Happiness is a Choice.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Happiness is a choice - I am going to choose to not allow the outside influences of the world affect my mood. I promise you will live a happier life.

The last two weeks I have been through an emotional roller-coaster of getting kicked down by life and getting back up, to only get kicked down again. I consider myself an extremely positive and upbeat personality. Sometimes life gives us bigger lessons than even those of us upbeat positive people can handle.  

Life happens people! Everyday is a blessing and even in the most frustrating situations, the problems you think you are facing, are there for a reason and a lesson is to be learned. Today I hit a breaking point emotionally and I ended up being a cliche chick and having myself a super solo cry session. I cried in my room, then in the shower and then while brushing my teeth. Dramatic much? I think so.

All I know is I got it all out. Crying helped me let all my frustration out in a healthier way then being angry towards loved ones or in unhealthy eating and etc. You know what I did after I cried myself a river....I GOT OVER IT! I sat down and wrote a list of everything I was overwhelmed with and wanted to work out. 

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Seeing everything written down in a list is so freeing and I feel like I have my problems in a tangible and manageable form. Also, when I looked down at the paper and was out of things to write I couldn't believe how little I actually had that was really problems. It is amazing how writing down everything that is jumbled in your brain down on paper can really center you and bring back the focus on what matters.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I have the most wonderful man in my life I could ever ask for. As I am sitting here typing this mush of gush out, there is a vase full of pink flowers and a note to my left. He has noticed how much I have been struggling recently and he got me flowers and wrote me a note about how he is sorry that I had a bad day and that he loves me. 

With Valentine's Day tomorrow, this honestly meant so much more to me. It reminded me that I have someone who loves me enough to go out of his way to make sure that I know I am appreciated and have support just because I needed it and not because of a holiday. It really is the little things in life that we can take for granted and let all of life's crap cloud our vision. We can't forget what really matters and that's always love.

So as I end the day and start another tomorrow I will wake up with the attitude that today is the first day of the rest of my life. I am loved and have abundant happiness. Everything will work out the way it is meant to so long as I stick to my responsibility and trust that the universe has bigger and better things for me to experience everyday. 

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day: 

I love you to the moon and back - quote - ORIGINAL OIL and acrylic PAINTING - 14 x 9 x 1 inches on wood

Song of the Day:

Céline Dion - Love Can Move Mountains

Color of the Day:

 Benjamin Moore's Dalila 319

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 6

OH MY! It is time again for DREAM SCHEME FRIDAY! For those of you who are new, Friday's I take a dream that I have had either recently or from one of my past dream journals and turn it into a color scheme!

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         This week we will be diving into my dream journal and using a dream from my past! It's always fun to look at the dream again and this one I remember pretty vividly even to this day. Although I remember this dream clearly, the way I wrote it in my dream journal was confusing and unnecessarily long. So for the blogs I will be rewording and shortening it as best as I can.  This dream is from:

January 5th, 2006

The dream revolved around this mental challenged younger brother that I had. I started by letting him drive this red car/truck that was the family's and he was either speeding or hit something because he ended up with a ticket. When back at my dad's house trying to explain to him what had happened, my brother Zachary was next to me and a sister that seemed to be around the same age as me, appeared next to me in "support" of my story.

He didn't seem angry so we decided to leave again in the red car. I hear my challenged brother in the back apologizing and begging me to forgive him and let him drive again. He seemed so normal and I always tried to see him no different then anyone else so I allowed it. He jumped into another parked red car and my sister and I were left to watch him start up and immediately bashes into both cars on either side of him.

We could see him panic and then my brain seemed to be intertwined with his and I could feel his thoughts. I turned to my sister and told her he thinks that since he doesn't see any cops he is going to get on the freeway and flee the scene. She told me to follow him but we ended up stuck in traffic and lost him. Then we noticed cop lights going off! I was frustrated because I knew he wouldn't be in trouble but that I would for letting him drive. 

Feeling helpless we went back home to tell our dad. He punches a hole in the wall and screamed at us to go find him and bring him back. Once again my sister and I got back into the red car and started to merge onto the freeway. There were cars everywhere and most had been wrecked. We got out of the car and started walking. Car after car were flipped over and crushed. 

Then we saw the front part of a semi flipped over. We were speechless because there was no one around. Nobody inside or out of the cars. Then we noticed the red car underneath the semi. There was a policeman standing at the back opening of the semi. He explained that he didn't want to open the semi back door afraid what he might find inside. My sister and I climbed inside the semi and found our challenged brother sitting, watching TV and laughing at his favorite show with chocolate all over his hands and face. 

He explained to us that he was in a bad accident and decided to run from home and he was going to live here now. Behind my brother there was a tub of ice cream with some still left in it. I reached my hand in and grabbed a chunk of chocolate and walked out to tell the policeman that he wouldn't come out and that he would have to go in and make him. 

The policeman shook his head. So I entered the semi again and told my brother to stop acting like a child and that I demanded that we were going home right away. Then I awoke. I remember this dream sometimes randomly in my day since I had it. Not too much happens but it was one of the longest and most realistic dreams I have ever had.

              This dream had many different visuals but when remembering it to record for the blog I got the sense of a few colors!  Each color represents a certain part of the dream or feeling the dream gave me. The color scheme works backwards through the dream.

Color 1 - The first color red is pretty obvious that it represents the bright red cars!

Color 2 - The second darker brown color is for the chocolate that was all over my brother's face and hands.

Color 3 - The lighter tan color was a color I felt represented the first conversation I had with my father.

Color 4 - The navy blue is for the policeman uniform and cop cars.

Color 5 - The blue grey is to represents the weather and mood of the crashes.

Color 6 - The final darker grey color  is for the abrupt and unfinished ending of the dream.

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***SIDE NOTE: I had this dream back in 2006. In this dream I have a sister that seemed around my age. A few years later I find out that I did in fact have another sister. We are about 5 years apart and even though I remember this dream so much I had totally forgotten about her being apart of it until reading it again in the journal. Do you think it's a coincidence or did I know her before I knew about her?

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***ANOTHER SIDE NOTE: I often have dreams which include a young mentally challenged boy. I remember meditating once and asking to know the name of a spirit that watches over me or that guides me and one of the little boys from my dreams came into my mind. Then I connected them all together. Until then I had not realized that it was a pattern. Also I heard the name Ben. Something I think about quite often and thought I would share!

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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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That's all for today!   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:

Geometric Wooden Pot — Gold + White by - GwynethHulseDesign

Song of the Day:

Adele - Hello

Color of the Day:

Benjamin Moore HC-69 Whitall Brown

How to turn your dream into a color scheme - Week 4

It 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. Friday's blog always gets me inspired and ready to go into an art-filled weekend. Let's Begin!

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   We are reaching back into the past again to a dream journal entry that I actually can't remember! Almost every single entry I can retrieve the imagery instantly as I read it and it is like I had the dream the night before. There are only a handful of dreams I do not remember and this is one of them. Also the dream stops so abruptly that I thought it was interesting enough for the blog! This was written in my dream journal on

Tuesday February 28th, 2011

    I was standing on a platform in the clouds and it lowered me down dramatically like an elevator. When it finally reached the ground my closest friends and I are standing in an "Avatar-like" field. There were close to 50 mere-cats dancing together in the magical grass behind a jeep. We walked toward a bush and they all followed me. 

We then heard a scary growl coming from a large hole in the bush. We all stepped back in fear and then a giant bunny hopping out all cute and innocent. We all laughed together and then continued walking along taking in everything around us. 

We then saw two women who looked like twins but felt more like mother and daughter. They were sitting on a white deck with very nice patio furniture. They welcomed us to the land and told us how amazing it was here and how lucky we were to have found it. They were very happy to live in their crazy little paradise. 

We went inside this clean and simple hotel-like room and set down luggage like we had been traveling for days and finally arrived..... Then the dream ended.

              This dream had many different visuals but when reading it I got a general sense of a tone of colors! I tried to represent that feeling in each color. Each color represents a certain part of the dream or feeling the dream gave me. 

Color 1 - The first color is the general color of the "Avatar-like" field that we landed in from the clouds.

Color 2 - This was very close to the first color but just darker for the scary noises that come from the large bush.

Color 3 - The blue is representation of the clouds as we came down from the sky and entered the dream.

Color 4 - The pale tan color was for the dancing mere-cat herd.

Color 5 - The darker tan was also for the mere-cats but for the feeling of them following behind me.

Color 6 - The final grey-brown is for the sudden ending in the dream but not leaving uncomfortable feelings.

Bonus Color - Stark White - I couldn't show the white in the color scheme but it needed to be added because the deck and furniture that the women are sitting on felt very important.

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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:

Mugwort Dream Oil by - MotherMountainHerbs

Song of the Day:

Blondie - Dreaming

Color of the Day:

Benjamin Moore Barren Plain

Tips and Tricks for taking Art Commissions.

Good Morning! What a good morning is it! I woke up a little early today to take a shower and do some morning yoga. I have really missed doing yoga, especially in the morning. It makes my whole day so much better when I get some silence and stretching. It was also very nice to feel the sunrise throughout doing yoga because when I started it was still very dark but by the time I finished the sun was beaming through my blinds. It was lovely.

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I have received two new commissions and I started them both yesterday. **Will I ever start a new body of work?!** Oh well, I won't complain about fun commissions and money coming in. The first commission is going to be a gift from the person who is having it made. They sent me a picture of  what looks like an old tattoo of a butterfly. It represents their mother who has passed and I have to create a wine bottle based off this old tattoo. 

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I was iffy at how this was going to turn out but I would say I am about half way through and it is looking wonderful! I will post pictures to show you when it is completed. It will be a very thoughtful gift and I love that I knew what they wanted but I still had some artistic freedom with it. Those are the best kinds of commissions. 

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The second commission is even more fun and free! I have two beer mugs that my client wants turned into painted "Rick and Morty" pieces. So he gave me total artistic freedom but I just have to base them off of the show. Which I have never seen but I looked into it and it's a rough cartoon from cartoon network. I think I can have a lot of fun with these mugs!

(Rick and Morty Theme Song)

I started the base yesterday of both pieces. One I spray painted a dark navy blue color. The other I sprayed it completely cream and then went back while it was still semi-wet and sprayed the top yellow and blended it into the bottom cream. After looking into some images I have a few ideas for why I chose these colors but I don't want to give away anything yet!

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Whenever I get enjoyable commissions I always try and remind myself how lucky I am. I have had some not-so-nice commissions. The hardest part about doing commissions is that the client has something they want and inside their head. Unless they are getting something you already made but in a different color or easy variety of an already produced item, it can be difficult to pull out of their minds exactly what they are looking for.

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Another struggle with commissions is pricing. If pricing your work isn't hard enough already, try pricing work that you haven't even started! When taking a commission I always try and give a quote to make sure the client is aware and agrees upon a cost. But it is very hard to calculate how long something might take you and often you can find yourself shorting yourself after the piece is done.

(Great video of Tips and Tricks for Commissions!)

 I good thing to do when accepting commissions is to always ask for half of the agreed price up front. Unfortunately there are a many good number of people who talk a big game and when it comes time to deliver they just disappear. There is nothing worse than never getting paid or not getting paid in full for your time and energy you put into a commission. Asking for half up front makes you feel better that they are more locked into the piece but with not asking for it all up front the client also feels like they have room to wiggle if necessary.

(Another great video of Tips and Tricks for Commissions!)

Commissions can be horror stories or some of an artist's proudest work. Either way learning by trial and error is really the only way to learn when dealing with commissions. I am very grateful to have two at the same time that I am enjoying! How about you? Any commissions you are working on? anyone have any commission horror stories? How about any tips or tricks for accepting commissions? Let me know your thoughts below!

Until Tomorrow- Dream

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

                        MICHIGAN COASTERS DETROIT - Tigers Themed Colors by - TheCloudNineStudios

Song of the Day:

Celine Dion - Thankful

Color of the Day:

Benjamin Moore Polar Jade CC-754

Shipping your Etsy Products. Save money and ship safe!

Hello Hello! Welcome and I hope you all are having a great day so far! Who doesn't love getting packages? I know I do! Most of our regular mail today is all upsetting bills and advertising, but when you get a package it is something wonderful!

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With having an Etsy Shop I deal a lot with the topic of packages and shipping. My shop is just starting to take off and in the last few weeks I have been shipping multiple Art Pieces in different mediums and styles. YAY GO ME!

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This is the first time I have had to ship anything on a consistent basis and I am realizing how in the dark I am with options and processes of shipping. So I decided to do some research to find out exactly what is out there! I came across this video documentary on YouTube that is a bit long but I was interesting to watch and I can not believe the process it takes to ship a package!

(FedEx and UPS)

Every penny counts when trying to run an online shop and learning how to ship most safely and cost efficient is very important! Ordering your own supplies and packing your items yourself saves BIG! I sent a wine bottle out a few months ago that I had packaged myself and last week sent the same bottle that I had FED-EX packaged for me in person and the cost to ship was more than double! Both packages arrived in great condition, so it really saves to do it yourself!

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Something that really helps boost your customer's happiness with the packaging is a personal message or thank you card! It puts that extra love into your package and it has been proven to drastically increase the amount of positive feedback to your Etsy Shop. It's the little things that really matter!

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Figuring out how to package and ship your products is mostly a trial by error basis. My main questions that I am still trying to figure out is the differences between using Fed Ex , UPS, and Etsy Shipping Directly. Searching the internet and YouTube for answers have proven a little harder than expected. Already I can say that I prefer FedEx over UPS as far as customer service goes but am unsure at the cost differences. 

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It's a learning process and the more I learn the more I will share with all of you! Stick with me and blogs and let's grow together. Also if you are a shipping pro let me know some of your secrets and trips or tricks! Which do you prefer? 

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Handmade Rubber Stamp Made With Love Stamp Heart Stamp Wooden Rubber Stamp Handmade Stamps by - PrettyTape

Song of the Day:

Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up to Boston

Color of the Day:

Decatur Bluff, Benjamin Moore, HC-38