Gently Does It...

I'm easing myself gently back into my work this week after that lovely Christmas holiday.  My daughter has gone back to school and the house seems ominously quiet, so yesterday I busied myself with a spot of de-cluttering, starting with my bedroom which was anything but a peaceful sanctuary for sleep and more like a dumping ground for Homeless Objects and outgrown baby toys.

I unearthed quite a few half finished paintings which I sent for recycling (sometimes you just know they're never going to be anything else other than half finished), and discovered a stack of canvases and mounts I'd forgotten all about.  I also found a new home for my fabric stash, which up to now has been stored rather untidily in a pile of carrier bags but is now folded into neat piles in a drawer.

I must confess, I was rather ruthless in my de-cluttering.  There was a heck of a lot of stuff that got thrown out or put in the recycling bin and I was shocked at the amount of junk I'd managed to accumulate.  There's a huge pile of books and clothes for the charity shop, and a local childcare centre will be the new home for some of the baby toys which we'd hung on to.  Once I'd finished the hard graft, I burned some delicious essential oils to bless the room if you like, and it really did feel very fresh and new again.  Last night I had the best nights sleep I'd had in ages, uninterrupted and full of lovely dreams.  Waking up to see a little jug of flowers sitting on a vintage embroidered mat was heaven I can tell you.



I find the helpful advice of the Flylady to be superb in all things to do with keeping house, so if you're feeling the itch to Spring clean, check out her website.  Another great resource if you don't naturally lean towards chores and the like is this book, Housework Blues by Danielle Raine.

Having a gentle week pottering and decluttering (which is such a marvellous thing to do as opposed to throwing yourself head first back into normality) has found me digging through my paintings and sketch books, and a painting I started work on way back last year is now resurfacing.  It's called The Apple Pickers (the picture at the top of this post) and I'm really pleased with how it's coming along.  You can just about make out the figures if you look carefully, as well as a veggie patch and a greenhouse.  This painting is an acrylic on paper and will be part of my solo exhibition at the Studio 61 Gallery in May this year.  I've also got a lovely idea for a box canvas, which I'm going to start work on next - again it's a coastal themed piece but I'm going to be introducing an element of collage to it.

Something I've been longing to do for a while now, but never made the time for previously is the creation of an online art workshop.  I've finally got around to ordering myself a nice tripod for my camcorder, so that I can start making some tutorials.  I'm also planning a fully illustrated e-book to accompany the course, and am hoping to release this in the next few months.  I'll keep you posted on this as things progress.

Before I go, I have to introduce you to a new resident who's come to live in our little home.



Meet Muffin.

Muffin is a Sheltie guinea pig (one of those with the soft, long hair) and the most adorable little chap you could ever wish to meet.  For the last few months we have been 'umming and 'ahhing about having a pet, but finally relented and went to get him on Saturday.  It was a huge surprise for our little girl who had been pleading with us for ages to let her have something furry to care for.  We are all enchanted by him, his little squeaks and bouts of popcorning (the ecstatic leaps into the air, apparently done when extremely happy) have rendered us helpless with delight.  I can't quite imagine life without him now, he's definitely part of the family.

I'll be back soon, with some news about a new crochet project I've started.

Thanks for visiting,

Enjoying Autumn

Hello!


We've been enjoying a weirdly warm November here, although I'm not complaining, there is something rather nice about wearing just a t-shirt and cardigan when you're meant to be swaddled up in scarves and winter coats!


This last weekend, we took our annual chestnut gathering jaunt to Clumber Park.  It's a little tradition that we began a couple of years ago and makes for a nice day out with a tasty picnic, flask of hot tea and forest walks.  After a damp start, the day turned out to be fine and sunny, just the right kind of day for romping about in fallen leaves, gathering up those shiny brown nuts and dealing with cheeky squirrels.

Someone seemed to be having fun, dancing in the leaves...

...and it's amazing what you find when you're searching for chestnuts!

This little fella came right up by our feet, and helped himself to some of our haul!

We had a lovely walk through the forest; I love being near trees, I find them very peaceful, they have a lovely calming energy...

...and the colour of the leaves this time of year is breath taking!

I think nature is good for the soul; watching the seasons unfold, seeing wild animals and birds in their natural habitat is a lovely antidote to the often busy and full lives we lead.

Talking of busy...and I'm going off on a right old tangent here!  Remember a couple of posts ago I told you I was finally making a start on getting rid of four years worth of accumulated junk?  And you might remember I showed you this corner of my bedroom (*shudders at the sight of it again):

I confess to being pretty alarmed at the thought of tackling that lot, I can tell you.  But as I sat and looked at it (as it looked back at me, all momentous and impossible) I had a thought: take it all to bits, and then do it one bit at a time.

I gave myself half an hour.  Three bags of really good baby toys, unused cushions and throws for the charity shop, and one big bulging bin liner for the rubbish later and it now looks like this:

I cannot express how light and happy this made me feel.  In fact, I did a little jiggy dance and squealed a bit.

I've also got a few nice toys that I'm going to have a bash at selling on ebay too - you can't see those though, I've made a fresh pile of stuff to the right of this photo (lol).

It really does help (when clearing out and clearing up) to repeat the mantra 'I love my home' instead of 'damn I hate chores'.  It kind of has a calming effect, and creates an urge to actually make your home nicer (or it does for me!).  I'm not after a perfect showroom style house, that would never be us in a million years as we like our trinkets, colour and lived in feel a bit too much to go minimal!  But I'm certainly feeling happier at how things are coming along, and much relieved that so much unused stuff will be hopefully finding new homes, with owners who actually want it!

One last thing before I go...

(a recent watercolour sketch from my sketch book)

I realise it might have been some time since I wrote about anything arty or woolly.  I want to reassure you that there will be some hooky posts on the horizon, and some arty ones too.  I'm in the middle of working on some ideas (painting wise) which will hopefully see a new range of artwork available for children and families.  I'll be sharing more of this with you soon, but for now let me just say it's an idea that has been percolating for many months and I'm looking forward to starting it!

On the hooky front, my lovely scarf just needs those pesky ends sewing in and I'm kind of contemplating another blanket...a stripy sort of blanket, which would be good to have going alongside the little squares one I've got on the go already.  What do you think?  Let me know your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you!

Sending love,

Julia x x x

Happy Monday

Happy Monday to you!

On the weekend I was commissioned to make a Small Blanket for a certain person's new doll.  It's been a while since I did any crochet - and oh I did enjoy it!  Whenever there has been a long absence in between hooky times, I often ask the question "Why?"  I mean, it's relaxing, it's exciting, it's inspiring...and addictive - so how come I forget to do it of an evening?


Well, seeing as how I'm on a roll to free up my time (and oh people, it's actually working!!!) I reckon I can let another hour of dull TV go in order to be more productive.  I've got an idea for a summer shawl - and I'm wondering if I can construct one of my own design using 100's of circles...
  
I'm thinking along the lines of these sorts of colours, which are hugely inspiring at any time of year for little old me, but never more so than in the depths of a gloomy, cold January:

Can you imagine it?  Lots of varying shades, lots of little circles, or different sized ones come to that - Oh I can see it in my mind, it's so very lovely.


But will I get the chance I wonder?  Because I want to paint more too and there are only 24 hours in each day after all (and one must be realistic).  Even if I don't get round to the shawl, I'm delighted that the ideas are flowing again!


Anyway, I must tell you that the de-cluttering lark is going very well so far.  Not wanting to blow the proverbial trumpet too much, I must confess it's mostly down to the very good guidance of dear Tsh who I wrote about it my last post.


Her book is very good.


Today, about three years worth of old papers were shredded and the sideboard cupboards emptied and ruthlessly sorted.  Oh the relief!  I actually know where things are now!!
I am terrified I'm sounding like the most untidy creature to all of you.  The thing is with me, whilst my little abode is pretty neat all things considered, it consists of lots of neat piles of Unnecessary Things.  Clutter that we don't need, use or even see anymore come to think of it.


I squirrel things away...Just In Case.


But not any more.  We are sorting ourselves out!  The hard work is obviously in the sorting and the organising parts, but it's so worth it - it can feel daunting when you think of tackling an entire house, yes - but with a bit of planning and enthusiasm anything is possible.


And whilst I'm on the subject of organising, another fabulous thing I've discovered online is this:

For people like me, who like to make lists, and have bits of floaty paper here and there with Important Things written on (and that get lost more often than not), this is just fantastic.
It's like a little online notebook/journal thing, you can write information down, and even clip inspiring web pages to a note to look at later.  Perfect for a decorating project, or an online Inspiration Book me thinks!


It's free, and you can get yours here.


Before I go today, I just want to take the opportunity to say Hello to some new Followers - I do hope you're enjoying your visits here.


And last but not least, my little website has had a bit of a new years makeover.  It has a nice fresh new look that I'm most happy about, not to mention a lovely new portfolio page with click to enlarge photographs of most of my work.  You are very welcome to visit by clicking the link in the sidebar, or here.  To compliment the new look, I'm also going to be adding some new prints within the next couple of weeks - so exciting!  I hope you like the new design, do let me know your thoughts!


Have a sparkling day, thanks for visiting me,
Love Julia x x x

How to Find Time for the Good Stuff

Hello!

I'm so glad to see you today, it's lovely that you stopped by!

I've been busy in my sketchbook this week, the ideas are starting to come back - and what a relief it is to feel the flow again!  I must thank each of you who shared your own theories on how to restore a weary/missing mojo - I think I will be trying a few of those out myself next time I have a quiet spell.

So, this week I've been squeezing in a few drawings of seabirds, harbour window ledges, boats, pebbles and the like but I keep coming back to a garden with washing billowing about in a spring breeze.  I wonder if you can make out the sketch above?  I'm thinking of drifts of snowdrops, blossom laden trees - that kind of thing; an optimistic, bright little picture.

And I cannot wait to get this onto canvas...but here I discover another problem:  Time.

Which is why I'm reading this book.

The author of this book is Tsh Oxenreider, and she is an ordinary Mum with an ordinary family yet she has a canny ability to make life in general much more simple so that there is more time to enjoy the fun stuff.  Brilliant plan!
She also writes a great blog called Simple Mom which is worth a visit.


To say that my life and home are cluttered at the moment is an understatement.
So I have started to tackle almost four years worth of accumulated Stuff.  I cleared out a few drawers and bagged up some old clothes for the charity shop - we also have lots of baby toys that we are putting on one side for a car boot sale in the Spring.  I'm feeling much lighter, releasing old stuff is a Good Feeling!


I am also becoming more concious of how I choose to spend my time.  I watch tv and surf the net, and then complain I haven't time to paint! What??! Yes, it would appear I haven't been making the best choices when I think about it.  Not that there's anything wrong with either of those activities, it's just that both of them can swallow up lots of time without you even realising it.


But hey ho, I can make some changes, and a big one Im looking at right now is this:

I have to change my (somewhat expensive) habit of buying 3-4 glossy mags each month.  I am planning on donating my current piles to the local doctors and dentists waiting rooms.
I save them because there is usually an article or picture in there that I want to keep...but as the months float by I forget all about the article, or even which magazine it's in and then I don't have the time to look for it and these small magazine mountains sprout up around my house.


So my solution is to stop buying so many, maybe just one now and again as a treat - and I promise to cut out the article I want to save when Ive read it, and stick it in my Inspiration Book for safe keeping.


And just before you start thinking, oh listen to Mrs Virtuous here with her tidy house and her nice diet plan...oh please - let me tell you that the other night I demolished half a packet of Oreo cookies topped with generous dollops of dulce de leche...that's right, and my lounge looks like a branch of Toys R Us has exploded all over it.  That's how it goes, I'm only human after all and am fabulous at being messy and falling off the healthy eating wagon :D


But it's good to tidy up and climb back on right? :D


I hope you all have the brightest of weekends - will you share your decluttering secrets here? I'm on a roll at the mo and would love to hear your tips and suggestions please!


Sending love
'til next time...


Julia x