some changes....

bathed in pink blossom

Some new changes, a new approach, a new commitment, a new boundary of my time, dare I say it. These are the things I have been thinking about this week.

 This week my blog turned three, I turned 46 and the Himalayan earthquake happened. The last obviously being the most significant. I usually manage to side step most of the news, but this story reached into my very being and touched me. I would even say changed me. That first night I dream't of these people who were trapped and felt their fear and despair.

pink blossom in the park

As I looked around me in the world I couldn't help noticing how meaningless and pointless a lot of things were. It felt like a kind of mirror of truth to hold everything up to. Of course none of us are perfect, I know that. But sometimes we are quite far of the mark and totally caught up in our own pain. We lose sight of the bigger picture, which can be our lives or indeed the world.

a beautiful creation

I can very easily find myself filled up with insignificant things. Stories which don't matter. I can lose track of what does matter. Forget where I am or how I want to be in the world. And we can be in the world, we are not trapped. We can step into our lives and be present. We are so fortunate. We can spare some prayers for these people and we can give up something so we can contribute to the aid effort. It's all we can do. 

And we can stay focused and present for our lives at the same time and the people in them. Nothing else matters.

Museum in the park

I can't read every blog post of everyone I follow. First thing! But I'm a faithful soul, and will be back round at some point. Unless we have both just kind of moved on. I'm trying to shape out what I feel I'm moving into myself, what I'm trying to bring to life here. I have to focus on here to give this a chance.

I'm trying to create a creative business and also negotiating though life with a sixteen year old in the last few months of school. Most of you know I'm a single-parent. My income's going to change. I'd like to create a business plan that will catch me and provide in a new way. I want to work for myself, I'm quite sure of that. And it needs to be creative.

I love what I'm creating here and what I'm learning. I love what's developing and how idea's start to come to life.This is my moment to follow this, to stick with it and see where it leads.

I love how it's looking right now and how the inspiration for changes come without you knowing!

So back to boundaries. I can't read every post and I've had to narrow down who I do follow. I think this must happen to everyone in the end. I've stopped following most big blogs, even the ones that I read from the beginning. Which surprised me. But I think I'm ready to find my own path. I'm hugely grateful for the inspiration though.

Okay so I will be around now and again. I still love flickr. I will try and look through my contacts once a week. Same with instagram. I don't do big follows because I actually do like to follow! and I can't actually follow loads....

So what will I do?......! Well the new boundary for me, who seems to have her day chopped up by many different things is that I am keeping my week, just for me and my son of course and the dog!I'm not going to be available to anyone else until the weekend, for anything.

I'm going to follow this creative business idea. I'm going to be making and stocking my shop. Which may mean quite a few shop posts.So I hope you don't mind about that, but it's time you see.

It's time for me to hear my voice amongst all the background noise and stand up for what I want to represent. It's time to get clear and focus. It's time for me to commit myself to that,

and it feels quite exciting :-)

Thanks for reading.

♥

lots of colour changes!

You may have noticed some changes around this blog of mine! Isn't it fun changing things around. I've always liked moving things around and I've always been a fan of multi-coloured things so I expect I will eventually work my way through all the colours! I am remembering to back-up my template and blog, so if it all goes pear shaped I will be able to recover it! There is a great tutorial over at carina's craftblog which shows you how to back up your blog and your template on blogger, so thank you Carina! I will try and do it every week.

The seventies flower pattern that I've added to the header is from a plastic ring binder folder that used to belong to my mum, there's also a matching pen case to go with it, I'm so glad we kept it. I've had a lot of fun with pic monkey, a photo editing site. Just drag a photo from your computer into the edit photo box and off you go! Sometimes I think a good honest photo looks best though......

I would love to have a better camera. This just isn't possible at the moment, so I'm trying to make the best of what I've got, which is really a fujifilm happy snapper! I have had a good read of the instructions and now know how to bring more light in and use it for close up shots, and that it's best to turn the flash off. But it would be lovely to take really defined close up shots that I see around. So I'm practising with this one first.

It would be nice to get a really good close up shot of the wild flowers on the common at the moment. I realize that I love these wild flowers best. All the delicate flowers which have been grown by having their seeds scattered around in the wind. The cowparsley, the harebells and the pink clover and all the lovely wild grasses and meadow flowers, so pretty.....the purple flowers against the green grass, remind me of the curtains I had when I was young. Chosen by my mum, I think a lot of the fabric I love comes from my mum, who had flowers on everything!! .....and who also loved to sew, using the singer sewing machine, which belonged to her mum and that I use now.  

It's nice to have my feet back down the ground again after the whirl of London..... You may also have noticed I added solo mum to my profile. It might answer some questions and I think I like this term best, especially as it not one that seems to obviously refer to status, if that makes sense. This certainly isn't going to be a blog about that. It's not a big deal. Although sometimes it is.....! This is more a blog about making and being creative as well as the things that inspire and delight me! I have lots of ideas cooking and I hope to be able to bring them here somehow.....

I realise that I never showed you a picture of my sunshine pillows, made during that really hot weather we had in May? I can't remember now, it may even of been April.....very simple, envelope style. I made them after reading Homespun Style, the lovely book by Selina Lake. I challenge anyone not to read this book and not have to immediately go and make flowery cushions!!..... I'd like to make some more using lots of different fabrics, if I could just put down my crochet hook for a moment!

In the meantime I have an exciting craft project coming up soon, just one more layer of paint to go......

                                                                Catch you soon

                                                                       Heather