Tis the Season!

Earlier this week I bought my first official Christmas present of the season.  It's a plastic cake that merrily plays "Happy Birthday."  The candles light up and you can "cut" and serve the cake slices on the little included plastic plates. 

Robert's going to love it. 

Kidding. 

It's for my 2 year old niece.  She learned how to sing "Happy Birthday" last spring and she loves that song.  I think she sings the official version of the song now, but her early renditions were pretty funny as she tended to ad lib a bit.

Anyways, last night I was looking at (ok, playing with) the thing and it occurred to me that perhaps this birthday cake was a fairly appropriate Christmas gift.  After all, Christmas is Jesus's birthday!  Duh! 

So after that light bulb went off another one lit up and all of the sudden I had an idea for a simple little painting I wanted to do. 

I had other things I was supposed to do today.  Like 2 paintings I need to finish by Monday, a newsletter to get out, and this hot mess of note cards and prints to deal with...     

I swear I'm on the brink of organizing this whole shebang of a business. Really.

but this one idea in my head was the only thing I really wanted to do.  The painting I just had to paint.  So I checked with my co-worker,   

Not sure where his ears disappeared to in this quick pic.

and he agreed with me that that other stuff could still get done later.  In fact, he seemed quite enthusiastic about it.  So we turned on the Christmas tunes and just let it be.  And I painted this. 

"Joy to the World" 5x7 watercolor on paper by Holly B. Johnson ©2012

Things can get really busy during the Christmas season, and it's easy to lose sight of what you're celebrating so if you need a reminder at your house you can purchase a print of this painting right here for just $12.  Normally 5x7 prints are $15.  But hey, tis the season and I appreciate you reading my blog!  Joy to you!