Frosted Petunias: new year

Hello and happy 2014. I hope these first few days of the new year find you healthy and well. My thoughts go out to everyone in the Midwest and east coast battling that beyond crazy cold weather. I have no right to complain about weather here in the west. It's warmer and drier than usual and there's fear of a possible drought later but we're lucky compared to our friends on the other end so please be safe.

But if I may, I'm going to whine just a smidge about this annoying cold/flu I picked up last week. I don't get sick often and when I do I'm usually on the mend after a day and a half or two. Well this one isn't going without a fight so lots of soup and tea and tissues for me.

The weirdest thing is that I've completely lost my taste for sweets.

I know. Me, the chick whose middle name is frosting. Now I crave salt all day long and the thought of anything sweet does nothing for me.

I found this picture and honestly, if I could lick the monitor I would. I'm actually salivating as I type this. It's the most bizarre thing. Now I have craved more salt when I've had a cold before but I never completely lose a craving for sweets. I haven't even wanted my morning hot coco. Has this ever happened to any of you?

Do you choose a word for the year?

My word for 2014 is SPROUT.

A part of me has been hibernating in darkness the last 2 or 3 years. It's not a gloomy darkness although what got me there was certainly gloom worthy.

I tried to embrace forgiveness. Tried to learn to let go. Let go of the past. Learn gratitude. Be grateful for second chances. All the things my brain thought were the logical steps to healing.

But you know what? They just didn't work for me. For whatever reason forgiveness never came from an honest place and I found myself thriving in the dark. Finding my strength. Embracing my frailties and all my flaws.

I learned that what I needed to let go of wasn't the darkness. I just needed to grow a new me. In new soil. Breathing new air. There might be some darkness in that soil but it keeps things real for me so we shall see.

I also have faith in karma and it is the year of the Snake after all.

Good time to shed my old skin

When I started blogging in January 2010 the last winter games were about to start. I can't believe it's been 4 years already. I'm looking forward to watching them in Sochi. Just like my fondness for all things New Orleans, I also have a thing for Russia. I think it started with figure skating and the Russian pair Gordeeva and Grinkov. Plus I'm really more of a snowy forest than a sun and surf kinda girl.

So here's to a brand new year again.

May yours be filled with more blessings,

more joy, more hugs and more art.

A friend who is dear to me recently lost her poppa. I know most of you know her too and probably already know. She can use a hug if you have one or a hundred and one to share.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and holiday. Ours was lovely and spent visiting our family about 2 hours away. Despite both my son and I coming down with icky bugs it was still nice. I always love seeing my mom and my brother. My microwave and I got sick on Christmas day and though I am better now, sadly (or perhaps not so sadly, hee-hee) the microwave had to be replaced with a new one.

With the year coming to an end I couldn't help but reflect on this past year. It's been quite an amazing journey filled with new adventures, inspiration and new friends. This was a collage I made back in Spring when I first started dabbling in collage and painting. This was also the template for my first paper dress. It's simple but still one of my favorites because 'soar' was the word I constantly thought of while on this journey.

As I look forward to the new year I find myself becoming excited about new goals and seeing where the journey will lead. I'm never one for creating New Year's resolutions but the one I did make for myself this past year is one I'm happy to say I actually did. That was to start living a consciously creative life and it started with my blog. Next month I'm celebrating one year of blogging. Something I'm proud of as I've never been able to stay with a new venture more than 3 or 4 months in the past. I know I was able to do this because of all of you. So again, thank you from the tips of my frosted toes to the bottom of my sparkle covered heart.

There is much for me to look forward to this coming year, starting with my Artful Bag Challenge in just a few days. I will be posting my first project (Playing With Paper) at the end of the week along with a Linky tool so any of you who would like to play along can just add a link to your post any time.

I also have another project going on next month, which I can't tell you too much about yet, but it's going to keep me insanely busy the entire month. All I can say is I'm working on a collaboration with my brother and sister-in-law and it involves me making several pieces of art that have to be done in a few short weeks! I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to take on this challenge, but then I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me to push myself. It's definitely out of my comfort zone and I hope the lessons I learned the past year will give me enough confidence to see it through. I will share with you once it all comes together!

So as we countdown to 2011 I'm once again making a mental list of goals I would like to accomplish. I would like to think that my journey so far is only the beginning. I have learned that I can soar when I put my mind to it. Now I can see where my wings take me. What are your goals for the coming year dear friends? How exciting that we can take this journey together and look forward to a brand new start.

I wish you a beautiful post holiday week. Enjoy all the sales if you're out there shopping and I'll see you in a few days for The Artful Bag Challenge!