Lisa Leonard

I wanted to take a moment to connect with Matty. As I was drove him to preschool I looked in the rear view mirror and said, “Matty I love you (pause) times a million. He looked up at me and with a very serious look on his face replied, “Mommy, I love you, too (pause) times A LOT”. Hmmm, he melts my heart.

my sweet friend lindsey in such an inspiration. we had a play group at her house this morning (which is so, so beautiful!). she had hearts strung from the chandelier and a darling vintage tablecloth drapped over her kitchen table. she bakes cakes, makes cards, and refinishes furtinure. she sews pillows, curtains, capes, and made me this adorable apron. check out her blog for some inspiration. now i need to go paint a table or bake some muffins…
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also i love giveaways is giving away one of my necklaces. can’t hurt to enter!!

that David has been doing great in the tub the last two days. he fusses a little when i wash his hair, but then he is happy and very splashy. i hope it’s a trend!!

matty seems to be feeling better. thanks goodness for antibotics! he is such a healthy kid and hasn’t been on antibiotics in three years. what a blessing.

i got a flat tire this morning (argh!) but with the help of a friend (thanks Sharon!) and AAA (thanks Bob!) it got resolved fairly easily.

Anything to happy to report on your end??

no fun.

Matty needed a haircut so, so badly! I had an appointment for tomorrow but they had to cancel it because of a conflict. I figured it couldn’t look any worse, so I went to town. I snipped and trimmed. I combed and compared each side. I layered with abandon. I acted like I knew just what I was doing. And guess what, it is a definite improvement! It actually looks pretty cute. The haircut was going to be $19.50, plus tip brings us to $23. Hmmm, now what should I do with that money…

I wanted to wear a long silver necklace today so I whipped this up. It’s a 30″ sterling ball chain with a vintage key, round disc, sterling heart and pearl strung from a large ring. I’ll happily make another for you! They are $58. Hope you are having a good Saturday!!

when you get the news. the bad news. the news that changes everything and nothing will ever be the same again. you were just living your life when all of a sudden it hits out of nowhere. the world has crumbled around your feet and you sit in the middle of it, devastated…wondering how you can possibly move, let alone take a shower, pay another bill or fix dinner tonight.

your feelings begin to vacillate between desperation, apathy, fear, sadness and anger. then all of a sudden a ray of light breaks through. it might take days or weeks or months, but you feel it–a flicker of happiness. and you wonder, maybe, just maybe there might be a chance that there can be joy in the midst of this heart wrenching pain. and you have hope.

we’ve been having a lot of rain and i decided i neeeeeed these. target. 20 bucks. yay!!

What products do you use in your hair.
I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately asking about my hair so skip ahead if you don’t want to hear the details of my get ready routine! I use herbal essence totally twisted mousse (maximum hold). I use a lot–about four handfuls. Then I scrunch my hair to boost the curls and spray it with finesse maximum hold hairspray. After that I diffuse it until it is dry. I don’t like to leave the house with wet hair. Finally I try to tame it with a little more hairspray.

What setting do you use on your camera? How do you add text to pictures?
I don’t think I have settings on my camera–I just use no flash and shoot outdoors mostly. I just discovered picnik.com. I paid $25 for a year membership and I can play with photos, add text, frames, etc. I am already addicted!

What are the small round thingys called that go through the holes in necklaces? Jumprings. Use chain or needle nose pliers to pull the ends sideways away from each other, not straight apart.

What is your daily skincare regimen? I use Nuetrogena anti-wrinkle cream with spf 15 every day. In the evening I wash my face with Olay Smooth Skin exfoliating scrub. I just discovered the latter and I love it!! In high school I had pretty bad acne with a very ruddy complexion and I went on Accutane for 6 months. Also, antiquing and fading photos does a lot for fine lines and imperfections!!

Where does your artistic talent come from, mom or dad? My mom is amazing–very creative. She sews, decorates, makes jewelry, hangs wallpaper, entertains, pretty much anything! My dad has always encourged me to take risks and push myself. Both of these things have played a huge role in starting my own business.

Have you lost weight and how do you get your hair so full?
I haven’t lost weight (but thanks!). The question is really about getting my hair under control, not trying to get body. I have a lot of hair and it has a mind of its own!!

What book are you reading?
I just finished Austenland by Shannon Hale. It was a fun, light read that Austen lovers would enjoy. Two of my favorite books/series are The Little Chinese Seamstress by Balzac and The Chronicles of Naria Series by C.S. Lewis. To be honest, I don’t have much time for reading right now.

How do people respond to David when you are out and about?
Most people are incredibly gracious and kind. I often notice people looking, sometimes staring. (or maybe they are staring at my big hair!) I realize most people are just curious about David’s disability and/or deformity, that’s to be expected. I try to make eye contact and smile. It bothers me when someone won’t make eye contact with me. I feel the polite way to engage with a person with a disabilty is to make eye contact, smile then make eye contact with the parent or caregiver and smile.

Retardation ranges from mild to severe, how is David affected? CdLS is a very involved genetic disorder. I would say David falls in the moderate range, maybe more on the mild side of moderate, but definitely very affected. It’s so hard to say because he has this twinkle in his eye and I know he picks up on a lot.

How can I be as cool as you, Do you think I can reach your heights of awesomeness?
Well Jeannett, thanks for asking. I’ve studied cool for a long time, I actually minored in cool during college. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, but if you are serious about it and willing to put in the long hours, I believe you can achieve your goal.

Who won the last giveaway (lovebirds)? Hannah was the winner! I posted her link on 1.11.08.

How did you encourage David to walk?
David loved bearing weight on his legs from day one. When he was about 18 months old we started using an exersaucer and he would spin around and play with all the toys. Then we got a baby walker when he was about 3 and he cruised around the house. He had a real walker when he was about 3.5 and started cruising (holding on to furniture and walking) when he was four. We definitely encouraged him to walk, but he was very motivated.

How did you get started making jewelry? How can I get my business going? How do you advertise your business?
I started making jewelry in high school with my friends. After David was born, I really wanted to start a small business. I debated between jewelry and wedding favors. I was terrified when I went to City Hall to get my business license. I thought they would laugh me out of the building! I look back on what I knew then about jewelry and smile because I was just learning, but I think sometimes you just have to take a leap and go for it. I often learn while I go. My advise to those wanting to start a business–
1. Go for it! Be brave. If it flops, oh well–try something else!
2. Make the product your own, don’t copy other designs. Of course we are all inspired by other artists, but it has to be YOURS to be successful.
3. Constantly research and learn new things about your product. The market is always changing and you want to stay on the forefront.
4. Get a bookkeeper in the beginning. I hate keeping books and I wish I would have done this a lot sooner!

I advertise my business mostly through word of mouth. When people do a post on their blog about me or my jewelry it sends people my way. Thanks so much for those of you who have linked me and feel free to link me if you’d like to!

How can I see all of your jewelry in one place? Are you working on a website?
Right now the blog is the best way to see my jewelry. We are working on a website and I am so excited about it! Hopefully it will be ready in the next couple months. The business has exploded in the last 6 months and I am doing my very best to keep up. I know some of you have had a wait a bit for your jewelry–thanks for being patient with me!!

Thanks for your questions and all your sweet and encouraging words. Happy Wednesday!!

i decided to make this necklace mine. my sister-in-law asked me why this phrase was meaningful to me. in short, i don’t want to be stifled by fear, or hung up by grief or discontentment. i want to live fully and let my life be marked by joy, tears, laughter, pain and being present in each moment. Some days that seems easy and some days it is just so hard!

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Tomorrow I am planning to do a post answering questions about me, my family, jewelry or my hair (I’ve been getting a lot of email about my hair LOL!). If you have a question, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer it.

David and I hung out and read magazines.

Daddy and Matty playe d and went potty multiple times. Matty was so excited about being on a plane. He also loved the shuttle bus ride from the car to the airport.

Janine and I got to sneak away and get pedicures one evening.

Watching the cousins laugh and play and enjoy each other.

David explored the entire house, made friends at restaurants and couldn’t keep still!

Janine hosted a jewelry party and I got to meet so many of her sweet friends and neighbors (and we paid for a big chunk of our trip)!

We took the kids to a drive-thru safari in Fossil Rim. It was so fun having the animals roam free while we were caged in the car. The kids loved it!

Other highlights…Janines’s amazing cooking, Danny taking me to Sears to introduce me to some new tools that I can use for jewelry making, Wii, Steve letting me sleep in and waking up to fresh coffee, watching the new Masterpiece Persuasion on PBS, eating brownies, bars and donuts, Spring Creek, and seeing it snow!!

we flew to texas for the weekend to see my brother, sis.in.law and sweet nieces. matty was enthralled by the plane ride and talked about it for days prior and all weekend. david explored their home and had so much fun. it was wonderful to see the cousins together. more pics later!

it’s been really hard to get a picture of david lately as he never sits still! he walks from room to room, down the hall, slams a few kitchen cupboards and then heads over to knock some books off the coffee table. he’s walking. it’s.just.so.huge. we’ve waited and wondered and hoped. it’s one of the most exciting things i have every experienced.

call up an old friend.

linger over a cup of coffee.

play more.

let my kids get a way with something little.

find a treasure at the thrift store.

take a nap.

order pizza. or maybe chinese.

not wear make-up.

what else…

i’ve been having fun creating some new, different pieces in the last few weeks. here’s a few…Set on living. A sterling heart (about 1″) with adjustable small link chain (16-18″), funky letters and edge detail. I love this piece! $56

Explore. Doesn’t this make you want to go try something new?! Hammered open circle with funky letters, 18″ sterling ball chain and freshwater pearl. $48

A worthwhile ride. so whimsical. so fun. 1 1/4″ hammered rectangle with adjustable small link chain, funky letters and edge detail. $56

Which one is your favorite??