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If you've followed my melissaAnne COLORS brand over the years you know that I have always had plans and dreams of putting my abstract images on home products. Well, this Summer it officially happened! I am excited to team with my talented design friend Debi Lilly of Debi Lilly Designs for Safeway for one of her Summer 2016 candles. Before I show you the candle, let's go WAY back to 2012 and my first visit to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. I still remember how in awe I was when I drove through the Valley and saw row after row of tulips. And, how when I walked into one of the showcase tulip farms I was overjoyed by the color and opportunities for photography. Here is the Impressionist style photo of the tulip fields that is now "going places" with Debi Lilly Designs for Safeway. 532

Good morning! It's Earth Day and I awoke to news of potential lead in our water supply. NOT a great way to honor Mother Earth and all the beauty she brings to us!  Most of you know how much I love water.  I love to look at it, swim in it, take pictures of it...and recently I discovered that my natural personality energy is Water. Not surprising really!  I discovered my "Waterness" through a fun new Doodle activity I do in Doodle Discover YOU! If you want to find yours you can check out my Doodle e-course or upcoming workshop. So with my ever-strong connection with water, I'd like to celebrate this Earth Day with some of my favorite water-based photos from some of my favorite places! I hope you enjoy this little mind vacation to the "waterfront."   _MG_3049

Skagit Valley Tulips 2016
I've completely ignored my blog over the last month. I've been guest blogging on other sites and spending lots of time on Instagram curating a MOST colorful feed. Today I needed an extra special blog inspiration environment and as I type this I'm sitting at the Safeco Field ballpark (thank you WiFi) watching my childhood team take on the local team.  Texas Rangers vs Seattle Mariners on a temperate Spring afternoon does a body and mind good (the hotdog I just devoured didn't hurt either).

Speaking of Spring...

One of my MOST favorite things to do in the Pacific Northwest is visit the Skagit Valley tulips during the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The drive is beautiful, the farm country is inspiring, and the tulip fields are colorfully energizing and make for great camera play! Come along with me as I wander{lust} and color{lust} through the rows of color.

It's Sunday night, officially almost Monday morning, out here on the West coast and I'm moving along in my urban flow. Most people have turned in. The city is quiet and the rain has set in.  The streets are mirrors to the city lights that now shimmer and paint the streets outside. I'm sitting at a local pub trying to get inspired by the energy of the music and "lives happening" around me, plugged into wifi and trying to find some words and images to share on my Monday blog. Nothing is coming to me. NOTHING... I stop for a minute and take in the scene around me.  A dark downtown Seattle looms outside the windows. Area businesses are mostly closed. The ever-present construction work is on a brief hiatus until tomorrow morning when the construction sites become like bee hives again. Right now, the only remnants in view are the orange traffic cones lining the streets and sidewalks. They are the new icon of the changes happening in this city. They have become the omnipresent accessory that adorns the city like jewels.

  Doodle Blog Header - Template (2) It's been some time since I shared my Doodles on my blog. I'll admit I fell out of my regular Doodle habit. I still Doodled, but I stopped Doodling every day. Sometimes life just takes twists and turns and things change. I've come to realize that for me, the Doodle isn't a "quick draw" on a piece of paper. For me, Doodling is a slow down, go within, get quiet, melt into color and touch, and begin to listen to the thoughts and messages that come through in my head activity.

Hey, wait...that sounds kinda familiar doesn't it?  

Quiet... Slow down... Go within... Listen...

MEDITATION anyone?

Yep, for me Doodling is meditation, creative meditation, and if it doesn't happen for at 30 minutes I don't feel like I get the true value from it. I need at least that long to get where I want to go physically and mentally. Based on this new knowledge, I'm working on getting back into the Doodle groove and indulging when I know I have the time, or need to MAKE the time given the energy in my body, to do it in a way that is fulfilling for me.

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