Horsey Girl

 For those of you who don't know me, I love horses. Have loved them since I was 9 years old. I sat on my first horse with Beth Golson. She had a big ole horse (or that's how I remember him!) named Star who I got to sit on at her family's house.. Then, while on vacation,  I got to go on a trail ride with my Dad up in Colorado at a place called Buckskin Joes. Needless to say, after these two experiences, I was hooked. When we got back from that vacation, I begged my mom for a whole year until she signed me up for riding lessons. I started riding English at Foxbriar Farms in Calhoun under the instruction of Joan Moore and John McQueen.  I feel so lucky that I was able to ride and my parents were so supportive. I met some life long friends riding horses and learned some wonderful life long lessons along the way. When I was 14, my parents bought me my first horse.

(this was Tango in his later years)

He was a skinny 4 year old bay Thoroughbred named Tuta Tango. We just called him Tango. He loved to buck, and bucked his whole life! I have the best memories or riding him and going to horse shows with him.

( I think this was at a horseshoe in Germantown, Tenn)

He was there for me though out all the good times and bad times~ high school, college, a marriage, a divorce, a new marriage, and sadly passed away when I was pregnant with Pearson two years ago. I hate that my children didn't get to meet him. I hope that one day, Pearson and Phoebe will love to ride and I can get them a horse one day.  I now ride out at Lone Oak Farm in Choudrant under the instruction of Meghan Nichols. She and I and her sister Jennifer (who was one of my roommates in college!) grew up riding together at Foxbriar. I am so proud of both of them. They both own their own barns and are very respected in the horse world.
  I know that most of our shirts are sometimes more BOY  friendly, so I wanted to do a special one just for girls and knew it had to be a horse. I didn't want the whole western cowgirl image. It needed to be classier than that, and I wanted something kind of whimsical too. I saw this IPOD case

that I loved on Pinterest and used it for inspiration. I ended up drawing a galloping horse

(The initial pencil drawing)

and surrounded him with fuchsia colored azaleas.

The horse looks strong and the flowers are delicate. This is how I envision my daughter will be. Strong but sensitive. We always see blooming azaleas all over the south.

Love these!! My mother has a bunch in her back yard.

I then also ordered some leggings to go with the shirts that match that bright pink color. The shirts are only available in youth tees right now. Sizes  2t,4t, 6t, 8, 10, and 12. $24 each. Leggings are $18 each.
Shirts and leggings can be ordered online at www.mrpstess.bigcartel.com or purchased in West Monroe at Miss Persnickety Joon on Antique Alley.

Thanks for reading-
Lissy

The Pelican State #LouisianaProud

  Our latest design coming out is the amazing Louisiana Brown Pelican.

As you guys from this area know, it is our state bird and featured on the state flag. As the famed painter and naturalist John James Audubon once said the pelican was "one of the most interesting of our American birds." I would have to agree!! Our Louisiana Brown pelican is actually one of 8 of the species. What makes it special?? Besides that it is the only one of the 8 that is brown, it is the only one that plunges from the sky down to the water to catch its food. Amazing how he can see a school of fish in the water from many feet above in the sky and just torpedo down and scoop up the unsuspecting fish in a quick gulp.

(Picture from Internet)

 Have you guys ever witnessed this? Our pelican lives along the ocean shores- not in any of the inland lakes.  It is very protective of its young-so protective, that people noticed! A "Mama" pelican feeding her babies was first seen around 1804 on a seal and later on the state flag that was put in place in 1912.

(Picture from internet)

The Brown Pelican actually didn't become the State Bird until 1966. Ironically, the same year it was voted into the #1 spot, the birds had vanished from the Louisiana coast. This is where big bad DDT pesticide came into the picture and almost wiped the bird out. This pesticide didn't outright kill the birds. Once it was ingested/absorbed, the pesticide would in turn, make the shell of the eggs of the unborn baby pelicans extremely frail and thin. The eggs would literally crumble under the weight of their parents.  DDT almost wiped out this entire species.  Once they figured out that DDT was the cause, the government put a ban on it in 1972. This is where good wild life conservation came into affect. A bunch of birds from Florida were transported to Louisiana to build back up the numbers from 1968-1980. This was a success! Brown pelicans are now off the Endangered Species list and their numbers are thought to be around 650,000.
   So, about our shirt... I drew this guy while on an art retreat in Jan. He was actually the first design I did and I loved him from the start. I knew he needed to be in white for sure and I loved the idea of featuring him on this Evergreen colored Tri blend tee.

We had never printed on this color before and it reminded me of beautiful ocean waters that can look somewhere between blue and green. Perfect backdrop for the Pelican to "pop" against. It's def a unisex shirt. I can picture it on Mr P in his cargo khakis

or dressed on on a woman with white pants and a cream cardigan

. We also printed him on the most amazing long maxi dresses. They are racer back style and oh so soft!!

We featured it on navy and a few military green colored dresses.

(close up)

(on the military green color)

They are a slim fit and are made long so you can cut them off at the length you need. The bottom of this dress is a raw-edge, but won't unravel. I can't wait to wear mine casual with flip flops. When in doubt, order bigger. I wear the XL. So proud of our #louisianaproud series!!!

Thanks for reading,
Lissy

adult teas are S-XXL. $28 each. Youth tees are 2,4,6,8,10 and 12.

$24 each.                            (youth tee)
The Maxi Dresses are S-XL. $68.

Available online at www.mrpstees.bigcartel.com

P.S. Cant wait to see ya'll at the Monroe Junior League Spring Market in March.

Thankful for Jordan....

Back in early Fall, I was hanging out with one of my favorite artsy fartsy friends, Melanie Massey. We were at her home in her studio and I was telling her how overwhelmed I was with Mr P's Tees. To be quite honest, I was drowning!! Mr P's is not Brent and I's "real jobs". This is a side business we have that we don't even pay ourselves anything. It all just goes back into the business. I actually build homes for a living and he and his dad co own a window and door company (Ark La Tex Window and Door) in West Monroe and Shreveport.
  I was telling Melanie

(Melanie and her beautiful daughters in our tiger tees)

about how I truly love the drawing and designing aspect of Mr P's but didn't have time to do the little stuff like tag shirts, deliver shirts, fill orders, etc. She said " well , you need a high school of college student to come work a few hours each week to help you". And then she followed it up with "And I think I know the perfect person". A few texts back and forth and I had a girl named Jordan Raborn ( who is related to Melanie) coming over that next week to help. Wow! So easy. I remember Melanie looking at me and saying " Done! What else you need?!"  Hahah. Thank you Melanie!!
   I was a little nervous about how this girl and I would hit it off. Would she like me? Would I like her ? Would she be a good worker ??? I knew her brother, Madison, from MMPT and he is a great guy, so fingers crossed that she would be too.  Thankfully, she turned out to be a hard worker who I adore, who is very witty and who is fiercely LOYAL. I had my accident after about a month of her helping us, and I can't begin to tell you what a God send she has been.

(Jordan painting pigs!)

  So who is Jordan? She is a beautiful spunky sophomore at ULM. She is a Hawkline dancer,

a Phi Mu and was in pre pharmacy when we first met, but she is now in business (I think we might be rubbing off on her!!).

(This is she and her dad at Christmas)

  She does everything from tagging shirts, inventory on the computer,

(She painted this orange display)

, delivering orders, to picking up checks, making deposits, and she will even model for me when I ask her to.

(Told ya she is beautiful!)

She will also tell me if she likes a design or not and let's me know what the college girls are in to these days.  Did I mention she even worked for us all day in the freaking cold at the Downtown River Market for the Commander Christmas?? I love to laugh and tell her when we get a big order that it is "job security" for her!! haha

   I just love her and so does Mr P. He loves to watch her work and "help" her.

I try to tell her regularly how THANKFUL I am for her and how much I appreciate her. (I think she knows this!).

Thanks for Reading!
Lissy


P.S. Last batch of our Krewe of Black Bayou shirts are in. Grab yours today at Miss Persnickety Joon on Antique Alley or The Black Bayou gift shop in Monroe  or online at www.mrpstees.bigcartel.com. $31 adult,  $26 youth.  Our local Mardi Gras and Pet parade is Feb 15th!!!

Louisiana Black Bear

Our newest design pays tribute to The Louisiana Black Bear. What a neat animal!! Did you know that the Black Bear is our state mammal?? You probably see license plates around town depicting this prized animal.

(photo from internet)

  When I was researching this special animal, I learned some interesting facts.  Since 1988, hunting season for The Louisiana Black Bear has been closed. This guy is protected.  He is federally listed as a threatened species. This wasn't always the case. A record in the 1890's showed that at least 17 parishes contained bears-mostly in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya area. By the 1950's, the population was considered "sparse" with an estimated 80-120 bears. From 1964-1967, 161 Black Bears were trapped up in Cook County, Minn and released in the Louisiana and Mississippi areas in an effort to help re stock the population.  This map is where the Bears are at now.

These bears are considered smaller than bears like grizzlies.

(pic taken from internet)

The female usually weighs around 120-250 lbs and the males weigh around 150-350. These guys are pretty darn smart and can give farmers a lot of grief. Have you guys ever come across one?? Apparently there is quite a few bears at the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge located west of Tallulah. The Bears hide in the thick bottomland forest. In 1907, Teddy Roosevelt hunted the Black Bear just north of here and the nick name "teddy bear" came about from an incident that occurred during the hunt.
  I read that Disneynature is releasing a movie called "Bears" on April 18th~ 4 days before Earth Day.

It sounds really cool. The viewer gets to follow the life of a bear family and the raising of two young cubs over the course of one year. How cool? When we created this design, we had no idea about this movie coming out. Great minds think alike!??! haha
    What is Earth Day? A day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace. And, a day to teach about environmental issues. Love this- I can't wait to do something in honor of this day with my kids.. Brent would tell you that I am kind of a tree hugger. What have you guys done in the past with your family?? Planted a tree??
  So, back to the shirt...Its right now, only  available for the kids. Sizes 2t,4t,6t, 8, 10 and 12  $24 each. We printed it on a super cool bright orange shirt

that is very soft next to your child's skin. Our bear is plump and happy.

(this is the original pen and ink drawing)

He is printed in black (of course) and could be worn by both boys and girls.

(For a very cool boy to wear..)

(or for a girl!)
order online at www.mrpstees.bigcartel.com.

(Mr P--pre haircut!!hahah in his new Black Bear tee)

Thanks for reading!!!
Lissy