28.7.13

oh happy day and news!

Friends, I have been really enjoying making my hearts, madly! I am using a new cotton as I need to source the previous one again. But I like the effect, and it makes for a change! I will be popping these in my shop as they emerge.

My news is that I have decided to take a break over the summer. Possibly for the whole of August. Maybe I will drop in here and there and carry on posting to flickr and updating my shop. The hearts, soon to become garlands will be keeping my creative hands busy, but my mind needs to empty out and become fully present in my life right now.

I have been pondering some questions lately, which I will share with you;

How am I really feeling?

Who am I now?

What do I do?

How do I spend my time?

What do I want to put into my little red suitcase, or take out?

Am I making the best of where I live?

How can I be more present in my sons life more?

The truth is we are having some difficult times and I feel like I need to get right behind him and show up more.

.......phew heavy stuff .......I'm also hoping to see the sea at some point this summer and plan on finding my way back to some kind of self-care routine, local leisure center here I come!

Enjoy the holidays, catch you here and there,

Heather
X

20.7.13

acknowledgement

Just recently I have toyed with the idea of removing the google members counter. Why?.... well I started to feel dissillusioned with the whole thing. I realize, I refer to this as a deciding factor in how well things are going here, in this space. And though it is fun to watch the numbers go up, the downside of that is it can be somewhat of a downer when nothing much changes.

So, I realize what I am looking for is acknowledgement;  for this space, for being here, for myself as a person, for my okayness, for who I am. And I've fallen into the habit of looking for it out there! All good when life seems to be affirming us, not so good when someone lost in a mass of upset and projections is telling us how really not good we are!

So instead of finding that voice myself, it's easy to fall into the habit of looking outside of ourselves. Looking at numbers is the nature of the blogging game. But is it a game? and does it have to be? I mean how many blogs can we really follow and enjoy and feel connected with. How much is sustainable really? or do we spread ourselves so thin and become so much outside of ourselves, so saturated, that we lose sight of who we are? Surely that's more important. In order to be able to give out, we need to be able to feed ourselves. We have to put our oxygen masks on first.

I have received so much inspiration from out there, and for this I am really thankful. It's important to me, and it's what makes me tick in this creative life. I think at some point we have to start working out what's important to us. What are those needs, and how can we meet those needs ourselves? Is a number counter important?.......maybe it is!

but it can be frustrating! it's like watching a kettle boil!...... I don't want to feel resentful..... I want to feel free and creative, like I'm working towards the things I want to happen in life. So that things like numbers don't matter, oh and it seems I do possibly want to feel acknowledged........! It's a paradox really.

It goes quite deep, doesn't it, this need. It's been there all along, bumping along beside me through the ups and downs. Needs are like that aren't they? they don't go away. We can't rationalize ourselves out of them. Even though we might try. So the point is, is it ever enough, to try to meet that need from outside of ourselves? does it ever really work? or do we need to regularly tell ourselves this message: -  
























.....I know I do!....... In fact I think I might stick it on my computer screen!!

*********************

I have a give-away winner and it's Daisy from lazy daisy jones! So thank you all for entering and being part of what happens here. I will be popping some of these hearts in my shop soon.

Enjoy the summer days. I have struggled a bit during the really hot weather. This cooler day today is a welcome relief for me! Brain's working again!!

Heather

14.7.13

new creations and a summer give-away!























I am so very excited! to see this little old stamping set arrive.

I have some wonderful plans and ideas for this. I brought this from ebay. But it's quite easy to get hold of on etsy, and I do wish I had supported etsy when I brought this. I think I became over-excited and stop thinking coherently! Anyway it's lovely to have a stamping set, it's vintage type, upper and lower case, and it prints really nicely. So watch out world I have lots of things I want to say.......!

Like this.........


These were made just prior to this stamping set arriving, so the type is different.

Would you like a set of these heart messages? They can be used as labels for gifts or sweet little reminders to hang around the home. You can write carefully on the back, which is water-colour paper. What do you think? I plan on adding some of these sets to my etsy shop soon.

I have lots of other little messages, but I'll start with these.



You can see where the idea for these began by following the link in the side bar for hearts from vintage sheets. So thank you to Sonja for sparking this idea!























I may make some other colours too but for now I'm really enjoying the look of the white edging and the vintage material.


I've left the dangling sewing threads as I think it goes with the whole granny chic vibe! and I do like the look of them on a wavy branch, but I think I could see them dangling in many little places.

So my dears leave me a message if you would like to enter the give-away. I will pull a name out the hat before my next post.

Oh yes, open to the whole world!! just make sure I can contact you!

Hope those in the northern hemisphere aren't melting too much.

Have a good week,

Heather
X

11.7.13

it's okay.....


























For anybody still left standing, or sitting, or lying at the end of the day, and is still there to tell the tale, and needs to know...... it's okay. The chances are, it's going to be okay.

And here are some roadside poppies for you to celebrate your bravery!
















under probably what is extreme circumstances.


















I wish you much strength and good will,
























and some fantastic resources, which surely will appear!



as if by magic to point the way forwards.


I believe there is much unseen help out there in the universe.
Smiling down on us today.

This day when we are left feeling a little shell-shocked.
Be kind today,

Heather
X

8.7.13

a hot pink weekend and summer treats

my new love
























This was the weekend of the heatwave! yay!

I quietly declared myself on holiday. No gym, no mowing! time to assemble the cushions and covers outside. Too hot to do any thing else. The heat made me quite knocked out, I love the sun, but I do love a shady spot too!


Being called by the hot pinks, I started a new cushion. You may wonder whats happened to 'retro man', well he came together quite quickly and is being blocked ready for sewing. Now I feel the need for pink and pretty.
























So after a very early morning walk on the common,























a quick hello to the daisys,























and a wave at the cows,
























it was time to head home and hit the garden,























really it was me, Mollie and the dog!
























and the flowers, and the birds and the bees.

loving the aqua colour too!
























oh and summer treats,
























Lemon curd! I brought this one because this is the one my Mum used to buy. (This isn't a sponsored post!). After reading several of Gillian's lovely posts about lemon curd I realized I missed having a little taste of lemon curd and never having brought my own I decided to start now. Gillian is very talented and makes her own! It was such a lovely lemony treat with some french bread, while sitting in the garden. So thank you Gillian for reminding me to treat myself. It brings lovely memories and even my son remembered it too.

 Little dog just tried some lemon curd! I think it was a bit sharp!
























A packet of mini fabs went down well too, fab and groovy with the cushion cover don't you think........!,

Sunday was just as hot if not hotter. The day was a bit more frought, with some driving around and a battery and charger situation, which I knew nothing about but had to resolve anyway. It's all about keeping the peace here. And trying to avoid being hit by plastic bbgun pellets!

I also watched in awe with the rest of the tennis world as Andy Murray battled it out on center court at Wimbledon, in what had to be the hottest day ever. In my opinion they were both winners! Phew. In his interview, he was so blown away he couldn't remember how he won his last point! I'm not a follower of tennis but I enjoyed that last set, in what must have been a global tennis moment.

So on with the new week now,
enjoy, stay cool, find some summer treats along the way,

Heather

3.7.13

mid week temptation

A few summer temptations lately!



It really is strawberry season. I love strawberries and that of course means oodles of cream poured over the top. I am seeing strawberries in the supermarket at the moment, of the most fantastic proportions. Have they done something unspeakable to them to make grow so big!



Walking along the lane, in the hedgerow I am spotting the most sweetest tiny tiny wild strawberries growing. The flavour is intense and reminds me of some strawberry flavour sweets I had when I was little. I have to remember to leave some for the wild life.



Oh and spotted on the common, this fabulous red car sitting in the car park. I mean look at it, does this not say ready to go adventuring. Doesn't it just 'need' a red suitcase to match. I had to restrain myself for checking for keys!! I could just imagine taking off for an adventure sitting in this with my vintage suitcases stacked prettily in the back and ready to go! Yes please!



A beautiful new sweet smelling orange Rose growing by my balcony. I have to keep going and breathing in the sweet smell. Reminding myself to buy some Rose oil. I put a few drops of this in my moisturiser or face oil when I put it on , it really is lovely and feels very nurturing.



My new crochet adventure. It could go in so many different directions. So many colours calling. I love this bit.

Hmm, which colour wants to come out next.

Actually I have an idea for this cushion, I'm thinking retro man!! You know the kind of retro man who you find under 'etsy dudes'! He will probably be wearing a plaid check shirt, drive a cool retro car and possibly have a beard. He probably lives in a cabin in the woods, which he built by hand and filled with cool retro things. And top of his shopping list would be a funky retro cushion, naturally....... Either that or he does actually live inside the 'etsy' website!...... Or possibly in another country.......or maybe I don't get out enough?!

Anyway, I will show you more soon,



A quick crochet temptation here, look you can line them all up if you want to!


Like I said always tempting to keep em'!


A sweet gift of summer flowers from a friend. Not tempting, just nice.

and I have changed my photo. Once you have a photo it's hard to not have a photo, it kind of feels as though something is missing. It's quite a straight faced photo. I have some softer ones waiting in the wings, but this feels like something I need to express for a while! I detect a note of I mean business here and even a note of defiance, (possibly a now grey hair defiance!) and I may have my arms crossed, but I'm not saying.


Just lately I have had to create some new boundaries around my life. Just nicely. There's important things in my life and my sons that I want to get to and I'm not getting to them. I have to be clear with myself and other people about that, I want to do them, but I can't if  I'm spending time doing other things. I need to do the things which are important to us. First. Sometimes we can dance around these things for forever and a day with distractions and avoidances. Time to pull my finger out. Oh, and time to create. Time for everything.

have a good rest of the week,

and let me know if you spot 'retro man'!

he's out there somewhere!

Heather
X

P.S. I have some new pictures on my pinterest stunning grey hair board.
P.P.S. maybe I'll start a 'retro man' board, what do you think!!
edited to add retro man board here!