Blog
Longest Day 2023
Shining light and raising awareness about Alzheimer’s and Dementia while donating back to the cause.
Learn more
5 Playlists to Inspire Creativity
Music has been shown to “improve cognition,” “enhance learning and memory,” and “promote divergent thinking.” We've made it easy for you. Check out our 5 playlists to inspire creativity.
Learn more
How to Create a St. Patrick's Day Cactus
If you're looking for a fun way to celebrate that oh-so green holiday, we've got you covered. With a few simple steps, you can turn your cactus into a St. Patrick's Day cutie.
Learn more
Six Lessons Mom's Death Taught Me About Life
One year since my mom died, I’m reflecting on her life and the lessons she's taught me. The grieving process looks differently for everyone. I for one have chosen to honor her in this moment and speak to how she’s positively transformed my life and purpose with my art. #griefjourney
Learn more
Creative DIY Indoor Activities & Crafts Kids will Love
Mom, Mom, Mommy??? Are you hearing this phrase on repeat in your house right now at home? Let us help with some fun and creative DIY art projects. Brush Strokes is now offering DIY Pottery to go Kits to bring the creativity to you.These activities for kids are easy, DIY, and include everything you need to craft at home. The perfect solution to combat that Spring Break stir crazy. Great activities for kids to keep busy while stuck inside on rainy days, snow days, coronavirus or school cancellations. Best of all, almost none require an electronic device so you don't have to worry about too much screen time. Let's get crafting! Pottery To Go Kits - Figurines Each kit includes everything you’ll need to paint a ceramic figurine. -1 ceramic figurine-8 acrylic paint colors (in separate paint pots)-1 paint brush-small cup to rinse brushes-paper plate to mix paint (if needed) Bonus Glitter paint & finish gloss are included to add that extra sparkle & shine to your projects! DIY Ceramic Coloring Tile Kit Our one-of-a-kind designs are pre printed on each tile making it easy to color inside or outside the lines. Each kit includes: 1 unique coloring book ceramic tile (6” diameter) 10 washable markers pre-cut jute string It's FUN for the whole family. Not limited to little ones. These designs have been tested and proven to be a big hit among teenagers and college students! DIY Paint your own Canvas Kit Our one-of-a-kind designs are pre sketched on each canvas making it easy to color inside or outside the lines. Outline with a sharpie black marker after paint is dry to create a solid finish. Each kit includes: one 8 x 10 wrapped canvas 8 acrylic paint colors (in separate paint pots) 1 paint brush 1 sponge dot tool small cup to rinse brushes paper plate to mix paint (if needed) Spring Vase Pottery To Go Kit Each kit comes with everything you need to paint, decorate and display these adorable vases. No baking needed. Inside is pre-glazed to hold water or plants in place without mess. DIY Kits include everything you need: 1 ceramic item (vase, bird house or boot) 1 paint palette of acrylic colors paint brush paper plate for paint mixing Ring Dish Pottery To Go Kit Kit includes everything you’ll need to paint a square ceramic ring dish. -1 ceramic ring dish - square-8 acrylic paint colors (in separate paint pots)-2 paint brushes-small cup to rinse brushes-paper plate to mix paint Bonus gloss sealer included to add that extra shine and seal to your project!
Learn more
What I learned from Joanna Gaines & My Creative Idols
Cruising into Spring on a serious mission. A mission to take my business to the next level! All because of a conference called Alt Summit. After years of watching from the sidelines, I decided to jump in full force and attend this year. And it was AMAZING. ✨ I stood face to face with some of my biggest idols in the creative/craft world and not only had a conversation with them but also learned so much valuable information that my head is still spinning. Oh and did I mention the key note speaker...Joanna Gaines #fangirl So why was it so amazing? What did I learn? Well, let me tell you my biggest takeaway. Be YOU Seems pretty basic right? Eh, not so much. In a world full of countless content at our fingertips we tend to loose sight of the basic principles of creating. So this simple reminder was the theme that almost every speaker and presenter drove home and was exactly what we needed. They urged us to not try to replicate another personality we admired because it will always come off inauthentic. Instead they preached - 'your tribe is behind you because they love what you do not you trying to imitate someone else.' And the master of of masters, Mrs. Joanna Gaines, said it best... "When you get down to the core of who you're created to be and who you really are, it should be very different than what you are seeing out there. And in that vulnerability people sense authenticity and with authenticity people are inspired to be that themselves. So I encourage you...don't look to your left and your right. Celebrate what everyone's doing around you but always make sure you stay in line with who you were created to be. And make yourself vulnerable and put yourself out there. Don't become a scroll (doing what everyone else is doing). Because if you want people to stop and stay a while...be YOU and be authentic and they're going to stop and stay!" - Joanna Gaines Thanks Joanna! So if you are a person who's full of glitter and sequins...Shine on with your bad self. If you love bright colors...Make the world unapologetically colorful! or If you're the quiet and reserved kind behind the camera creating masterpieces...Stay the shy one. But be brave in your quest to conquer your dreams. Because if you never try, you will not ever know if your dream could be a reality. So give it a shot! Only you get to decide what you want to be in this world. Just make a conscious choice. - Cindy Siegel As for me? I'm spreading my wings and stepping into some brave new territory this year and I couldn't be more excited. Watch out world. Here I come with a whole lots of new dreams and a passion to make them happen!
Learn more
Texas Ornament - Summer at the Beach
Summer lovin had me a blast...Summer lovin happened so fast! I can't believe that it's August - almost time for school to start and before you know it celebrate the holidays. HOLY COW! While we wait for those temperatures to cool off let's take a look back of some of the incredible vacations our little Texas ornament tagged along for this summer - including beaches right here in the Lone Star State plus all around the world. #jealous Royal Beach Club - Cancun, Mexico Celebrating with the girls at a Bachelorette party in Mexico. Olé! French Polynesia - Bora Bora Honeymooning in style in the gorgeous tropics of Bora Bora. Are you for scuba? Lloret de Mar, Spain Taking a tip along the Mediterranean coastline of Spain. Sorrento, Italy Overlooking the beautiful Bay of Naples, Italy. If you look closely you can see the pizza from here. South Padre Island, Texas Flying high with the colorful kites on the beach at South Padre Island. Always love seeing where your Brush Strokes Pottery pieces travel. Be sure to use the hashtags #TXTravels and #brushstrokespottery for a chance to be featured.
Learn more
Our Texas Ornament Travels to Israel
Brush Strokes Pottery's TX ornament travels the world - this time heading to Israel & Jordan on a pilgrimage. Thanks to the help of my Dad, our little TX ornament had the adventure of a lifetime. I have to say when I gave my parents the ornament before they left on their trip and asked them to snap a couple of pictures, I thought "oh maybe I'll get one or two for Instagram". But little did I know my engineer, numbers based father was just waiting for his creativity to be unleashed. One or two posts to social media was not going to do these gorgeous images justice. So sit back and enjoy the ride through this biblical journey. The Sea of Galilee - Israel’s largest freshwater lake. Also most notably known in biblical history as the Sea that Jesus walked on (Matthew 14:22–33) to save his disciples caught in a storm. Al-Khazneh "The Treasury", is one of the most elaborate temples in the ancient Arab Nabatean Kingdom city of Petra. This structure, as with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, was carved out of a sandstone rock face. Most notably we recognize this structure as the entrance to the final resting place of the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. With the camels in Petra. Petra A reminder to always look ahead to great hope and fortune and not to dwell on the past. This incredible picture was captured at Mount Sodom (near the Dead Sea) where based on the tale from Genesis 19, Lot’s wife was turned to a pillar of salt after she disobeyed the angels warning and looked back on her city while fleeing. The Dead Sea is landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan in southwestern Asia and is the setting for some of the most important stories in biblical history. Tourists flock to this destination to wade in the water. The high concentration level of saline gives those who swim in the Sea extreme buoyancy aka an incredible photo opp. I wonder if that would have been true for our little ornament had it taken a dip? Memorial to Moses. Located on Mount Nebo, an elevated ridge in Jordan, approximately 2,330 ft above sea level, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land. A huge THANK YOU to my Mom & Dad for helping make this TX pilgrimage possible. They continue to amaze me and make me proud to call their crazy butts my family. Love you both!!
Learn more
Harper Hearts – A symbol of love!
A simple ceramic heart that symbolizes strength, healing, love and hope. This story begins with one tiny miracle born 7 years ago on Valentine’s Day. Her name is Harper and she’s my sweet and sassy niece. She was born extremely premature (30 weeks - 2lbs) and spent the majority of her 1st year of life at Texas Children’s Hospital in the NICU. During this stressful time, all I wanted to do was tell my sister that everything would be ok and that I’d protect her (just as an older sister does). However this fight was out of any of our control and we had to give this journey up to faith and the medical professionals caring for our sweet Harper. Feeling helpless, I turned to what I knew best and created small ceramic hearts with Harper’s name on the front and the words “holding you in my heart” on the back. The hearts provided our family hope and peace in a time of chaos and fear. Every day we clutched the hearts tightly as we said prayers of strength for our sweet little girl. After a tracheostomy, Harper was able to come home - with tubes, oxygen tanks and medical equipment galore. My sister’s living room basically turned into a mini NICU but nevertheless Harper was home! Over the next year she would continue to get stronger and eventually have surgery to remove her trach. Hallelujah. While she still faces struggles in her little life, you wouldn’t know it to look at her now. She is a miracle blessing! Harper in the NICU (left) and home learning to crawl (right) Watching my sister and brother-in-law navigate this journey with love, faith and courage is a constant inspiration! Harper 2017 A testament to paying it forward, what started out as a simple gesture for our own family, has grown into a powerful movement of love benefiting so many others. You see, the same year Harper was born, a close friend of mine lost her baby boy. Knowing she had to be experiencing an incredible amount of pain and grief, I created a heart for her family in her son Luke's honor. My friend Lisa was so moved by the gesture that after the launch of her own non-profit, Luke Lives On, she decided to give Harper Hearts to families supported through the charity. Thus the beginning of Harper Hearts spreading love to all. Lisa & her husband Cody honoring Luke at the LLO Luncheon. “My Harper Heart is a tangible source of comfort and strength. I instantly feel closer to my baby when I hold it or see it. The heart is a beautiful reminder of my angel and I'm so thrilled to share that gift with other baby loss mamas.” - Lisa Brush Strokes Pottery is honored to help spread this message of love and peace to those experiencing pain. Our goal is that each Harper Heart gives individuals that little glimmer of Harper’s hope and the courage to face the challenges ahead. To the many families who have experienced great loss - please know your little Angel's life was precious, special and should always be held close to your heart. Sending you all big hugs! It has been a true blessing to hear from many of the families who have received a Harper Heart through Luke Lives On. Here are a few of their stories... “I’ve been the recipient of four of these hearts. Each one represents a real part of our family. We cannot hold them and we cannot do life with them right now, but each time I look over and I see each of their names, I’m reminded that it’s not just the three of us in our family, but there are four more precious children that we call our own. Occasionally seeing them fills me with sadness, but most of the time it’s a gentle reminder of the promise that we will see them again one day and that each of their lives mattered to us.” - Vicki “I received mine last year for my Nehemiah and it brought tears to my eyes! It was the due date I was suppose to have him and my heart was filled with joy knowing someone was also thinking about him. Today, it sits on my fireplace next to a sign that says “it is well with my soul” as my reminder that Nehemiah’s story has brought light to so many other women who go through the same thing and we are not alone. I’m now pregnant with my rainbow baby boy, Asher, and took this picture the other day to show women that there is hope after losing a child.” - Leslie “When I received my heart after unexpectedly losing my daughter, Scarlett, at 37 weeks, I felt like someone finally GOT IT! I was four months into my grieving when it came in the mail and it was wonderful to see her name! I had so many friends and family that were so scared to say the wrong thing, that Scarlett’s little life was hardly being acknowledged. I guess they thought that talking about her, or even saying her name, would be too painful for me. But it was really the opposite. Avoiding her existence was breaking my heart. To this day, that little ceramic heart with Scarlett’s name on it is one of my prized possessions. I keep it on my mantel all year long and each Christmas, it hangs in a prominent place on our tree. Thank you, Harper Hearts for validating our children in such a real way!” - Katy More Stories... "I received mine almost 6 years ago now and still hold it so dear. It is the sweetest token of love and I can carry it with me wherever I go." - Bethany "I received mine in the mail from,' Luke Lives On'. It was a surprise that sent me into tears. It meant a lot to me because it holds part of my son's memory, it shows that someone cares, and is also a reminder that I'm not the only one in the struggle. I keep it in a special hope trunk that I bought to hold all of Flynn's treasures. Thank you, 'Harper Hearts' for such a beautiful gesture." - Christy "I received mine in the mail by surprise a few months after we lost Addison. It sits with her picture, Molly Bear and urn, unless I'm traveling and then it goes with me so I always have something of hers with me." - Kelly photo by Chelsea Francis Photography Whether it brings you comfort during a time of sorrow or peace in a time of prayer, our hope is that your Harper Heart becomes a symbol of love now and forever! Proceeds from Harper Hearts will benefit local charities such as Harper's Heroes (a BCS foundation supporting families with children in the NICU) and Luke Lives On (a non-profit assisting families who have lost a child due to pregnancy loss or early infant death).
Learn more