Giveaway: Custom Canvas from Livingston & Porter
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 
It’s a new year, and it’s time for a giveaway!
I love this one: my sweet friend Holly from Livingston and Porter will paint one of her amazing custom canvases for the winner.
You know, of course, that I’m a words person by profession. And that carries through all of my life—I love to be surrounded by words: quotes, fragments of poetry, lines from songs, passages from scripture. Naturally, then, Holly’s canvases are totally my jam.
(Yeah, I absolutely just used the phrase "totally my jam." What?)
I have Holly’s work all over my house, literally, and last Christmas, she painted custom canvases for my husband, my mom, my dad, my brother, and my best friend. Seriously, I’m a fan.
I love giving these canvases as gifts—I chose my dad’s life verse (1 Corintians 15:58), a quote about peacemaking for my mom, and a much-loved Nietzsche quote for Aaron: “One must still have enough chaos within oneself to give birth to a dancing star.”
For a friend with a darling new baby girl, Holly did a canvas in the softest, sweetest pink, and in white it said, “The day you were born, the world had to make room for a little more fancy.” Come on.
For the winner, Holly will do any color, any shape, and any quote for you—so cool, right? You can peek at her Etsy site for examples, or totally dream up your own. Also on her site are all sorts of treasures—vintage books, things she finds at estate sales. The girl’s got style.
All you have to do is leave a comment with your name and your favorite quote—and it doesn’t have to be the one you’ll choose for the canvas if you win. Just share with us some words that move you.
One entry per person, and the winner will be chosen at random at noon CST on Monday, January 30th. Simple enough, yes?
My favorite quote, of course, is in the photo, and that canvas is hanging right in my kitchen, where I see it every day. Splendid torch, indeed.
XO
***Late breaking news: Holly is the best, and not only is she giving away a custom canvas, but because there are so many comments, she's also giving away three Valentine's Day canvases! That means that on Monday, we'll annouce FOUR winners! XO***
Reader Comments (344)
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;
...Be kind anyway.
If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight.
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis
it is between you and God;
it was never between you and them anyway.
-Mother Teresa
“One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all. Shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things will fill from behind, from beneath, like water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.”
and useful life? Imagine setting it all down -
papers, plans, appointments, everything -
leaving only a note: “Gone
to the fields to be lovely. Be back
when I’m through with blooming.”
- Lynn Ungar (from her poem "Camas Lilies")
~Hank Aaron
before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow
growth, and must undergo and withstand the shock of adversity
before it is entitled to the appellation.
-George Washington
not all those who wander are lost;
the old that is strong does not wither,
deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
a light from the shadows shall spring;
renewed shall be blade that was broken,
the crownless again shall be king.
-J. R. R. Tolkien from The Lord of the Rings
(also loosely used on accessorie (bumper stickers, t-shirts, etc) as 'Not all who wander are lost")