Have Brush Will Travel

I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday

I don't think Paintinpatti is the best name for a blog. I'd like to change the name, but to what? My brother in law told me to name it "Strawberry Blue", because my house is blue with lots of red inside LOL!

If you are wondering why I named it Paintinpatti, well the answer is simple. I didn't know what to name it when on a whim i started this blog, and so I named it after my business - that used to be.

When my children were young my firefighter husband moved us to the desert. He was gone a LOT. Anytime there was overtime, he took it. His schedule was all over the place. No consistency. No routine. I was lonely and scared of this hot and dry place. I had left my family and many dear friends that I had grown up with in my small home town. I needed help. (I am not an extrovert. I can be really shy. It's ridiculous, I know) So, I prayed.

(My grown children's outfits)

I prayed and asked The Lord to help me find a friend. Well, true to Himself, He showed up! But, not with one friend, but with several sweet girls with young children that my kids could play with.

(Guest bedroom and Hub's tractors and fire trucks)

Jeanette was the reason. I first met her in a little Baptist church in a nearby town, too far away, and with a very scary address. Someone told Hubs we should go there. It was a friendly church. WHAT! I was upset! Who told you about this church? they have drive by shootings there! Will we be safe? I overreacted.

After the service, a pretty young woman walked up and said,"Hi,I'm Jeanette. Some people are coming over to my house for lunch. Would you like to come?" I wanted to bolt and say no thank you, but hubs quickly said YES! He IS an extrovert! And, I think he was hyperfocusing on the word "food"!

Simplify? Never!

I was my anxious self. We went over to her house for lunch, and I hung on to my husbands arm for support. But that day was amazing! I met several other women that were wonderful, smart, fun, and loved The Lord with all their hearts.

One day Jeanette came over to my house. Having come from a country town my house was decorated simply with a few antiques and doilies and a simple tied quilt on my bed that I had made at a Quilt in a Day class. I also had a few items that I had tole-painted. She just LOVED my house, and I was amazed. No one had ever raved over my house or anything I had ever made before. Then, she said, "you could sell these cute things you made". WHAT! Who would buy them? These were a dime a dozen in my home town. But, not in the desert. People decorated with pink coyotes and whitewashed oak furniture.

Being an entrepreneur, Jeanette was always thinking of how to make some money, so she decided to have a "home show" and we would invite people to come and buy our handmade items.

Jeanette said I needed cute tags and a name that people would remember. She named me, Paintinpatti!

I did these shows for 10 years. I painted 1000's of things. Ornaments, furniture, fabric. Anything I could think of. Eventually, I joined 5 other yearly shows. When my children grew up, I went back to college, and now I am a teacher. I don't paint much at all anymore. I'm too exhausted after teaching kindergarten all day!

I never kept much of my painting, but I do have these few pieces.

My friend, Kim, gave me this little end table. I can't part with it. It's tiny and reminds me of happy times.

This dresser was $7. I remember because I thought it was too much! It had a terrible finish, but perfect for a shabby distressed look.

It was falling apart, so hubs remade it. For years our big TV sat on top of it and movies, the VCR, and Nintendo sat inside on the shelves. Now it holds the yard sale glass I have collected over the years. Nothing inside was probably over a dollar.

I painted the angel in the Dutch Hindeloopen style.

The wonderful mirror was $5.

The gold hat boxes were a gift from my dear friend, Joyce - 40 years older than me - but she believed in me. They are I.Magnin stacking boxes. I painted roses on them.

One year I went to a painting convention in Anaheim. There I stood and watched 2 women paint roses. They were both "famous" in the decorative painting world. One did them very simply, the other more realistically. I did my best to blend their techniques and came up with my own style. This little business let me stay home and be a mommy, yet I could make a bit of money, too. I figure I made about 80k during those ten years! That's a lot of painting!

So sweet friends, I am praying for a friend again.

I don't know anyone in this mountain town.

(A cute little mouse just ran past the baseboard. That's not the kind of friend I want!)

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

I'm linking up with Jann

At, Have A Daily Cup with Mrs. Olsen

For Share Your Cup!

Posted with Blogsy