How a simple candle changed my productivity....

Mmmmmm, do you smell that? It's fresh baked cookies rising. The whole room is warm and safe.

Today is all about smells! I have always been very aware and effected by my senses and surely smell is not left out! This Gemini sun with a Taurus moon is all about aroma!

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I have always been aware how a favorite smell might put me in a good mood. I had just brought home two WONDERFUL smelling candles that I snagged from my local craft store. One of which was Peppermint and the other was Christmas Tree.

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I lit the Christmas Tree candle as I sat down to work on some recent commissions yesterday. As the room started to fill with the amazing aroma I melted into my work. It created such a perfect atmosphere to work in. I worked practically non-stop for HOURS on end. 

           This candle made me less restless and enhanced my focus and concentration by relaxing me. I realized that not only did the candle enhance my mood it enhanced my creativity and resources to express it in the way that I wanted. I never thought something so simple as a candle could help me be so productive!

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Here are some of my personal FAVORITE SMELLS!

1. Lavender - My mother always had lavender around when I was growing up. I love it.

2. Books - The smell of a new book or a dusty old one, I turn the pages and smile in the scents.

3. Rain - Fresh rain is my absolute favorite smell. 

4. Fresh Paint - As an artist whenever I smell any type of paint I am immediately happy.

5. My boyfriend natural smell - sounds a little creepy but it's true I am attracted to his scent.

If lovely smells can change me so greatly, how about bad odors? As easily as I am effected by my favorite aromas the same is true for ugly ones. I can easily become nauseous by just one smell of something foul. You can't always avoid bad smells though so how do you think it changes your day when you are forced to come in contact with one?

My nose is crinkling just thinking about my LEAST FAVORITE SMELLS!

1. Skunk - It doesn't make me gag but I quickly receive headaches after smelling a skunk.

2. Cigarettes - As an ex smoker I am shocked to see how harshly I am effected by this aroma. PEW!

3.Moldy Food - One sniffy of moldy food and you'll find me gagging.

4. Vomit - As I get older my sensitivity to this smell is getting better but it still isn't pleasant

5. Port-o-potties - I mean it's obvious why I wouldn't like this.

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Most of these are everyone's least favorite smells but it's interesting how I can tell I am effected so easily. Simply glancing at the list of my favorite smells and then at the least favorite smells my body language shifts. Even in my seat in front of my laptop. 

(One of my favorite author's Gretchen Rubin explaining aromas in her life)

Well what do I do now that I am more aware of how aromas effect me and my moods? I have started with permanently having a wonderful candle in my art studio at all times. I have also placed a few more in other rooms of the house. I was careful to make sure that the ones I placed in other rooms were liked by my loved ones. I wouldn't want one of my favorite smells to be one of their worst! 

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Lastly I have decided to carry a tiny bag of Lavender in my purse with me all the time. If I am ever in a situation where I am driving and pass a dead skunk, or walk down a street and get a face full of cigarette smoke, I will be able to wash it away with something I love!

(Here is a fun video from YouTube stars trying foods and smelling others at the same time!)

What are some of your favorite smells? Do you have any in common? Are you as effected by smells as myself? Let me know in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe with the blue button on the top right of the blogs! I hope the rest of your day is a perfect as the smell of roses!

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Vintage 80s Scratch and Sniff Smelly Stickers Sticker by - ModerneMe

Song of the Day:

The Gallows Trailer Song - Smells Like Teen Spirit Cover

Color of the Day:

Sailor's Delight

How to turn your dream into a color scheme - Week 3

Happy Friday! It time again for another Dream Scheme Friday! Every Friday I take a dream that I have had recently or from a past dream journal and I turn it into a color scheme. I always have so much fun with my blog on Fridays so let's just get right into it! 

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I have really been lacking in the dream department lately which is very unlike me! So let us once again dive deep into my past and open a dream journal to see a dream I had a year ago. This was written in my dream journal on

March 20, 2014

              I was in a school and late for class. I fumbled through my books and things in my hands and locker to find something important like a binder so I could make it to class. I knew i was already too late but I hustled to get there anyway. I stepped inside the classroom that was small with everyone at their desks. The teacher calmly turned toward me it seemed he was expecting this to happen. I stopped & he said, "I wouldn't even bother going any further, it's useless. The building is on fire." Then he smiles still calm and looked to the back of the room in the corner desk their was a candle that had caught the desk on fire. Everyone else looked and when they noticed the candle the room turned into a madhouse. People shoved past me in the doorway and I didn't understand why someone didn't try to put it out for the fire was certainly still containable.

After most everyone made their way out, I did the same....things got fuzzy & I was trying to find my way out of the building. The hallways were all now dangerously aflame and every way I turned I was in harm. Next thing I know I am in a hallway where both sides are completely blocked with fire. I stood & turned toward an entire wall of glass windows. On the outside were all my classmates peering in at me in danger. Someone else was trapped with me but I never saw their face and they always stayed directly behind me. 

A girl from outside came to the window and began trying to break the window with her forehead. It looked insane but after a few tries she managed to break the glass enough for me to kick the rest of it through and create a whole to climb to safety. The most vivid part of the dream was when I reached my freedom it was my favorite weather. It was gloomy and sprinkling rain. I was walking on a sidewalk and looking down at the drops fall and feeling the cold water hit my body and I felt still and calm. That was the end.

This was one of my longer dreams and I felt it was harder to make a color scheme that wasn't all just fire colors but here it is! Each color represents a certain part of the dream or feeling the dream gave me. The first there colors obviously represents the flames from the fire but I wanted to make sure I had a very burnt red and orange and not neon bright colors. The dream fell like fall or damp even for there being fires. The fourth color grey is a very general middle grey to represent the lockers and normal school inside. The fifth color of a grey-brown was from the feeling I got from the being behind me that followed me but I never knew who it was. Lastly the sixth and final color of navy blue is for the calming sensation I felt with the rain hitting me and the weather being so dreary but comforting.

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This is something anyone can do! Write down your dream and create a color scheme from it. Use it to make a meaningful painting for your bedroom or to pick out your outfit for the day. I believe we have dreams to guide us and show us things that are hiding in our subconscious. This is just one way to use the wonderful information your mind has given to you while asleep. 

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Well there you have it! Another week, another color scheme. How are you guys enjoying it? Has anyone had any dreams that they have written down lately? Have you tried this yourself? Let me know in the comments below and maybe I can make a color scheme of one of your dreams! Don't forget to subscribe and everyone have a wonderfully inspiring day!

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo
Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

SHAMANIC DREAMS CANDLE by- ScentualGoddess

Song of the Day:
Gavin DeGraw - Fire

Color of the Day:

Blush Pink