Carpe Diem has arrived to the Warehouse!

It is a good day!  Carpe Diem has arrived to the Frond Design Studios warehouse!!!  Whoo-eeee!!!  Look at my cart full of fabric.  I'm ready to make some quilts, clothes, curtains, and.....oh I want to make EVERYTHING out of this line!

Designing a fabric line requires patience.  It takes me about a month to two months to get the concept down on canvas or paper.  Then, I turn in my artwork to Stephanie Brandenburg.  From there, it takes a minimum of 9 months to see and touch the fabric on the bolt in the warehouse.

But it is WORTH WAITING FOR!!!!

What are you going to make out Carpe Diem?

Check it out at:

http://www.fronddesignstudios.com/carpe-diem/

Want to buy some?  There are many independent quilt shops that are carrying it worldwide.....
but Fern Hill is close to home and close to my heart....
http://www.fernhill.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=30_114_177

Hand Stitching

There are times, that I need to hand stitch. It is time intensive, so I try to use it on projects that are completely my own and are not on a deadline.

You would not be surprised to discover that I am very free-spirited and do not take my stitches too seriously. After all, it is a wind-down art for me....simply for fun.

Sneak a peek at what I have been working on.

Busy-bee

I have been buzzing around being a busy bee. In one week this bee is going to slow down....but until then, I will be buzzing.

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I am getting ready for a fashion show this SATURDAY!!! Eeek! It is coming soon. I am on schedule with my much-to-do list, I just have to keep going. It has been a great creative challenge to pull together recycled outfits for myself and 6 other people, with everyone wearing two outfits.

Also, I got to be in the Cedar Rapids Gazette promoting the show. That was pretty awesome. Did any of you see it? The article was well written and the pictures looked good.

So, are you going to come? Please do! Doors open at 6:30 and you can RSVP at www.Recycleinstyle.org. It is a free event. What a fun way to support sustainability. And you might be inspired to a new kind of style.

Guess what else is going on?!? I got to sneak a peek at what my new line Carpe Diem looks like on fabric. Whoop-whoop! It looks good. I think it might be my favorite fabric line I have designed yet. Frond Design Studios will have it on the bolt in shops this SUMMER! So exciting! Ideas of future projects are dancing in my head.

My last bit of excitement is about my amazing hubby I like to call Mr.Handsome (and you call Louis). He has a 17 piece art show up! I am so excited for him. His work looks so good hanging up. I would share a picture with you, but you have to go see it for yourself. It is at Mercy Hospital here in Cedar Rapids, IA. They have an area that is designated for art shows that is on the way to the cafeteria. It will be up for the whole month. Go take a look!

I leave you with some pictures. Enjoy a taste of the fashion show and Carpe Diem.

Hope to see you on Saturday!

Snow Day!

We got snow! And a lot of it!!

I love snow, and I love being snowed in. It makes me slow down and enjoy a day snuggled inside with Mr. Handsome (my husband) and Miss Sadie Princess (my dog).

Once I had slept in, made breakfast, and layed around some more, I decided to do something fun! My soul has been craving self-expression with paint on fabric....so that is exactly what I did.

I had two goals:

1. Start an art quilt on Frond Design Studios fabric

2. Start my garments for the Recycle in Style fashion show (April 6th).

I used a black blender for #1 and an old pink sheet for #2.

Check it out:

Learning to say "I love you"

I remember learning to say, "I love you". My mom discussed the appropriate people to say this to and what it meant. It was really fun to say! And the love that was shared between me and the recipient was so nice.

It also made me feel vulnerable. Saying I love you opened up myself to rejection. Or even saying, "I like you". Expressing how you feel through these three little words could open myself to a world of hurt or acceptance.

Now, how often do I tell myself these words?

How often do you?

Self-esteem is a funny thing that I have tried hard to understand for some time. Some days I really like myself and appreciate the way I am made......
and other days I get mad at me.....
and then other days I wish I was made a different way than I am.

My emotions about myself go up and down. My emotions about my life do as well.

Ding-ding-ding!!!!!!
Revelation bell is ringing!!!!!!!!
Could they be related? Well.....perhaps....perhaps......

I started to do something recently that I plan to incorporate into my life. It is a hard, funny, weird exercise but I am going to try it until I stop being so mean to me.

Every night and morning, I am going to look myself in the mirror and say:
"I love you"

Three simple words.

And share my smile with myself. How often do I do that? Not near enough.

How is this different than vanity?

What a good question my inner critic comes up with and I am not quite sure how to answer it. However, I know in my heart that it is very different.

Perhaps, vanity is false and the love I want to give myself is pure and real.

I think that question deserves more research and will perhaps share later on it.

Thank you to all the people who have blazed the path of loving yourself and have shared this message in many different ways. Thank you to those who have written books about this topic so that we might believe in the truth about it.

And thank you for spending a moment with me. I hope you find a way to love yourself.

•melissamariecollins

Unfinished Thoughts

It is late, but I had a thought that I really wanted to share.

Do you find that when you focus hard on one area of your life, other areas become forgotten?

Lately, I have been changing my diet to assist my digestive system to heal. This has taken my attention and kept it. I have been holding to my intentions and have been diligent to my tummy needs. Yes, be impressed......I am......but this is an important step to me regaining my health 100% and I WANT THAT!

However........as I walked through my house tonight I noticed something.

I am not picking up after myself!

There are piles everywhere! Big and small!

I am blessed to live with a kind husband who can handle piles, but today there was a mention of my messy-ness....and deservedly so.

It seems that I am not finishing my thoughts around my house. There are all the little things that I am not making a decision about.

Such as my clothes. I create a pile (on a chair) because I cannot decide if the item can be worn again or if it is dirty. The pile now is interrupting my path to the closet which makes it simpler to pile clothes than to put anything away.

Then my studio. It is very unorganized and cluttered. It feels yucky in there. I also have not been hanging out in the room, just stopping by to drop things off then moving on.

Well, now that I have come out of my laser focus on food changes, perhaps my piles can be conquered and decisions made. Perhaps my studio will become welcoming again.

How does change affect you?

Do you find yourself swinging one way drastically to realize that you need to balance?

Balance......that is a healthy word.

I like that word.

Balance has not appeared to come easily to me. I have to work hard for it. But, it is worth working towards.

How about you? How do you find balance in life? I really am curious. Please share.

2013 One Goal

My favorite part about a new year is the opportunity to reset my focus. I do my best to leave each year behind me as a new year rolls in.

This year, I have major goal, one focus.....

HEALTH!

From here I could micro-manage the goal into 1,000 bullet points, but that is not in keeping with how I have been designed. To do that would be like forcing me to paint with colors I do not like and do not desire to use.

So, instead, I am going to honor what I know about myself and going to create my own path for my life.

I am going to treat my health like I do my art.

When I paint, I trust that I will create something beautiful. I do not stop a piece until a message/image/feeling comes forward that echoes something I feel/know inside. There is a deep respect inside me for my inner artist. I do not doubt her, I respect her. I trust that Divine art comes through me as a message for the world and I choose to honor this message by sharing it loudly with the public.

Just like this message.

I believe that God can restore my health and I will no longer suffer from an Auto-Immune disease. Since the moment I was diagnosed hope arose in me for HEALING!

What I know, is my healing will come from my decisions to choose health. Everyday, in every way, that is brought to me to follow. I will color my world by making decisions to honor my body as a dwelling place.....a temple....for God's divine presence to exist in communion with my body, soul, and spirit.

My life will change by this. But, honestly, I have been taking steps this direction for quite some time. However, I am getting bolder.....there is something rising up in me to live my life as eclectic as my little heart desires.

I will give myself permission to say no to activities and YES to delicious rest. Retreating has always been good for me and I will be doing a lot more of that.

This deep tired feeling with burst of energy is going to become a steady glow coming from within me to carry me through each and every step. I want a life that is full of consistent energetic color that feels the way I KNOW deep inside it is meant to feel.

I leave you with my picture for 2013. May my journey spark you to live your authentic life, that you have been created to live. And may you find boldness inside to choose what is good and healthy for you.