Hey! I know it's kind of early, but I won't be around New Year's because I'm going to Winterfest at Liberty University for three days. Sooo, I thought I'd share some of my art-ish resolutions now, and then stop the journal spamming for a good three weeks.

*mustang-thunder's New Year's Resolutions

Obviously, to draw better. I really want to branch out into other mediums, or maybe just practice more in my favorite mediums. I'm not a very good acrylic-er, but who knows, I may randomly post an acrylic painting one day. I also want to sculpt more- my characters, random horses, etc. Preferably with Sculpey.

This is kind of related to the above resolution, but I also want to take my work to the "next level." While I enjoy simple graphite horses, I'm not completely satisfied with them. I want to experiment more with color, composition, and other techniques that a realist artist may not always consider.

I want to learn horse anatomy. Seriously. Often, I find myself copying a reference photo line-by-line, not really paying attention to the horse underneath. This isn't doing me much good. Specifically, I need to learn how to draw and shade hindquarters.

Oh, I definitely want to start my business, hopefully in the next few weeks. And then do taxes.

I want to do more giftart for people! I really love drawing other people's characters, and the influx of so many friends on here encourages me to step up my giftart giving.

My dad bought two cars. It's crazy- this is the man who will never, ever open his wallet for anything. He traded in our jeep and minivan for a Mazda 6 and a Durango. I'm excited. But even better, he said after tax season in the spring we can seriously start looking for a car for me. I am so excited! Oh, and I'm also finally getting a debit card next weekend. Fun stuff.

~mary

Recent Favorites

To Do
<sub>KEY
- Personal
- Contest
- Trades
- Gift

Trade with ~Fire-Claw
"Bow"
"Fire"
"We Will Run"
KT Tunstall-inspired piece
Forever and for Always
More pictures of Dacyor, Lacey May and the foal
Kiriban Prize for
Gift for Leann</sub>

Did you guys really expect a holiday to pass without a devotional-type journal from me? Haha.

Tomorrow is Christmas. I can't believe it- it seems like yesterday I was just on the mission trip for our church in blazing hot Mississippi. This year has been incredible, but at the same time things have changed a lot. And now it's almost 2010!

I was eating breakfast this morning (Reese's Puffs, mind you) and my mind wandered to the thought of the first Christmas. A pregnant girl from a hick town. That's how it all started. Isn't that crazy? That an Almighty God would choose to manifest Himself not as a king, not as a warrior or scientist or amazing scholar, but as a humble child. That's crazy.

That's why the Jews, who had been waiting for hundreds of years for this One called the "Messiah", were so skeptical when Jesus made Himself known. They scoffed. They mocked. This One who called Himself "King of the Jews" didn't even have a house. He wasn't this great warrior or person who would defeat corrupt kings on their thrones by sword. He was indeed human.

Mary could have been stoned. She could have been killed on the spot. Pregnancy without a husband? That was a state that deserved death. And think of Joseph- how much trust did it take on his part to stay with her through the whole ordeal? But those two had faith. They trusted God, and Jesus entered this world.

There's a MercyMe version of Gloria that says "How could Heaven's heart not break? On the day; the day that You came." Jesus, who had previously trotted along golden stones and heard the chorus of hundreds of thousands of angels, was now in a world of adultery, hate, lust, lies, and pride.

Why would God do that? Why would He subject His only Son, the Son He loved, to live in this corrupted world?

It's the verse everyone knows.

For while God so LOVED the world, that He sent His only Son.

God loves us. It isn't the cute kind of love you associate with an old grandfather or preacher or mutual happy friendship. How many times have you heard people saying "God loves you!" and the receiver shrugging it off? This isn't just love that the world perceives. This isn't just love between an owner and his dog, a boyfriend and girlfriend, or even husband and wife. How often we diminish God's love to earthly things!

It is eternal. We cannot escape it. He loves you more than any spouse, parent, friend, significant other, etc. He loves you simply because you are His creation, a beautiful work of His hands. Yes, we sin- often so. But He always- always!- offers forgiveness to our souls. We are the wretches the song refers to- and "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

The purpose of His death was not somehow a coincidence, brought forth by hate from the Jews. He knew He was going to die. He knew He had to. Instead of leaving us in the debt of sin, He said "You know what? Say I did it all. Say I am guilty of their sin. Say I deserve their punishment. Say I deserve that death and torture on that bloody cross. Wipe them clean.

I love them."

He took our place where we belonged. Out of a love so deep, so strong, so wide and so long, He payed our debt.

And how do people celebrate the birth of a Messiah whose entire being revolved around love and mercy? By buying Santa hats, stressing out over Christmas shopping, and gritting our teeth with in-laws. If this convicts you, I'm glad. We need a wake-up call. Tree decorating, shopping, and traveling for Christmas are things that can be completely valid when done with a Christ-like spirit. God's Word does not say to throw away every tradition. Spend time with family and friends- that's important. But don't let them become the center. Refocus. Stop conforming to everything this world says to put effort into and praise God for His immense gift through Jesus!

Tomorrow, don't celebrate Christmas. Celebrate the birth of Christ.

On that note, I want to thank every single watcher- almost 400 of you! You guys amaze me, and I am constantly humbled by how many faves, comments, and support I get daily! There are times I look at my artwork and just want to throw everything out because I always want to do better. But you guys keep me from doing that; you calm me down. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the amazing love and encouragement that has flowed over me in the past year. I hope you have a very happy Christmas- spend time with family, friends, and remember Christ!

~ mary

P.S. Look at my ESS gift! I love it! Thank you ~Lue-Cinq!

Recent Favorites

To Do
<sub>KEY
- Personal
- Contest
- Trades
- Gift

Trade with ~Fire-Claw
"Bow"
"Fire"
"We Will Run"
KT Tunstall-inspired piece
Forever and for Always
More pictures of Dacyor, Lacey May and the foal
Kiriban Prize for
Gift for Leann (Deadline: Dec. 24)
ESS! (mwahaha) (Deadline: Dec. 23)
T-Man for Danny (Deadline: Dec. 24)
Christmas Surprise (Deadline: Dec. 24)</sub>

Hey guys! I recently came upon a wonderful offer that would be SO beneficial to TCS. A family friend owns a company called Saratoga Diagnostics (look them up- though I think the domain name is something like Saratoga Aesthetics.) We just got back from eating dinner with them. Anyhoo, I've been really hitting a roadblock with payment options. Paypal offers an easy transaction service for small businesses, however, it costs money per month to use. And using a credit card machine thing involves a service that also charges a fee to use. So, this was brought up at dinner and the owner offered to run credit cards for me, for no fee. He already pays for this service, so there's no required fee for me. The only thing different is on the credit card bill, the name would be billed for "Saratoga Diagnostics" instead of "Three Colored Stones." But that's something I can live with. Isn't this cool?! I could start taking commissions tomorrow if I wanted to! But I'm going to wait until after the holidays and craziness. I need to scootch on over to my blog and start posting prices and junk- I might work on it after I post this.

Oh, on the note of TCS, I got my tax form yesterday. Gotta love the Department of Revenue.

I won 3rd place in =boribaby's contest! I am SO excited right now!

I can't believe Christmas is on Friday. I have three art projects I've started that I need to finish by then. One by Tuesday, one by Wednesday, and one by Christmas day. Crazy. I'm so excited though- I've been so caught up in gift-making and buying things, it will be nice to just chill for a day.

I got my sister *trenchmaker's Chubbanimals 2 calendar. I hope she likes it.

I probably won't update any more between now and Christmas, so: have fun, don't stress out, give love, expect nothing in return, and most of all: remember Christ. Actually I probably will update on Christmas Day, but keep these things in mind before then.

~mary

P.S. So dA is having this sale on premium memberships (BOGO free) and I said before that my subbie was good for awhile, but if anyone is still open to the option with the bonus of getting one yourself for free, I'd gladly take that over a giftart or something. Just a thought. Don't want to sound needy.

Recent Favorites

To Do
<sub>KEY
- Personal
- Contest
- Trades
- Gift

Trade with ~Fire-Claw
"Bow"
"Fire"
"We Will Run"
KT Tunstall-inspired piece
Forever and for Always
More pictures of Dacyor, Lacey May and the foal
Kiriban Prize for
Gift for Leann (Deadline: Dec. 24)
ESS! (mwahaha) (Deadline: Dec. 23)
T-Man for Danny (Deadline: Dec. 24)
Christmas Surprise (Deadline: Dec. 24)</sub>

Hey guys! *Fahlaemee invited me to be a Contributer on her new group, #HEARTequine. I'm advertising and encouraging you all to join! Do it!

School has been rough this entire month. If you saw my calendar, you'd see all the crazy colors and highlighter stuff and things crossed out, things circled...it's a mess. BUT, tomorrow is our last day! Too bad we have a quiz and a test!

I'm working on art, I promise. Actually today I drew a picture of unicorns frolicking by a waterfall for my friend Katie. I debated whether on putting it on dA and decided against it. It's much too....amazing to be succumbed to dA's petty art standards. It would blow your mind. </sarcasm> Maybe I'll put it on facebook tomorrow.

I'm riding a new horse now. His name is T-man, and he's a barrel horse. As in my instructor's actual barrel horse. He's old, but has a lot of power! I haven't cantered him around the barrels yet- my instructor says I'm not ready for it. Last Friday actually T-man pulled a muscle in his shoulder during a lesson and is non-rideable for a little bit. I'm doing a portrait of him for Christmas. Oh, and do you guys remember Leo? The fat pony-horse who will go out of his way to knock over barrels? (it's Bowling with Leo!) For you facebookers, he's the horse on my profile picture. He's being sold. I love Leo. He's good for nothing, but so much fun on the trails. He's like a fat, giant teddy bear.

I can't believe Christmas is like a week away! I have shopping to do and homework to do and art to finish and send out and the ESS (mwahaha.) Gah! We're just staying at home for Christmas because we traveled for Thanksgiving, and that's enough.

Peace out girl scout!

~mary

P.S. Oh, our youth leader announced our next mission trip. Nova Scotia. Canada. Holy shneez. We live in SC. I was totally up for it until he mentioned airfare. I'm seriously deathly afraid of airplanes, so I might opt out this year. (He was cajoling me by saying "Mary, we could totally drug you! You'd wake up in Canada!" But I also hate drugs that make me wacky, sooooo, maybe not.)

Recent Favorites
(<--- this is graphite!)

To Do
<sub>KEY
- Personal
- Contest
- Trades
- Gift

Trade with *Toon-doll
"Bow"
"Fire"
"We Will Run"
KT Tunstall-inspired piece
Forever and for Always
More pictures of Dacyor, Lacey May and the foal
Kiriban Prize for
Gift for Leann (Deadline: Dec. 24)
ESS! (mwahaha) (Deadline: Dec. 24)
T-Man for Danny (Deadline: Dec. 24)
Christmas Surprise (Deadline: Dec. 24)</sub>

The last journal was a "mini journal." Here's my real one.

First of all, Thanksgiving was pretty good. We went to my cousin's house like we do every year. It's weird now because when we were little, we'd run up and down the stairs and chase each other and whatnot. Now, the older one didn't come because he's in Alabama at college, and the younger one who's in 8th grade has a girlfriend. It's just...different.

On the note of thanksgiving, here's what I'm thankful for!

My Savior, Jesus Christ! I'm so grateful that even through the storms and the crap and corruption of my own heart and sin, that He still lowers Himself, gets His hands dirty, and pulls me out of the muck. I don't always "feel" grateful...but He is worthy of my praise no matter what my emotions are at the moment!

My youth pastor. He is a guy who preaches the Word, and if it bothers you, he doesn't care. I love it! He offers only Truth to our youth group, which is amazing.

My friends in real life.

My friends on dA. I don't know if I'd be pushing myself so much art-wise if it wasn't for you! I'll always do horse art, no matter what my art teachers say. Also, to the great traditional horse artists on dA; they motivate me so much to do better.


And I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and put up a wishlist. The radio stations are playing Christmas music now, so I think it's appropriate!

Christmas cards! The only thing different is that I'm really iffy about giving my address to people for the sake of a card. Therefore, I'd really love some e-cards instead! Note me if you want to know my email address.

Giftart. Not even of my characters, but anything done with me in mind.

A nice, fabric portfolio with pockets insides and flaps.... *drools*

Gift cards to anywhere cool (including Target, Michael's, and iTunes)

My subscription is cool for awhile, but if anyone is feeling exceptionally generous and wants to extend it, feel free!

While we were gone for Thanksgiving, I got 4 letters from colleges. 4. That's one for every mail day we were gone. Geez. I've never even heard of any of them!

Regarding Three Colored Stones, my dad and I are still looking into Paypal. Howevah, he told me that I could, technically, take money via check (through snail mail.) I'm not ready to take money yet, but I'll probably do that before I take credit cards. (And I finally learned what an invoice is!)

And =boribaby's contest ends in THREE DAYS??! I need to get crackin'! I did work on art during the holiday, but nothing's done yet. Typical Mary. I flitted between a few projects I'm working on. December is going to be a mass-upload month, just watch out.

~mary

(P.S. I started playing Farmville on facebook. It's pretty fun. )

Recent Favorites
(<--- this is graphite!)

To Do
<sub>KEY
- Personal
- Contest
- Trades
- Gift

Trade with *Toon-doll
"Bow"
"Fire"
"We Will Run"
KT Tunstall-inspired piece
Forever and for Always
More pictures of Dacyor, Lacey May and the foal
Kiriban Prize for
Gift for Leann (Deadline: Dec. 24)
ESS! (mwahaha) (Deadline: Dec. 24)
T-Man for Danny (Deadline: Dec. 24)
Christmas Surprise (Deadline: Dec. 24)</sub>