Heigh ho, Heigh ho.....

It's off to work life I go.

New blog design.......

CHECK

Laptop CRASH and BURN!!!!

CHECK (grrrrr)

My son's rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (including custom cake by ME)....

CHECK

My son's (and now daughter in law's) wedding day........

CHECK and WHEW!!!!!

Day after wedding brunch.....

CHECK

NOW WHAT?????

Oh yea, back to life as I know it......

SOOOOOO dear friends, I have not forgotten you.

I have just had a little too much on my plate.......

BUT......

I still have the giveaway coming up!!!

Woo Hoo

And some fun projects to share....

Woo Hoo

SOOOOOOO

Let me catch my breath......

BREATHE IN! BREATHE OUT!

And I will be back posting soon!!!!

Until next time....

A new project.....

Remember my Diamond in the Rough?

And remember how it looked in the "after" pics?

 

Now, with no nightly tasks to keep me busy like bathing my mom and taking care of her needs.....

And with no nightly visits to the nursing home....

(all of which had a way of wearing me out both physically and mentally)

I find myself with a little time on my hands.

It got me thinking (I know, could be dangerous)!

I realized that working with my hands,

flexing my creative muscles,

getting dirty and being covered in paint,

might just be a good way to work through the grief of losing both of my parents in the last eight months........

SOOOOO.......

With a sanding block in hand, a drop cloth to spread out, a stash of spray primer and spray paint from Lowe's,

as well as some sample jars from the 'tryouts' for wall colors,

I am going to work on some projects I have been THINKING about for the last year!!!

Should I warn my daughter since some of the creative DIY stuff will be done in her home????

NAAAAAHHHHHHH

Hey, free labor and my design expertise (rusty tho it may be) should help sway her and her hubby in a positive direction right?

I already know of some things I wanna do in my little condo so I will work on those little things first.....

and THEN will move on to my daughter's home!!!!

BUT......

 WATCH OUT EVERYONE!

I am warning you......

cuz once these big projects are done, I will be a-lookin' for more!!!

I will be sharing ALL the projects on my current

TO DO LIST, 

as well as my search for MORE projects to keep me busy!!!!

Until next time.....

I've been a thinkin'......

WOW, I can't believe that I am SOOOOOOO close to 200 followers on this little blog.

I know, I know.....

Small potatoes compared to some blogs out there, but I am so blessed to have all of you on board.



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So what to do......

OH what to do.....

.....to thank those of you new to A Creative Spirit and those that have been here since the beginning.

HMMMMM

I'VE GOT IT!!!!!

I think it is time for a giveaway!

WOO HOO! YIPPEE! YAY!

I am working hard on putting together a great giveaway package that plays off my interests and

MY idea of Fun!!!!

STAY TUNED

I will reveal the giveaway in the next couple of weeks!!!!

Until next time....

Sunday Morning......

I knew this day was coming.......

I just wasn't sure how I would feel......

The process of grieving involves many firsts.....

The first Christmas.....

The first New Year's celebration...........

And today......

The first Father's Day!

 

Happy Father's Day Dad.

I miss you!!

Spring Color Forecast......

Courtesy of Pantone

I LOVE LOVE LOVE looking at new color trends......

Paint chips

Carpet Samples

YOU NAME IT!!!!!!

Just a throw back to my old design days when I spent my day eyeball deep in color!!!!

So it is no surprise that I wait and wait and wait for the Pantone Color Forecasts to come out.

OK OK I KNOW!!!!!

The Spring 2011 Color Forecast has been out for a while now!!!!

But, as you know, life has thrown me quite a few curveballs this spring.......

Disclaimer: Even tho the forecast is geared toward fashion......the forecasted colors ALWAYS trickle down into interior fashion.....Also, the pictures I have chosen are MY interpretations of the colors.

So now, without further delay......

Pantone's Spring 2011 Fashion Color Forecast

HONEYSUCKLE

I have already posted about the FAB color of the year, Honeysuckle, here and here so check it out.

But just a quick peek at my take on it.....

Source 

  VIBRANT, BOLD, SATURATED were some of the adjectives I found describing this fun, bright pink.

REGATTA

Source

As I have said before, I LOVE BLUE, so I am thrilled that blue is a dominant color in this years forecast. I am seeing it EVERYWHERE.... at the fabric store, at the craft store, on the clothing racks at just about every store I stop in. WOO HOO.

CORAL ROSE

Source

NOW, will that color wake your up or WHAT?????

Funny that it is one of the colors being used in my son's wedding next week....

How fashion forward were the bride and groom to be?????

Or take a look at this bright, orangey hue on the night table below.....LOVE IT!!!!

Source

PEAPOD

Source

 The pale minty hue is relaxing and calming, and just the color I may be needing in the bathroom next to my "Spaqua" colored bedroom.

The Valspar paint color, "Spaqua", that I chose for my guest bedroom (which has really been my room for the past 8 months) reminds me a little of the next color from Pantone......(with MAYBE a little more green in it tho)...


BLUE CURACAO

Source

Described as blue with undertones of aquamarine, this color makes me HAPPY....


Sinc Aqua has a lot of blue in it.....you would have to know I would love it.

Well, that is it for now, but there are more fun forecast colors from Pantone,

and I will show you all of them soon.!!!

Until next time.....

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!!!

OK, so truth be told.....

I would LOVE to be able to design a fancy schmancy blog on my own, but I am just not sure it is in me.

I have the creative gene but not sure that gene includes graphic design.

Maybe in my NEXT life.....

Or in my retirement....

......as I am NOT giving up on the graphic design dream!

But for NOW....

I still wanted something fun...

Something that goes along with MY personality.....

AND

follows the theme of my blog.

So I have enlisted the very skilled, very creative A Mommy's Blog Design Studio to create my one of a kind blog design.....

It is in the works and I cannot WAIT to show it to you.

It will be several weeks before it is live, but I will keep you posted........

In the meantime, you may see some little changes on the blog to get ready for the new design.....

Hang in with me as I know you will love the new look.

Until next time.....

Motivational Monday.....

And one last quote from John Wooden.......

Check here and here for his other words of wisdom.....

"The smallest good deed is better than the best intention." John Wooden

What is something small you can do today that will bring a smile to someone else's face?

Can you pay it forward a little and pay for the Starbuck's order for the car behind you at the drive thru?

Will you call a friend you know is having a hard time, just to say "Hi, just wanted you to know I am thinking about you"?

Will you step out of your comfort zone, and help the elderly couple load groceries into their car?

Doing something that seems so small or inconsequential is so much more important than

PLANNING to help someone out when you have the.....

time....

money....

energy....

And simple good deeds will go a long way in lighting up someone else's day....... and along the way, just maybe it will brighten yours too.

Until next time......

Sunday evening......

My Sunday post is a little late today as my wonderful mother passed away this morning.

I know she is now in God's hands.....

her body is whole......

and we will all see her again!!!!!

Thanks to all my bloggy friends for all the love and prayers and support you have given me over this last year!!!!!

Love and Blessings to all of you.

Some thoughts on Friday......

I have been having a couple of rough days and I know if anyone understands, it would be all of you.......

I have read of similar struggles.....

 similar hurt....

similar pain....... 

My mom is back in the nursing home and is really struggling with the bacterias that keep raging through her body.

She is weak and fragile.....

....and for the first time I have glimpsed the end.

The end of the greatest friendship I have ever had.

The end of a beautiful life lived by a wonderful woman.

The end of a long struggle with life after the stroke that took her voice.

The end of the person that shaped who I am, what I have become.....

I don't mean to be maudlin (is that the word?).

It is just that I realize that she could be gone at anytime.

It may be months, or years, or maybe a whole lot sooner,

but I am not ready.

No matter when it is.....

These last couple of days have shown me that....

Things that make me smile.........

MUSIC

LAUGHTER

BABY DUCKS

RAINBOWS

COFFEE

ANY DAY THAT I WAKE UP!!!!!

I love your comments and love to hear your thoughts......

so.....

...tell me what makes you smile????

JOIN ME AT.......

Motivational Monday

More from John Wooden.................

"Don't let yesterday take up too much of today." John Wooden

Have you ever found yourself thinking too much about the past????

Focused WAY too much on the Shoulda's, the Coulda's, and the Woulda's?

Shoulda been!!!! Shoulda done!!!

Coulda been!!!! Coulda done!!!!

Those Shoulda's and Coulda's lead to the Woulda's.....

Things Woulda been different if I had done such and such.....

Things Woulda been different if I hadn't done this or that......

Things Woulda been different if I had made different choices.....

....took a different road....

....listened to different people....

....not listened to certain people.....

....and on and on and on!!!!

Let's make a deal here and now and agree to live in the present.

Count the blessings of today.

Be thankful for our friends, our family, our job, our neighbors.

No matter how many blemishes on our daily lives,  just be thankful for them.

Remember it really is those little imperfections that make us who we are.

They may have been born in the past, but they don't have to affect today.

Live today with love. and be present in THESE moments.

To read my last post with a quote from John Wooden, click here.

Until next time.....

>

A few bloggy world tips......

.....I have learned along the way.

Some of these tips I have learned myself (sometimes the hard way).....

.....and other tips I have been suggestions made by my bloggy friends.

I know now why a few of the tips were sent my way....it helps to alleviate frustration from other bloggers....

Disclaimer:

Please understand that the following thoughts and comments are just MY ramblings, and not the thoughts of anyone else in particular. I love ALL the blogs I follow and would not consider UN-following for any of these reasons. I just wanted to share some things that frustrate me when hanging out in Blog World and that were pointed out to ME as things that frustrated others about MY blog.

And now, in no particular order, the things I have learned along the way....

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider dropping the 'word verification' box on the comment section of your blog. Keep in mind some of us don't even realize our comment wasn't published because the word verification pops up and we don't even see it if your blog takes us back to the top of the blog. :o( So sometimes our wonderful, insightful, funny, kind or caring thoughts never even make it to you. Consider instead using the 'post comments after moderation' option. This allows you to ditch any comments that are inappropriate, mean, etc.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make your email available on your blog profile. I love comments. LOVE THEM, and would love to thank each and every person for their comments....maybe even start or continue a conversation....but without an email address, it is too cumbersome. The noreply-comment@blogger.com email address is a little annoying and the only way to reply to these bloggers is to go to their blog and comment there. Sometimes the reply is too personal and I never get to give them my real response.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let music be a choice on your blog. I LOVE music, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the music blog owners share but I would like to actually click ON the music instead of it being on auto-play. Why you ask? Because sometimes I have music from iTunes playing in the background while I am surfing the net, skiing round the blogosphere, and catching up on missed news. So when the music starts automatically I have to either just mute my sound,  or turn the sound off on the blog so that the mixing of music isn't too crazy. I have been working on just having no music or background noise on when visiting bloggyland, so that is helping, but if I don't like the music style, I still have to mute my computer..... Nothing against all of you with music, because if you have followed me for long, you KNOW I put music in quite a few of my posts, but I make it a choice for my followers to listen.

Well, that is all for now.... If you have some great tips or thoughts that would help me and other bloggers make our blogs the best they can be, PLEASE leave me a comment or two or three.....

Until next time...

What is your favorite color?

Hey everyone.....

I have been doing lots of looking out on the net for color trends....

what's hot....

what's not.....

......and having SOOOOO much fun.

It's been a long time since I spent time really searching out the latest hot colors, the lastest fibers and fabrics.

I am LOVING it!!!!

In my past life as an interior designer, this was a part of my everyday life.

I would spend 6-8 hours a day knee deep in fabrics and paint swatches and wallpaper books.

Just an FYI, it is not a good idea to wear black or navy to work when you will be speding the day leafing through fabric samples.....

There were days I would go home just COVERED in tiny little fibers from the sample books.

What a site that was!!!

I practically had to use the vacuum on myself at the end of every work day.

So, while I was researching this spring and summers hot color trends.....

.......I was wondering what YOUR favorite color is?

Forget about trends.....forget about what your friends have in their homes, or the colors you have used in decorating your own homes.

So what IS your fave color?

Mine is Blue.......

 

I have loved just about anything blue since I was knee high to a grasshopper.

(Is that just a West Virginia saying? or have you heard it before?)

I like light blue, dark blue, sky blue, navy blue, just about any thing that has blue in it.....

So BLUE it is....

Along the way, I also cheated on my blue.....

and made pit stops at purple (has some blue in it right?)

and more recently pink and aqua.

I love bright energy filled colors.

AND I love soft muted colors.

In my OWN spaces I have always been a little more conservative by using the muted shades....

I may have thrown in some pink or blue, but always in smaller doses
...more of an accent color than a statement color.

But the last couple of years I have been having fun throwing in reds, and yellows, and oranges and aquas and pinks.....

Still just in small touches, but the use of brighter colors is growing on me and REALLY making a showing in my home.

My favorite color may still be blue........

BUT......

I am open to just about ANYTHING....

One cool room that proves it?????

Kristi at Addicted 2 Decorating has recently painted her office black and I LOVE it.

No I REALLY REALLY do!!!!

I never thought I would love a room that started with black as the main wall color.......

....... but she has some great ideas to brighten up those dark walls, and I plan to follow her journey on decorating her office with the bright colors she loves.

YOU HAVE GOT TO CHECK IT OUT HERE !!!

So, what colors make you happy????

....make you wanna sit a spell?????

....make you feel GREAT when you wear them?????

I would love to hear from every one of you!!!!

Until next time.....