2009 is almost at an end with 2010 just waiting for us with new promises and new beginnings.My one crucial goal to keep is "To Make Art". It's that simple, it's what I do, what I enjoy and what makes me happy and optimistic. Art can be anything you want it to be.....that beautiful dish you prepared coming out of the oven, flowers planted, snow angels made. It's all on how you look at it. Art is something deep within you, that one thing that makes your heart pump, your brain engage and that extra spring in your step while creating it, finishing it and accomplishing it.So, in 2010.....Go Make Art.....do it for yourself....it makes the world that much brighter, prettier and much more optimistic!!!)
Color experts are hinting that green may be the "it" color for 2010.
Although fashion and décor gurus haven't officially announced the coming year's color palette, word is leaking that greens -- cedar green, pale celery, and sea-foam blue-green or eucalyptus -- will be as prominent in 2010 as yellow has been this year.
"Green has such meaning and symbolism," said Sonu Mathew, a Benjamin Moore Paints senior interior designer. "It represents renewal, and is eternally the color of spring and new growth. In recent years, it's become the emblem of the environment" and is the easiest color for the eye to see.
Despite how it seems, color trends aren't conjured up using a crystal ball, said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute -- a group of experts who traverse the globe in search of color clues. Click HERE for more on this article
The Door Custom
In the old days, the New Year started with a custom called 'first footing', which was suppose to bring good luck to people for the coming year. As soon as midnight had passed and January 1st had started, people used to wait behind their doors for a dark haired person to arrive. The visitor carried a piece of coal, some bread, some money and some greenery. These were all for good luck - the coal to make sure that the house would always be warm, the bread to make sure everyone in the house would have enough food to eat, money so that they would have enough money, and the greenery to make sure that they had a long life.
The visitor would then take a pan of dust or ashes out of the house with him, thus signifying the departure of the old year.
The 1st of January was a highly significant day in medieval superstitions regarding prosperity, or lack of it, in the year ahead. A flat cake was put on one of the horns of a cow in every farmyard. The farmer and his workers would then sing a song and dance around the cow until the cake was thrown to the ground. If it fell in front of the cow that signified good luck; to fall behind indicated the opposite.
Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune.
Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.
The Dutch burn bonfires of Christmas trees on the street and launch fireworks. The fires are meant to purge the old and welcome the new. Kiss at Midnight It is believed that kissing at midnight ensures that affections and ties will continue throughout the New Year. On similar lines, it is said, to not do this would be to set the stage for a year of coldness.
The Spanish ritual on New Year's eve is to eat twelve grapes at midnight. The tradition is meant to secure twelve happy months in the coming year.
DID YOU KNOW.....
The Times Square New Year's Eve Ball descends from a flagpole at the top of One Times Square. It can best be seen along Broadway, from 43rd Street to 50th Street, and along Seventh Avenue, as far north as 59th Street.
More than ONE ton of confetti is dropped
At approximately 6:00 p.m. EST the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball will be raised to the top of the 77-foot flagpole at One Times Square (Broadway at 43rd Street) and lit. At exactly 11:59 p.m. EST, the Ball will make its 60-second descent down the flagpole to signal the start of the New Year.
The ball was first dropped in 1907. Back then it was made of iron and wood. It weighed 700 pounds and was lit with 100 25 watt bulbs. Since then, 5 other versions have been made. In 1999, the "crystal" ball was introduced to welcome in the millennium.
THE WISHING WALL
~Join IN~
People from around the globe will share personal goals, dreams and wishes on pieces of confetti on our New Year's Eve Wishing Wall at the Times Square Information Center on 7th Avenue between 46th and 47th Streets. The wishes will be collected at the end of the year, and added to the confetti that fluttered down onto the streets of Times Square at the 12 o’clock hour on New Year’s Eve. You can also feel free to submit your wish online right here.
We will print it out and add it to a piece of confetti for you, so that no matter where you are on New Year's Eve, your wish will be part of the Times Square celebration.
And if you like history and want to know the neat stuff most people don't.....Revelers began celebrating New Year's Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, but it was in 1907 that the New Year's Eve Ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square. The first New Year's Eve Ball, made of iron and wood and adorned with one hundred 25-watt light bulbs, was 5 feet in diameter and weighed 700 pounds. It was built by a young immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr, and for most of the twentieth century the company he founded, sign maker Artkraft Strauss, was responsible for lowering the ball. As part of the 1907-1908 festivities, waiters in the fabled "lobster palaces" and other deluxe eateries in hotels surrounding Times Square were supplied with battery-powered top hats emblazoned with the numbers "1908" fashioned of tiny light bulbs. At the stroke of midnight, they all "flipped their lids" and the year on their foreheads lit up in conjunction with the numbers "1908" on the parapet of the Times Tower lighting up to signal the arrival of the new year. The Ball has been lowered every year since 1907, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943, when the ceremony was suspended due to the wartime "dimout" of lights in New York City. Nevertheless, the crowds still gathered in Times Square in those years and greeted the New Year with a minute of silence followed by the ringing of chimes from sound trucks parked at the base of the tower - a harkening-back to the earlier celebrations at Trinity Church, where crowds would gather to "ring out the old, ring in the new." In 1920, a 400 pound ball made entirely of wrought iron replaced the original. In 1955, the iron ball was replaced with an aluminum ball weighing a mere 200 pounds. This aluminum Ball remained unchanged until the 1980s, when red light bulbs and the addition of a green stem converted the Ball into an apple for the "I Love New York" marketing campaign from 1981 until 1988. After seven years, the traditional glowing white Ball with white light bulbs and without the green stem returned to brightly light the sky above Times Square. In 1995, the Ball was upgraded with aluminum skin, rhinestones, strobes, and computer controls, but the aluminum ball was lowered for the last time in 1998. For Times Square 2000, the millennium celebration at the Crossroads of the World, the New Year's Eve Ball was completely redesigned by Waterford Crystal. The new crystal Ball combined the latest in technology with the most traditional of materials, reminding us of our past as we gazed into the future and the beginning of a new millenium. About "Time-Balls" The actual notion of a ball "dropping" to signal the passage of time dates back long before New Year's Eve was ever celebrated in Times Square. The first "time-ball" was installed atop England's Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1833. This ball would drop at one o'clock every afternoon, allowing the captains of nearby ships to precisely set their chronometers (a vital navigational instrument). Around 150 public time-balls are believed to have been installed around the world after the success at Greenwich, though few survive and still work. The tradition is carried on today in places like the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, where a time-ball descends from a flagpole at noon each day - and of course, once a year in Times Square, where it marks the stroke of midnight not for a few ships' captains, but for over one billion people watching worldwide. The Times Square New Year's Eve Ball 2000-2007 The 2000-2007 version of the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball, designed by Waterford Crystal, made its first descent during the last minute of the 20th century, at the Times Square 2000 Celebration. The Ball was a geodesic sphere, six feet in diameter, and weighed approximately 1,070 pounds. It was covered with a total of 504 Waterford crystal triangles that varied in size and ranged in length from 4.75 inches to 5.75 inches per side. For the 2007 New Year's Eve celebration, 72 of the crystal triangles featured the new "Hope for Peace" design, consisting of three dove-like patterns symbolizing messengers of peace. The remaining 432 triangles featured Waterford designs from previous years, including the Hope for Fellowship, Hope for Wisdom, Hope for Unity, Hope for Courage, Hope for Healing, Hope for Abundance, and Star of Hope triangles. These crystal triangles were bolted to 168 translucent triangular lexan panels which were attached to the aluminum frame of the Ball. The exterior of the Ball was illuminated by 168 Philips Halogená Brilliant Crystal light bulbs, exclusively engineered for the New Year's Eve Ball to enhance the Waterford crystal. The interior of the Ball was illuminated by 432 Philips Light Bulbs (208 clear, 56 red, 56 blue, 56 green, and 56 yellow), and 96 high-intensity strobe lights, which together create bright bubbling bursts of color. The exterior of the Ball featured 90 rotating pyramid mirrors that reflect light back into the audience at Times Square. All 696 lights and 90 rotating pyramid mirrors were computer controlled, enabling the Ball to produce a state-of-the-art light show of eye-dazzling color patterns and a spectacular kaleidoscope effect atop One Times Square. The now-retired 2000-2007 New Year's Eve Ball is the property of the building owners of One Times Square. 
Oh that little Zoie of mine...she is one little amazing clown who brings me laughter. She is my quilting muse. What you see here are the little 3 inch blocks made for her quilt. It is a priority on my list along with making a quilt for ME.
This year on my blog, I will talk about goals , setting them and achieving them. Everything I write is just how I see things. It may not be your way, but maybe it will encourage you, spark a new idea or prompt you to leave a comment with a better way!!! 
MY FIRST NEW YEAR"S RESOLUTION
This is my little $25.00 find many years back from a store going out of business. I love this hutch. It's perfect and it makes me happy. Inside are all my art supplies I use to draw,paint and design fabric and patterns. I love the little sign "Imagine" hanging above. The quilt top hanging on the left door is the quilt I will be quilting for ME!!! MY QUILT...all mine!
YIKES....above is my closet. I tried once before, I really did. I thought it was organized, but it looks congested and I don't like it. I know that the time I spend purging unwanted things and organizing it will save me time in the long run. Now use that saying as a mantra!!! I am.
I know I can organize it all at once and I don't want to do that. If I did, I wouldn't be creating. I have promised myself to spend the first hour of my day purging and putting something in order....I can do it while the coffee is dripping and the computer is powering up.
So, here is where I do my paperwork, emailing, computer stuff and file papers. Again, I thought I gave it a good shot with the colorful containers, but I want a more open, airy feeling. I need to tackle that pile pronto.
Don't even look under the desk....ok....I know you did!
This is just a tiny little glimpse into my "goals". I will address creative goals and my own personal goals as the year goes along
I just love how these tiles look like a quilt. I bet you see quilts in everyday life too....now dontcha?
I love this....I just love nostalgic cards.
YOUR COLOR FIX FOR DAY
Thank you, thank you, thank you to each and everyone of you for spending time here this year. From deep within, I wish you peace inside your own heart, health for you, your family and friends and a creative muse that not let you procrastinate or stack off one bit. A creative muse that fills you with so many ideas your hands will be busy creating as you hum and a fulfilled with happiness.
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