Dusk in the Garden, Bon Boyage prayers for a friend

Good Morning Beautiful Women,

I thought I'd share some beautiful photographs with you.

It's one of those days, where words are just failing me...

So I'll let the pictures speak...

This was a bon voyage party for my dear friends: Marta and Tabi...

To say I will miss them terribly, well......

Hannah and I have grown to love them like sisters, as they help to shape Inspired31.org, and as they have become part of our family.....

Did you take me off your list & WHAT have you been doing? Exciting News...

Helllloooo To You All~

I bet you have been wondering where I've been....or NOT! But I'm going to give you a recap anyway :)

I'm doing it mostly in pictures, AND I have such exciting news. I'm designing professionally again. I have hired my  precious friend and excellent studio manager, Judy, back to work and we open the doors again in September, although we are working already on a few HUGE surprises!

I took two years off work/design: the first year to be FULLY PRESENT during my daughters Senior Year....which was wonderful!  It turned into taking another year off getting our family's "health" in order in a myriad of ways, by essentially going fully organic and trashing everything that wasn't grown from the earth OUT! While Scott and Justin were in Romania for 10 days serving orphans and loving on them I threw every chemical out of my house. I also decluttered every closet and threw out a ridiculous amount of items, or gave them away. I've pictured the beginnings of some shelves!

My hubbie and I started an awesome & fun project and you can see below our organic garden, from which I cook from. I also began to eat mostly vegan, attending farmers market, buying only organic and studying every aspect of every little thing I feed to my family! Yes, I threw even my makeup and kids shampoo's away and started over. I read about 15 very excellent books, the best being Gwenyth Paltrow's newest cook book, on nutrition and health and changed out our house.

 What does my hubbie and son think? He loves that for the last 6 months I can be found making veggie's and even homemake Sriacha sauce (thanks to Gwyneth and 4 hours of recipe!!!), however no sugar, or only honey & maple syrup, no dairy ideally, goat cheese, no gluten or really flour at all...not so much!

I took a trip with my mom back to Nashville (saw Lorianne :) for an appearance on a new show (some exciting news later) WHOA (like the magazine I have a column in) as the "design girl", went to Washington DC to the Smithsonian for an apt. to view my great grandfathers documents and dove into my roots in an effort to see how far back our design roots really go and had an awesome time. I realized my son is EXACTLY like the men on our maternal side, though he is a mini-me of my dad, and is a right brain thinker and changed his whole education plan because of it, more later.

We fell in love with my daughters college, Westmont, and were asked to be on the tiny "Parents Council" with mostly parents from across the country and began to help with their new "Montecito Institute" on leadership. We love the leadership, the school, and the President Dr. Beebe! We have spent quite a bit of time with him, and others, and love their entire philosophy. Westmont.edu

I'm changing this blog back to design and home and all it entails. To follow Inspired31.org blog please see our website, where I hope girls and their moms will begin their blog entries there.

I'm excited to share more, but wanted to do a quick update!

Today I'm cleaning out our cute camper (Our little airstream) and we hit the road tomorrow, organic veggies (grass fed, organic meat for the men for bbq) and all!

Love to all,

I can't wait to share some of the fun news in more depth.

So excited to be back to designing the home, the passion of my heart! 

Love & Blessings,

Roxanne

Fabulous Contest Winners and Inspired Product Line Introductions

Hello Inspired Women~

I have missed this blog! I have been working for months on our new website, which is up and just beautiful. Thank you to Keith James (all the way in Indiana) whose patience, skill and graciousness created a clean, beautiful, easy to use website. There will be an official email from new site as soon as I have learned the process!

Grand Prize Winners are here! The Grand prize was $1,000. in cash and our new product line which will be comprized of these works. We have a greeting card line as part of the new products, so if you want Christmas Cards that will be spectacular, keep us in mind! The money will go to keep Inspired running, created by our fabulous teenagers! *Scroll to the end to hear more about our Product Line.

Here are the Grand Prize Winners:

1, 2 & 4 are by Erin O'Brien, age 19

3 Alex Laine, age 15

5 Hannah Baldoz, age 14

6 Kendal Koorenny, age 14 (Not pictured, because it wouldn't download)

Product Line:
I am so excited to be sharing with you the beginnings of our Product Line. We hope our ministry will run entirely supported by our product line, within the next year. One reason I am so excited about this is because I love design. This can include so many amazing talents and utilizing our teens talents to teach/mentor them not only on the basics but the nuances that can get quite complicated regarding the business of design and art. The desire to create combined with the necessity to be financially viable is something each artist ultimately struggles with at one time or another.
If our girls have the desire to use their art, I would like to come along side them and help! This is a big part of Inspired's foundations. You can see our site Inspired31.org it's new and gorgeous.
We have a jewelry line in North Carolina that we will design some pieces with, and they will sell it in their retail store, along with Inspired Design and perhaps many of our other pieces.
We are also working on our next book, whose working title is "Fully Present", and will have some exciting elements from girls and Inspired31!

After four years of Inspired31, and about 6 since we began the book project for Inspired Design, I have learned that those that get the most benefit from something are those that dive in! We'd love to have input and if your girls would like to get involved, email me. The girls that are involved in the product line are very excited about all the possibilities to make art and make a difference!

We're so excited about this new part! Let me know if you'd like to help or contribute in some way.
Blessings and love to you and yours,
Please join with me in saying a prayer for those in Oklahoma, as well: Proverbs 31: 8,9

Roxanne

Before and After Front Door

Hello Precious Inspired Readers,
So many inspiring things going on lately, I haven't kept up with posting very well. I've been deep in thought, prayer, discerning between things and enjoying my family! These before and after articulates so well what I have been thinking about. I'll close with the thoughts of my 16 year old son who shared with me some thoughts before he went to bed. (Happy Mom)

I'll be able to articulate more clearly in a few weeks, but I'd love to hear your guess', as this all relates to the new book I have begun to work on.  (Guess the title) I know some of you don't know how to comment on blogger, I'm trying to figure out easier ways to comment, so I can hear your thoughts...

So, I run a ministry.
My husband says it makes me a......
Minister....NO!!! But, it challenged me that I do minister to people, more than tasks or duties, I hear from people every day.
I am....
Flawed,
Imperfect,
Inarticulate at times,
Saved...
Willing,
Enthusiastic,
 "Skinny Fat" to my dismay (I'll explain later, from Chapter 4 in Lioness Arising).
Focused on ONE,
THE ONE: I serve,
Pleasing to Him, may I be,
Attentive to those I serve with,
Pleasing to one.

Phone off,
Off Facebook,
Listening,
Hearing,
Walking forward,
Cleaning Out,
Too busy,
Focus,
Clarity,
Family.

Here is the Los Olivos Cottage (Thanks for the help with the name) and the before and after pictures of the front door. There is so much symbolism, I'll let you apply it...I will just walk you through my thoughts, and where I'm going, for now, with the book....(Can you follow?)

The First picture~to the Last:
~The house upon purchase. 100 Shades of mismatched color, style and hodge podge. Messy, unclean, cobwebs, piles of birds nests that have lodged in...Visible peeling paint, exposed wood, from unprotected wood getting soaked in rain....Ugly yellow pots.
~ Little objects around that detract from the beauty. Looks better with even those things gone.
~Paint scraped, damage exposed. More extensive damage: dry rot. Every corner, every piece of wood: ripped off and exposed. Damage very deep, call to us, ripped off more: Need to go deeper: heading into the foundation. Owners hadn't tended to paint for over 10 years. Damage had seeped inside into the hardwood floors: warped, damaged. Final verdict: Front door had to be replaced. Siding couldn't be matched.....Even the insulation failed after too many years...
Pieces back together (skipped a few shots, need to find) but process of finding and replacing exactly what needed to be replaced, lengthy.
~Pruning of Branches of a neglected tree. Beautiful huge, old tree whose branches broke from being to heavy to bear itself...
~The new door, painted with several coats to protect it from the elements. A red tag indicating the premise had been fumigated to get to all the places that were damaged that we couldn't see and that even the specialists couldn't find.
~The new awning, though it looks stunning, was designed and built to lead the damaging elements away from the door, as much as possible, bearing in mind the possibilities for flaw in this architectural design, that included no overhang....
~A crown on the newly pruned tree, almost in blossom for all to enjoy....
Finished for visitors to enjoy

My son, 16....shared with my that he and his friend Grace sat at school and went over Proverbs 8 (not as a class project, on their break time) and discussed it. I hope you'll open it up to see the beauty in the doorway......
He shared with me all kinds of insights, you
Proverbs 8:11... Instructions on knowing Christ...notes on Wisdom...
Funny...it speaks about "Entrances....leading to the....
...Craftsman at his side...

Watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway
whoever finds me..........

Bless you sweet reader, love to hear your thoughts...

One more sneakity peak

 Happy Sunday Afternoon~
I'm snuggled in, by the fireplace, writing the outline and synopsis of the book my agent suggested I write next...but my sweet friend T, said she wanted another few pics of the house because she loved it! So, since this is a quick and easy thing to do...this is for you Tam...
A few more "Sneakity Peaks" of the "Los Olivos House" as we have named it. Yes, it is really original, I realize! We had some fabulous suggestions: Inspiration, The Crowned Cottage, Vineyard Cottage and more, but ultimately it had to fit the design scheme and respresent the house. For me, the first two really represent "me" best in relationship to the house, but for the website and company that is "in charge" this was the most accurate. Long story...
So...
thanks for the help with the name. I'm going to try to change the way you can comment on this blog, but as I'm totally technologically inept...it may be a while to switch it
My hope for the cottage:
That lovely people go to the cottage to regroup, recoup, spend time together and celebrate life!

I'll be writing a column in WHOA magazine, of the before and after's of the house, and it will be featured in the next issue of Cottages and Bungalow's with before and after's as well. I'm excited for you to see the transformation, so I'm not sharing too many more pics now...
Have a blessed day
and may you experience hope and love today in a fresh new way...
Let me know what room you want me to start the before and after's with....
oxoxox
Roxanne