About Us...
Well, "about us" is really about "me". But it just sounds so much more self-indulgent to say me, doesn't it?
My name is Nancy Cecco. This is a picture of me with my wonderful family; my husband, Jerry and our son, Mitchell.
I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Interior Design from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. I worked as an interior designer and project manager for several years after getting my degree. We moved to Allen, TX from Northern California in 2006. My husband and I decided to make the move in order to increase our quality of life. In California, we were working grueling hours in order to pay our mortgage and bills, and rarely spent time together as a family (and still didn't always get the bills paid!!).
When we decided to move to Texas, I decided that I did not want to work in the interior design industry and had been searching for inspiration for a new direction. Coincidentally, we began reading a book in a spiritual group I belong to called Divine Intuition by Lynn Robinson. I was paying very close attention, because of that book, to that quiet inner voice (and, in my case, that voice is sometimes too quiet!) that leads you in the right direction.
One day, while I was doing yoga, I had the inspiration for the “inspiratus” journal (no pun intended - I think!). I felt compelled to make the journal immediately after doing yoga. I made a “rough” version of the journal I am making now. The idea behind the journal is to write down inspirations as they come to you – to practice paying attention to that voice. The first thing I wrote in that first journal was, “on the next one, make the first page a veil of vellum saying, ‘divine breath only’”. And I thought, "the next one?"
From there, I was inspired to make the joy journal. I was, once again, inspired by the book, Divine Intuition, in which the author suggested that we should always be on the lookout for the best part of our day. I made the first one for myself and realized after it was done that it should belong to a friend of mine (the colors were just right for her). After that, I had my first inkling that I might sell them when several people who had seen them asked if they could buy one for themselves or for friends.
Well, that's how I've arrived here in a nutshell. I enjoy making the journals and feel that I infuse that joy into each one as I make them. I am just beginning this journey and have plans to produce stationary, cards, and other journals. I do take great care in making each one and at each part of the process (selecting materials, cutting, gluing, assembling and finally sanding until it is "just right"). So, it does take some time to make them and creating new designs is slow-coming. I am enjoying the process, however, even if I sometimes wish I could slow down the clock. These are just the beginning, and I can't wait to see what my "inspiratus" whispers to me next...
