The Evening Of Seven Fish | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

It was a long shopping the day before Christmas eve, from one fish market to the other to find the freshest fish, and then it was the longest day cooking the seven fish dinner on Christmas eve. The search was about finding langoustine, mussels, clams with a red tongue, razor clams, sea urchin, sea truffles, octopus, baby cattle fish, any bluefish for grilling, lobster, oysters and any fauna the Mediterranean Sea produces.
The sitting down dinner started at 6:00 pm and lasted close to midnight when we finished with a champagne toast, then church at midnight.
That was such a long ago in Italy in my parents’ home and it was the same in most of the homes in Italy. The celebration on Christmas eve was an incredible custom, we ate until our hearts were content and welcome the new spiritual Christmas light in our homes.
As it happens in all families, at one point kids leave the nest, when my turn came, I moved as well to build my life and all of that ended. My new-found friends could never eat a large amount of food and never had the time to be sitting at the table for so many hours. The Christmas celebrations took a different turn.

Somehow I maintained my tradition on a smaller scale. On Christmas eve, I prepare a few fish specialties and Christmas day is about meat. On the eve, caviar opened the dinner experience, followed by shrimps with fregola and dandelion cooked in a clay pot, cod and potato cakes, blue crabs, Christmas cookies, coffee, and Belgium chocolate with sea salt.

Caviar Crostini

Caviar and prosecco

 

Shrimps with Fregola and Dandelion

Shrimps with Fregola and Dandelion cooked in a play pot

 

CodPotatoCakes

Cod Potato Cakes

 

Blue Crabs

Blue Crabs

 

 

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies

This was sufficient for Christmas eve, Christmas day was a different experience, oh my! Everything was delicious and even though I feel like a blimp today, I am very happy. 😀
The end of the year requires courage, the Italian rule is to have 13 courses dinner, one for each month of the year and one extra to honor the new year 😱. This one is no longer my habit.
I hope your Christmas was good and serene. Ciao,
Valentina 

 

Copyright © 2019 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

ValentinaRedHat

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author of 5 published books so far, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel. She never gives up trying new things and doesn’t fear failure. Three years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host and she produces shows under her label: Valentina Design Universe. The goal of her shows is to entertain, inspire and inform, while she is living her passion. 
Get a copy of her books here:
Amazon and  Barnes&Nobles 

 

My experience in a tailoring in Salento

It is my pleasure to reblog Paola’s post of her experience designing her first important tutu’ at Degas Tailor in Italy.
This is what the owner of the shop had to say: “It is always a big pleasure to dress beautiful and prepared ballerinas such as Paola. She is one of the Maestro Domenico Iannone’s pupils at Compagnia AltraDanza and a student of Maestra Sabrina Speranza at Unika School Academy in Bari. Paola reached a high level of grades performing at an international competition and she wore this candid white tutu’ made here at Degas.”
Brava Paola, you will go a long way! I wished I was there to see you wearing that beautiful tutu’.

Paola is very diligent with her training, very competitive, she is focused on her goals, and she is a high grades student in high school as well, but it is not enough.
As she rightly says, the ballerina school is very expensive and when only one person provides for everyone in the family, it becomes a huge challenge to continue her studies. She needs funds, let’s help her out, it’s Christmas, what’s one more gift? Here is the link to donate any amount: https://www.gofundme.com/f/continuation-of-my-dance-studies/donate
Thank you 🤗❤️

Paola, your lucky star is near, make sure you catch it when it falls off the sky. Wishing you a good rest of the holidays and a splendid year. With love,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

paolaballerina's avatarDancer Attitude

Hello everyone, in the past few months my life was on the high notes: I went to the Salento area to visit a tailor shop called “Degas” where you can create your tutù for ballet competitions or shows. It can be considered a normal dance shop because you can find ballet shoes, leotards, skirts, pointe shoes and all the necessary for every ballet dancer!😍 It seemed I was in another world!

Here, a beautiful and vibrant tailor showed me how to create a professional or semi-professional tutù.

First of all, she showed me which fabrics I want for this tutù. She asked me what kind of ballet opera I would like to do and I said: Aurora from “The Sleeping Beauty”. Then we started to create my tutù. I chose a white tutù with 7 veils and a particular lace with floreal decorations sewn by hand on tutù. Then I…

View original post 162 more words

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Christmas Party – Just One Wish – Guests, Food, Music and laughter

We all have unfulfilled dreams and keep trying to achieve them. If I look at my dream boards of the past years, I must say proudly that everything I wished for me I got it. I call it hard work, perseverance, and discipline, sure didn’t happen by chance or luck. However, one dream is still out there, floating in the universe, and I am still asking myself what would take to make it, until one day last month, Sally Cronin of the Smorgasbord Blog Magazine announced she needed only one wish from her followers to organize a Christmas party. I participated, “you never know, more times you put it out there, more chances you have for someone to see it” I said to myself. The Dream I Am Still Dreaming is mentioned here in Sally Cronin’s Christmas Party One Wish. https://valentinaexpressions.com/2019/01/16/the-dream-i-am-still-dreaming-valentina-cirasola-author-and-designer/

Thank you Sally, for showing me part of the solution to realizing my dreams, a Coop might be the way to go, just like in the video. You are a very special person. I hope your Christmas is special and the New Year splendid all the way through.
Valentina

Christmas Reflection | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

Receiving gifts is an exciting moment, someone is thinking of you and wants to please you or make you happy with a simple gesture. You go through the process of tearing the beautiful wrap covering the box and reading the card attached to the gift. You think “I am so lucky someone took the time to do this for me on this occasion”. Finally, the gift presents itself to your eyes and suddenly you feel sad, your jaw drops as if you have seen a ghost and you are in disbelieve of what you just saw in the box. It is the same present you gave a year ago to that same person giving you the present, the gift returned to you recycled.

Yes, this is true, it has happened to me, I received a year later, the same gift I gave to that very person standing before me, telling me how much she cared for my friendship. My surprise was so big, I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry. I exclaimed: “I wanted to buy me this gift last year, I loved it so much…, instead I bought it for you because you like everything I wear, I thought you would have worn it with pleasure, instead I am so fortunate it returned to me, it must have been really made for me.” End of discussion and friendship. She could have simply written my name on the gift to remember who gave it to her and recycle it to a different person. That year, I decided not to give Christmas presents anymore to no one. To most people, Christmas is only the time to overspend carelessly, the holiday itself doesn’t mean much else.

In this period of the year, I spend time with friends I have not seen much during the year, I call people in need of comfort and company, I cook special food, and sweets to share with others, I make simple things to give away, such as decorative balls for the tree and give thanks to many people who helped me in my life and business. I enjoy attending many Christmas shows and parties. This time of the year for me is all about the new light coming into my life, realizing new dreams, and thinking of new opportunities.

I want to give you some suggestions if you are into giving a lot of gifts. All factory items already come sealed in a lot of plastic boxes, often very hard to open. We must be conscious of the environment, let’s eliminate all the possible waste we can. This year wrap your gift in brown paper, better if it comes from grocery shopping, cut away the name of the store and use the rest of the shopping bag. I saw this picture on Pinterest with the photo of the person the gift is intended for, I thought it’s a great idea.

OurSuburbanFarm

Our Suburban Farm

Jane Lee on Instagram has another great idea, she attaches parts of a newspaper over the brown paper, a fern branch with a wax seal and a handwritten message.

Jane Lee Instagram

Jane Lee Instagram

Sometimes, I have wrapped gifts in my own architectural drawings for home remodeling I did for clients. It was another way to show people what I do and recycle the drawings. Also, I have wrapped gifts in fabrics to use as napkins or kitchen towels later.

Shopping_Package

Fabric as gift wrap

Please don’t stress out over Christmas, this is the time to enjoy a renewal of your spirit and collect the strength to start a new fabulous year. Ciao,
Valentina 

Copyright © 2019 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

 

ValentinaRedHat

Valentina Cirasola is a storyteller by nature. Stories are very important to her design career to convey ideas because making someone’s home or personal images is not only about building around shapes, lines, forms, and colors. It is about the story one can create around their spaces and how they want to appear to others. It’s about life experiences and how Valentina can incorporate them in her clients’ homes. She is the author of five books, all available on

Amazon – Barnes&Nobles

Amazon Author’s Page

 

Doors | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

A door is a swinging or sliding barrier by which an entry is closed and opened. A theatre opens its doors when a new show is ready to be viewed. A door could be a gate to secure people inside a dwelling or a closure for some kind of cabinetry. The word “doors” can also mean an opportunity that presents itself unexpectedly. We give many meanings to the word doors, the fact is that before the Neolithic time human beings didn’t know what a door was, they lived well protected inside caves, the fire kept the humans warm and the wild animals away. I saw the first attempt at a Neolithic door in the museum Ridola in Matera, Italy. It was made with straw, mud, dirt, and pieces of wood.

(Click on each picture to view it larger).

Neolithic House

Neolithic House, Ridola Museum, Matera, South Italy

Doors evolved in something more decorative as security became a necessity, even when that security served to hold people up in dungeons.

Door In Gioia

Door In Gioia, South Italy

Painters and artists at times have used doors to immortalize effigies of powerful people who gained high places in society. That’s the case of Swabian Emperor Frederick the II, ruler of South Italy, surnamed “Stupor Mundi” for his love of the arts and cultural innovations as a means to unify all races.

 

Painted Door

Painted Door, Gioia, South Italy

As times progressed, riches and nobles decorated their entry door with the family crests, faces of divinities or any symbol showing wealth, prosperity, and personal beliefs.

Matera-Door.jpg

Door in Matera, South Italy

 

 

Antique_CastleDoor-Gioia

Castle Antique Door in Gioia, South Italy

 

Bari-Door Palazzo Fizzarotti

Door Palazzo Fizzarotti, Bari, Italy

Even door hinges have had a place of importance throughout history. Inside La Salle d’Or recreated at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco we can admire the splendor of the French Court through a disjointed hinge that allows people to get a preview of who is in the room without being seen.

Salle D'or-Legion Of Honor

Salle d’Or-Legion Of Honor, San Francisco

Some doors provide a good blackboard for the fantasy of a Flâneur to unravel. Here on this door in Polignano a Mare, Italy, this passionate wonderer wrote a Shakespearian sonnet:
“Love runs to meet love with the same joy young pupils run away from their books, but love which must separate from love has the face of young pupils returning to school.”

Flâneur

Writing of a Flâneur – Polignano a Mare, South Italy

In Barcelona, the city where even the sidewalks are overly decorated, I saw many beautiful Art Deco doors in just as many beautiful buildings lining the streets.

Barcelona_Building

Building in Barcelona, Spain

Prague, an austere and romantic city, displays very elegant doors with caryatids supporting pilasters, arches, balconies, and many classic architectural details.

Jewelry Store

Jewelry Store

Some doors are just elegant gilded barriers to keep the elite in and the plebeians out.

Royal Door as Prague Palace

Royal Door at Prague Palace, Czech Republic

While other doors look like a fortress just because they conceal the secrets of a nation.

Romanian Embassy

Romanian Embassy, Prague, Czech Republic

But then some playful people like to stick birds and flowers on their entrance door and others like to paint puppet’s faces.

Nature Decorated Door

Nature Decorated Door

 

Marionettes Shop

Marionettes Shop, Prague, Czech Republic

As a world trotter, I take pictures of the details of a country. Doors attract me just as people’s expressions, customs, food, and languages. I conceived this roundup of doors only to say “Be Yourself.” The entrance door is your business card, it makes the first impression of who are the people living behind the door in a split of a second.
One of my clients is turning her house located in a nice downtown area, into air B&B. The entry door will be painted red as an indication that the interior rooms will be modern, upbeat, and very colorful. Don’t be afraid to paint your entrance door, to stick charms on it, to add faces and decorative elements, or to use a type of wood nobody else uses. Ciao,
Valentina  

Author’s page 

 

Valentina Cirasola is a storyteller by nature. Stories are very important to her design career to convey ideas because making someone’s home or personal images is not only about building around shapes, lines, forms, and colors. It is about the story one can create around their spaces and how they want to appear to others. It’s about life experiences and how Valentina can incorporate them in her clients’ homes. She is the author of five books, all available on
Amazon – Barnes&Nobles

 

Author Spotlight: Valentina Cirasola

In the event of a new Thanksgiving Day, I am very grateful to have met fine authors and artists such as James Cudney IV and for the opportunity, he gave me with this interview, to be seen in his community of writers. Thank you, James and Happy Thanksgiving. If you were any closer, I would have invited you to my home and celebrate together the release of our new books. Thank you.

Click on this link to read the interview:

https://thisismytruthnow.com/2019/10/26/author-spotlight-valentina-cirasola/

 

author-alert-spotlight

This is my truth now – author-alert-spotlight

Spotlight: Bonnie Smith

Bonnie Smith

Bonnie Smith

As a designer, I visit art galleries to meet artists and learn about new art in the world, that’s how I met Bonnie J. Smith. “She is a California based textile artist whose artworks have been exhibited at United Nations Headquarters around the globe.  Smith’s textile artworks have also been exhibited in London, Paris, Japan, and Taiwan to name a few locations. Smith is a self-taught textile artist who has taken Master Dyeing Studies from Joan Morris, a professor at Dartmouth University. In 2016 Smith was the recipient of the “Leigh Weimers Award and Grant”.

Bonnie created the celebrated textile series “Swimming Upstream”, which tells her story of recovery after a work-related injury that forced her to use a wheelchair for over a year. Once the textile series was completed she realized the artworks were not just about her but anyone trying to swim upstream through life. The series has been exhibited widely and received “The Health Care Heroes Award” from VotersInjuredatWork.org and was featured at The Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, United Kingdom in 2017.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Swimming UpStream

Swimming Up Stream

 

Bonnie J.Smith

Thoughts of the Mind, Interpretation in Indigo

Her indigo installation “Thoughts of the Mind, Interpretations in Indigo” and the subsequent book of the same name tell her story of persecution endured by her, her family and surrounding neighbors while living in a small town because they belonged to the out of favor religion.”
For this installation, she dyed 60,000 feet of string in a bath of Indigo blue. Imagine!

The book is available at https://www.blurb.com/b/5239967-thoughts-of-the-mind-interpretations-in-indigo

In her words, she says: “My textile artworks are about what I see and know. What I see is the terrain of California and specifically the drought that is affecting my state. Watching the progression of our environment into an abyss has overwhelmed me. Creating my textile artworks has allowed me to push this alarming message further out into the world. She has been invited to exhibit her “Drought” series at Visions Art Museum, San Diego in 2021.
What I know is family and all that the subject entails. As my immediate family has gotten older it became my desire to let my family know how much they mean to me and celebrate them. Many people in our society simply fly under the radar and they need to be celebrated.
It is my aspiration in life to keep telling my stories and that of others.”

Bonnie was a guest in one of my TV shows, titled “Swimming Up Stream” just like her art series. It was a fun show, watch it here, if you like.

SwimmingUpStreamCrew

SwimmingUpStream – TV Show – On stage Bonnie, Valentina, and Crew

Get social with Bonnie Smith here:

www.bonniejofiberarts.com

www.bonniejosmithfiberarts.blogspot.com

BonnieSmith 5800 – Instagram

bjs8934@gmail.com

Facebook

Image by 13smok from Pixabay

Image by 13smok from Pixabay

Bonnie participated in my book launch and tour for my new book ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors, Second Edition and as a token of my gratitude she is receiving a color reading of her zodiac sign. She was born under the sign of Cancer (the crab), June 21-July 21. Her element is Water where her soul likes to rest and relax, the Moon is her ruler, a feminine planet. The dominant colors of this sign are White and Silver, secondary colors but equally important are Lavender, Blue, Azure, and Black colors. Now, I understand her fascination with Blue Indigo.

I am going to create a meditation room where Bonnie can think and conceive her future work. I am sure she creates in a space conducive to her art, perhaps this post will give her new ideas. For this exercise, Bonnie must choose a room facing the rising sun or where she can admire the sunset for the entire time she will use this room, a room that has the quality and feel of a garden. Nature is balance and harmony, it provides instant relaxation, that’s the reason I envision a room inspired to nature filled with indoor plants, baubles topiaries, and driftwood.
To satisfy her Cancer element, the room must have a large vase with shells in the sand, scented plants, a water fountain to block external noises and emulate the sea waves movement.

Moonstone is the most appropriate stone for a person born under Cancer, other personal touches might be soft music, bells, wind chimes, artwork, beeswax scented candles, and anything that makes a peaceful environment.

Each color has a psychological value and influences any emotion. The mood I want to create for the meditation/creation room is soft and harmonious. I will limit the color combination to three or four colors. In her fabric creations, Bonnie uses a lot of indigo blues, thus this room will have azure walls and large dark blue throw pillows. However, light blue walls can make a room feel chilly, to balance this effect warm hues accessories, furnishing and fabrics will do the trick. Natural light is very important for this room, and sheer window treatment is equally important to let it blow softly in the breeze and carry the scents of nature in. The floor is rigorously real wood treated in the silver-grey wash and some comfortable white (dominant colors) club chairs will complete the picture.

Meditation Room-ColorConcept

Meditation Room-ColorConcept for a Cancer born person

This concludes the series of color readings. I want to thank everyone for your participation in my book launch and tour. It has been fun and rewarding, I am very grateful to have had the chance to know a bit more about all of you and that is priceless. Thank you. 🙏🏻

Now, allow me a bit of shameless promotion for my new book release of ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors – Second Edition. It happened at the end of last month and a lot of fine authors or artists are helping to take the book on tour.

 

Red-A Voyage Into Colors-Second Edition

©Red-A Voyage Into Colors-Second Edition – Valentina Cirasola

The book is all about colors, color emotions, color vibrations, color atmospheres, color compositions, color analysis and any which way one wants to use them: in design the interior rooms of any space, in fashion, in food, and/or in more mystical ways. Just remember, colors speak a message, your message…
Visit my Amazon Author’s Page
Valentina 

Copyright © 2019 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

 

Valentina with short hair

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author of 5 published books so far, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional, practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel. She never gives up trying new things and doesn’t fear failure. A couple of years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host. Valentina Design Universe is the label under which she produces her shows in the studio and online. The goal of her shows is to entertain, inspire and inform, while she is living her passion. Get a copy of her books on
Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Spotlight: Robbie Cheadle

Robbie Cheadle

Robbie Cheadle

I read somewhere that Robbie, as a girl would have liked to be called Princess Cherry Blossom.
I would have liked to be called a princess, but my father told me that Italy (my native country) had long divorced the monarchy and there wasn’t going to be any princess in our homes, sigh, 😞🙁. 

“Robbie, short for Roberta, is an author with six published children’s picture books in the Sir Chocolate books series for children aged 2 to 9 years old (co-authored with her son, Michael Cheadle), one published middle grade book in the Silly Willy series and one published preteen/young adult fictionalised biography about her mother’s life as a young girl growing up in an English town in Suffolk during World War II called While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with her mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton). All of Robbie’s children’s books are written under Robbie Cheadle and are published by TSL Publications.”

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Robbie Cheadle's Books

Robbie Cheadle’s Books

This is not all Robbie has produced. It seems she has “recently branched into young adult, adult horror and supernatural writing and, in order to clearly differential her children’s books from her adult writing, these will be published under Roberta Eaton Cheadle. Robbie’s first supernatural, young adult book, Through the Nethergate, published as Roberta Eaton Cheadle has recently become available.
Robbie has two short stories in the horror/supernatural genre included in Dark Visions, a collection of 34 short stories by 27 different authors and edited by award-winning author, Dan Alatorre, and three short stories in the short story murder mystery collection, Death Among Us, edited by Stephen Bentley. These short stories are published under Robbie Cheadle.”

Death Among Us

Death Among Us

About Death Among Us, Robbie says:
“Who knew death could be so eclectic?
Relish this mesmerizing murder mystery mash-up of short stories.
Murder and mystery have been the staple of literature and films for years. This anthology of short stories will thrill and entertain you. Some will also make you laugh out loud. Others will stop and make you think.
Think of this murder mystery short story anthology as a book version of appetizers or starters, hors d’oeuvre, meze, or antipasti. It can be read as fillers between books or, as is the case in some countries, as a bookish meze – in its own right.
There are murder mystery styles and locations to suit all tastes: detective fiction, serial killers, sci-fi, histfic, England, Los Angeles, San Francisco, The Great Lakes, Las Vegas, the Nevada desert, Mexico and more in an exquisite exposition of the art of short storytelling.
These stories come from an international cast of authors; some with bestselling books, others are emerging or new talents. Their roots, cultures, and life experiences are as diverse as their writing styles.
But one thing binds them together: they know how to tell a story.”

Robbie has also recently published a poetry collection, Open a new door, together with fellow South African poet, Kim Blades.
Books by Robbie and Michael Cheadle
Sir Chocolate books – currently available in hard copy and as ebooks
A5 format for children aged 6 to 9 years.”

Follow Robbie Cheadle at:
Blog: https://bakeandwrite.co.za/

Blog: https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/blog/

Goodreads, Facebook,  Twitter

Follow Roberta Eaton at:

Twitter, Facebook, Blog

Purchase all Robbie and co-author’s Books from:
https://www.amazon.com/author/robbiecheadle
http://tinyurl.com/zdokqjr

Robbie is a Pisces – Febr.19-Mar. 20 – Her element is water. She is receiving the color reading for her zodiac sign as a sign of my gratitude for participating in my book launch and tour for ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors – Second Edition, published at the end of last month.

Anybody I have met born under this sign is a very friendly, compassionate, artistic, intuitive, musical, and a gentle person. Pisces people are equal parts rational and mystical, they make friends easily and are devoted lovers, they are balanced and emotional, artistic and pragmatic. My niece is among these people, 17 years old, an aspiring ballerina, who is the nicest person one will ever meet.

The colors of Pisces are hues and values of Purple. They include lilac, violet, mauve, purple and sea green, which is the accent color of the water sign, all the colors girls and young women love.
The planet Neptune with its luminous light blue color rules Robbie’s life if she was born in February, and the planet Uranus with its streaks of yellow, brown and red color rule over her Pisces sign if she was born in March. Mixing the colors of these two planets will make nice combinations.

fish-Pixabay

Fish-Pixabay

Her website is named “bake and write” if I understand correctly, Robbie bakes the recipes in her kid’s books. I have seen her baking area in a few videos, it seems pretty plain, no offense Robbie, perhaps you really wanted to keep a minimal style, white and clean look. On the contrary, for the sake of this color reading, I want to stir things up a bit and imagine her baking area a colorful, playful place.

Bakery_PiscesColors

Bakery_Pisces_Colors

Water is a vital element for life on Earth, in ancient times was a sign of prosperity. To invite abundance in her baking space, I would cover one wall with a water image, either in the Northside of her space, East, or Southeast areas and opposite to the water image, I would hang a large mirror as a necessary item to double the water effect, thus double the abundance. I would paint the rest of the walls in a soothing seafoam.

I have always been in favor of preparing food in cheerful kitchens. Today, kitchen appliances come in a variety of colors and that’s a good thing. For Robbie’s bakery, I envision all the fun, colorful appliances shown in my photos. Water element likes wood and glass, these can be the spices shelves or decorative branches with glass planters. Large or small crystal rocks to echo the bottom of the sea or a beach bank will finish the space reproducing the water element in harmony. I hope she likes it.

These color readings I am conceiving for those who have participated in my book launch are meant to show things in the colors they are born into, by no means are to be taken as criticisms. Life becomes easier if we follow the colors of planets and stars that revolved around us at the moment we came into the light. Although, I would love to see realized some of these color readings.

Now, please allow me a bit of shameless promotion for my new book release of ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors – Second Edition. Since its publication, the book has gone on a virtual tour in many countries and a lot of fine authors or artists are helping with the promotion.

 

Red-A Voyage Into Colors - Second Edition

Red-A Voyage Into Colors – Second Edition – Valentina Cirasola

The book is all about colors, color emotions, color vibrations, color atmospheres, color compositions, color analysis and any which way one wants to use them: in design the interior rooms of any space, in fashion, in food, and/or in more mystical ways. Just remember, colors speak a message, your message…
Visit me on Amazon Author’s Page.
Valentina 

Copyright © 2019 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

 

Valentina with short hair

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author of 5 published books so far, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional, practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel. She never gives up trying new things and doesn’t fear failure. A couple of years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host. Valentina Design Universe is the label under which she produces her shows in the studio and online. The goal of her shows is to entertain, inspire and inform, while she is living her passion. Get a copy of her books on
Amazon and Barnes&Noble

 

 

Spotlight: Sally Cronin

Sally Cronin

Sally Cronin

I met Sally Cronin in the blogosphere, simply by casually checking out bloggers and reading their stories. I liked what I was reading on Sally’s Smorgasbord Blog Magazine and I wanted to be part of her world. “There are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t met yet” ~ William Butler Yeats said it, and I made it my philosophy.

(Click on each picture to view it larger).

Sally Cronin's Covers for 2018

Sally Cronin’s Covers for 2018

In her words Sally says: “After a career in customer, facing roles in the hospitality, retail, advertising, and telecommunications industry, I wrote and published my first book in 1999 called Size Matters, about my weight loss journey, losing 150lbs in 18 months. This was followed by 11 further fiction and non-fiction books, including a number of short story collections. My aim was to create a watering hole on my blog to provide a wide number of topics to chat about…..This year in September 2019, Smorgasbord in its current format, celebrated its 6th anniversary. I cannot take all the credit for the blog as I have an amazing group of contributors who bring their expertise and talent to the weekly line-up.
As important as my own promotion is, I believe it’s important to support others within our community. I offer a number of FREE promotional opportunities on my blog, linked to my social media”

Latest book: Tales from the Irish Garden
Get social with Sally Cronin here: Amazon, Blog, Linkedin, Twitter, MeWe

I congratulate her on the 6th anniversary of the Smorgasbord Blog Magazine and the willingness to share her journey in losing weight, one of the hardest things to do for everyone embarking on this enterprise. Well done Sally.

aquarius-Pixabay

Aquarius-Pixabay

As a sign of my gratitude for her participation in my book launch, Sally is receiving a color reading based on her zodiac sign. Sally, being an Aquarian, Jan. 20-Feb.18, is a very generous person and has a broad perspective on things that matter. Her element is Air and the ruling planets are Saturn and Uranus. Due to various gas surrounding these two planets, Saturn takes on a beautiful pale yellow with hints of orange and light brown; for the same reason and the addition of other molecules, the planet Uranus takes on a beautiful blue-green color. These are the major colors for Sally, with an immission of turquoise and violet.
Aquarians have an amiable, cheery disposition and abound in social charisma.

On her Smargasboard she featured one of my curious posts about the trick of wine and fennel. I gather she likes to eat in good company and engages in interesting conversations. I envision one of her table settings for “al fresco” dining, conceived with her native colors. Her table will be covered with a pale yellow tablecloth, on top of which I will place turquoise plates and drinking glasses with all her colors. Bronze flatware will be in perfect harmony with the air element of her sign and so are the funky colorful chairs framed with black wood. One of her stones is the black pearl, not a good thing. Instead, I want to give her something to make the “al fresco” dining a real fun experience: turquoise glow in the dark garden pebbles stones made by UNIME, that she can put in all her pots or scatter around a pathway.

Aquarius Colors Dining

Aquarius Dining Colors

I would do this for my home, in fact, I just ordered those glow in the dark pebbles. I hope she likes it.

My book launch will continue for a few days, please allow me a bit of shameless promotion for my new book release of ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors – Second Edition . It happened at the end of last month and a lot of fine authors or artists are helping to take the book on tour.

 

Red-A Voyage Into Colors - Second Edition

Red-A Voyage Into Colors-Second Edition

The book is all about colors, color emotions, color vibrations, color atmospheres, color compositions, color analysis and any which way one wants to use them: in design the interior rooms of any space, in fashion, in food, and/or in more mystical ways. Just remember, colors speak a message, your message…
Visit me on Amazon Author’s Page.
Valentina 

Copyright © 2019 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

 

Valentina with short hair

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author of 5 published books so far, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional, practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel. She never gives up trying new things and doesn’t fear failure. A couple of years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host. Valentina Design Universe is the label under which she produces her shows in the studio and online. The goal of her shows is to entertain, inspire and inform, while she is living her passion. Get a copy of her books on
Amazon and Barnes&Noble

 

 

 

 

Spotlight: Joy Ruffen-Oake

Joy Ruffen0Oake

Joy Ruffen0Oake

Among many bad habits and the perception of a distorted reality the Internet has created, there is no doubt, it has made the world much smaller and connected us with people we would have never had the chance to meet. It was the case with Mrs. Joy Ruffen-Oake and myself. Joy is a fine fashion stylist, image consultant, and public speaker. I met her just by chance on Facebook. “Her passion and purpose is for women to feel incredible about themselves on the inside and to look equally amazing on the outside. She teaches how to acquire the look of elegance and sophistication, with ease. When her clients walk into a room, they command it by projecting confidence, integrity, and charisma, firmly standing in their power.” Joy is all about “Inspiring Passion, Potential, and Purpose!” I started to follow her on Facebook for the message she spread on colors, fashion, style, and some issues regarding women. I felt we were on the same wavelength and I had to contact her. She conducts online shows through Belive, I watch her any time possible. In fact, I was a guest on her show once. Joy is a skilled interviewer, watch us talking about fashion, colors, body shapes and much more. https://youtu.be/FXzIb-lWmYM

Visit her https://joyruffen.com

Facebook; YouTube; Pinterest; Twitter; LinkedIn

(Click on each picture to view it larger).

Joy participated in my book launch of ©RED- A Voyage Into Colors – Second Edition. As a sign of my gratitude, she is receiving a color reading for her zodiac sign. She is a Sagittarius, November 22 – December 21. People born under this sign, whose element is FIRE, are friendly, energetic, sincere, open, love colors, love adventures, travel and exploring. The ruling planet is Jupiter, the planet of fortune, one of the most colorful planets, which according to the winds and storms, picks up shades of white, red, orange, brown and yellow. However, the Sagittarius is dominated by purple, plum, dark/light blue and cream.

 

DarkWorkX:1638-Pixabay

DarkWorkX:1638-Pixabay

 

I wanted to create a color palette for Joy “the traveler”. Every time I see her in her show, she is wearing the right colors for her zodiac sign, my color reading for her would be pointless, I thought.
Instead, a concept colors for the entrance landing of her home might sound more extravagant. I imagine her house is tastefully decorated, and perhaps her entry landing does not need much, in that case, it would be just a good exercise for me. We never know….
She lives in Florida, where the weather is pretty toasty and bold colors do well.  If she has a traditional entrance wood door, I envision a purple Bougainvillea on one side and white oleander on the other side. If she does not have an elegant traditional door, then a painted door, yellow or light blue would be a good alternative and my choice of the two previous plants would still look good.  Then, I want to add her zodiac sign’s element, RED, in the forms of poppies and brown cones solar lights. On the opposite side of the fire element, her sign needs a water feature to reflect the sunlight. Potted birds of paradise plants that embody some of her bright zodiac colors will lead to the front door. Last, to complete the picture of her entrance landing, I would place near the door, a nice jardinière displaying turquoise and yellow stones, her lucky stones. I hope she likes it.

Sagittarius_Entry_Garden_Colors

Sagittarius Entry Landing Colors

 

Now, please allow me a bit of shameless promotion for my new book release of ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors – Second Edition . It happened only a week days ago and a lot of fine authors or artists are helping to take the book on tour.

 

Red-A Voyage Into Colors - Second Edition

                                                                                                                   Red-A Voyage Into Colors-Second Edition – Valentina Cirasola

The book is all about colors, color emotions, color vibrations, color atmospheres, color compositions, color analysis and any which way one wants to use them: in design the interior rooms of any space, in fashion, in food, and/or in more mystical ways. Just remember, colors speak a message, your message…
Visit me on Amazon Author’s Page.
Valentina 

Copyright © 2019 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

 

Valentina with short hair

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author of 5 published books so far, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional, practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel. She never gives up trying new things and doesn’t fear failure. A couple of years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host. Valentina Design Universe is the label under which she produces her shows in the studio and online. The goal of her shows is to entertain, inspire and inform, while she is living her passion. Get a copy of her books on
Amazon and Barnes&Noble

 

 

 

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