Sheila Landry Designs/Tole Painting Designs

The Lifting Fog

“No effort that we take to attain something beautiful is ever lost. -Helen Keller

Treasure!

“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.” -Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Adventures Ahead!

“When in doubt, Follow the compass of adventure.” – Unknown

“Times of transition are strenuous, but I love them. They are an opportunity to purge, rethink priorities, and can be intentional about new habits. We can make our new normal any way we want.” -Kristin Armstrong

The Darkness is Passing. . .

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” -Henry David Thoreau

Unstuck

“Hesitation is often like procrastination. One may have vague doubts and feel a need to mull things over; meanwhile, other issues intrude on thought and no decision is takes. Ask people why they procrastinate and you probably won’t get a crips answer.”
-Robert J. Shiller

Resetting

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what to can.”
~Arther Ashe.

Hiccups

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” – Dolly Parton

Bonnie Briar

“Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.” – Barbara Johnson

Work In Progress

“Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be.”
-C. S. Lewis

Quiet Inspiration

“There are places I’ll rememberAll my life, though some have changedSome forever, not for betterSome have gone and some remainAll these places have their momentsWith lovers and friends I still can recallSome are dead and some are livingIn my life, I’ve loved them all“ – John Lennon – “My Life” In some ways, it was…

No Apologies

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you are the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler Another week has passed. I often wonder how time seems to go by so quickly. I know it isn’t just ‘me’ that is thinking like this, as my partner Keith seems to be mentioning it more often than…

The Fog is Lifting

“Finding oneself and one’s path is like waking up on a foggy day. Be patient, and presently the fog will clear and that which has always been there can be seen. The path is already there to follow.” -Rasheed Ogunlaru I learned about fog many years ago. Not the kind of fog you see out…

“The Stone Chapel”

“The only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.” -Michelle Obama It was a good week. There have been no power outages, severe weather, chipped teeth, or other types of emergencies. Other than a regular ‘maintenance’ appointment on Wednesday, things went along precisely…

Keeping things Moving

“There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt I have always embraced the idea of “progress”. I learned early in my life that it isn’t always getting to the finish line that is the most important but during the journey we follow to reach the destination….

Decisions

“I made decisions that I regret, and I took them as learning experiences… I’m human, not perfect, like anybody else.” – Queen Latifah It has been quiet here. Very, very quiet. Part of me thinks it is a good thing. That is – after I get over the worry. As someone who depends on being busy…

“Snow Flurries”

That’s what winter is: An exercise in remembering how to still yourself then how to come pliantly back to life again. “Ali Smith” It seems winter has finally arrived here in Nova Scotia. After weeks of flirting with us and giving a kiss of snow only to be followed by warmer winds and rains, this…

Learning Curve

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” – Albert Einstein I haven’t felt as if I accomplished a great deal this week, although I have learned quite a bit. It isn’t as if I haven’t been busy. I spent the beginning of the week (as usual) cutting, packing, and shipping…

Potential

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” – William Faulkner With the beginning of the new year comes the usual onslaught of resolutions, promises, and goals. I think that many of us look…

Endings and Beginnings

“Trust that an ending is followed by a beginning.” – Naveera Salam It is momentarily hard to believe that we are already turning another page on the calendar and getting ready to begin a new year. I say, “momentarily” because when I really take a few moments to think of the past twelve months, I…

Holidays

“During the holiday, let go of the stress and embrace the spirit of joy, love, and gratitude. it is a time to rejuvenate and find inner piece.” Unknown The holidays are upon us and just over a week away. It is hard to believe (once again) that time is passing by so quickly. Before we know it,…

How to Take a Break

“Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is take a break.” -Unknown We often hear the quote, “If you love your job, you never work a day in your life.” I honestly think that is the way I live my life. I don’t think a day goes by when I don’t feel fortunate in…

The Storm Before the Calm

It is hard to believe that we already have a foot in December’s door. As each year passes, it seems to do so much more quickly. I don’t know if that is related to getting older or being busy or just not paying attention. It seems like only a few weeks ago it was the…

Preparing

“He who is best prepared can best serve his moment of inspiration.” -Samuel Taylor Coleridge It has been another week that seemed to pass before I knew it. It seemed that just the other day we were celebrating Halloween and looking forward to the month of November. And here we are, a few weeks later…

Small Victories

“Celebrate small victories often. Mourn failures quickly. Do what is necessary without fanfare.” – Chris Brogan This week I am ‘yoinking’ the title of my blog from a new book I received last week in the mail. It is a brand-new coloring book by Johanna Basford called “Small Victories” and I think that not only…

Failures: “Wins in Disguise”

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” – Pablo Picasso I had not been aware of “imposter syndrome” until recently. Somehow, during my travels within my artistic community, the phrase had recently been mentioned. But since I first heard it not too long…

Progress

“Do not wait. The time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand and work with whatever tools you may have at your commend, and better tools will be found as you go along.” George Herbert Progress is sometimes underappreciated. So many of us are so busy looking at the end result of any…

Time After Time

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” J. R. R. Tolkien I have always had this love/hate relationship with time. From the time I was a young child, I thought that it often passed too quickly. Maybe because we were always busy. I am not sure….

Spending Time

“There is only one thing more precious than our time and that is what we spend it on.” -Leo Christopher It was another week that was both busy and full. It seemed to go by in the blink of an eye and it is hard to believe we are nearly through the month of October…

My Creative Week

“If a year was tucked inside of a clock, then autumn would be the magic hour.” Victoria Erickson Autumn. It is without question my favorite time of year. As we gain relief from the heat of summer and gently slide into the cold, crisp days of winter, we witness some of the most beautiful sights…

Darkness and Light

“The obvious thing to remember is without the dark, there is no light, and without light, there is no dark.” -Jessica Capshaw Darkness and light. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum, yet without one the other would not exist. They work together to create the moods, shapes, and forms that make up our…

More Magic

“There is a quiet comfort in knowing I have not yet crossed paths with all of the people who will bring magic into my life.” – S. M. Klees So what is “magic” to you? I think that we each have our own interpretation of what we think qualifies as something ‘magical’ in our lives….

Welcome to my world of creativity!