Mermaids of the Lake Blog

Preparing to travel - dream with me

By Mermaid Jennifer

For over 20 years, I have been dreaming about traveling to Europe. In a few short weeks, that dream will be realized as my husband and I will be going on a cruise to the Mediterranean. We are excited about this trip and feel very fortunate to be able to take it.

On the trip we will start in Barcelona, Spain. We will be able to stay there for a few days before boarding the cruise ship to tour ports in Italy, Cannes, France, and then back to Spain. While in Barcelona we will enjoy some free time as well as a City Tour.

Did you know that you can view international maps down to the street level on google Maps?

Starting to dream...
I'm dreaming of romantic sidewalk cafes with handsome dark-skinned men, and beautiful sophisticated women sipping espresso in tiny white cups. There will be fresh open fish and produce markets colorfully lining the streets in front of ancient architecture and art. There will be people from every part of the world speaking in different languages. Beautiful little Italian and Spanish children will be going to school and running through the streets on errands for their mothers.

Without having been there yet, it is an opportunity to dream. To remember all of the travels that I've read about in books from Hemingway and Kundera.

We look forward to people watching while we enjoy pizza in Naples, Italy.

What we'll be doing...
Once we board the cruise ship, we will be able to stop in ports like Malta, Naples, Rome, Florence, and Cannes.We will explore fountains, and ancient ruins. We will eat pizza in Naples, and wander into boutiques.

We'll stop at the Trevi Fountain to take in its beauty.

Getting ready to go...
As we prepare for the trip, it feels surreal that we are finally able to do this. Sure, we could stay home and invest in a new washer and dryer (our are 18 years old!) or maybe a newer car for my husband. But, instead, we are going to do something for us - for our marriage - and for our memories.

Preparing to record the experience...
During the trip, I'll be keeping a travel journal that my sister bought for me. Holding the hardbound book in my hands enables me to dream about the faraway places the we will visit.

There are some quotes in the journal that make me feel excited about this impending adventure:

"Life is a journey, and love is what makes that journey worthwhile." - unknown

"The voyage of discovery lies not in finding new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

Very important - what to wear...
I'm planning new outfits for the trip and found a fabulous red orange dress that just says "Tuscany" all over it. Here it is:

This JcPenney model thinks it's a great look too!

I've also bought a new bathing suit from Lands End that should be here any day. And, I found a great "travel" outfit on Travelsmith.com that is a red jersey tank and pants with a darling 3/4 sleeve jacket with ruffles in the front. It looks both comfortable and stylish enough to step off the plane in Barcelona without feeling like I've been flying for 20+ hours!

Stay tuned...
When I return from the trip, I'll write about it in this blog and on Mermaids of the Lake- so stay tuned!

What journey's are you planning for? Where are you going? Share your travel dreams with us.

Therapy in a box

By Mermaid Shelley

I can be rather childlike when I get excited. Sometimes I jump around and clap my hands, often I break into song. This spontaneous combustion can occur when I see a beautiful color, encounter an amazing smell or recall a stimulating conversation. I actually like this about myself. 

Equally as often, I experience quiet moments of joy. They happen with the satisfying slam of book covers at the end of an awesome story, at finding a piece of my children’s school art or successfully working through a tough technical problem at the office. 

Sometime ago I explored ways to capture these moments. While I would have loved to recreate these experiences in an art form or write beautiful prose, I found that as a busy, working mom it was a challenge. I then recalled hearing about an “I Love Box.”

The concept of the “I Love Box” works beautifully for me. It is quick, easy and inexpensive. One simply writes a sentence on a note card that starts with “I love……” Then, you pop the card in the box. 

My “I Love Box” is at my office. (Sorry the photo is so small!) Here are a few of my cards:

• I love the smell of a sprinkler on hot pavement
• I love it when I call my mom and she says she was just thinking of me
• I love the flowering plum trees outside of my office window
• I love my daughter’s incredible sketches
• I love a new tube of lipstick
• I love brokering information
• I love greeting my perennials in the spring
• I love a lively debate
• I love getting compliments on my hair
• I love sharing a martini with by best girlfriend

You get the picture, I write down pretty much anything that I love. By capturing a moment of joy in one sentence helps me remember and contain the sensation or experience. 

Sometimes I get on a roll and write five, ten or more at a time! My “I Love Box” is good therapy. When I am overwhelmed, discouraged or stressed I pull out my box. As I peruse through my joy notes, I recall their happiness. My mood is reset and so is my smile.

My “I Love Box” is a simple recipe box filled with note cards. One of these days I am going to honor my notes by creating an elaborately designed “I Love Box.” When that day comes, I will write a card that says “I love creating beautiful ways of remembering what I love!”

Project Friday and Pink Saturday

By Mermaid Debbie

Welcome to our Project Friday and Pink Saturday post for the week. We have been very busy Mermaids; preparing for our upcoming Big Girl Birthday! Yes, Mermaids of the Lake will turn one on May 1st!!! We are planning lots of fun things for our Birthday Issue of Mermaids of the Lake, our online women's magazine/website, including a big giveaway! Check back for details.

This week's Project Friday and Pink Saturday is a photo of a project that took me two months to complete. I worked on it almost daily for an hour or so, trying to fit it in to an already crowded schedule. I love recycling and repurposing!!! I figure this is a recycled-repurposed-altered art piece! 

 

My inspiration? I was about to throw out this XOXO purse because it's solid white exterior was soiled and the handles were showing signs of wear. The rest of the purse was in perfect condition and I thought, "Why not make it bright and cheerful and new?"

I applied a couple of coats of Gesso, a white primer. I was careful to cover every inch, including the little straps and around each rivet and buckle. Once that was done, my handbag/canvas was ready for the fun!

I used an  Extra-fine point black Sharpie to draw my design, and filled in the color with a combination of acryllic paint and sometimes my glass paint for more punch! The glass paints are vibrant and sheer. I was excited to see that they could be applied to something other than glass or porcelain. When all of the color was applied (2 months later) I carefully painted 3 coats of clear gloss varnish over every square inch. Finally, I cut off the worn out handles and replaced them with some bamboo handles from Michael's. I attached them using orange ribbon.

Back

Don't forget the bottom

 

And the pockets - see the pink?

 

Please check out the other Project Friday participants at Sugarplum Cottage. Rosemarie is our gracious host.

Also, head over and visit Beverly, at How Sweet the Sound for the list of the other Pink Saturday participants.

Make time in your day for quiet time

By Mermaid Debbie 

"It is in quiet that our best ideas occur to us. Don't make the mistake of believing that by a frantic kind of rushing around you are being your most effective and efficient self. Don't assume that you are wasting time when you take time out for thought."

~Napolean Hill and W. Clement Stone

I love this quote. It has really caused me to remember to pause and enjoy being quiet. I find that I am much more productive, creative and happy when I remember to make time for quiet thought. I choose quiet time for myself in the early morning hours. My house is quiet, my world is quiet and my mind is quiet. Ahhh...

 

The Peaceful view out my studio window at dawn

I would encourage each of you to make time in your day for quiet. Even 15 minutes can be helpful.

Are you kidding me?

What to do when frustration with your loved ones gets the best of you.

Do you ever feel really frustrated with people in your life? Everyone does at some point. For me, sometimes I feel frustrated when my husband is in the kitchen critically analyzing some supply that I don't have; while he stares at a full pantry of everything else that I did think of getting.

Other times, as I sit at the dinner table, I find that the harmonious meal that I had planned for my family isn't going off quite like I thought it would. Perhaps the kids are bickering, and my husband is responding in an interesting way (not the way that I would respond). Or maybe, they really just didn't like what I made for them to eat that night.

These things never happened to June Cleaver!

So what do you do when frustration starts to build and you feel that you might be at a breaking point? Well, there is an easy answer and a hard answer.

The easy answer is to step out of the situation to help you gain some momentary perspective. You might do the following:

• Take a walk
• Go to another room and flip through a magazine
• Do yoga (in a quiet room and on your own - you may need to lock the door)
• Pray
• Watch a TV program that you like; by yourself
• Play with a pet

The reason that there is an easy answer and a hard answer depends upon the amount of overall stress that you have in your life. For example, if you have a high stress lifestyle and routinely feel frustrated by your loved ones; or even co-workers, you may need to consider a bigger change.

The tougher solution to feeling less frustrated may include the easy steps mentioned above, along with planning to reduce the amount of overall stress in your life:

• Counseling - either couples or family counseling
• A vacation or weekend getaway on your own
• Writing in a journal or working with a life coach
• Changing jobs or if possible, taking some time off

In the end though, one critical piece of reversing frustration with those you love is to turn anger into love. Yes, you read that right! When you feel really frustrated and perhaps even hurt by a situation, it might help for you to take a moment and think about what you like about that person who is currently making you really, really mad.

For example, I am a person who likes to have control over both my home workspace, and my kitchen. When I find that I lose control over either space it frustrates me. Maybe there is a big class project going on for my son, in the kitchen; at the same time my husband decides to get out the pancake griddle (which is non-conveniently stored under the Wok and big spaghetti pot). So all of those items come out of the closet and land on the counter. Then perhaps, there is mail left on the kitchen counter along with someone's homework assignment. All of these items in the same area really clutter my house and make me frustrated!

So how do I cope? I used to get mad and yell at everyone to clean up their messes. Now however, I carve out a little of the mess to appreciate what's really going on.

Maybe my husband just made the best banana nut pancakes ever (he did that this weekend) - so having the griddle out wasn't that bad. Perhaps the assignment my son is working on in the kitchen is going to be really cool. And - knowing him, he will be super excited to tell me all about it. I can appreciate that!

So you see, it is all a matter of keeping frustrations in check. Keep your perspective my friends as you find people frustrating you.

Try to turn to love or at the least, find a positive in a frustrating situation. It will be better for your heart and mind - and better on those around you in the long run!

Ahhhh....the weekend!

By Mermaid Shelley

It's the weekend! I am always excited when it comes. But, I realize I end up working just as much or more on these supposed days of rest and recreation. Crazy! So, here I am, up in my office. The sun is streaming through the window.

My camera doesn't quite capture how warm and cozy the sun feels. It makes me realize that I'm working..again! So, I am going to order myself to step away from the computer. Yes, Shelley, you can do it. Now, go make yourself a cup of tea, you are going to take a real break.

Just taking a moment to see the sun on this pretty cup makes me happy. My break is off to a good start. (Psssst, Mermaid Debbie gave me this cup. I love it!). Hmmmm, now go peruse the book collection. Is there something I haven't read for a while?

Maybe this book of poetry. I'll grab it. Keep looking.....

Ah, here's one! Now, I mosey down to my favorite chair. The sun is streaming from behind, making reading perfect.

I think I'll put a little honey in the tea and settle in. Oops, I get distracted with one of my art books. The light is perfect here! I think I'll settle in for an hour or two and really enjoy the weekend for a change.

I know this is a little silly. But, how often does the weekend end up being cram-packed with house keeping, spill-over work from the office, church obligations, shopping excursions, kid chaperoning and such. Oh, please know that I don't think any of these things are bad or wrong! No, it just seems that we never take a break. Especially us women.

McDonald's had it right when they said, "You deserve a break today!" So, I say, step away from the computer, find a cozy spot, sip a little tea and dive into you. Martha and I both think "It's a good thing."

Project Friday and Pink Saturday

Hi Friends. Today we are combining Project Friday and Pink Saturday.

Please visit Rosemarie, at Sugarplum Cottage for the list of Project Friday's participants. It is really fun. You may even want to join in and get inspired to get creative!

On Saturday, please visit Beverly, at How Sweet the Sound for the long,  fun list of pink participants.

This project is another Birthday gift for a dear friend, Sheri. Stephanie, Susan, and Sheri are three very special friends to me. Now I have made each of them a Believe necklace. I grew up with these gals and we have years and years of memories. They lost their dear, beautiful, fun and much loved mom, Dolores to Breast Cancer. They have formed a large group of friends and family and we all will participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure event this weekend. We will all gather the night before the race for a grand Party in Pink! The name of the team is Believe. We "Believe" there will be a cure. We "Believe" in love and friendship transcending time and space. We "Believe" that Dolores will be there with us, cheering us on and joining in on the fun.

I took these supplies

 

And made this!

 

And this

 

And this

 

Please check back soon for an easy tutorial on making the necklace. Have a wonderful day everyone. Be inspired!

Your journey

"It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end." Ursula K. Le Guin (from Passport to the Soul, a Lifelong Journey)

This morning I set out to review my schedule for the upcoming month. I added Little League baseball games to the schedule, an upcoming awards banquet, meetings, haircuts for the kids, and dinner with friends. It seemed like a lot of events and I felt satisfied that it was all organized in the schedule.

Getting organized and planning is one thing, but planning and attending things without really pausing to enjoy them is another.

Life goes by so quickly, that it is a good reminder to take time to pause. Everyone is probably always telling you to take time for yourself - which is important - but even beyond that in the little bits of time left over at the end of the day, take a moment to think about the moments that made up the day.

Maybe it was something funny that your husband said; maybe your daughter reminded you that you two need an afternoon together; perhaps you remembered that you should put together all of your digital photos from Easter into an easy album. No matter what caused you to pause, just remember to take time to pause and enjoy the journey.

Gallery - mermaid art

You might have guessed by our name that we love mermaids! We all three live in a lake community and absolutely love living near the water. We chose to name our online magazine/website, Mermaids of the Lake, for those reasons.

We return from our individual vacations with mermaids for each other. We buy each other mermaids for Christmas, and we look for mermaids to post on our Gallery on our Mermaids of the Lake magazine. We appreciate artists who have created mermaids. If any of you talented people would like us to display your "works of mermaid art" on our Gallery, please contact us via email. mermaids@mermaidsofthelake.com

Here a few examples, please visit our Gallery for more!

This beautiful mermaid was created by glass artist, Rebecca York. We will be sharing Rebecca's story in our May issue of Mermaids of the Lake.

 

We found this sweet vintage mermaid graphic on The Graphics Fairy's blog.

 

Can you tell what this mermaid, by Mermaid Debbie is drawn on?

 

Shrinky Dink!

Young Mermaids of Easters Past

By Mermaid Shelley

Happy Easter! This holiday is special for so many reasons. The traditional Christian celebration of church services and family dinners are made all the more memorable by the older, more ancient traditions. Those traditions include eggs and bunnies! All represent the new and glorious life, as well as a time of growth and green. The Mermaids love traditions and the memories we recall. Easter for each of us was a bit different, yet we all find that our families came together to honor the holiday. Here is a little look back...

 

Mermaid Shelley and little sister Leslie are

all dolled up in pretty pink Easter outfits.

Mermaid Debbie and little brother John are darling in their

new Easter clothes. Aren't they just precious?

 
Mermaid Jennifer and little sister Kris.

These little cuties just love the Easter bunny!

 

We hope you have a wonderful, family-filled Easter Holiday. Blessings to you!