Our eyes are the windows through which we experience the world... our own unique view of everything around us. With acute awareness of how color can dramatically affect one's mood, inner feelings and emotions, artists and interior designers use color as a powerful means of communication. Personal perceptions about color are often rooted in one's own experience or cultural environment, yielding a response of your surroundings. Color can cause physiological reactions by raising blood pressure, triggering melancholy or even increasing metabolism. 

So, what is color?

Isaac Newton discovered in 1666 as pure white light passed through a prism, it separated into all of the visible colors. Each color is made up of a single wavelength and cannot be separated any further. We call these primary colors red, yellow and blue. Through continued experiments, it was learned this light could be combined to form other colors - orange of red and yellow; green of yellow and blue; purple of blue and red. The seemingly unlimited array of colors in all shades and hues can thus be conceived and created... This is an artist's most prized tool.

Even in ancient cultures of Egypt and China, chromotherapy was practiced. Through this use of colors to heal, it is sometimes referred to as light therapy or colorology and is still used today as a holistic or alternative treatment...

Regardless of your intimate relationship with color, the reality is it saturates your world. It is all around you, permeating your mind through your body, into the depths of your soul. Surrender yourself and become immersed in this glorious day...

Color me beautiful... xoxo-Sonya

"Adulated, criticized, copied, faked, bartered, torn apart by war, resuscitated by peace, lace has survived for three centuries with a fragile confidence whose secret is known to it alone." 

~Marie Risselin-Steenebrugen, curator of Brussels' Musees Royaaux dÁrt et d'Histoire

Art or industry? Frivolous or necessary? One might surmise that lace is simply a costly trimming flaunted on runway models as a current fashion trend. You would be correct. But with a closer look at the history of this artistic craft, it is actually all of the above and then some! 

Way back three hundred years in the land of the Pharaohs, flax cloth was decorated with colored threading in geometric motifs. Ancient Greeks and Romans were attired in beguiled togas edged in golden threads. It is suspected that as these garments became worn and frayed on the edges, the fringed threads were twisted and stitched creating a new decoration. First recognized as such in Flanders and Italy, lace was called "kant", meaning border or edge. The popularity of lace making advanced rapidly, spreading throughout Europe to most European countries as a cottage industry. Used by clergy on the early Catholic Church vestments and in gold bands sewn onto the sleeves of military uniforms to indicate rank, lace has expressed a unique artistic heritage from all parts of the world.

During the Irish potato famine of the 1800's, Irish lace became prominent and proved to be quite profitable. Often referred to as "Nun's Work" because it was developed in convents,cotton was typically used since it was inexpensive and easy to clean. Irish peasants adapted crochet skills and it became a family effort.Motifs were created and kept as family secrets, fiercely guarded for  the risk of reproduction would reduce a family's income.After all the motifs were made, they would be assembled at a town lace-maker to create bigger trimmings of collars, cuffs, dresses and coats. The Irish lace industry flourished and was said to have fed the entire country during the trying time.

There are numerous types of lace, but divided into two general classifications. Thread alone, pulled along by a needle, defining the pattern of work with a toothed edge was first referred to as punto in aria (stitching in air), but today is called needle lace. The second classification is accomplished with the use of small weights to pull the threads or an army of pins all resting on the support of a pillow or frame. This type is called bobbin lace. Though requiring tedious hands with nimble fingers, today most of the lace is produced on machines and computers.

Color rich or a bleached beauty, lace has many faces. Cut-work, macrame, guipure, tape, knotted, knitted or crochet, lace can become casual or regal, warm or crisp, tight or loose. No matter the look or technique, fibers seem to be magically spun creating quite the elegant web... xoxo-Sonya

Are you a Pinterest-ing  person?

Right now, one of the hottest, most talked about and expansive social networks is Pinterest. I actually stumbled upon it last year and spent a couple of months just watching how it really worked before jumping in.

Once you procure an invitation-only membership, the cyber bookmarking begins. The site asks users to install a bookmark in their browsers making it easy to "pin" practically anything on the web (excluding flash sites). Browse other members picture pins to "like", comment and "repin" onto "boards" of your own, created to reflect personal tastes, style and interests. These visually dazzling bulletin boards acquire followers, who can either follow all  "boards" of a member or just a few. It's up to you, but etiquette advises that you follow your followers and vice versa. The boards you create of curated images assemble an online library of sorts, categorized in whatever creative classifications you might come up with. The key lies in the "pins" retaining their original online source, whether it be a blog, website, online seller or photo host. All are encouraged to get creative with their "boards", making it interesting and enticing - an escape from your typical cyber experience.

There is much to see and learn with all the tutorials posted, recipes and DIY creativity. I personally find it so appealing because I've been doing physical pin books and boards for years with my extensive library of actual clippings. Pinterest is the same idea taken a step further since it is online and the inspirational sourcing possibilities are as vast as the internet itself! Plus it is a lot of fun to share ideas and inspiration with people from all over... There is always something new to discover...

I have sorted my Pinterest boards in accordance with a little something... to envisage or to fancy, for example. You don't have to be a member to check out the boards or the site... just some time to browse. The following is a list of my Pinterest boards so far: Adorn; Wear; Express; Give; Cherish; Cultivate; Enjoy; Fancy; Influence; Inspire; Inspirit; Illustrate; Savor; Envisage; Emulate; Celebrate; Contemplate; Decorate.

To pin or not to pin... You decide... xoxo-Sonya