My word for this past week for my "A Weekly Word" for 2014 was FAMILY!!

It's been a bit of a rough week.
I won't bore you with the details but with lots of prayers, open dialogue and lots of love we know it will all work out in the end.

My family means the world to me and I truly am blessed with an amazing family and married into an amazing family! Do we have issues - absolutely! Are we all different - certainly! One thing for sure is though - we respect each other, love each other and we're always there for the each other!!

I have also been blessed with a family of painting friends!! Am blessed with students that love to continue learning from me!! They are my family, my friends and am truly an honored to have each and every one of them in my life. Am blessed and honored to be a part of this industry and have so enjoyed getting to meet artists that I've admired for so long!!

Hope you have a wonderful week!! It's gonna be a busy one getting ready for some private classes, workshops and June classes all coming up very soon!!
Looking forward to spending the Memorial Day Holiday though with my boys!! Appreciate so much all the sacrifices of those men and women that have fought for our freedoms!!

Blessings,
Sandy

My ~ A Weekly Word for this week  ~ HAPPY!! It sure did not disappoint as it has been such a HAPPY week!!

I had a fabulous week and it just kept getting better and better!
I found out that my class at the HOOT Painting Convention sold out so they increased the class to 50 which is AMAZING and scary at the same time!! I wasn't nervous but I am a tad bit now!! More than nervous though, I'm honored and humbled that people liked my project enough to sign up for the class! Yes, I do still doubt myself and my work at times and as frustrating as it is things like this that validate it make me more than HAPPY!!

I also got a package with 31 different Dynasty Brushes from an amazing brush company!! Can't wait to use them ALL and share with you everything about them!!! I had my Sandy McTier Designs FB first giveaway and loved all the shares, likes, comments, and overall sweet LOVE that everyone showed me these last couple of weeks!!

On the family front, we were so happy that our two sons away at college finished the year with great grades ~ one remaining in the Honors Program and the other so well he was invited to the Honors Program. We attended our youngest sons Awards Ceremony and he was given many honors for his grades and will be finishing his Junior year at High School still at the top of his class which is awesome! He is so funny and reminds me so much of my husband! He gets it done! He is pretty organized and focused on what he wants and right now he says that is finishing first or second in his class as a Senior! 

Happy that my hubby is able to spend some time with his siblings and parents this weekend! I wish I could be there too - too many deadlines/orders that need to be filled (which makes me HAPPY - don't get me wrong)!! Still trying to figure out that happy medium of work and time off and fitting it all in!!

Hope you had a very HAPPY week and weekend!
Don't WORRY be HAPPY!!

Hugs,
Sandy

My word for last week was INSPIRE!!

There are so many things that INSPIRE me! Things and people that INSPIRE me to be a better Christian. Things that INSPIRE me to be a better wife and mother! Things that INSPIRE me to be a better friend!
The Mothers in my life INSPIRE me!
My Faith inspires me with all the above!!

When it comes to my ART ~ oh my what doesn't inspire my ART! The beauty of flowers, birds, and COLOR just to name a few!!

I received the sweetest note from a student not to long again thanking me for inspiring her and unleashing a creative side she thought might be there and wanted to be there but wasn't sure if it was there! IT is there and she just needed a little guidance and assistance and it's been awesome to see her growth in such a short time! My students inspire me just as much if not more than they tell me I inspire them!

What inspired you this past week?
Hope you have a great week!


Here is my word for this next week ~

Have a great week and BE HAPPY!
Sandy

My word for the last week in April was ~ RISKS

I blogged just before this post about meeting my husband on a blind date and I hope you had a chance to read that!! Talk about taking a RISK! Certainly one that paid off because I'm one happy and blessed girl!!

I actually took many RISKS in business as well over the last couple of months - putting some things out there and understanding that the worst that could happen is the answer could be NO! So far they're looking really good - waiting to hear about some and trying to be patient but in the end - RISKS mean I'm taking that LEAP OF FAITH! Trusting my God will catch me if I fall!

What I realized is RISKS mean so many of my other A Weekly Word words - it means MOVEMENT! It means I've taken ACTION on something and I think anytime you do that in business and do it with what I try to do - a servants heart - you'll be rewarded!

My next word for this first full week of May is INSPIRE!! Will blog about how this word showed up in my life and art on Friday or Saturday.  Hope you took a leap of Faith and took some RISKS in your life this week that were good, meaningful and hopefully a bit of FUN too!!




















Have a blessed day! Sandy

24 Years ago today...
my good friend Janet and her then boyfriend set me up on a blind date. I was living in Okinawa, Japan at the time (my dad was stationed there).

It was the first time in my life I ever experienced a panic attack ~ seriously.

We'd all be going to a sushi bar and I really wasn't a fish eater of any kind.
I had also never been out on a blind date. Honestly, I almost backed out.

I remember walking into the restaurant like it was yesterday.
There were three guys there. I knew my friends boyfriend but didn't have a clue which guy was my date. I gravitated toward this handsome man with big Sally Jesse Raphael glasses on.
It was his smile. He was adorable and engaging and wanted to know all about me.
I introduced myself and met the other guy too and then we ordered.

Now remember, I don't like a lot of seafood and really my favorite way to eat fish is deep fried like fish and chips. I ate eel!! The thought of eating that now turns my stomach.
Then we went upstairs and sang karaoke. I remember singing You are My Sunshine in front of my blind date.

Love at first site might sound cliché but I have to say it was! I had always told my mom that my Mr. Right didn't live in the states. I always knew he lived somewhere else and I was right.

There are times, moments, days that change your life forever! This day 24 years ago certainly did.
I met the most amazing man that is and has been the most incredible husband and best friend a girl could ever hope for!
He loves me, spoils me, supports me, sets me straight when I'm wrong and is my biggest cheerleader! He also happens to be the most incredible husband in the world! His family is everything to him!! Love and adore this man more and more and am more in love with him than ever!!

Hope you have a blessed day!
Sandy

Kindness

Something that I think can be so simple and can also be so underrated!!

It doesn't take much to be kind!
It's actually a choice.
You can either choose to be kind or choose to ugly.

I heard some not so nice things someone said about me this week and my first reaction of course wasn't - kindness. It hurts when it's someone you thought was your friend. However, I've learned over my 46 years of life that the only way to deal with unkind behavior is with kindness.  It really does always WIN in the end.

I had such a wonderful email from a student thanking me for my classes, my kindness and my generosity.  I truly do have the best students!! They are always eager to learn! Come back month after month to learn more and I am truly blessed that they want to know what I know when it comes to art! 

Hope you have a fabulous week!! Remember to be KIND. Be Kind to your KIDS! Be Kind to your spouse! Be kind to your friends and more importantly - be Kind to yourself!!

Here is my word for this last week in April 2014

Smiles,
Sandy

My word for last week - Easter Week was "ALIVE"
Felt it was such a fitting word considering the historical events that took place over 2000 years ago. Jesus is ALIVE ~ He has RISEN indeed!

Honestly though, I feel like I failed this past week in so many ways.

I really wanted to clear my mind and focus on the word and all the ramifications it meant to me as a Christian, wife, mom, friend and artist.
Oh did I fall short! (insert big sigh here)

Do you ever get consumed with something or you hear something and it completely turns your mood, attitude, and entire day on it's head. Well, I had several of those days last week and it really did put a damper on my weekly word and the focus I really should have given it. I even spent one whole day having a terrible pity party - ever have those? No streamers or balloons at that party - just a deflated attitude and broken spirit. Thankfully, my God listens and hears my cries and lifts me up from the broken and sad moments on days like those.

I mean hello! What could possibly be more important than the fact that my savior died for me and rose again and is indeed ~ ALIVE?  Nothing really and it made me sad to have wasted a week where I should have just let those things roll off my back and not give them a second thought. Sometimes, ok, often times I get too caught up in how I feel or why I feel that nothing else really occupies the space in my head - trying to work on that and change it so that it will only ruin a moment, not an hour and certainly not a whole day.

Okay....so as I carry into this week I will continue to focus on the word ALIVE as I have been doing with many of my other words for 2014 so far!  Here is my word for this week  ~ KINDNESS
Look forward to sharing with you Friday ~ how this word showed up in my life and art!

 

Have a blessed day! Be KIND to one another!

Sandy