Happy International Colour Day!

March 21 is International Colour Day. Who knew?

It's not a coincidence that International Colour Day corresponds with the equinox – aequus (equal) + nox (night). Around this date, day and night are equally long, symbolically juxtaposing the complementary nature of light and dark, illumination and shadow that are expressed in all cultures and in color.

Here are five fun and easy ways to celebrate International Colour Day and the beginning of spring - my favorite season.

1. Buy yourself a bouquet of flowers. My favorites for spring are tulips and daffodils.
2. Peruse the glassybaby website.
3. Google "color" and see what awesome images come up.
4. Sign up for The Color Run aka "The Happiest 5K on the Planet." Sofia and I are doing it together in Seattle on Mother's Day again this year.
5. Follow my color guru, Leatrice Eiseman, on Facebook for a daily does of color from the world's leading expert on color.

Leave a comment below and let me know how you are celebrating color/colour today!

Have a great week friends.

xoxo,

Amy

A Colorful Thank You

On Friday night, I hosted a thank you party for my Color Riders Obliteride team at the beautiful glassybaby studio in Madrona. It was a fun, colorful and emotional evening celebrating our team's success and remembering loved ones and the reason we ride: to end cancer! It was a very special evening with my closest friends from childhood all the way through to new friends I recently met through Obliteride. I never wanted to be part of the "cancer club" but I am so appreciative of the love and support I've received from everyone.

Remembering my friend Scott who lost his battle in January. I miss him every day.

I don't think there was a dry eye in the house as we listened to personal cancer stories.

My best friend since first grade, Lara, describes her recent treatment for breast cancer and encourages all women to get their mammograms.

And in true Lara fashion, she had everyone laughing (through tears) by the end of it.

 

 

Thank you to glassybaby for generously donating this beautiful event space. It's a fabulous place to have an event. I hope to be back with an even bigger team next year!

And thank you again to all my teammates, friends, family, donors and supporters. You are my tribe!

Xoxo,

Amy

P.S. Shameless plug: next year's ride is Aug. 9. Mark your calendar now so you don't miss out on all of the fun!

Just Because

 

"Just because" gifts are simply the best! I came home last night after a lovely dinner out with girlfriends (work colleagues from my first job who I have kept in touch with for 20+ years!) to a very excited 6-year-old who was too giddy with excitement to go to sleep. She was excited because she and Geoff got me a "just because" gift and she couldn't wait to give it to me. She got out of bed and pulled this fabulous red box out from under her desk, and I couldn't wait to open it. For anything from Jonathan Adler is sure to delight. And delight it did.

Sofia specially selected each of these Pop Highball Glasses. They remind me of glassybaby, of course, and they are such practical, yet whimsical, water glasses. Not only do I appreciate Geoff and Sofia's thoughtfulness immensely, but I just loved seeing how much Sofia delighted in giving.

My mom always told me "It's better to give than receive." I didn't fully appreciate that concept until I was an adult. Maybe Sofia is "getting it" sooner than I did. I sure hope so. For there's nothing so delightful as giving something you know will make someone so happy. And what better reason than "just because...."

Happy weekend friends. Hope it's colorful and delightful.

xoxo,

Amy

Too Pretty Not to Share

I had tea today with my friend Mary (who is the Giving Manager at glassybaby; cool job huh?!). This gorgeous little gem was on the table in the cafe where we met. It caught my attention and almost took my breath away -- it is so pretty. Take a close look at the colors and texture. It's as if the glassybaby was made just for this succulent. 

Now that I look closer at the whole picture, all of the colors are absolutely stunning. I thought it was too pretty not to share! I hope you enjoy it too.

xoxo.

Amy

Crushing on glassybaby

How cool is it that I get to work on an amazing project with the signature color orange, its mission is to obliterate cancer, and they just launched a partnership with glassybaby? Lucky me!!

As you likely know, I have had a huge crush on glassybaby for a long time! Now I have a gigantic crush! Yesterday we announced that glassybaby has created a new color called 'crush' for Obliteride. And guess what? It's a beautiful, vivid orange! 

glassybaby is donating 10% of each 'crush' purchase between now and the end of August to Obliteride to fund the insanely-amazing cancer research at Fred Hutch. My first glassybaby was given to me by Gretchen Mathers, a Seattle culinary icon and business leader, friend of glassybaby founder Lee Rhodes, and an amazing woman who I was related to through marriage. Again - lucky me. Gretchen was truly amazing. She lost her battle with cancer six years ago. She is dearly missed. I still think of Gret when I light an orange Seattle Sunset glassybaby. They are powerful little vessels of hope, I tell you!

Anyway, I stopped by the glassybaby shop at University Village yesterday to see 'crush' up close and to snap a few pictures. Isn't it a gorgeous color? Enjoy!

Now for the shameless plug!

Please join the community to 'crush" cancer. Purchase 'crush" online or at a glassybaby retail shop in Seattle or Bellevue.

Thank you friends and thank you glassybaby for bringing more light, warmth and hope to the world!

 xoxo.

Things I Love in February

 

I've said it before, I love decorating my house for Valentine's Day - in a tasteful way, of course! I always start by hanging a wreath on my front door. This one, above, I made many years ago. This year I updated it with some new ribbon and it feels like new! I love it.

I keep this twig heart wreath on my front porch year-around and change out the ribbon seasonally.

Next, I hang this heart garland in my kitchen window. I also made this many years ago and it continues to be one of me favorites.

Volunteer Park Cafe makes the most darling Valentine's cookies. Don't you think?

And last but certainly not least, red and pink glassybaby on my mantel!

Smooch!

Photo: glassybaby "smooch"

 

 

What do you love in February, besides your sweetheart?!

 

 

 

 





 



Inspiration is Everywhere

I'm not typically a do-it-yourselfer! That might surprise some of you because I do love artsy, crafty, colorful, beautiful, handmade things. But I'm too much of a perfectionist so I usually rely on "experts" to make these items. But when I inquired about the beautiful glassybaby window display in their University Village shop a couple of weeks ago, I was intrigued by the inspiration behind it.

The saleswoman went behind the desk and pulled out this melted crayon art and told me that the woman who does their window displays used it for inspiration. I was further intrigued, because I have seen this "art" floating around Pinterest for awhile now. It was one of the original pins on my "For the Love of Color" Pinterest board. I realized that inspiration is everywhere! And I thought it would be a fun project for Sofia and me to try, and to match up our glassybaby collection accordingly. I found this blog, with "instructions" and we tried it out yesterday.

We started with a box of 64 Crayola crayons! Sofia arranged them in a slightly different color scheme than the original version...

A key step that was missing from the instructional blog was gluing the crayons to the poster board, so I'm including this important step here.

We let them dry for a couple of hours to ensure they stayed in place.

With the crayons secured in place, we are ready to... (does Sofia look excited? Boy, was she!)

Get out the hair dryer, turn it on high and let the melting begin! It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be and the colors ended up splattering more than I expected, but we kept at it and watched the colors melt, splatter, stream, and blend.

It ended up being more of an science experiment and a letting go process for me (remember, I am a perfectionist!). I had a moment where I thought, "this is really art!" It is free-form unpredictable. It didn't turn out how I expected but it was really fun and Sofia was thrilled!

Sofia took these pictures, which in themselves are art!

She loved smearing the melted crayons around!

And the final step was matching our glassybaby colors, just like the original! What do you think?!

Thank you, once again, glassybaby for the colorful inspiration!

Where do you get your inspiration?

Where Inspiration Leads

glassybaby founder and 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year Lee Rhodes

I had breakfast with 100 inspiring women this morning, including one extra special, inspiring woman, Lee Rhodes, founder of glassybaby! Lee shared the story of how she became an accidental entrepreneur at the Women’s Business Exchange (WBE) monthly breakfast today. I know her story and I love glassybaby so I invited several friends, and even a reporter from the Seattle Times, to come and hear it firsthand and to meet the colorful creator of this wonderful product that brings so much light and hope to people around the world.

the comforting glow of my glassybaby collection.

Lee emphasized that the idea for glassybaby was practically an accident that came about while she was fighting cancer. She dropped a tea light into a glass votive her husband had blown and the simple combination of color and light was so inspiring to her and those around her that the idea took off. She said the color and flickering light had a profound, instant and undeniable effect on everyone who saw it.

To this day, that emotional response that people have to glassybaby is what has driven the company’s success. And now I more fully understand why I love glassybaby so much. I have a visceral, emotional response to not only the color and flickering light but also the story of how the company gives back to nonprofit organizations ($925,000 to date), employs local artists and seeks to bring more light, kindness and happiness to the world.    

From left to right: Elizabeth Roberts, Lee Rhodes, me and Lara Anderson - we are a colorful bunch!

WBE's tagline is "where inspiration leads," which was especially fitting today, although I am always inspired after attending one of their events. This morning I was thrilled to host a table of amazing, inspiring, creative, beautiful, entrepreneurial women representing several facets of my life. From my best friend from childhood, Lara Anderson, whose new innovative home décor product line was inspired by glassybaby's business model, to Elizabeth Roberts, founder and creative director at Wraphabillement, to my dear friend Eliza Kelly from my high tech days and also a childhood friend of my husband (talk about small world!), to my next door neighbor, Laura Gardner, an architect, and a couple of new friends, Graciela Rutkowski, an interior designer, and Lauren Burman of Material Good.  And, last but not least it was a big treat to introduce Seattle Times columnist Nicole Brodeur to WBE.

Each of these women is doing different things but all share a passion for supporting and elevating women, bringing more beauty to our lives and doing business in a more responsible way. I invite you to visit their websites to learn more about each of their stories. I promise you will be inspired!

Fresh green, yellow, blue and white glassybaby lit up the tables at the breakfast.

Sometimes I get teased about my obession with color and my crush on glassybaby. But that’s ok because I truly believe they both have the power to connect people in a unique and positive way. As Lee pointed out this morning, everyone is touched by cancer in some way. And I believe we are all touched by color too, even if we don't realize it. If these tiny vessels can bring hope and joy to people touched by cancer and support organizations working towards a cure, then I am proud to continue spreading the word about the power of glassybaby to bring comfort, peace and hope to our world.

"Evelyn" glassybaby sold at Nordstrom.

And to wrap my morning up into a pretty bow, after the breakfast I stopped by the Estee Lauder counter at Nordstrom only to found out that they are selling the "Evelyn" glassybaby in honor or Evelyn Lauder, with 10% of each sale going to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation that Mrs. Lauder started. I have been a lifetime customer of Estee Lauder (yes, that's my secret, hah!) and I was thrilled to see the lovely pink glassybaby at Nordstrom today.

Thank you Lee, WBE and all of the inspiring women who joined me bright and early this morning! You made my day!

Colorfully,

Amy

Related posts:

Mission Possible

Beyond Honored

Smooch!

Joy! Joy! Joy!

Fleurs Rose

A Colorful Day

Sweet, Mysterious Violet

Bee-lieve!

Life is in the Details

Happy Valentine’s Day friends!

Yesterday we hosted a Valentine’s tea party for 14 little girls. Sofia (4 ½) came up with the idea for the party all on her own, which she reminded me of many times as we were negotiating every last detail of the party, down to which heart wreath would go on the front door! As we were planning the party, I realized that one of the things I love most about entertaining is the details. And it is also one of the things I love most about life in general – it’s all in the pretty little details.

My mantra for the party, which I had to share with Sofia several times as her plans started to get bigger and bigger, was “it’s not about spending a lot of money, it’s about spending time with friends.” This meant we re-used decorations we had, borrowed tea cups and tea pots, and didn’t buy a new dress, which she wanted to do! We did “splurge” on paper invitations because she balked at my idea of sending an evite. I love stationery and usually it would be my preference too but I was trying to keep things simple. I’m glad she insisted on “real” invitations and all the other details she came up with.

Here I share some of the special details that made this party so much fun to plan and host.

If you would like to see more pictures from this special party, click here.

Xoxo,

Amy