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The Passionate Voice

Saturday Morning Inspiration

April 21, 2018 • Inspiration

Happy sunny, Saturday friends! That’s if you’re in Ontario I guess but if you’re like me, you are SO freakin’ happy it is sunny and warm. This delayed Spring has been so hard to deal with but I think it is safe to say that Spring may finally be here to stay.

Before I spend the rest of the day outside enjoying this fresh air, I had some creative juice to get out this morning. So to my computer I went to write…

I don’t know about you, but I always need to be in a creative mood to write. We all need something to stimulate us. And while I’ve been bad here on the ol’ blog of only blogging when that creative spirit is in full force, I’m continually reminded of this message:

Writing is like a muscle, you must work at it to get stronger.

One thing I’ve tried to do in the last little while is create habits around fostering creativity especially around my writing deadlines. For anyone who designs, wordsmiths, brainstorms or works in the creative/marketing/communications field, we all know that being in a creative mood helps to make the words and ideas flow easier. Or a glass of wine or rye always helps too 😉

And of course when deadlines are impending, that is when creativity usually decides to take a hike.

That’s when habits come in to handy.

One of these habits I’ve been trying lately is creating ‘mood boards’ to help me visually get into the creative spirit. Sourcing photos from fellow bloggers, things I find online or social and capturing my own photos has certainly helped me at referring back to these mood boards whenever I’m in a rut and need inspiration. You could also call these vision boards. Here is an example below of the cottage vision board I created when I knew I’d be tasked with the interior design for our little cotty 🙂

I had mentioned this idea of mood boards/vision boards to a colleague a while ago and she loved this idea and asked that I share an example here on the blog. So voila, here is a spring mood board above I created just this week that may help inspire you as well, like it has for me this morning.

Let’s be serious though, just waking up to this sun and warmer temps this morning was enough inspiration itself. Thank you Spring for making your very late entrance to the party, regardless, we are so happy to see you!

{tulips/robins eggs/split leaf philodendron/coffee/wisdom begins in wonder}

Leave a Comment Inspiration 2018, Blog452, Christina Crowley-Arklie, Communication, Cottage, Creative Juices, Creativity, Deadlines, Inspiration, Interior Design, Magnolia Journal, Mood Board, Passionate Voice, Spring, The Passionate Voice, Unsplash, Vision Board, Writing

The Sunday 7

January 14, 2018 • Lifestyle

  1. I spent two days this week in Toronto and I was reminded of how much I love the hustle and bustle of the city. Of course, its easier to say that when I’m not working there full-time but there really is something so intoxicating – the energy, the ideas, the inspiration.
  2. I’m crushing hard on these high back dining room chairs for the cottage.
  3. Adding some Italian Ruscus greenery in the house this week has made so much of a difference, reminding me on the coldest days that spring will one day (soon) be here :S
  4. I devoured this series after seeing all the Golden Globe wins and hype for the show. Let’s just say, its some captivating TV that is hard to stop watching.
  5. Still trying to figure out what your goals are for 2018 or how you’re going to execute on them? I watched this video by the motivating thought leader Robin Sharma, whose message “Until you personally believe that you can achieve a goal, you won’t even start the process of making it happen” so resonated with me.
  6. I am a huge font fan.. I seriously fan girl over beautiful fonts that I stumble upon on blogs and the internet. This ‘Pretty Pen’ font was one I recently found that I am absolutely love.
  7. A few days at home on the farm this past weekend led to a night of some of the best conversation and drinks (rye of course!) with the fam. We joked that at 3am, you can solve a lot of the world’s problems (or at least have fun TRYING to solve them :P). There is truly nothing better than family. They’re your people.. and they just get you.
[Photo Source]

Leave a Comment Lifestyle 2018, 2018 Goals, Big Little Lies, Blog452, Business, Career, Christina Crowley-Arklie, Dairy Farm, Dining Room Chairs, Discover Ontario, Family, Font, Goals, Greenery, Hastings, Hustle, Interior Design, Italian Ruscus, Life, Passionate Voice, Robin Sharma, Sunday 7, The Passionate Voice, The Sunday 7, Toronto, Travel, Travelling

The Sunday 7

December 17, 2017 • Lifestyle

Inspired by Interior designer and blogger Shea McGee at Studio McGee, I’ve followed suit and started my own ‘Sunday 7’ series here on the blog. Shea was the keynote at the Blog Podium conference I attended in Toronto this past September. This series can be a fun a way to capture all of the random work + play items-articles-happenings-design inspiration-photos-thoughts that spark my interest.

Hope you enjoy!

  1. Loving this DIY calligraphy wrapping paper that may look ah-mazing all year round, not just under the Christmas tree.
  2. If you are in need of some of the cutest cards and prints, check out local Ontario gal Sarah’s Etsy shop, ‘Sweet Simplicity Paper Co.’
  3. I ordered matching beanies for Blake and I from Muskoka Baby, a Muskoka mom making handmade and fashionable baby products and accessories!
  4. If you haven’t yet read about 94-year old tweeter Harry Leslie Smith, do yourself a favour and read this fascinating article about him.
  5. My family and I visited the Toronto Christmas Market for the first time together this weekend, in the well-known distillery district. What a beautiful way to celebrate Christmas and take in the historic buildings in a beautiful setting. Oh and it was my first time trying mulled wine (so good!). I’ll be trying my hand at  making mulled wine over the holidays with this recipe.
  6. We are heading west this week to visit the in-laws in Manitoba for Christmas. You’ll be able to find me in the quiet countryside, cozied up with a new good read and browsing (for hours) in my favourite little shop, Pineridge Hollow.
  7. The first major snowfall this weekend at home on the farm was so peaceful and calming. You could tell even Duke our farm dog enjoyed the new blanket of snow. I was able to write a blog post about this welcomed ‘quietness’ that the snow brings, I’ll be sharing next week!

[Photo Source]

2 Comments Lifestyle 2017, Agriculture, Baby, Blog452, Cards, Christina Crowley-Arklie, Christmas Market, Christmas Paper, Country, Dairy Farm, Dairy Farming, Distillery District, DIY, Dog, Farm, Farming, Food for Thought, Hastings, Interior Design, Life, Manitoba, Motherhood, Mulled Wine, Parenthood, Passionate Voice, Prints, Rural Ontario, Shop Local, Snow, Snowfall, Stationary, TCM17, The Passionate Voice, Toronto Christmas Market, Travel, Travelling, Twitter, Wrapping Paper

Weekend Wanderlust

April 11, 2016 • Lifestyle

April 10 Weekend

(1)  I finally made a visit to local flower shop, Sweet Violets Guelph, a little gem in the heart of downtown Guelph. I wanted to bring home everything in the shop…

(2) … So instead of bringing home everything, I settled on my favourite…. succulents and some ivy. They take little TLC to keep living and look beautiful (my kind of plant!)

(3) Whipped up these yummy and quick ‘egg muffs’ (as I like to call them), made with Ontario ham, potatoes (will dill seasoning) topped with an Ontario egg. #WifeWin #Yum

(4) Exploring downtown Guelph also helped me stumble upon these beautiful hand-made pillows at a store called Harmony. May just make the deer head pillow mine soon.

(5) I’m trying to embrace the ‘selfie’ more so shot this one while enjoying the sun out on Saturday in Guelph.

(6) A drive with Andrew over the weekend landed us upon Victoria Park in Kitchener and this beautiful ‘local.’ He was very photogenic!

Leave a Comment Lifestyle Christina Crowley-Arklie, Downtown Guelph, Egg Farmers of Ontario, Egg Recipe, Eggs, Enjoyment, Flower Shop, Guelph, Handmade Pillows, Home Decorating, Home Design, Interior Design, Ivy, Kitchener, Pillows, Relaxing, Saturday, Selfie, Social Media, Succulents, Sunday, Swan, Sweet Violets Guelph, The Passionate Voice, Travel, Victoria Park, Wanderlust, Weekend, Weekend Wanderlust





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