Personal Creations Review

November 1, 2012 By

 

photo provided by Personal Creations

I love our “new” home. I still refer to it as “new” even though we have lived in it for over 4 years. But we haven’t fully decorated the walls yet. My husband has painted most of the rooms, but we are still putting our personal touches on it. And I have several neighbors that have really done a beautiful job of making their homes personal and welcoming. (which makes me a little jealous of their design aesthetics.)

So when I was given the chance to order something from Personal Creations I jumped at it. I ordered the Embossed Metal Tile in Black and it fits perfectly in our Kitchen. I love the Shabby Chic look of it; all pressed metal with our family initial in the center and our last name printed below that.

Ever since I was a teenager going to high school in an former Catholic boarding school which was covered in painted pressed tin, I have been in love with it. I wanted to do our kitchen ceiling in pressed tin, but my husband is not as in love with it as I am. Enough said. That is why I love the Embossed Metal Tile from Personal Creations. It reminds me of that elegant pressed tin but this one harbors a personal touch, which makes it all the more special.

Photo provided by Personal Creations

Personal Creations had some other amazingly beautiful options such as the Wine Inspired Photography Framed Print, Love Defined Print and the Stemless Wine Glasses. All of these would make wonderful gifts for a bridal shower or anniversary. And Personal Creations also has some adorable Christmas ornaments and stockings that you can personalize with your family members names. My Embossed Metal Tile arrived quickly and I hung it the same afternoon.

Photo provided by Personal Creations

Photo provided by Personal Creations

I was given the chance to review a complimentary product from Personalcreations.com, all views are my own.

 

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Lemons And Lavender Eco Guide

October 26, 2012 By

I think Billee Sharp, the author of Lemons and Lavender, an eco guide to better homekeeping, and I must be kindred spirits. I love her attitude about living a good life. She really speaks to several issues I have been struggling with in the recent past and offers tons of ideas on how to live a fulfilled life.

Lemons and Lavender covers everything an eco guide should such as approaching your finances with an eye to being frugal for the sake of the planet and yourself. She urges you to consider your health and how to keep yourself in peak performance, she asks you to look at your belonging differently so that we don’t just keep throwing things away. She offers tips to keeping your house eco friendly, clean and in good repair. She even tells you how to grow your own veggies and gives you recipes to make basics at home instead of purchasing them outside the home and producing more waste.

I started highlighting ideas and passages from the book almost immediately. Some of the ideas are basic, but often we just need a reminder or a little nudge to do them. Like making an inventory of our pantry or participating in meatless Mondays. I love her thoughts on keeping yourself healthy, using basic but effective products, and she even offers recipes for a Detox Bath, Scrumptious Skin Scrub and a Sea Salt Bath. Her section on Kitchen Cabinet Cures is thoroughly covered in my orange highlighter. I was particularly interested in her Herbal Tea remedies and Essential Oils for Health. I actually just mixed up an essential oil rub for my father to try on his arthritis! I keep them handy since I make my own perfume. Since I have a lavender plant outside, and the weather is starting to turn colder, I plan on using her advice and making a lavender tincture. Who knew? Right.

Lemons and Lavender has pushed me to look at things differently, once again. I strive to have that good life she talks about. Obviously no one can implement every single idea offered in Lemons and Lavender immediately and all at once, but by making small changes until they become habits, we can all make a big difference.

Lemons and Lavender was provided to me free of charge. All opinions are my own.

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Halloween UNREAL Candy

October 24, 2012 By

Halloween UNREAL

Halloween has got to be my favorite holiday ever! I love dressing up and all the cool decoration, but truth be told I don’t love all the “treats”. Have you really read what is in your kids’ Halloween candy? It scares the *&(%$ out of me. Yes, I’m that mom. The one that inspects everything the kids get and often replaces it with her own “treats”. I have to do that anyway since the boy are GFCF, but wouldn’t it be nice if one day you opened up your kids trick or treat bag and saw UNREAL candy in there instead of those chemical laden other things?

Well last night my husband checked our front porch just to make sure the delivery guy didn’t leave anything out there without ringing our bell, and low and behold, there was a package. It was a great big box of UNREAL Halloween treats for us. I was so stoked because I really like UNREAL. I love their idea of removing all that artificial stuff from their products such as GMOs, Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated stuff. They use REAL ingredients and then they put those products in accessible stores so everyone can get them. So everyone has a choice. They keep them at the same price point as all those other candy companies, but they don’t rely on junk to make their products. Instead they make them with REAL ingredients and then they do crazy stuff like make them higher in fiber too.

So UNREAL is going to be what we are handing out this year. How about you? Do you think you can make the choice to hand out candy that is made with REAL ingredients? Maybe you can choose to send UNREAL in for your children’s Halloween party? Or just keep UNREAL on hand when you want a candy snack. Wouldn’t that make you feel better? I know it makes me a lot happier. I am so proud of UNREAL for doing what they are doing. Showing us that a company can have a heart, can produce yummy candy, have a conscience, AND still stay profitable. I love UNREAL. How about you?

UNREAL sent me a surprise Halloween treat with their compliments.

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Find Your Purpose Master Your Path Book Review

October 23, 2012 By

Photo provided by Huna.com

Years ago I had, what I call, a close encounter with God. I believe God gave me the gift of His Grace and it was so wonderful and fulfilling. Some people may call this enlightenment or being connected with your higher self, for me it was simply God’s Grace. When I was in this state of Grace everything flowed easily, I was at peace with myself and with my world. Things naturally seemed to work out for me and I knew that all was right in my world. This lasted for about 4 months and then gradually I lost my ability to see things in the same way.

I have always wanted to get that feeling, that “being”, back. It was so magical and pure, and life was really easy when I was in that place. For me, achieving that Pono (the feeling that only occurs when your actions are in alignment with conscious, unconscious, and higher self (page 6 of Find Your Purpose Master Your Path)) came when I was willing to turn my power over to God and just be.

Matthew James, author of Find Your Purpose Master Your Path, has made a life out of helping people learn to reach the same state that I call Grace. In his first book in his series, James focuses on explaining how to begin to “live authentic lives, feeling fully aligned with who we are and connected to our purpose.” (pg 10) He explains the Five Basic Assumptions and how to examine them in your own life. These Five Basic Assumptions really spoke to me, as the mother of a child with a special need, because so much of how I perceive the world is wrapped in the blanket of autism.

I was fascinated by his explanations of the the Conscious Mind, Persona and Ego. I am looking forward to reading his next two books which will discuss what Jung called The Shadow and how to Connect with the Higher Self. Find Your Purpose Master Your Path has a lot of useful information and many exploratory exercises, but sometimes I wish I had an email for Dr. James so I could explore certain points more fully with him. I hope to find even more direction and action in the next two books to help me put these ideas together into a working and living plan.

Dr. James has expertise in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and I would be very interested to hear his opinions on the struggles autism parents face. Recently the idea of PTSD being something that parents of autistic children struggle with makes me curious as to how Dr. James may help us to pursue peace within ourselves. Find Your Purpose Master Your Path has helped me to open up to seeing myself differently and hopefully to finding Grace again.

 

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