I’ve had the pleasure of working with The Matthew Kelly Foundation for the past 9+ years. Along with working for the foundation, I’ve been able to work alongside Matthew Kelly, the author of Off Balance. Matthew is an internationally-acclaimed speaker, as well as a New York Times bestselling author of many books, including The Dream Manager and The Rhythm of Life.

Matthew’s recent work, Off Balance, touches on the myth of work-life balance and how we are striving not for balance, but rather personal & professional satisfaction. I recommend this book for anyone striving to find more satisfaction in life and struggling to achieve it. Here are some key points I jotted down while reading this book (literally in a few hours):

• Satisfaction vs. Pleasure: Many times we get these two feelings confused. Satisfaction is something that can be sustained beyond the activity of producing it, while pleasure can NOT be sustained beyond the activity producing it. Are you making choices to gain satisfaction or pleasure?

• YOU are personally responsible for living the best life you can. You are not entitled to a certain life. YOU have chosen & created the life you live right now. Are you dissatisfied? Are you willing to do something about it?

• We all need some unchanging values & principles to guide us in our decisions. Take the time to think about what your values & principles are and how you would rank them. Are you making choices based on your values & principles?

• Your experience of life expands with the more energy you have. Everything requires energy. Nothing affects personal & professional satisfaction like your energy level. What can you do to increase your energy level?

• Take the challenge to begin implementing The Personal & Professional Satisfaction System: 1) Assessment  2) Priorities  3) Core Habits  4) Weekly Strategy Session  5) Quarterly Review (Read the book to get a full explanation of each step.)

Overall, Matthew has an interesting viewpoint on what we all need to do in order to be able to “lay your head on your pillow at night, knowing that who you are and what you do makes sense…now, that is satisfaction.” I know this is what I want. Sign me up.

If I haven’t convinced you to read this book, maybe Matthew can. Check out his video introducing you to the book and what he hopes you gain from it.

Happy Friday! In spirit of today being the opening day for The Smurfs, I thought I would provide you with this…

You guessed it. That’s me. Dressed up for Halloween. As a Smurf.

At what age? I’m not sure. But, one thing is for certain. I don’t mess around when it comes to Halloween, no matter what the age. (Hence the clear understanding at the time of the importance of covering every single inch of my exposed skin in blue paint. Why I have huge white circles around my eyes? That’s still under investigation.)

But, this does make me question, should I be Smurfette this year? I’m pretty sure I could totally embrace the “You smurfed with the wrong girl!” Seems fitting at this time in my life.

I hope this brought a smile and a few giggles to your day! La la la-la la la…

Awesome news! idieh design is featured in the latest issue of Arizona Bride! We chose to showcase a rehearsal dinner invitation created for Lindsey & Dan, a couple who wished for the invite to reflect the Western style of their rehearsal dinner, complete with country dance lessons! This particular design mixes custom patterns & various fonts, paired with a bold combination of tangerine and red. The outer envelope is finished off with a custom label.

To see other pieces from the stationery suite, check out the gorgeous photos of the rehearsal dinner captured by Melissa Jill.

Thank you to all who participated in the “name that color” contest, helping to name the new colors of the idieh design brand. It was wonderful to see all the creative entries (and even more thrilling to hear of your excitement about the contest)!

Without further ado, it is my pleasure to introduce the new idieh design brand colors!

Congratulations to Mary Lynn of sugarlush, who will receive a $5 Starbucks gift card for her submission of “Cosmo Coral.” And, congratulations to Stephanie of LETTERS and LISTS, who will receive a $10 Starbucks gift card, as TWO of her entries were chosen, “Sea Aura” and “English Cloud.”

Thank you, Mary Lynn & Stephanie, for your awesome submissions. I can’t wait to use the new names! (Check your inboxes for your prize!)

So, what do you think of the new names?

As you probably already know, idieh design underwent a rebrand a few months back. As I’ve been so excited for the new brand and have had an awesome time implementing it, whenever I need to describe the colors of the brand, I find myself using different descriptions every time.  idieh design’s brand colors are unique and I can’t seem to pinpoint how best to describe their character. Therefore, I decided, why not have a contest?!

Objective: to find a fun & unique name to describe each color of the idieh design brand (shown above). If your color name is chosen for one of the brand colors, you will receive a $5 Starbucks gift card. (That means you have a chance to win THREE gift cards!)

You can offer up as many names as you see fit. The more creative, the better. Just leave your suggestions below! (Or, if you prefer to email your suggestions, please send them to: heidi@idiehdesign.com)

Please note: I’m not looking for the obvious teal, coral, & grey.  For example,  you could maybe use Pomegranate Red (but doesn’t seem to fully resonate with the color), Caribbean Green, and Cement Grey. Get your creative juices flowing and let me see what you got.

Bonus points: if names are related to the brand (i.e. spark, burst, idea) OR even better, they are related to candy (what I love best!)

Contest ends next Wednesday, July 13 at 11:59 PM MST.