Congratulations to Holly, author of the wonderful design blog, Things That Inspire, for being the winner of the Leontine Linens give away.  Click here to visit her blog.I hope Holly will enjoy her Leontine Linens as much as my design clients and me.  My guess is that she will for certain.  Not to worry, I will have another give away soon enough and Leontine will be back in the rotation.  My plan is to "give away" products I love and use in my design work.  So, there are going to be some good ones!The "Week of White" was one true success.  I was so pleased talking with everyone via comments, Facebook, e-mail and phone calls.  I really appreciate all your kind thoughts and words.  I can now attest that all the hard work is worth it.  I want to provide a place of happiness and inspiration for all those who visit Ragland Hill Social.As some of you know, I chose this blog name because it has great significance in my life.  My Dad left me, Follis Farms, our family farm in Kentucky when he died last year.  Ragland Hill, named hundreds of years ago, is located on our farm and an extremely special place to me. It's 764 feet above sea level and you can see for miles and miles.  Our farm is truly in the middle of nowhere, no exaggeration!  It's breathtaking in natural beauty.  It feels like God's country to me and my guess is it would to you too.  I gain much inspiration and insight from being in nature and a place of stillness and beauty.  Ironically, I'm using a major engine of technology to present Ragland Hill Social, but my Dad would love this too.
My husband deserves all the credit for coming up with "Social" being coupled with "Ragland Hill".  I just couldn't get the right words together to communicate my idea:  a forum for people to come together and celebrate a beautiful life.  After many nights of brainstorming Michael came up with it so I have him to thank for the full name.  He's actually more creative, especially with words, than I am.  He has a nick-name, spot on, for all of us.
And my biggest thank you is to my readers for supporting me in this new endeavor.  I've been nervous, a little reluctant and even a bit scared to do this thing called "blogging".  I've had some skeptics who just couldn't get their mind around the "world of blog".   I've had others who welcomed the introduction of this cultural phenomenon.  I've been in shock and awe how quickly it has become what I want it to be.  Of course, there is always room for improvement, like my writing, but I'm so excited about what it has become in such a short time.  Note to self:  brush up on "The Elements of Style" and I mean the Strunk & White version before starting a blog.  My mother calls me daily with the list of my punctuation and grammar botch jobs.  So, a promise to my readers who come here daily:  you deserve a well-written blog and I'm working it out.  I haven't been writing regularly for about 12 years so I'm a little rough around the edges.
Ragland Hill Social was created to be a place of inspiration, happiness and to express your thoughts on all things beautiful.  We have enough around us beyond our control, that is dirty, ugly, mean and nasty.  I need somewhere to come, join with my "friends of design obsession" (FDO) and celebrate what is beautiful and inspiring about life.  We only get one life and making the most of every day is a choice.  I'm choosing beauty, happiness and inspiration.  What about you?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Please comment and give me one thing that you do in your life that brings you beauty, happiness and inspiration.  We'll call it the FDO:  Ideas for a Beautiful, Happy & Inspired Life.  I gain great insight from those I talk to every day: family, friends, clients and now FDOs.  Help a sister out would you?  I'll keep a running list, add images to each idea and publish it regularly.  Let's see how many different ideas we can get on the list.  So comment away my friends!  And, of course, you'll be credited with your idea.
I hope everyone has a fabulous week.  I've got a busy one with many exciting projects we are working on at Gwen Driscoll Designs.  I count my blessings daily.  I guess that could be my first idea for the FDO.
We'll talk soon.
Gwen
BTW, I just made up FDO while I was typing, so if you all don't like it, tell me.  It's your list too!