A little visitor has brightened up my day

Hi,

My name is Florence.

I was created this afternoon while Laura was meant to be doing book keeping.

I am sooo much more fun.

I am going to be passed on as a gift to someone who got a new job.

But it was nice to meet you all.

Flo x

Thank you all so much for your kind and supportive words, it meant so much to me to tell it how it is and just get on with it! And this little community is such a comfort in creative dry spells x

A sigh of relief

I have been absent from blog land for some time now and feel I owe you my kind and faithful readers an explanation. For the last while I have felt stuck, not know where I was going, where I wanted to go or how I was going to get there. I was making housework and chores my priority and then saying I didn't have time to create, but really I was avoiding it! I didn't know where to start, and had become so removed from the play and pleasure in making for those reasons and focusing totally on a need to make things to sell. I think my birthday had a lot to do with it too, reaching a kind of milestone and thinking what have I really achieved so far?

I got 2 new moleskin journals from my bo and they have been sitting untouched because I just didn't know where to start. So I decided to take a step back and start at the beginning, reaserch. I spent days looking through books, magazines, blogs, flickr and websites for inspiration and started a few folders on my computer of stuff that gets me excited. And this time I decided to print some of them off and have them at my desk. I stumbled upon so many talented people/ artists but one of the real motivators for me has been keri smith. She is an author, illustartor and gurilla artists amongst other things. I have found so many things on her site which are so right for me just now, two of them being "100 ideas" and "10 ways to infuse your work with your personality". Both of these 2 things are what I have been seriously lacking in lately.

"Paper" my journal

Another artist I found on flickr is kirstin vinter, she has been blogging pages of her journal and it was so uplifting and inspiring to me to see someone working in a way that spoke to me.

"Dresses series" my journal

So here I am, I still don't know what direction I am going in or what I am going to make, but that is ok now and I am going to have some fun exploring what I love, and for the moment that is paper. I have been making jewellery and enjoy it, but it is not making my heart sing. So I have decided I am gong to have a shop shake up and move some of my jewellery on and clear it out ready for new creations when they arrive. I'll keep you posted on this, but in the mean time I just want to say thank you to you all for still stopping by although my post have been thin on the ground and for all your kind and supportive words. x

My holiday over

Well that's it, my wonderful holiday has come to an end and I'm back to work tomorrow. I have a commission to do some medical product fitting instructions and a bit of garden design to get stuck into this week. So today I needed to cross some things off my list before normality starts again. I made up all my birthday thank you cards this morning, using some of my favourite flower images of the moment. I got some beautiful flowers for my birthday and took some time today photographing them so that I can work on them later this week.

As I was snapping away today I realised that during this whole holiday I haven't made a thing, I have had loads of ideas, but not sat at this desk and created. I was shocked at first then it dawned on me that some of my favourite things to do are creations of sorts...cooking. And I have done a lot of that this holiday, creating new little concoctions of delight. This amazing bean salad was an adaptation of a receipt I found but was missing lots of the ingredients. So I made it up, and it is yummy and summery. And as a perfect accompaniment my Bo made me amazing wholemeal bread! He has his faults but all is forgiven.

I want to share this with you. I received so many beautiful and thoughtful gifts last week but this little vase or jug is bringing me so much pleasure right now. I love it so much, I love the delicate looking flower and the chunky handle. So it has taken pride of place for me to gaze at and is filled with one of my favourite flowers, freesia.

So, here I am left thinking of what my future holds and what directions I want to go in with my work and creations and try to work out a plan to grow my business to allow me to support myself. All suggestions welcome!

I'm Back

My extended holiday was brilliant and thank you so much for all your kind birthday wishes. I had a great few days eating, reading and walking, and I even got balloons and banners! I have lots of new flower photos but I am still working through them and will be creating from them this weekend. These are a beautiful bunch of Poenies I got and love them so much I decided to use them for my new banner!

On Tuesday I was over at my aunt's house and she showed me this amazing book, "The Young Ladies Journal" an illustrated and bound selections of magazines from 1864. She was given it by a friend who found it in a skip!!!! Who in their right mind would part with a book like this?

This page is a fold out for embroidery patterns. I took photos of 100's of the pages so I'll share them with you over my next few posts.

I can't resist sharing this photo of Pablo with you. I am becoming one of those people who I used to laugh at who took endless photos of their pets. Now I know why they do it. He is such an amazing little creature and I have become so soft.

Well as I have been away for so long I have a lot of catching up in all your blogs to do and need to go and have a good sleep for all the making I plan for this weekend. Happy weekend to you all :)

Let me eat cake!

I have just popped in to announce the winner of my "Takin a break" competition and the winner selected from a jar by my bo is .......... Flossie Teacakes! Congratulations!!! Email me your address and I'll pop them in the post to you. Thank you all so much for joining in and sharing your relaxation techniques. I am pleased to say I am feeling so much better now, it took a bit longer than expected but I rested up, ate lovely soup and homemade bread and watched lots of Murder She Wrote. The reason I was late announcing the winner is that it is my 30th birthday today and some little surprises popped up and I decided to extend my break. So I'm off now to eat some of this beautiful cake made by two of our friends J & S. That's one of my favourite things about birthdays, it's ok to eat cake for breakfast! I'll be back very soon to share with you all what I have been up to and creating........

Taking a break- competition

I have decided to take a little break. I am having a weeks holiday to relax, regroup and revitalise. I am currently sporting coldsores, black circles under my eyes and a thumping head ache which I have had for the last 2 days. So when I get run down like this I know it is time for a break. So in honour of my holiday and rest I have decided to run a little competition.

Just leave a comment telling me what you like to do to "take a break" and I'll get my Bo to select a winner next Friday when I return, and one lucky reader will receive these lovely earrings.

If you blog about my competition I'll add your name into the draw twice!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and week!

Shared Hearts - Number 2

"Heart" by Littlebirddesigns

Littlebird is from Scotland and has a degree in Illustration and Printmaking, and there are some beautiful linoprints and other goodies in her shop, so head over for a look. She also has a very lovely blog, verylittlebird. Thank you for sharing your heart lb!



Have have doing a spot of 'well filling' for my inspiration. Which for me invloves taking photographs and gathering stuff! I have decided my inspiration wall space needs updating so I am on the hunt for lovelies, and this for me always begins with my camera. I was at a friend's house on Friday and she has one of the most beautiful gardens I have seen. So many wonderful colours and textures and I got sooo many snaps. I have already made up 3 packs of cards from the flower photos I took! And maybe I'll add them to the shop too, what do you think? So at the moment my desk is clear and bare and I'm off now to work on bits and bobs to get my creativity flowing for a productive week ahead.