Happy December! For those of you excited about Christmas, I thought I'd illustrate and share a few of my favorite things about this joyous season we're in!

My Favorite Christmas Movies
Love Actually (2003)
Quite possibly my favorite movie quote of all time comes from this movie. And it's quite fitting for the current times.
Prime Minister: Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.

The Christmas Toy (1986)
The top toy in the playroom gets jealous when a new toy (from space!) comes onto the scene! Also, all the toys FREEZE if a human sees them. Yeah, this plot line doesn't show up ANYwhere else!

Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
If you don't know this Christmas movie, you're not a true child of the '80s.

Favorite Christmas Songs
Christmas Time In Arkansas music and lyrics by Ned Perme; vocals by Terry Rose
You know you're from Arkansas when…

Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses
A girl too busy to enjoy the season? Sounds familiar.

Decorations And Treats
Hallmark Ornaments
My mother passed her love of these keepsakes on to my sister and me! I love my Crayola and Mischevious Kitten ones!

Sequins and Tinsel
The more sparkle the better!

Vintage and Retro Decorations
Nothing says Christmas like a box of Shiny Brite ornaments and a hand me down tree that always leans to the north!

Snowball Cookies
I've made these cookies every year since I was 12 years old back in 1996!

Elaborately Wrapped Presents
It's what on the outside that counts! ;)

Celebrating The Reason for the Season
Walnut Street Baptist Church Festival of Christmas
The story of how God sent His only Son to earth as the ultimate gift presented in song and drama

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at Marvell First Baptist Church
Singing carols and reading the Christmas story by candlelight with my hometown church family

What are some of your holiday favorites?

If you're like me, you're already planning your next weekend on Sunday evening! And Northeast Arkansas residents, you can kick this next weekend off with a bang at Occasions Publishing Group's Holiday Art Night Out at The Basement!

You heard that right! Art Night Out is returning this Friday night to The Basement! After a successful first Art Night Out in the late summer, Occasions Publishing Group has decided to bring a holiday twist to this favorite event! Holiday Art Night Out will feature the works of local artists Misti Sims, Jim Porterfield, Beau Jones, Taylor Moore, Teresa Hardin, Vivian Hardin, Seth James, Lyn Clements, Melissa Donner and yours truly! And The Parsonage 322 is catering, so in addition to all the amazing artwork, this shindig is going to be delicious!

Now for the art! I'm going to be drawing custom portraits on the spot! Get a portrait of yourself, someone special or even some furry friends! You'll even be able to pick up some mini prints of some of my more popular illustrations to take home and frame for yourself! They make wonderful gifts! I'll also have a few Christmas exclusive designs available, including a fun photo card that you can customize with your own greeting. And speaking of Christmas, you can wrap up a LOT of your Christmas shopping at this event with so many great local artists! Here are some scenes from the last Art Night Out and my other portrait drawing events:

And if that weren't enough, I'll be hosting a GIVEAWAY! Be sure to stop by my table at Art Night Out to find out how you can win a custom FULL-COLOR 8x10 illustration of your choice to be completed after the event!

For more information about Holiday Art Night Out, call Occasions Publishing Group at 931.0012. Tickets are $20 (when ordered online) or $25 at the door. Hope to see y'all there!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! I hope everyone gets the chance to stop and enjoy some time with the ones you love most! My parents are coming up for Thanksgiving at my house, so my sister and I are in cleaning mode major! Also, it's very busy at the magazine as we prep for pre-holiday press deadlines, so I'll leave you with these amazing sights I saw on a recent hike through Craighead Forest Park. God made this, y'all. He's the best artist out there!

Look. At. Those. Colors!

I'm so lucky to live so close to such a beautiful place! I could so live out in the woods!

The colorful leaves, sparkling water, dreamy sunlight...is it any wonder why this is my favorite place to be?

Think back to when you were a little kid. What seemingly insignificant thing made your life so much more filled with joy? If you were anything like Little Brittney...it was probably a sticker! I remember being super anxious and stressed out on my first day of kindergarten, wondering if I was going be able to handle a full day of being in a classroom full of other little kids I didn't know. After a bit of bawling (okay a lot of bawling) on my part by the cubbies, I noticed one cubbie with my name on it...and a unicorn/pegasus sticker. I dried my tears, and I knew everything was going to be a-okay! Mrs. Larry totally made my day with that little sticker! It truly is the little things!

Now, I may be a grown up (at least my drivers' license says so), but my love of stickers still abides! And guess what? You can totally buy stickers of my artwork in the Lace and Whimsy Sticker Shop! How cool is that?

When my friend Kathy of the blog Lace and Whimsy contacted me about collaborating on some exclusive designs for her sticker shop, I jumped at the chance. My art on stickers? Oh, yeah! (Kindergarten Brittney is high-fiving present day Brittney somewhere in some parallel time-warped universe, I bet!) Kathy is a talented graphic designer and illustrator herself and a businesswoman extraordinaire. She's a feminist fairy princess with a heart of gold, and I'm honored to be working with her to bring you these awesome stickers!

Just look at these amazingly girly designs fit for covering your planner, calendar, desk phone or any stationary stationery surface!

And just in time for the most wonderful time of the year...we've got Christmas stickers! These would so adorable on Christmas cards, on holiday gifts, in your planner as a countdown to the holidays, or in that special gal's stocking! As an early Christmas present to my mom, I actually based the ornament sticker sheet on ornaments from her vintage ornament collection which she's passed down to me. And that tacky Christmas sweater one? So ugly it's CUTE, y'all!

Head over to  The Christmas Shop for these designs, because you're definitely going to want them ALL! And stay tuned each month for more fun designs from yours truly in the Lace and Whimsy Sticker Shop!

Any suggestions as to what you'd like to see in my next round of Lace and Whimsy sticker designs?

I am absolutely excited, y'all! The leaves are changing. There's finally a chill in the air. It's November, and the holidays are coming! My mom is already cooking up a storm, making pans of dressing, platters of cookies and other delicious dishes in preparation for our Thanksgiving celebration. I'm on dessert duty this year, so I'm thinking a carton of pumpkin pie ice cream will be just the thing for me to bring to the table!

One of my favorite things about the holidays is that we really don't have a set tradition. When my grandmother was living, we'd all head over to her house in the woods of Mississippi for a big family dinner...sometimes at an Aunt Annette's house or Uncle Ronnie's house, sometimes at an older cousin's house, other times at Grandma's house itself. Some years we'd fry a turkey. Other years we'd have a ham. In more recent years, my parents, my sister and I have had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house with my Uncle Ronnie, Aunt Sue and cousin Emily. Last year was my first year hosting Thanksgiving dinner at my house, and I was very thrilled to have my parents up for the holiday weekend. This year, I'm hosting again, and I'm on dessert duty!  Our lack of tradition is our tradition, I guess you could say!

No matter what your tradition is, you're definitely going to be needing a few festive items in your wardrobe this season to survive all those family get-togethers, office parties, cookie exchanges, date nights to The Nutcracker, and Christmas card photo shoots! And I've got the perfect red dress for any holiday occasion!

How amazing is this red dress from eShakti? I've been looking for a red fit and flare dress with sleeves for what seems like forever! It's been a very long search, and I've settled for quite a few "so-so" red dresses in my day. When I buy dresses, in order to get them to fit me up top, the dress often ends up much too baggy in the waist. And gals, sometimes you just want a fitted dress that you don't have to belt, cinch or cover up with a cardigan! Especially a red dress! You want that WOW factor, and this dress has it!

When eShakti contacted me about picking out one of their amazing apparel pieces to have for my own, I just had to jump at the chance. eShakti is a women's apparel company that offers designs in standard sizes 0-36W with custom sizing and design options, and all dresses are custom adjusted to your height at no extra cost. With my non-standard measurements, I had been thinking for a while about trying their custom sizing service to finally get the dress of my dreams. I perused their website and saw countless dresses that I wanted to try, but it was the Tie Cuff Cotton Knit Dress in red that really caught my eye. This was the dress. THE red dress. The red dress I'd been searching for to no avail on countless dress shopping trips. And it has POCKETS! Sold!

I really loved the design of the dress as is, but you can totally change up the neckline, sleeve length and skirt length to suit your fashion preferences. The high neckline, elbow sleeves and just below the knee skirt is perfect for my modest style. It's girly and fashionable, while not being too revealing for my tastes! I loved the look, but I needed to customize the measurements to get the perfect fit for this perfect dress!

And heads up, the measurements you provide are very detailed, more than just your typical bust, waist, hip to help you get the perfect fit. They're going to be needing your shoulder and upper arm measurements among other things, so definitely have a buddy on hand to help you measure and record! I had my sister help me record all my measurements, so that helped out a lot! She also took my outfit photos! Great job, Courtney! Thanks so much!

For my happy holiday look, I styled my new favorite red dress (which arrived super quickly, I might add!) with gold jewelry from Noonday Collection, and my always-ready-for-a-party Chelsea Crew heels from Modcloth finish the look.

Thank you, eShakti, for the amazing new red dress! It's going to see me through so many parties this holiday season for sure! If you've got heart eyes like I do over this dress, follow Eshakti on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for even more fashionable finds! What are you waiting for? Check out their website to finally find the dress of YOUR dreams just in time for your next shindig!

Important note: I was provided this dress free of charge from eShakti for trying their custom clothing service and posting about my experience with them on the Britt Wit Blog. All thoughts are my own, and I always work with brands that I'd purchase for myself and recommend to my closest friends. If a company provides me an item to feature on my site, I'll always let you know with a little "c/o" in the outfit details! All other items are from my personal closet!

Outfit Details: dress c/o eShakti •  shoes from Modcloth • necklace and earrings from Noonday Collection

Happy Halloween! What's everyone dressing as this year? This year I'm going as everyone's favorite fire-wielding, Pringles crunching, devil-may-care Ghostbuster-the one, the only, Jillian Holtzmann! I may be lacking in the epic blond locks, but I promise you the sass is all there, folks!

That scene where she's dancing around to DeBarge with the fire...let's just say they probably got the idea for that hilarious scene from my own life in the kitchen. Consequently, I'm not allowed to cook in our house anymore. So I set a handful of paper towels on fire. Who cares! I had it under control!

I rarely purchase a pre-made Halloween costume, preferring to wear everyday items in an unexpected combination to make my costume each year. My closet was a bit lacking in the one-piece denim department, so I raided my roommate Kerri's closet to get all the materials I needed for this awesome ensemble!

I had originally planned on wearing a black leather jacket and burgundy fingerless gloves for an authentic Holtzy look, but it's going to be hot as fire out there this year. In fact, it's gonna be the hottest Halloween in about 66 years in Jonesboro! Yikes! The jacket will stay in my closet for now.

In the spirit of this heat wave, I topped a comfy olive green tee and Kerri's overalls with an old work shirt of my dad's that I frequently wear on messy painting adventures. This thing's got printer's ink, fake blood, acrylic paint, oil paint, glitter glue, car primer and spray mount among other materials all worked throughout the fabric. Kerri said I wasn't allowed to get paint splatters all over her overalls, (spoilsport!) so this is a good way for me to get the messy spray paint look of Holtzy's overalls without trashing my roomie's clothes! You're welcome, Kerri! Also, I'm not going to burn up as I'm roaming the streets looking for ghosts...I mean, candy.

And check out those stripey socks, dude! They are sooooo comfy. I picked up a 5 pack of these bad boys from H&M, and future Brittney from about 4 weeks into next winter is already congratulating current Brittney on her warm foot coverings...even though she's melting in this heat wave.

Happy Halloween! Remember, "safety lights are for dudes!"

This weekend, I packed up my markers and drawing paper, went back to my hometown for the Marvell Main Street Festival, and set up my illustration studio right in the middle of the action.

I drew many custom portraits while I was out there. Family members, friends and neighbors all showed up to see just how my pen would picture them! I started out sketching a rough layout with pencil before moving on to the ink details.

I was so happy to finish a drawing and reveal it after a few quick strokes of my pen!

In addition to drawing custom portraits, I also had a number of my more popular illustrations available as prints. I had loads of fun this weekend, Marvell! Thanks for making this hometown girl feel so appreciated and a little like a local celebrity!

Fun and Worth Mentioning:
My friend Lindsey of Have Clothes Will Travel recently featured me as her monthly Featured Fashionista! Read more about my outfit at the left and find out more about my artistic and fashion style on Have Clothes Will Travel! Just click here to check it out!

It's beginning to look a lot like autumn---pumpkins in every store! My new boots look really swell. I bought a new coat as well...a woolly one that wouldn't mind some snow!

Okay, I'll stop with my song! You get the point! I love fall! The changing colors of the leaves, the crispness in the air, layers upon layers of sweaters and flannels,  the smell of bonfires and warming spices...I love it all! Fall is simply my most favorite time of year!

Some of you may love pumpkin spice lattes and football. Others of you may be all about the holidays of this season, counting down until Halloween and then Thanksgiving. My most favorite fall thing is decorating my front porch, and by decorating, I mean covering every square inch with colorful mums, gnarly gourds and pumpkins of all sizes! And oh, how I love pumpkins!

I went to the grocery store the other day on a mission. My sister needed me to run into the store to grab a few things to make dinner, so she told me to not get distracted by the pumpkins while I was in there. She knows the effect pumpkins have on me, so she told me in her teacher voice, "Just go in there and get what we need. Don't stop for the pumpkins. Don't even look at them. Don't get distracted. Come right back. Do that, and I'll let you get pumpkins later on this weekend!"

I tried to be good, but those pumpkins get me every time. I walked into the store, bought the groceries, and I was just about in the crosswalk in front of the store when it happened. I saw a flash of the most beautiful fall colors, and I whipped around. Surely Courtney won't see. I pulled out my phone and snapped a quick photo:

She saw. "What'd I tell you?!" she yelled from the window of the car. "You got distracted! No pumpkins for you!"

Maybe no pumpkins for me that weekend, but I did get some pumpkins and mums later on! There's no keeping an autumn loving gal away from her precious pumpkins!

What's your favorite thing about fall?

This past weekend, I time-traveled to the 1800s. Just south of Jonesboro, Arkansas is a recreated nineteenth century town called the Parker Homestead. Every October, the Parker family opens the Homestead to the public to showcase their collection of restored buildings and artifacts from long ago as part of the Parker Homestead Pioneer Festival. All throughout the year, the Homestead hosts school groups, weddings and events, but it's during this harvest festival that the Homestead really comes alive.

There are countless old tractors, from Farmalls to John Deere, surrounding the Homestead. Chickens roam freely among the festival goers, sometimes even running into the cabins for a quick look around. (I'm absolutely terrified of birds, but these fluffy babies didn't scare me one bit as they pecked at the ground for spilled corn!) Speaking of corn, visitors can even try their hand at milling corn and pick up a bag of freshly ground cornmeal to take home! Wagon rides, volunteers in period clothing, sideshow illusionists, and the smell of bubbling sorghum and popping kettle corn all add to the experience.

Here are some of the awesome sights I saw:

If you'd like to go back in time to the "good ol' days," check out the Parker Homestead Festival this Saturday, October 15 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., or Sunday, October 16 from noon-5 p.m. Admission is $7 per person, and children 6 and younger get in free.

Outfit details: Livy Lu "Arkansas Native" tee-shirt and Thread Supply flannel (both from The Refinery), Old Navy jeans, Minnetonka moccasins, Modcloth "Since You Been Hexagon" earrings in rose gold

Freebie Fun Fact: Arkansas is the diamond state. Crater of Diamonds State Park, located in Murfreesboro, Arkansas is home to the world's only diamond-bearing site accessible to the public. Arkansas is also the first place outside South Africa where diamonds were found at their original volcanic source! Isn't that fancy?

Welcome to my blog, where I'll show you what inspires my art! First up...FASHION!

I've always loved fashion...almost as much as I love art! I remember as a little girl, I'd fill my sketchbooks with all these wild and crazy outfits I could only dream of wearing. Dresses with 30 rows of ruffles... skirts made of rainbows and glitter... shoes with butterflies on the toes... bows as big as my head... my imagination went on and on!

Now, my outfits inspire my drawings. Fashion is art in itself, after all!

Check out this fun dress from Modcloth. I just love the bright blocks of color, and the way it makes me feel like a retro superstar! I paired it with my trusty cat eye sunglasses, Noonday Collection jewelry and a color-blocked tote that echoes the design of the dress.

In fact, I love this dress so much that when it went live on Modcloth, I had to draw myself in it before I ordered it. This is how I envisioned myself styling it before it even arrived on my doorstep! Apart from the lack of black knee high boots, (writes "black-knee-high-suede boots" on wishlist) I think I've got the look down!

Something else I like to do is take photos of my art with whatever pieces inspire it. It's cool to see what all planning and elements go into a piece!

Until next time, stay colorful and inspired, my friends!

Outfit details: Mod Squad Goals A-Line Dress, Triple the Charm Bag in Cognac, On Second Trot Flat in Sunshine (all from Modcloth) Sea Stone Earrings and Golden Bough Necklace from Noonday Collection