terriconraddesigns

On Terri, on Brenda, on Tori, Joyce and many more . . .Blog Hop with the Artists

2009-11-13T20:08:07-08:00

Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall & the genial flame of charity in the heart.

What do a Happy Holiday Season for 2009, Hospitality and (blog) hopping each have in common? A community of creative women, each of whom license the art we each create for products we all love - everything from stationery, to tabletop, to gift & wall decor & more.

With your first hop here, let me first welcome each of you to my creative world - and express my heartfelt gratitude for your visit.

Upon your visit to each artist's blog, you will learn how to create something fun & festive, cultivate new friendships (this is a fabulous bunch of women!), and communicate with each of us.

These ladies have some fabulous products in the marketplace, and we each want to give our guests an early Christmas present!

Here's how to Play, Post & Win:

(1) Between today and the 22nd visit each artist's blog

(2) Leave a comment, letting each of us know you stopped by for a visit

(3) Post our "Blog Hop With the Artists" invitation on your blog with the links below, sharing the joy with your readers

4. On November 24th, (just in time to give thanks) each artist will randomly select a winner from those comments on her blog (including mine) and your very special gift will be on its way to you.

Feel free to visit and comment on each artist's blog - the more the merrier!

Terri Conrad Designs November 14th

Brenda Pinnick November 15th

Tori Higa November 16th

Joyce Shelton November 17th

Phyllis Dobbs November 18th

Cherish Flieder November 19th

Joy Hall November 20th

Barbara Johansen Newman November 21st

Sharyn Sowell November 22nd

Tis the holiday season for gathering together with friends, colleagues & family - when you're invited to a party, come with a small gift in hand - a sweet expression of gratitude. I am in LOVE with the whole french nordic style, its simplicity, sense of age, texture & softness, its rich, warm & inviting. If you find yourself running behind schedule, short on all the fancy tools, bells & whistles BUT still want to make something pretty, you'll love this . . .and it just so happens to go beautifully with my dream Bella Notte bedroom in this post.

Instructions on how to make this little lovely are below (the second of the two is from my Joy to the World collection - we need a little of that don't we all?):
Now, we all agreed to share a few fun tidbits about ourselves with each of you, so here goes:

5 things we might not know about you that you'd like to share

1. I once wanted to be an actress (psst...you can see me in Jerry Maguire)
2. My favorite feel good food is a peanut butter and brown sugar sandwhich with a tall glass of ice cold milk
3. I cry when I feel overwhelmed or too stressed
4. I dream of living at the beach again
5. I need connection with people

*5 things going on in your creative world*

1. I just completed Belle Maison, a black & creme collection
2. I just completed a vintage wine collection
3. I'm learning illustrator, but I still love drawing traditionally
4. I have some fabulous vintage fruit & floral table top, kitchen, and holiday & everyday decor launching in January
5. I have two new paper collections being released soon for K&Co.

*5 things that really inspire you*

1. anything vintage, can't get enough of it - why is that?
2. LOVE, PASSION, COMPASSION
3. my little ladybugs (Jess & Katelyn)
4. You
5. my desire to inspire, encourage and nurture the unique beauty, beloved spirit & unlimited possibilities in the female spirit.

That's me in 15 little nuggets. Okay, mes amies, leave your comments here, then post, play and on November 24th one lucky person will win a complete collection of my Feather Your Nest paper products, including paper plates, napkins, cups, scrapbooking supplies, coffee mugs and note cards, all beautifully packaged in one of my Feather Your Nest boxes.
Remember to visit each of the artists, comment on their blogs, and to post our invitation with our links on your blog if you have one.
For more ways to feather your nest this holiday season visit my webstore
I am off to share my wares at a local boutique today - hope your day is filled with joy.

twas the night before the Blog Hop with the Artists

2009-11-13T16:18:49-08:00

and all was a flurry! The glitter dust was shaking, the sugar cookies baking, and we were all in a hurry - in just a few short hours, but worth the wait - come back and visit and do not be late . . .

The fun starts here, Saturday the 14th - think hospitality - or shall I say, "hospitaliT" Terri style!

xoxo

Divine Caroline, and a Vote for Terri Conrad Designs!

2009-11-11T17:05:30-08:00

"The more we celebrate life, the more in life there is to celebrate." (OPRAH)

How sweet! Merci, mes amies . . .

please join our celebration & share the LOVE. VISIT & VOTE for TCD at the Divine Caroline LOVE this site awards You will find Terri Conrad Designs in the Style category (sites are alphabetically sorted).

Have your sweet self a bloomin' beautiful day!

Feather Your Nest with Terri Conrad Designs

2009-11-08T21:08:39-08:00

Can you believe the holiday season is upon us? Many good things are happening, all of which I am oh so happy about sharing with you. Beginning this Thursday, you can blog hop with the artists: I am honored to be a part of a wonderfully talented community of women, artists (surface designers), whom I now have the privilege to call friends. Please join us as we celebrate the holidays with our collective creativity. Check back here again on Thursday as we kick off this event - details will be posted then. Feel free to lift the "Blog Hop with the Artists" invitation to post on your blog - the more who post, play & win, the merrier.

I am equally proud to invite you to feather your nest this holiday season with my gift & decor available now at Terri Conrad Designs.

You will find wonderful gifts such as these, and more . . . thanks for visiting!

Create a Life of Gratitude - Thank you!

2009-11-05T12:11:58-08:00

Consistently Expressing Sincere and Heartfelt Gratitude

For What You Already Have Is The Underlying and

Often Overlooked Force Which Opens Doors To

Immeasurable Abundance and Happiness

Well, that's something to ponder! There is so much to be said about gratitude, and a topic I often write about because it is so deeply rooted in my heart. I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to each of you who follow my work & my musings here. It is an honor and privilege to create art and design products for your heart & home - each day I sit down to work, I express my gratitude for all (and there are so many) who are a part of bringing my products to you, for the ability to create, to encourage, and to inspire. I tuck a little piece of my heart into each piece I create and THANK YOU for inviting Terri Conrad Designs into your hearts & homes!

Do you practice gratitude on a daily basis?

Create a Life of Gratitude
Oh So Sweet & Simple: acts of gratitude cost nothing but they can be the biggest something in someone's day.
Are you interested in living a life of gratitude? Try these suggestions:

Morning gratitude session. As you arise from bed, allow yourself 2-3 minutes each morning to give thanks, expressing, "I am grateful for . . ." You can do this silently, with eyes closed, or share your gratitude in convesation at the breakfast table. I try to do this each morning before I get out of bed.

Say thank you, and the next time you eat out, respond in kind to a waiter/waitress. When someone does something nice for you, however small, try to remember to say thank you, make eye contact and connect with the person - and when out to lunch/dinner and a food server asks "how are you?" answer with a follow up inquiring about them - you will be pleasantly surprised with the smile your question brings to their face.

Call (or write) to say thanks. When you think about something nice that someone said or did for you or your child, let that person know what they did that you are grateful for, and why. This can be done by calling to offer your thanks, or better yet, by sending a handwritten note. Imagine receiving a handwritten note of gratitude and appreciation. Simple, but oh so sweet!

Give thanks for “negative” things in your life. Seriously?! Yes, Although it may be a stressful and likely difficult situation to go through, when you give thanks for the negative things you are more likely to grow though the experience. Problems can be opportunities to grow and to be creative.

Learn a gratitude prayer. There are many prayers, religious or not, that can remind you to be grateful. Find one you like, and print it out or make it your desktop wallpaper.

I'd love to hear your comment how you are expressing gratitude, what kind gesture you've made, or how a showing of gratitude has positively impacted you -
Until we meet again, I offer you this little prayer of gratitude:

Be Thankful
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.
~ Author Unknown ~
Affirming Art for your heart & home: available for purchase at my webstore

Links to Love:
we just learned of this lovely experiment:
go gratitude experiment
simple abundance gratitude journal

Books You May Enjoy Reading:

A Serenity Journal:...
by Rita E. Watson

Simple Abundance...
by Sarah Ban..

Gratitude: A Way of...
by Lousie L. Hay,..

A Grateful Heart:...

and finally, a thought to reflect on:
"Reflect Each Day On All You Have To Be Grateful For And
You Will Receive More To Be Grateful For." -Chuck Danes

It's a New Day - and we're showing our laundry in the crisp fall air

2009-11-02T10:54:42-08:00

and I must stop getting into my daughters' candy stash! Aren't they fabulous?! There is nothing I love more than having the privilege of being mom to these oh so sweet, and beautiful girls of mine.
Hope you enjoyed your halloween.
I was visiting Serena over at Farm Chicks where she was "airing" her laundry room. I mentioned I had a little something I'd been wanting (for the longest time) to post about and it has to do with laundry - vintage laundry, to be precise.
Who can guess what this is: I had picked up a couple of these several years ago in a little antique shop up near Sebastopol when visiting my girlfriend, Lori. Isn't it just the cutest little thing? Anyway, I loved Serena's laundry room pics, and decided I too needed to "air" some laundry and share my sweet little vintage laundry line.
Now, my laundry room is a wee bit smaller than Serena's - I guess home builder's think west coasters needn't any space when doing laundry - Frankly, I'd like a traditional mud room that's at least 15x15 - a girl can dream can't she? Small space or not, I've managed to bring some pretty pieces in that are both functional and well simply pretty to look at as we come and go. I designed, and painted each piece at one time or another. There are two versions of my "Laundry Room" wall decor and each may be purchased now at Terri Conrad Designs.
I want you to "air your laundry" and share how you make this oft used room just a bit special. Leave a comment with link to your blog. Okay, who guessed "vintage laundry line?" Yep! circa 1940s I think. I have one in pink too :o)
Many more products are being added at Terri Conrad Designs and the site is being actively updated to sing like a pretty songbird in the meadow. Please do visit, create your wish list for Christmas, and buy that something special to warm your heart & home, for yourself, and your friends & family.
Til we meet again, this is on my wish list: Bella Notte linens

Yes, a girl has got to have dreams - see you in my dreams!

Getting Ready. . .

2009-10-29T17:04:47-07:00

"Thy bounty shines in autumn unconfined and spreads a common feast for all that live."
Whew! What a day - I have two events coming up, an open studio next week end, and a fundraising boutique the following weekend. So much of today was spent getting things in order for the open studio day. I hope I can share some photos of the various vignettes in my next post. I just love these little cachet pots from my Feather Your Nest home decor line. I filled these with a bounty of cinnamon pot pourri, and the other with a topiary, spanish moss and few little fall yummies.
Santa's elves are busy tidying up and loading the Terri Conrad Designs website with lots of pretty picture frames, magnetic memo boards, stationery, scrumptious wall decor and more to feather your nest this holiday season. We hope you'll take a moment to visit & shop for you and your friends & family.
Here's a peek at what you'll find there - and more to come - once the webstore is refreshed and renewed later next week. Til we meet again . . .

Are we there yet? A Bloomin' Beautiful Journey . . .

2009-10-26T18:20:24-07:00

Where are you in your journey? What passage through life, or a significant experience are you traveling or do you need to finish?
Like creating something, life, is a work in progress - a journey not yet complete. This 4" unfinished wood piece is a solid reflection that life is indeed a journey - a series of starts and stops, ups and downs, hard corners, soft spots, and fragrant moments with a few "aha" moments here and there.
The wood piece had been sitting on my desk in my studio for nearly a year, when last weekend, I picked it up and finally finished it with what I had on hand. I have just basic tools in my studio, as the breadth of my work is in creating art for consumer products - but how I love tactile design - it is where my creative turned professional journey began...creating decor for my home.
So, with what I had on hand I finished this one (creative) journey:
4" wood piece (Home Depot)
wire (also HD)
antique white paint
a swatch of burlap
velvet ribbon
flowers, vintage metal button, leaves, spanish moss and twigs complimentary of Mother Nature
Oh, and the Journey card from my "Old World" journaling cards - "Hello Beautiful" collection.
and voila - a bloomin' beautiful journey to reflect on, past - present - and future.
Sometimes, when I am in the midst of a prolonged journey, I sound like the proverbial child, asking God, "Are we there yet?" Do you ever want to ask that same question? As I walked my dog this morning, I noticed two more homes on the market, "Bank Owned." What a journey those families must be taking...unexpected journeys, unplanned. James 1:2 tells us to "consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds." How do we do that? For me, sometimes it is taking notice of the joy in the simple (but oh so valuable) gifts in my life: health, faith, family, work, shelter, the ability to create, friendship . . .and I surrender to what is, in the moment, and trust the journey will reveal what it is intended to and take me where I must be. My job is to keep moving forward in faith. How about you?
Ann Morrow Lindbergh tells us

May your journey, where ever it be taking you, be bloomin' beautiful and your moments be cherished.

O Happy Day!

2009-10-19T10:39:42-07:00

O HAPPY DAY!
(thank you Karola for your beautiful "Simple Peasures" using our Feather Your Nest and Rasberry Truffle scrapbooking papers)
Now, I have a little fun for you. This is a participation game, so you're gonna have to move, and maybe even groove!
Turn up the volume on your computer, then stand up, put a little sway in your hips, and click this link:
O HAPPY DAY!
Feel better? I did when I listened, and watched the glimmer in the boy's eyes as he gained power & confidence in his voice.
Last week we asked you what (or whom) is your happy place?
Congratulations Elaine! You won. Thank you for sharing your happy place:
Elaine said:

"Hi Terri, the breakfast plates are gorgeous!! I love the color and pattern! :) My Happy Place is anywhere so long as it's next to my husband....but preferably somewhere sunny next to my hubby! lol"
Random Integer Generator Here are your random numbers:
2
Timestamp: 2009-10-19 16:57:52 UTC
Email us to make your selection from our Feather Your Nest collection and your nest will soon be a bit fuzzier, warmer.
Today, at the Huffington Post, Roger Franseky writes: (oh so timely I might add)
Are you happy? Would you know if you were?
Has your definition of happiness changed as you've grown older and more successful? Is it about accumulation, more toys, more exotic travel, new experiences, more of what you thought you wanted? Is all of that making you happy? Or, as Leo Buscaglia reminded us, is "what we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret that our willingness to choose life."

Happiness can mean doing something we love, having someone to love and something to hope for. Is that it? Is that enough of an understanding of how to bring "more" of the feelings of joy, surrender, surprise, delight that true happiness invites and provokes in us?

The Boston Globe recently reported that the most popular course at Harvard was about positive psychology, or the study of well-being. Its immense appeal took everyone by surprise. Just one year before, the instructor, Tal Ben-Shahar, offered the course for the first time, and although it was certainly a hit, with 380 students enrolled, no one could have imagined that the following year the number would have jumped to 855.

"For many years," says Ben-Shahar, "the people who were writing about happiness were the self-help gurus. It had a bad rap. It was all 'five easy steps,' rather than dignity and hard work. What I'm trying to do in my class is to regain respectability for the concept of self-help. It's a great thing, if you think about it literally. It's what this country was built on."

Dr. Martin Seligman and many of his colleagues introduced the idea of "positive psychology" a relatively new area of research that "studies the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive." Psychology has been rightly been criticized for its' sole focus on mental illness rather than mental "wellness". Several humanistic psychologists, including Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Erich Fromm, developed successful theories and practices that involved human happiness despite there being a lack of solid empirical evidence at the time behind their work, and especially that of their successors.

Positive psychology has explored the Pleasant Life or the "life of enjoyment", how people optimally experience, forecast and savor the positive feelings and emotions that are part of normal and healthy living (e.g. relationships, hobbies, interests, entertainment, etc.), the Good Life or the "life of engagement", the beneficial affects of immersion, absorption, and "flow" that individuals feel when optimally engaged with their primary activities, and the Meaningful Life or "life of affiliation" which examines how individuals derive a positive sense of well-being, belonging, meaning, and purpose from being part of and contributing back to something larger and more permanent than themselves.

With all of this good work, and the efforts of Donald Clifton, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and psychologists like Dan Baker, former director of the Life Enhancement Program at Canyon Ranch, we now have handholds on what many call the "new" science of happiness.
Dan Baker's book, What Happy People Know, confirms the wisdom of the research into what Seligman calls "authentic happiness" and "learned optimism." Baker notes that a major barrier to happiness is fear. He writes, "We all have a neurological fear system embedded deep within our brains, a neural network that once helped us survive as a species, but now limits our lives. The biological circuitry of fear is the greatest enemy of happiness."

We're written about how fear bind us, edits our hopes and diminishes our potential for happiness. Baker reminds us that fear is the repository for our past traumas, our fear of the future and our archaic instinctual terrors. Fear can be a gift, our way of staying out of the darkness and moving into the light of awareness and new beginnings. But if our fears own us, we have to break free...by awareness of those fears, and through the courage to challenge our fears to see if they are still real.

One of those fresh starts is the decision to be happy.

Yes, but how?

First, by love. Love yourself enough to create a life you will love living. Entertainment legend George Burns, whose own sense of purpose helped him live to 100, offered this wise advice: "Everyday, do something you love."

Here's several questions to begin your own happiness audit: "Am I living a life I love, and one that allows me to be happy?" Listen to the wisdom of your heart, and tell yourself the truth. Ask yourself:

• What brings vitality to my life? When do I feel most alive?
• What is my proudest achievement?
• What is my greatest gift? My legacy?
• For what are you most grateful?

These questions invite you to ponder the symphony of your experience, the missed notes, the flourishes and the coda. I don't deny that life can be rough, that you can (and will) experience mistakes, excesses, lies and lessons, and on occasional loss, grief and sadness. Even Charles Schultz, the creator of "Peanuts," the cartoon strip that brought us minor wisdom and wide smiles for decades, suffered his entire life with serious depression, a melancholy temperament and insecurities.

Happiness can become your default state and not some elaborate life lie by acknowledging your gifts, your lessons, the people in your "cast" who love and teach, tolerate and celebrate you. You can choose between the ambiguity and clarity.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-fransecky/happiness-is-a-choice_b_113400.html
Thank you Mr. Franseky.

We're off to see the Wizard . . .

2009-10-13T13:46:03-07:00

This morning as I pulled out of our driveway, for the second time, with our second daughter (two different schools and two different schedules) I said, "We're off . . ." and Katelyn (aka "Katieboo") chimed in "to see the wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz." She is full of wit, wisdom and wonder that little girl of almost 10.
My girls, are and always will be my "happy place" regardless of what may be happening in my life. If you had a pair of red shoes to click together, where would you wish to go? Where (or who) is your happy place?
Another happy place for me is connecting with each of you. Thank you, to each who visit my little creative world now and again - Oh so much happening and I'm trying to keep those plates twirling. Speaking (ahem, writing) of, I recently made a purchase from one of my licensees to meet a deadline for a promised donation - and have been enjoying breakfast on these little pretties
There are small breakfast plates, and larger dinner plates with my Feather Your Nest art. The coffee cup, I painted at our local Paint a Dream.
INTERRUPTION: PLEASE NOTE
Mr. Fed-Ex just arrived, it's raining (neither sleet, nor rain, nor - oh we don't get snow) delivering several BIG boxes of my artist's samples. YIPPEE!
Lucky for You! Do you know why? My home is overcome with lots of pretties and I want to share one with you. All you need to do is leave a comment here sharing where your happy place is & why, and post our Feather Your Nest photo below, and our link, on your blog inviting your readers to do the same. We'll choose one comment on Sunday and you may choose one of the items shown in the photo.
This was completely unanticipated, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share with you.
Now, I must redirect my focus to completing my latest collection - Belle Maison (cannot reveal that for some time to come - sorry)
But, here are two more photos showing more gift & wall decor from the July launch of my Feather Your Nest and Vintage Fruit & Flower which is derived from my Hello Beautiful collection.

Hoping you're warm & cozy today -