. This song of his, featuring another one of my favorites, Sara Bareilles, is on repeat these days...



2. This post.

SO much good stuff...especially if you are feeling pulled toward a new adventure. 

3. Lisa Leonard's new monogram line...

I love the fonts and organic shapes.

4. Landon's recent creation...

He took a scrap piece of felt and some Instax photos and put together this little album all by himself. You can say my crafty little heart melted all over the place.

5. This adorable sign I ordered for the boys' room from Prim & Proper on Etsy...

Their space is almost done and I can't wait to share it with you. It might also include a freaking awesome light up globe my mom thrifted for them...I think it is their favorite thing ever. :)

6. And because Easter is this weekend...

Love that Jim Gaffigan.

What are you loving today?

XO,

{a year of growth}

2013...you were a year of growth for me. 

That was the word I chose for you, and boy did you ever come through.

I grew into myself more than I could have imagined this time last year. 

I found new friendships, one in particular, that encourage me to be fully myself. What a blessing that has been.

And oh yeah...I taught my first workshop!

I went to my first blogging conference and spent my first weekend away from the boys. 

The friendships I made there continue to fill my heart with love and support. What a great group of ladies. 

I rediscovered my love for drawing. 

I almost have no words for this...it has brought me alive. 

And I have a feeling this doodling journey of mine has just begun. Boy am I grateful. 

I grew as a Mom...learning how to parent 5 year olds {OK...I'm still learning that lesson} and kindergartners. 

Whew! is all I have to say about that one.

Some days these boys darn right overwhelm me, but in the end this journey of motherhood is incomparable in the best of ways. 

And let's not forget this guy and I celebrated 10 years of marriage...

Watching him as a father, seeing his daily devotion to our family amid the messiness of daily life...it is all so beautiful. 

So thank you, 2013. You helped me grow by leaps and bounds. 

XO,



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