Rainbows Live In Your Heart.

I came across this beautiful painting whilst exploring Etsy. You can find it here at SchadStudio. I wanted to share with you a poem I find particularly inspirational and it's even about rainbows!

The only way to find rainbows

is to look within your heart;

the only way to live fairy tales

is through the imagination and

power of your mind;

the only place to begin a

search for peace

is within your very soul;

because rainbows,

fairy tales and peace

are treasures that grow

from the inside out.

~Evelyn K. Tharp

Let me introduce you...

I'd like to share with you one of my other current adventures: Middle Finger Project. I don't know what it will come to be, but I know what it is right now. It's my attempt at giving something back. I want it to be an outlet of positivity and inspiration. I want it to be full of both practical and philosophical advice on living a more fulfilled and happy life. Because I know only too well how hard it can be.

It's a work in process but I hope that you can help me get the word out there!

                                 http://www.middlefingerproject.com/

Have you answered the knocking?

I'm not just talking about painting. Photography to crochet. Dancing to quilting. Art is not just fine art, it ain't just traditional painting. Art is personal to the individual. It shouldn't be defined by government. Ask 10 people what they think art is and you will get 10 completely different answers. For me art is creativity. Creativity in all its glorious colours, shapes and sizes. The way I choose to express this creativity varies on almost a daily basis - I am constantly changing and whilst I have not always embraced my artistic side I now hope do so with all my might for as long as I can - because it brings things out in me I barely recognise, it lifts my mood and it makes me a better person to be around (or perhaps worse - when I focus on something it is unfortunately to the detriment of everything else!).

I believe that we've probably all got at least a little creative potential somewhere within us. But it's hardly surprising given our hectic modern day lifestyles that the gentle pitter-patter of our artistic voice gets drowned out. Even us Etsians can get bogged down in the technical side of things what with; work, study, children, parents, Etsy, blogs, websites, facebook, tumblr, twitter, pinterest, reddit, dig, likes, favourites, shares, treasuries, comments, SEO (don't even get me started) etc, etc, etc the list goes on and on. It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that all of these things that we 'absolutely have to do' can and will make us lose focus and distract us from doing what it is that we love to do - that is primarily - to create.

So use this as a reminder, if you need one, to make more effort to listen the wisdom of your inner artist. Ask yourself: What does it need? How can I feed it? How can I bring it more into my life? 

I have answered these questions myself and come to the conclusion that I really have no idea what I have or what I want to say to the world. I gave up on writing a long time ago and I'm too much of a perfectionist for painting. Abstract and modern art appeal to me but it is the world of words that I have always revelled in. Reading and putting words on a piece of paper (or computer screen) are two things I am forever telling myself to do - but never quite get around to actually doing (like many of us I'm sure). So I bought a book to encourage me, I've had my eye on it for a while - it's called 'The Artists Way' by Julia Cameron and you can find here at Amazon. She mainly teaches two ways of encouraging your creativity - morning pages (I first thought it meant reading the newspaper) and artistic dates with yourself, both of which I will discuss more when the book arrives and I've read it. But you can find lot's of info about it here, here, here, here and here!

P.S. By the way you might be interested in my other blog which focuses on creativity, productivity and personal development.

P.P.S. The quote used in my photograph is from Terri Guillements - I'll admit I had no clue who that was till I Googled it. Turn's out she's the brains behind the Quote Garden which I've been using for inspiration for years!

How Do You Make A Light Box?

I love most of my product photographs on Etsy - I think that they fit in with the kind of brand that I'm creating, i,e. earthy, eco-friendly and natural. I'm constantly changing and improving them and I know that I still have a long way to go but overall I'm pleased with how they look at the moment. I love photographing my items against a 'natural' backdrop and our beautiful garden is the perfect place to do it! But today I wanted to try something a little different. I admire photographs, like this, taken on a white background - they look polished and professional. So I thought, what the heck? Let's give it a whirl!

This is an ordinary cardboard box - which I taped up.

I then scored A4 paper size holes on 3 out of 6 sides of the box. Of course when I try to do something which does not involve Sookie - she tries extra hard to get my attention. This involves running around, growling when I cut the card (apparently she doesn't like scissors!) and her piece de resistance - throwing toys through the hole in the box - which is rather clever really.

Once you have cut three sides out of the box you just need to tape, glue or bluetack white paper to the inside. I then used two desk lamps (but you could use three) to illuminate the left and right sides. I found that it is best to place the item you wish to photograph on a larger piece of paper which covers the back and foreground - so as not to get any nasty lines where the pieces of paper end.

So this was my first photograph. I don't think it is too bad for a first attempt - but my photography skills do leave a lot to be desired. But this just goes to show that you don't need super expensive equipment to get half way decent photos. I'm going to keep experimenting with my backgrounds and see where it ends up - who knows where?

Until next time...

This Lipstick Should Come With A Health Warning

Today I needed a pick-me-up. And what better to cheer myself up with and brighten your day than a luscious red lipstick? I decided to try something a bit different from the usual Rimmel, Revlon, Maybelline. I wanted something more natural. So I wandered over to the Soap&Glory section and found a lipstick that I liked. It was only when I got it home and took a closer look at the packaging, that I realised that this lovely red lipstick wasn't natural at all.

In all honesty, I don't know what made me think that it would be natural, perhaps I should just be pleased that it has any information on it at all - most lipsticks don't. I can't help but feeling cheated though. Of course, I will use it - I hate wasting things - especially when I've spent my good money on it. But I certainly won't buy from the brand again. In fact I think I'm going to seriously consider  buying my make-up from Etsy. This in itself may be a problem, having searched on Etsy for UK shops that sell lipstick - I came up empty handed. So I I guess I have two choices: buy from America or make my own.

To be continued...

How Do You Make Candles? Don't Just Melt And Pour!

Stars, Peace Signs and Strawberry Melts!

This morning despite waking up with a continuing cold, I decided to get my candle-making on, only problem - I can't smell anything - yet again! So I've been enlisting the help of my family -who find it rather amusing!

 

Some people think that candle-making involves two steps: 1) Melt wax. 2) Pour wax. But this couldn't be further from the truth. I wish it was so simple. In reality you need great patience to make candles, there's a lot of waiting, waiting for the wax to melt, waiting till it's at the right temperature to add Mica powder and essential oils, waiting for the wax to cool to the exact right temperature to pour, waiting for containers to reach the right temperature, THEN pouring, then waiting some more for the wax to solidify and cool to the right temperature. Then and only then can you begin the entire process over again! Then there's the wrapping of the candles to keep them at the right temperature whilst they further solidify, then there's the waiting until the candle is ready to be removed from the mould, then there's the ordeal of getting the candles out of their moulds which can take a long time depending on how stubborn they are being! Don't get me wrong - I love it. It's just a lot more work than it looks!

Until next time...

Is It Normal To Be This Excited By Soy Wax?

Having run out of wax (always a major disaster) I was very glad to receive my recently ordered Eco-Soy wax, wicks, sustainers, candle safety stickers and some awesome little glass bottles. You know when you buy something just because you like it? Well that's me - I have absolutely no idea what I am going to use them for. Not candles that's for sure!

I'm so impatient - I want to make candles right now!! But since I woke up with a massive cold I think I will hold off - hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Now I'm going to go and make myself a nice cup of tea and some toast. Then sit down, put my feet up and watch an episode of my latest TV addiction - Scandal!

Until next time.

My Shop Is Finally Getting There.

I'm very excited that my shop is finally starting to look, well, like an actual shop. I'm loving the whole adventure - okay that's not quite true - it's a pretty overwhelming experience. There's so much to learn, to do and to improve that it can get confusing. Not to mention it's hugely tiring doing the making, photographing, describing, tagging, costing, pricing, listing, promoting, researching, chatting, twittering, face-booking, improving, treasury-ing and on and on - so it can get pretty crazy if you let it. It's a lot of work if you take it seriously and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart.

To keep myself sane I've had to take a couple of steps back and remind myself why I started down this path in the first place. It hasn't been an easy ride - but I finally feel like I have found a balance between the two very different sides of myself - Etsy challenges me to use my creativity in a unique way but it also gives my more academic brain lot's to work with! I decided to take the plunge into Etsy because I wanted to tap into my creative potential in a way that meant I could share it with others and even though it's a slow process - success doesn't come overnight - I feel like so far I'm satisfying my ambition.

Until next time my friend.

Good Morning/Afternoon World!

Sitting in the garden with Sookie earlier today - there were a lot of bees around and because Sookie like chasing flies and bees and pretty much anything that moves - she was having a field day! Until I had scream at her when she was trying to eat one, luckily I distracted her right before she took the first bite!

This was the view from my bedroom window this morning! What a truly wonderful sight and a beautiful start to the day. Truly inspiring particularly for someone like me who LOVES rainbows! (I bet you hadn't noticed that though!).

Until next time dear reader.

My Baby!

Doing her best RSPCA 'Save me!' face.

I should introduce you to my baby. Okay she’s not a human baby, but she is the closest thing I have to a child. Her name is Sookie and she is a 19 month old border collie. She is the most beautiful, wonderful creature in my life. She adores being the centre of attention, so much so that when I'm working she will climb onto the kitchen chair next to me - stick her nose in my face and paw my hands, until my full attention is on her. When I ignore her she decides to bring me toys - when I continue to ignore her - she just goes and gets another toy. This goes on and on until I either play with her, tell her off (in which case she will go and skulk under some item of furniture) or until her many, many toys cover the kitchen floor and 'you know who' has to put them back in the toy basket (only until the next time!).

She can be very cute when she tries!

This post wouldn't be complete without also mentioning Eric (white) and Bill (sense a theme here?) our lovely little fishes.

Eric has one orange eye and one white eye. We took pity on him - thinking that he would fit in with our family of misfits!
Until next time my dear reader...

What will I do?

Well it’s probably easier to say what I'm not going to do.  I'm not going to spam you with a thousand photos of products saying go here and buy this - which I know you will be glad of. Yes this blog is going to sometimes feature things that I make - because that is a part of my life but I don’t want this to become just a place where I promote my products. As much as anything I want to help promote other people’s creations. I am inspired all the time by what the people around me are making and doing. I hope that I can give a little something back to those who bring into my life so much beauty.

Thank you my dear reader.

Launching Soon...