Another new year is upon us – welcome 2016. 
So…..any resolutions for this year?
I resolve to ignore resolutions and live life with balance.
EAT MORE CAKE!
‘Cake’ being code for what makes you happy.
Life should be happy!
Find more love, 
Spend time with your BFF’s, 
Let pent up emotions go. Chill out. 
Find beauty in simple things, 
Take time to reflect, 
And definitely take time to eat cake! 
All images created and photographed by MODMISSY
Welcome 2015!
A brand new year is upon us. Fresh and full of opportunities.
Anything and everything lies ahead. It’s exciting!
So instead of writing about binding New Year resolutions I thought the year should be about encouragement and breaking free or as Ralph Waldo Emerson remarked, 
Be unique. Create your own. 
Climb great heights, 
Reach for the top, 
Make your space sing with colour – choose a colour that’s outside your comfort zone, 
After all, 2 of the industry leaders in the world of colour, Pantone and Benjamin Moore, announced their Colour of the Year 2015 – total opposites on the colour wheel. So anything goes! 
Find your balance, 
Take time to smell the roses, 
Find your happy! (a ’66 Chevy Impala) 
But honestly, at the end of the day it’s all about finding your peace, 
Here’s hoping that 2015 is a stellar year.
Cheers!
All images via MODMISSY
“What’s in a name?”
That iconic question asked by many.
But none so famous as that asked by Shakespeare’s Juliet when it came to her lover Romeo,
“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name;”
A conundrum for sure as the name meant (spoiler alert!) death for the star-crossed lovers.
Names are important.
Just as Juliet asked, “that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet?” would a name of an item influence your choice or sway your decision?
The reason I ask is that while flipping through a recent Sears® catalogue I found it interesting the names now used for colour choices of décor items such as furniture, linens and drapery.
(Boring) beige is now named Moon Rock, Bamboo Beige and Shiitake Mushroom conjuring up something more contemporary. 
(Mundane) grey has been pumped up to Volcanic Grey, Molten Lead and Fossil Grey. Feel the excitement!? 
(Blah) brown is now Earth and Dark Fudge. Sound yummier? 
(Stale) green has become Shale Green and Smokey Sage. Sexier?
Even the automotive icon, Porsche® known for its truly distinctive design and breathtaking dynamics has given emotional impact to yellow with the 2014 colour option Racing Yellow. 
Can’t you just feel the race-inspired colour philosophy!?
Got me swooning!
All images designed my Modmissy
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These are my ‘carved’ pumpkins. Enjoy your day!
Images via MODMISSY
Remember when I recently said a sad welcome to summer?
Weird I know.
But my thinking was the longer I have to wait for summer the longer summer will feel.
My case in point, “where did summer go?”
Summer in all its glory with so many wonderful moments…..
Watching the sunrise,
Being one with nature, 
Spotting in the back of the ski boat, 
Admiring the scenery, 
Relaxing in the backyard, 
Enjoying long bike rides, 
All these wonderful moments are but distant memories now.
But oh well……autumn does have glorious colour like the view out my kitchen window.
All images via MODMISSY
Last summer I wrote about being inspired by a pillow I saw in the July issue of Canadian House and Home magazine and decided to design and sew my own version. I wanted my pillow in neutral colours to match the cottage décor so I used linen and canvas. See here. 
This summer, my son requested a Canada Flag pillow for his bed at university – in the “true north and strong” colours.
So I started with this, 
And cut and sewed, 
And ended up with this, 
I frayed the edges, 
And used a striped fabric for the backing, 
Love it! And my son is thrilled.
All images via Modmissy
In my Junior High years (grade 7 and 8) my school principal decided to try out a new method of teaching/learning and used my class for the experiment. We were his lab rats!
Needless to say I did not learn much in those 2 very crucial years. (The principal was fired soon after!)
But for all negatives there is a positive and the silver lining here was that my school thought it would be useful for us teens to learn some life skills.
So we were bused one afternoon a week to another school that had facilities to teach us in ‘home ec’ and woodworking.
Home ec (as in home economics) taught us how to cook and sew.
And the woodworking class taught us how to use tools and build things.
I eventually learned what an adjective was and how to do fractions, finished high school and went on to higher learning but those life skills I was taught in grade 7 and 8 have been invaluable.
And well used.
Cooking is something I do on a daily basis with rave reviews from the family.
And I always have a sewing project on the go.
My sewing projects are usually quite basic but I do turn out some good results. I have sewn a million cushion covers over the years and if you’ve ever been to a fabric store you may understand how fabulous fabrics have a way of following you out the store and inspiring sewing projects. I recently fell in love with this colourful ‘mod’ fabric, 
and thought the fabric would be the perfect accompaniment to my retro bedside lamps.
Apparently everyone at university is ‘Irish’ and celebrates St Patrick’s Day in a big way so this past March my son requested a pair of ‘celebratory’ pants to be sewn by his obliging Mother.
Three yards of this, 
Produced these, 
A big hit with all the St Patty’s Day revellers.
I even got orders for next year! NOT!
My woodworking skills have been used much less. Although I did produce my initials in woodworking class and have kept them all these years as a reminder that I can indeed build things, 
Instead I married a man whose building skills far outweigh mine and we decided early in the relationship that I was a better cook/sewer and he was a better builder.
That’s fine by me.
Cheers!
All images via Modmissy
Happy Canada Day – (belated) to my Canadian readers!
And Happy Independence Day to my American readers!
Celebrate! 
The first day of summer begins tomorrow.
Yippeeeee!
Although at the same time I am very sad. Boohoooo!
Weird right?
Here’s my thinking.
Even though this past winter was a very long, cold, snowy one it was ok for me. As I explained, it might have been freezing and snowy but it was sunny almost every day, and who doesn’t love the sun plus having a warm winter coat and good snow tires made it even more acceptable. I was almost sad to see winter go.
So now winter is gone, spring just finished and summer is here.
But summer is so short and goes too quickly – and then its winter again!
So if winter was long it meant summer was longer away.
Understand?
So here’s to slowly savouring a summer of lasting wonderfulness.
Enjoy! 
Image design by Modmissy
Yesterday was Mother’s Day – a day of celebration worldwide.
While being a Mother is the most important job it is also the world’s toughest job.
The job requires excellent negotiation and interpersonal skills.
Ability to wear many hats – degree in medicine, finance and the culinary arts.
Work in a chaotic environment while keeping up a happy disposition.
This is an all-encompassing position. Working 24 hours a day 365 days a year. No breaks, no holidays.
And by the way there is no monetary payment.
But it is the best job!
Yesterday my son surprised me with brunch at the water’s edge.
My #1 set up a bistro table and 2 chairs complete with tablecloth and glass plates at Lake Ontario overlooking the Toronto skyline which by the way is the location where I shot the photo for my blog headline picture.
The view was sensational, the menu was delish, and the company was perfect! 
To all the Mothers worldwide I say thank you.
MODMISSY 