Things I am 100% certain about:

I love God
I love my family
I try to live my passions out loud
I love being at the beach with my family
I have 4 amazing kids; two boys and twin girls
I have one #1 best friend in the world...my husband
I have the greatest friends in the world, especially my girlfriends
I try my best to glorify God through every single design I create
I am passionate about color & notice it in all things, especially nature
I love to create anything hand-made & have been doing so since a young age
I am grateful for this God-given, artistic talent & pray daily that I use it wisely

bio

We've all heard the saying "Hindsight is 20/20"...well it's true, but for me it means that when I look back, I can clearly see God's hand preparing me along the way for what I am doing today. I have loved art as long as I can remember, and have been creating things hand-made since a very young age...just ask my sweet mother who put up my keen interest to try every medium. Fortunately, my wonderful parents realized early on that I had a passion to create, a need to create, and so they allowed me to dabble in it all. They enrolled me in various art classes from watercolor, charcoal, jewelry making & even cartooning classes at the local college. I clearly remember hammering and creating hand-made jewelry, hand-painting sweatshirts and other fabrics, and trying to make fabulous outfits for my Barbies and dolls from Mom's fabric closet. I only have two regrets...wish that I had put the paint brush down long enough to learn to sew! And wish that I had majored or at least minored in art.

Having said this, I loved my first career as a First Grade teacher and was able to incorporate much art into the curriculum. During the summers, I taught children's art lessons from my basement and garage while operating The Creative Palette, a custom painting business where I was hired to paint children's rooms, nursery walls, playrooms, bathrooms and even some ceilings. I also hand-painted baby linens such as burp cloths, bibs, diaper covers, baby pillows, lampshades, canvas wall art and ceramic plates. I even had a woodworker make tables and chairs and steps stools, which I painted. I sold my goods at local shows and folks would also come by my home studio to shop. I retired from teaching two weeks before our first son was born, and decided to be "mommy" and "artist" from home. As a young mother, The Creative Palette was a wonderful outlet because I could paint when "baby" was sleeping and eventually go on site to paint when my boys were in preschool during the mornings. The business grew quickly, mostly by word of mouth, and although I enjoyed it thoroughly, I eventually felt like I was not using my talent in the best possible way...to glorify God.

It all happened at once: I was so busy I could barely keep up with custom orders, I felt God nudging my heart to move in another direction, He answered our prayers for a third child and for a daughter this time...and blessed us with TWINS and yes, both girls! We had no idea what was in store for our family, and so it is with God's calling many times, never convenient, but always full of wonder and surprise. We were so thrilled with the news so I finally told God I was finished designing and painting and would focus on raising our four blessings. Once again, He had different plans. God was tugging at my heartstrings to keep painting but in a very different way...to take the designs I had done on walls and furniture and paint them as greeting cards matched with scripture. And on top of this I woke up at 3am (remember I was pregnant with twins here!) and the name Multiple Blessings was given to me over and over and over. What??? Are you kidding me? I am pregnant with twins...doubling the number of children we have, and you want me to what? Start another company? I don't think I will ever be able to leave the house again, much less paint! But we all know when He tugs at your heart, He does not stop...and so it was a constant reminder in my head. I eventually obeyed even though many, including myself, thought I was crazy. I painted a collection of greeting cards that I knew were missing in the marketplace and ones I knew I would use and enjoy. I spent a lot of time matching the perfect scripture to each card and design. I was encouraged by a friend to take the samples to a local show at a friend's home. Not only did they sell out, but a store owner asked to have the "line" in her store the following week. During the next few years, it grew quickly from that first shop to over 250 stores in 20 states because of wonderful sales representatives and much hard work.

I added new products and designs constantly and exhibited in Atlanta and in New York. I have been so blessed along the way to meet wonderful friends in this industry from all over the globe! Some of these relationships developed into partnerships with manufacturers for licensing my art for use on their products. I have made the transition from "manufacturer" to "licensor" and could not be happier. I am fortunate to design for several amazing companies and the list keeps growing. It gives me great pleasure to know that my art matched with inspirational text and sometimes scripture will be touching lives worldwide. I currently help companies think of new inspirational products, unique packaging, and of course paint and design the art for these products.

I praise God for the journey and hope that this message will give all little girls hope that they can do all things through Christ. Try to figure out your God-given talent at an early age. Live your passion out loud and look for opportunities to bless others by it every day!

Studio

My art studio is definitely my favorite room in our home. This does not mean it's necessarily clean, but it does mean that it's full of color and inspiration. It also means that four children are in and out of it all day every day and I love that. It is not unusual for little hands to be painting in here with me, making collages or stringing beaded necklaces. Our large brick patio is just outside of my studio so it is common for the tables to be entertaining Lego camp for the boys and their friends or art camp for the girls and their friends.