Your Heart's Desire

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Loving people can be a challenge without having significant help from God.  It comes naturally for some and others not so much.  I know immediately when I am going to love someone and when I am going to need some help.  Make loving others a desire of your heart and it will happen.  God always answers that prayer!  It is His will, and His will WILL be done

I met my friend Rebecca at The Crossing Womens Reunion where we were both speakers.  She would talk about how witnessing to her mother had changed both of their lives.  My speech was about allowing God to be what I was always looking for in my life.  I so fell in love with Rebecca that night and our prayer journey began for her to have a child.  We did not think it was going to happen and we prayed for a very long time.  And then she was pregnant and my heart could not have been more filled with joy for her.  I immediately offered to have her baby shower.  As I have mentioned in my earlier post, it is pure joy to create something for someone you love so much.  Rebecca was going to have a boy - so being the traditional type, blue would be in order.  But you know me - I needed to give it some pizazz so I added a great shade of green and some nice brown. The party was just so much fun - but the best part was seeing Rebecca's face when she saw the cookies and cupcakes!  

Enjoy your friend's special moments and never let go of the love you feel when you see their face light up over something that makes them so happy. Or that glance over at you when they want you to know that you are loved for loving them with all of your heart!

A Purpose Driven Life

Last year I attended a program at my church that helped me understand my God given gifts and passions so that I could realize how to apply my talents. It was not really a surprise to me, but it was nice to have confirmation.  Having a better understanding of who you are, what makes you tick and what God specifically placed you on earth to do is a powerful proposition.  Actually doing something with the information is the true secret to personal fulfillment.

Which brings me to the whole cupcake thing.  I have a passion for pleasing others and I have convinced myself that people who receive my cupcakes are pleased.  Actually, very pleased that something extra special has been done for them.  There is only one rule in this game and that is if you are going to put yourself out there, you have to be prepared for the response or lack thereof. I struggle with this because I want to know when someone is pleased and I expect this kind of effort should generate above average appreciation.  But if you want to create what makes you "happy" and not what others see as "perfect" you have to give up the idea that everyone will think what you create is wonderful.   The pleasure must come from knowing that you gave something from your heart.  If you are the sensitive type, I suggest that you choose your recipients very carefully.  So give up the expectations and you can just enjoy the experience of giving cupcakes or anything else.

Taking Care of My Soul Mates' Passions

There are many things that are great about growing up and not just growing old.  At the top of the list is realizing and nurturing the people in my life who bring me the most joy.  You know the kinda people I am talking about -  the ones who encourage you, support you and really take the time to appreciate everything about you.   I have been sorting these people out over the last 10 years and while I have lots of special people I call friends, there is a very short list of soul mates.

What a joy it is to plan a gift for a soul mate!  I love every second of the time I spend thinking about what they love and what I can do to show them I love their spirit, their passion and most of all their dedication to our friendship.   My beloved Julie's birthday is not until next month, yet I have been working on her gift since January!  Because I know that Julie loves to send people amazing cards I wanted to put together a selection of cards that she would love.  The idea was to find cards, postage stamps and some fun stuff she could use to present her special love for her friends - her passion.   And how lucky I was to stumble on not only the perfect cards, but cards that reflect her sense of style, taste and PASSION for shoes.  I purchased a beautiful collection of the cards from this cute little store.  The cards were created by Barbara Music Shoes. Next step is to buy postage stamps and some cute confetti to complete the package.  Julie also needed a little something "Kandi" so I made a sassy little box for the cards.  The box is the color of her home office - I know because I decorated her apartment - but that is another fun story that I will get to when I move to decorating!  April can not get her fast enough when she will be in Florida and I can present her this gift! What a blessing it is to have her in my life.

Dare To Be Yourself And Make Everything Reflect Your Own Style

It was when I took a cake decorating class that I had my "ah ha" moment of truth.  The instructor for the class kept saying, "to make the perfect Daffodil, Pansy, Daisy and Primrose, you must follow these rules." So I quickly wrote down the  rules and followed the technique.  Then the instructor said that it was also important to make sure that you selected the proper colors for the flowers.  The other nine students quickly bolted for the pink food color to make the "perfect" Primrose.  My rebel spirit kicked into full gear as I decided to make my Primrose this fun shade of orange. So we had nine identical pink PERFECT Primroses set for inspection by the instructor and one very different, very orange KANDI Primrose. The instructor advised the class that my color was off because I had used too much yellow.  Then the same thing happened when we made Pansies, Apple Blossoms and Daisies.  My flowers were deliberately not the same as the other students. I decided that God is in charge of his flower's perfect shapes and colors and I could die trying to match his designs or worse give up trying!  He gave me the talent to create my own designs and colors so I could enjoy making stuff.  When people ask what kind of flowers I make, I tell them, "they are Kandi flowers."  So stop worrying about trying to create what others see as perfect and create what makes YOU happy.  Ask God to help you with the courage to be bold and confident. He will be delighted that you asked and you will be amazed at what you can do!

Gifts That Go Beyond, beyond

Like most everyone - when it comes to buying gifts for someone, you want it to be special unless you are buying a gift because you feel obligated. I can tell when I get a gift that was more of an obligation than from the heart. Big fat clue is when a close friend decides to "go in" on a gift with other people. Excuse me? Is the desire to be cheap greater than the desire to show you care?

I only share the joy of gift giving for one of two reasons. ONE - it is truly a group gift and there is some obligation or TWO I have been asked by a group of people to create a gift. Now THAT is a whole different situation. Well this honor was bestowed upon me when my account team in Atlanta wanted something amazing for our beloved Leslie's new baby. I had of course already decided to create something for Leslie's nursery, but when I discovered that the team wanted to fund my endeavor -holy cow was I in heaven. I could go crazy and make her all kinds of stuff. So I got her to share her color scheme (light pink and lime green) and the rest is history. So here goes a very simple idea that turned out just wonderful.

I purchased a basket, 20 pink hand cloths, two ivory bath towels, ivory baby blanket, baby bath robe and a door hanger. Then I went to the fabric store and purchased the most beautiful trims for all of the pieces. Next step - just sew them on. I purchased a beautiful fringe for the basket and two ribbon trims for the towels and hand cloths. Then I found this tiny delicate trim for the blanket and door hanger. Leslie was thrilled - especially the matching bathrobe. It was beyond, beyond and my team was so proud of "their" gift.

Fortunately, I have an arsenal of friends in the ad biz. From designers to the strategic side -all giving me advice about my blog. My best designer friend Susan told me to just start with what I know and what people value most about my ideas.

So what do most people tell me they value most about my ideas... the "I could have had a V-8" thing. Most of my ideas are very simple, logical solutions. Not complicated, just clever executions of a simple concept.

So my blog will be about clever, simple ideas about my passions that range from my now famous cookies and cupcakes to my home decorating and gardening concepts. Somewhere in the middle will be my crafts and shopping tips.

I will also share my emotional passions for dogs and homeless people.

And of course it will all be blended with the source of my energy, creativity and enthusiasm - my faith in God and the comfort and inspiration I receive from knowing Jesus Christ.

Well step one is complete. I have a blog. I have listed it on Facebook. Anyone have any suggestions about how to make my blog "FLY" then send it on!

Just getting started

Today I decided to start my own blog. Not sure where I am going to go with it - but considering how many people ask for my opinion about everything from advertising to gardening I thought I should just do it!