The Life Poetic

BEING STILL IN THE OC

Since September commenced, it’s been such a hectic time. I only have the two children (a freshman in high school and a sixlet in middle school), but the escalation in back-to-school to-dos and events has maxed out my schedule and tapped out my energy. It seems to be the rule for me, though, that the more fast-paced things become, the more crucial it is that I find a time to be still. This is when God can refocus me, refuel me, and reclaim me….and without it, peace is thin and worn, and joy seems to disappear.

One way of finding a still moment, is through quiet contemplative journaling. A quick painting or craft project can also cause my mind to get in a meditative place, something I explain further in both Faith Books & Spiritual Journaling, and my upcoming title, Art Journals and Creative Healing. Often, I can find a stillness of heart when I’m creating…sometimes I can also find a stillness of heart when I’m doing just a simple household task such as doing dishes … and sometimes I can find a stillness of heart in the space of my car, after I’ve dropped the kids off to school.

But truly there are times that I crave to even more stillness than that….perfectly still… devoid of movement…and absolutely silent…devoid of noise. This is coming from someone who loves some sort of soundtrack playing in the in background of my life. I am a lover-of-music and am married to a very expressive maker-of-music (quite a convenient arrangement I might add)! But even so, the real “be still  times" require me to shut off the soundtrack…my beloved iTunes must go to mute. For many, this stillness and silence feels entirely unnatural and at first feels like a some sort of monastic discipline (just as other practices like journaling or yoga are, let’s say) but honestly, being bathed in silence and released of my to-do list, even if for 10-20 minutes is more like a spa treatment and less like a discipline. In that space, I’m freed from worry. In those moments, there is no demand. Sometimes God speaks to my heart…and well, sometimes He doesn’t. But He’s there, and just knowing that,  and reconnecting with my interior helps me to better organize the things taking place in the exterior. (Something my friend, Mindy Caliguire, has taught me much about!)

I celebrated my birthday last week (my 41st if you’re keeping track of those sorts of things) and when I reflect on my thirties, there has been a lot of acheivement, but simultaneously there has been a lot of worry (over my son’s diagnosis, my dad’s illness and passing, my husband’s inner struggles, our finances, my business)… and a lot of demand (much of it self-imposed, some of it charactaristic of being an author and licensing artist, and some of it a pure by-prouduct of living in the OC). And while there has been a lot of satisfaction in the successes of Sonnets Studios, and even more elation over seeing my kids and husband really flourish in a burgeoning way, I must also admit that there have been many times of private turmoil too. (Sort of an inevtibale equation: a lot of worry + a lot of demand = a lot of turmoil )When I look to the next decade, I’m hoping to orchestrate more stillness into my forties. More surrender. More trusting God that HE is taking care of my kids, and my husband and my business, and EVERYTHING. And more of setting my sights on things that exist in agreement with a life that invites stillness.

I think there is poetic grace in that.
I think there is an artful beauty in that.
And I know there is peace in that.

My new math equation: stillness > striving

{The photos from today’s blog post are the peek I promised of our new DEMDACO collection, AS FOR ME.  This is from the “Be Still” grouping, and includes the votive candleholder, frame, plaque. There are complimentary vases too…a fun endeavor for Beth and I, as prior to this our designs were always pretty much relegated to flat product. Thinking 3-D was a fun challenge and continues to be, as we are wrapping up our Christmas ornament and taple-top designs for DEMDACO. If you are in So. Cal., I have heard from friends and family that they have the line at the Lighthouse Christian bookstores. I’ll try to share more of the groupings in future blog posts, just for fun!}

SOMETHING BRIGHT & COLORFUL ON A DREARY DAY

It’s quite a gray, dreary day here in San Clemente where I live.

Don’t get me wrong; I rather like days like this. There is something very “Wuthering Heights” about it.  And fall is my favorite season, and this is how fall shows itself in So. Cal: with whisps of fog rolling up the canyon.

Nonetheless, I thought I’d share a splash of bright vibrant color from our studio to enliven this bleak day.

The first burst of hue comes from these ribbons:
             
They are available at Target, and if you happen to see them, think of us because our studio designed them!

It’s been fun getting to do some higher visibility, higher profile product although I must admit the boutique stuff (Sonnets, Anthology and Lux)  is really our primary focus and forte. Beth and I are pretty proud of these though. Something rather nifty about them is the way we cleverly engineered the packaging to act as a dispenser too! They are under are part of our larger Treasury collection, and hopefully one day I can announce more Treasury product available from this brand.

The other burst of color comes from our daily dose of sunshine, the studio baby, or rather Beth’s precious son: Christian James! {We are long overdue for a CJ report since he is now 3 1/2 months old!}

Here is a shot I took of him as he is hanging out in the swing (which is his perch where he keeps an eye on Beth and I as we work). I love how he hangs on to that little ring (like he is riding a rapidly moving subway in NYC, or perhaps preparing for a gymnastics program ). He cheers us on with squeals and goos of glee while we motor our production work at our computers.

This month an exersaucer became part of the studio décor, and it’s a joy to watch Christian become more interactive with the world around him and with us.
He greets me every workday with the hugest smile and twinkling eyes. Nothing gives more hope than looking into the eyes of innocence... the eyes of a bright and wide-open future of possibility. May you find a glimpse of color and possibility in the scape of your Autumn day!

LIKE CHATTING WITH OLD FRIENDS

Last week I had a radio interview with Char Binkley at WBCL, along with my colleague Mindy Caliguire. As with any media event, I entered into the commitment with some nerves and anxiety, but Char and Mindy made it feel like it was just a chat amongst friends. 

The morning hour breezed by as we talked about the book project Mindy and I endeavored on together, Faith Books and Spiritual Journaling: Expressions of Faith through Art. But of greater importance than the book, we talked about what we can do to nurture our souls and in the midst of it, move towards God. This is really Mindy’s life quest, and I’m so honored and blessed to be involved with her efforts to help others realize what it means to connect to God in tangible, honest ways beyond our basic belief system.  You can read more about Mindy’s story here and I’d really encourage you to hear Mindy speak if you ever have the opportunity! Mindy’s Write for the Soul book candidly shares her journey towards learning to care for her own soul and offers some real, practical help if you’ve been feeling like yours is shriveling up. (Also, I believe our radio interview is archived on the site if you want to hear it. Look here and click on the October 12th interview.)

For me, 2006 has been an amazing year of new revelations as I’ve discovered how to integrate my artistic giftings into my spiritual life. Interestingly enough, I had found ways to insert my creativity into my professional pursuits…I had found ways to insert my creativity into my recreational pursuits…but why had it eluded my spiritual pursuits?! As a reflection of the ultimate Creator, this made no sense at all to me. But in this past year, as the Faith Books project realized, I truly have found new ways to insert creativity into my walk with God. 

Like so many, my quiet times of prayer or meditation on scripture had become dry. Forced, formulaic, and sometimes feeling altogether disingenuous, I was searching for ways to connect with Christ anew. And you know what? Spiritual journaling (and for me, with the use of artistic faithbooks) was at the end of that search. When we journal our prayers, there is an honest, raw quality to that expression that causes our souls to find real connection to God. The walls drop, and so does any false pretense of spirituality. With the insertion of art and creativity, I’m finding that the emotions that I’d like to express to the Lord, but sometimes lack the words to even form to express them, are released and expressed through the use of color, texture, sketches and compositions.

I’m also excited to be cultivating the use of artful faithbooks to simply worship God too! Why has the use of art as a form of worship become so nonexistent? Unearthing and rediscovering this practice has been revolutionary for me. The use of song is commonly used to praise God, but why not the use of art? Hopefully, Faith Books and Spiritual Journaling will play some small part in encouraging people to visit that concept. Some of you may be scrapbookers, or card makers, or stampers, or needlepointers, or knitters, or quilters, or illustrators, or graphic artists, or fine artists…. some of you may express your creativity in the kitchen or on a dancefloor or at the piano. Regardless of the expression, creativity endowed on you by God can be given back to Him in an act of worship! I have really found this to be a very rich experience in my spiritual life, and I’m hoping you might be enriched by it as well!

As Faith Books and Spiritual Journaling has just barely started to hit the shelves, it’s been really exciting to hear how these concepts are being received. Sometimes you wonder if this is just something isolated God is dealing with you personally, and it’s always so thrilling to see that He is at work in a larger way. Already people have e-mailed and talked to me about they are going to start up little Faith Books groups at their own churches or with other women they are accountable with. It’s all so amazing and has me feeling pretty inspired! (This is a pretty big thing going on in my life right now, so I'll probably be talking more about it around the blog. )

Hey- speaking of some amazing stuff  and feeling inspi(red)….you’ve probably heard about the RED campaign.
My little sister, Dr. Lisa Levsen Abdishoo (have I mentioned that I love and adore her!), urged me to help get the word out. She knows Bobby Shriver pretty well from her work at the Los Angeles Mission Community Clinic , and when she ran into Bobby a couple of weeks ago this was all he could talk about: this endeavor he and Bono have taken on. He urged her to spread the word and go out and buy something in support of Red. So then she urged me….and now I’m urging you!! Bono is urging you!! (Are you off your feet yet?) Here is our chance to possibly wipe out AIDS in Africa. Yes, you heard me right. Can you imagine!!! NO AIDS in Africa!!! Let’s put our American dollar to work! Let’s make Western materialism and design work for a greater cause. I’m really so entirely pumped up about this.

Here are some things I’ve got on my wish list:
Pretty much all the Gap RED Campaign t-shirts (with graphic text like the one seen above)....
The RED I-pod Nano...
The RED converse...

And don't you think giving (RED) this Christmas would be the obvious choice?!? What’s on your wish list?

The Pathetic & the Poetic

Last night, all was seemingly well. Ger had just gotten home, and our family of four finished our casual dinner…a mixture of chatter and Trader Joe’s entrees: happiness and contentment seated around me: letting our hair down…being ourselves…it was a perfectly imperfect night.

The evening was winding down,  but just before we were all readying to “bed down” for the night,  I routinely let the dog out. The sequence that followed was this: a scuttle, a blur of fur bolting past me, and oh! that smell! What is that?! Our dog got sprayed by a skunk! A direct hit between the eyes no less! The events that followed were a pathetic scene of a dog with eyes and nose running--- snorting and wincing---and me Googling furiously for the best outcome to this dilemma, trying to rectify this sudden turn-for-theworse in the course of our evening.

My son was sort of amused by it all, and my daughter was hysterically sobbing, not amused by it in the least. Our poor, beloved Coolidge whose suffering had been alleviated only somewhat by our household concoctions, was now just pitifully sad and sulking after being whipped by a skunk. After our best but frail attempts to reduce the invasive odor, Ger and I lay in bed, dozing off to sleep….touching toes.  I tried to think of something positive to say. “It’s sort of reminiscent of camping in Yosemite”, I uttered in my measly stab at being cheering.  But as we lay there,  a realization set in that this night, though now punctuated with a bit of trauma, would probably be well remembered….even reflected on with laughter…even tenderness. And I thought to myself: this is a life poetic. Seriously.

After all, what is a poem if it does not have illustrative language where beauty is contrasted against pain? What makes said poem have depth and texture and interest is the pure splendor of variation: normalcy, trauma,  humor,  passion,  absurdity, all in random rotation. This funky-skunky night was somehow, entirely, legitimately, poetic.

I think that sometimes people misconstrue what I mean about “The Life Poetic”. They assume I mean a life that is only beautiful…perhaps perfect even.  And that’s not what I mean at all.  A life poetic is not a tidy little package.  My poetic life has included great beauty and love and successes even. But it has been made all the more poetic by the contrasting of things not so beautiful: the loss of my dad who I adored to a slow debilitating death, a severed relationship with my mom,  the pain of watching the man you love do the best he can to fend off the demons of his past,  the tension of deadline-after-deadline,  the stress of financial struggles resulting from the feast & famine aspects of being self employed,  the reality of coming to terms with my children’s unique needs and especially my son’s uniquely unique needs having Asperger’s Syndrome,…and well, just life. That’s the reality of it. Normalcy, trauma, humor, passion, absurdity…all in good measure. 

And you know what? It is beautiful. Sometimes by the sheer grace of God, but it is.
And when we can find ways to extend ourselves in love…in the midst of our own lack…when we are able to express ourselves creatively as an expression of who God created us to be…pure poetry it is!

THE CREATIVE SPARK

What to do when that creative spark has dimmed?!? That is the artist’s ongoing plight. One thing that really seems to help me ignite that creative spark is to try changing out my medium, to experiment with a completely new type of project, or even experiment with a different art form entirely. {I just know a pottery making, metal working , or sculpture retreat would shake things up for me! Up to Ojai or over to Sedona….I can just picture it! Ahhhh.....one day!}

But lately, while I’m waiting in that long, dreadful, grid-locked carpool line each day as I pick up my kids from their respective elementary and middle schools, I’ve been doing fashion illustrations in a sketch book. With no apparent reason or need to do this, it feels especially relaxing and…well….just FUN! The other day, Ian saw my drawings and I told him I was getting my drawings ready to audition for the next season of PR. I was totally joking, but it was so cute because Ian thought I was serious. He told me he "wouldn’t mind" if I wanted to do it, and it was truly a sweet moment to know that he believed that I, in fact, could do it. I explained to him, that while I might be able to draw, and coordinate the fabrics at Mood, my sewing would be the end of me. And we know what a stickler for construction Nina, Michael and Heidi are! I would never make it, but just to know Ian thought I could, was a great vote of confidence.  {What you have to know is that our whole family likes to pile on our king size bed to watch Project Runway….we all have our favorite designers and we totally enjoy the twists and turns of each of the challenges. Gerry is our only reluctant viewer, but I think the family togetherness we get out of watching it has won him over}. If you watch the show: think of  Laura. She is doing precisely what I’m talking about here: switching out her medium and art form! An architect by trade, Laura has a unique point of view to the fashion challenges because she approaches a design problem from a distinctive vantage. A mother of 5 (soon to be 6!) I really admire Laura’s energy and courage.  It inspires me!

This morning, my daughter and I did something else that glinted my creativity. While the boys of the house were still snoozing (the Soneff girls are the "early risers", the Soneff boys are the "late owls"), Victoria and I were busy in the kitchen. Cooking together is such great “girl time” for us, sharing tasks, talking and giggling as we go. Today’s objective was a favorite little muffin of mine that I’ll share here (below). And waking up our boys to the smells of cinnamon and nutmeg wafting through the house seemed like a great way to show them a little love on this nearly-fall morn. As Tori and I measured and poured, I was thinking about how cooking is truly an art form. For my relatives and friends who insist they have no artistic bones in their bodies, but are phenomenal in the kitchen (you know who you are!), I beg to differ! There IS an art to cooking. The equations and formulas and ratios all seem to parallel design problems. And presentation of food is another visual craft. For our French Breakfast Puffs, the hot-out-of-the-oven muffins get their tops dipped in melted butter and then in a mixture of cinnamon/sugar. Details like these make one’s art, and they certainly make these muffins.

I hope you enjoy this muffin recipe (it was one I’ve torn and saved from an old BH&G issue) and it is one of my cherished favorites for breakfast; I liken it to a Snickerdoodle in muffin form. My daughter likened it to a churro.  Whatever it reminds you of, I assure you, it's delectable! (If I owned a Bed and Breakfast, this would be part of the morning fare!). And put a little thought and then action into changing out your art form for the day....maybe sparking your creativity through cooking....singing....dancing....! You might be surprised at the way your creative well is replenished through this little undertaking.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, the 1/2 cup sugar, the baking powder, the nutmeg and salt.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
In another bowl, beat egg slightly; stir in milk and 1/3 cup of melted butter or margarine.
Add egg mixture to the flour mixture.
Stir just until moistened (the batter may be lumpy).
Lightly grease the muffin pan. Fill muffin cups about two-thirds full with batter. (Makes about 8 to 12 muffins.)
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a shallow bowl, combine the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Immediately dip tops of hot muffins into the 1/4 cup of melted butter of margarine, then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture till coated.
Serve warm.
YUM!

A Link Between Angels and Men

What could inspire more creativity than a baby? I can think of nothing! Of all of God’s creative masterpieces,  the intricacies of human life make man His ultimate of masterpieces. And to be a woman and be a vessel to that creative process is one of the great creative accomplishments of my life! There is no artistic accomplishment that equals that of nurturing and rearing my two children.

Now to watch Beth get to experience motherhood, all wrapped up in the wonder of her newborn, is such a joy. And a wonder little C.J. certainly is. He is irresistible. An angelic face with the softest and sweetest of baby skin...a link between angels and men as today's quote from Martin Farquhar Tupper so poetically states. Yesterday, my daughter ,Victoria, and I got to soak it all in when we paid the Wilkinson’s a visit. And within no time, I’d snapped 60 plus photos (one of those shown here). See how the little guy has already spurred on our creativity!

In several weeks, when C.J. joins the work environment at Sonnets Studios (a porta crib friendly environment!) he is sure to bring even more life, activity and inspiration along with him.  I can’t wait to bring on our littlest staff member, where brainstorming can be paired with pacing the floors with a baby in arms. And working on art files can be done to the humming of a baby swing going back and forth. How effective to have a presence of your real set of priorities laying in residence!

If you are an artist, I highly recommend the insertion of living things in the studio environment: whether it is the coming and going of a furry, four-footed creature (like our Coolidge), or the soft chirping and flapping of wings of a feathered one (like Beth’s Cockatiel, Bean), or if you can finagle it like I have: the coos and cries of a little babe. The insertion of life in an otherwise static environment, by its very nature, brings movement, perspective, character, interest, humor, and even love. And all those things, especially love, birth the creative process.

Thinking about Dads….

With the passage of Father’s Day, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about dads: missing mine, being thankful that I had the best dad imaginable, and that I married I pretty fine man of my own that my kiddos call their Daddy. I'm going to elaborate on three fine men that I've had the pleasure of knowing or meeting.

First a little bit about my dad: Edward Levsen
I lost my Daddy just two short years ago to a series of devastating strokes, so his loss still seems so fresh to me. But the memory of him is still so fresh and vivid to me too. I hope somehow the memory will remain that way, miraculously preserved. You see, Daddy was and is the great hero of my life. Ger and I agree. We don’t know any other men like Dad. This was a man who loved his family, his country, his God and all that the Creator had given him. I hate to wear out the superlatives, but with Dad it is deserved. Superlatives were made for men like Daddy. He was the most kind, the most cheerful, and simultaneously the most gentle & the most strong. He was a truly grateful person. He was the best conversationalist and remarkable at extending himself to anyone and everyone he met, befriending perfect strangers from all walks of life. That knack for conversation partly came from his availability to others, but it also came from an impressive knowledge of vast topics. You see, Dad never stopped being curious….for all his near 80 years, he never stopped craving new information. And he was so open; certainly, he had opinions of his own, but he was so open to hear another’s and was not easily offended... always interested….always involved…always a hands-on-person. He knew the gift of a smile and was generous with it. He understood the power of encouragement and provided it freely. He was my biggest fan and made that known often….but then, he was a great fan of humankind. He had that extraordinary gift of making every person feel entirely special and gifted. He is without a doubt the most unselfish person I’ve ever known. Never complained….never maligned….never an ill word on his lips…unbelievably patient and tolerant…uncompromising integrity. And as you can imagine, I miss that presence in my life dearly. But what a legacy he has left. 

Now a little bit about my children’s dad: Gerry Soneff
This is a man whom I’ve known for 20 years come this fall,  and that first spark of attraction oh-so-many-years-ago was surely set ablaze because I saw a man who reminded me just a bit of my Dad. (Partly that slighter, lean-but-strong stature that I acquainted with my Dad, and partly that he had an obvious love for children). I remember thinking very early on, that this guy would make a great Daddy someday (and he has!). But what stands out to me as the great defining quality of Gerry is his endurance…his perseverance…his tenacity...his courage…his confidence. This is a man who is going to finish the great race of life despite every obstacle in his way. When reflecting upon Ger’s early life,  I consider a man who should probably not be alive, let alone be the man of exceptional character that he is. Gerry has learned a great lesson: not to dwell in the past. And as a result, he does not dwell on the past of others either. I love that about him. I love that the same courage he groomed as a survival mechanism as a child, is the courage that makes him an adventurous person. Always willing to try something new, whether it be in business or recreation or in any realm, Ger has an unshrinking attitude about living. Not unlike my Dad, Ger views everyday as a new and fresh opportunity. But beyond that, this is a man who is wise. He has great insights into people and the human condition. Partly by braving his own human plights, and partly by readily sharing with those in the midst of struggles of their own, he has really become a man of empathy and compassion. He has amazing people skills and a savviness that I greatly admire. He is a man of conviction, a man of action, and man of God. I’m so glad that Ian and Victoria will have a great legacy of love in their father as I have with mine.

Now a word about another special Dad: Art
This is not a man I know well. I snapped his photo, while I don’t even know his last name to record here. But our brief meeting at Ever After earlier this month left quite an impression on me. I thought of Art on Father’s Day, and thought of what a blessing he is to his daughter, Theresa, and undoubtedly to so many others. You see, Theresa had introduced Art to the craft of scrapbooking and now they avidly pursue it together. Art told me about how he was unashamed about pursuing this female-dominated hobby and how he wished more men would see it for what it is. He described with candor this craft as one that has given him the opportunity to get to know his children better. Wow. This man floored me. He described albums he had made to memorialize his own father. And with a sparkle in his eye he told me about his Route 66 album (with 66 pages, no less!) and other books he crafted with care. Art was cheerful, humorous, and conversational…he extended words of encouragement and blessing to me. And he left me with more shimmering hope that men like my Father are not an extinct breed. I count myself fortunate to have met him and his dear daughter.

I hope men like these provide just the model and inspiration my son, and so many young boys like him, need today to become a man of great character too. Rare men. Memorable men. Extraordinary men.

Good Mail Day

Today is what I define as a good mail day: one where the opening of the curbside metal box reveals a colorful surprise (and hopefully not too many bills).

This is what arrived today:
The salmon pink and orange colors in bold illustrations on the Paper Source cover gave me a jolt of happiness! And I love the Paper Source mantra. Their commission to us really:
DO SOMETHING CREATIVE EVERYDAY.
I love how when you order something from this fabulous company that their boxes are fastidiously wrapped up in papers bearing the same command:
DO SOMETHING CREATIVE EVERYDAY.
I think that heeding those words is wonderful advice. Might I add an edict of my own?
DO SOMETHING KIND EVERYDAY. 
Between these two self-imposed mandates each day is certain to be full and satisfying and artful and poetic. That is what I guess I mean by “The Life Poetic” after all: make your life one that is so loving and expressive that creativity will naturally pour out of it.

I have yet to visit a Paper Source brick and mortar store, while I have ordered online numerous times. My fingers are itching for the credit card as I feel another order coming on! With these fabulous bloom kits, how can you resist? I want these and these and these and.....(sigh). Let's face it, I'd like about one of everything they carry!

People who know me well, know that I’m a catalogue junkie, and a mall is just not something I frequent that often. I think part of that comes from being the mother of someone with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. While my son seems to handle the mall environment really well now as a near-teen, as a young little kidlet he really could not process all the input offered by a mall environment. Going to the mall was really just inviting a meltdown. And when I started to break down the sensory input like he might, I think I even began to get a little overwhelmed by it. The noise level, the light levels, the unpredictability, the large population of strangers, all added up to a volatile situation. So the girly-girl shopper in me learned to compensate by becoming catalogue and online store dependent.

Just in case you are interested, here are some favorite cyber stores and catalogues:
Papier Valise
Manto Fev
Wisteria
Sugar Paper
Inspire Company
The Beautiful Life
Russell and Hazel
Room Service Home
Impress Rubber Stamps
Kate’s Paperie

Something else I’m loving right now is this:
LILY- Beautiful Living through Faith Magazine.
With the quality and beauty we expect from Meredith Corp., this magazine has gorgeous photography and inspiring editorials ranging the gamut from paper-crafting, book binding,  and cooking to deeper spiritual issues. This is the premiere issue and I think I’m going to pick up several to share with friends and encourage the success of this magazine launch. If you aspire to live beautifully through faith, then I highly encourage you to pick this one up from your local newsstand. 

Inside Lily were some great ideas….

this lovely paper cone (click photos to enlarge)…

and these Brussels sprout topiaries-- gorgeous!! and about the only way I could put this veggie to use in household where pretty much everyone refuses to eat it.

…and a wonderful scrapbook feature about a woman in Iowa, Amy Edeker, who hand binds her on heritage albums. With my parents being from Iowa as well, I was drawn to both the project and this woman’s story.

I’m definitely going to be mulling over this lovely little magazine for a while. Getting some sustenance for my spirit.

On another note, it's high time we had another giveaway
....so stay tuned for that!

Hope you have a good mail day!

Rejoice Over Color

This quote from French reformer and theologian, John Calvin, really stirs me. Perhaps because I can entirely identify with the notion that color is reason for rejoicing.

From my earliest memories I was rather enamored with color and my parents even kept an old paint chart from the early 70’s as a keepsake because I had made copious notes, inscriptions, and floor plans on it. It must have been an omen of future professions, for later I would actually be a space planner (for an ASID interior designer) and work for that very paint chart’s manufacturer (Dunn Edwards) as a colorist.

To this day, one of the things that excites me most about working in the art field is constantly being in touch with hue. My heart still skips a beat when I get to pull out the pantone decks and play. Mixing colors on a painter’s palette really is like child’s play.

What has been really enjoyable has been getting to take different approaches to color as we release new brands. {Sonnets has really always been about a soft attack on color: employing de-saturated or lighter executions. I think we get more compliments about the use of shades and tones as much as anything when it comes to our flagship brand. But, getting to work on new brands, like Anthology where the color is bold and vibrant is such, such fun. And then on The Armoire (that you can see on QVC on April 18th) we have employed black in a larger way which is something our other brands never called for. The high contrast of the black really makes the watercolors and other artwork pop. And I love that tuxedo elegance of black and white that we are getting to explore too. Another fun thing about The Amoire was that the use of black beckoned us to use flocking to create the “Vintage Velveteen” look that became this European, boutique-inspired brand’s featured attribute. Sometimes it’s so great to see how color will take your hand and lead you to something else, like execution or medium. Love that!}

You know what blows my mind about color:
-that its spectrum is infinite (you can have a swatch book full of thousands of colors and there are still increments of color unaccounted for!! This leaves me dumbstruck.)
-that color is all about light and how your eye perceives light being reflected and refracted! (even the make-up of one person’s eye to the next can cause the perception of hue to be somewhat individual.) The science of color is mind-boggling and awesome. Light is such a beautiful thing.
-that color can affect your mood and your actual physical being.  How red will make your pulse rate increase or get hungry,  and how pink (a derivative or red) will actually make you  calm.

I think Calvin had it wired: every color is reason to rejoice! Appreciate it. Immerse yourself in every nuance of it. Let yourself feel the effects of it. Play with it. Rejoice over it!

Ordinary Days

My blog absence can be attributed to a revolving array of viruses and various infections running their course through the Soneff household (with the younger Soneffs being hardest hit…both Ian and Victoria were home from school today). High fevers, nasty coughs, aches and chills have made the last few weeks rather dreary at times. But, while it is so easy to become frustrated when illness thwarts productivity, I’m finally starting to learn to embrace these ordinary days for what they offer: a chance to quietly nurture and cuddle my children ….and to break from the more harried pace of my work without self reproach.  While seemingly ordinary, days such as these are an uncommon gift.  And as Thomas Moore’s quote featured here reminds us, the “ordinary acts we practice every day at home” are really of far more significance to our soul than the ones that look so important in our day planner. It just goes to show that the important moments of life are not always able to be accounted for in pretty photographs or in an iCal entry.

I’m excited that spring is here, with its assurances of warmer days when we will all be feeling more vibrant and productive. But until we are all recovered, I’m going to take delight in flannel pajamas, down comforters, chicken noodle soup, and over the counter drugs.  :)