time to pick up a pencil

I have had no time to make any new art for weeks and weeks. Getting back into the swing, finding the space and focusing on a blank white piece of paper again is proving difficult. But I'm feeling the need to desperately. So today I have set aside three precious hours in which to draw. I shall post again when I've drawn something...

maybe

My first experience of being a mummy was the most life changing, head spinning, soul soaring, sanity wrecking event that's ever befallen me. From the minute I felt my little girl making her way out of me and into the big wide world I changed, my life changed and the world around me changed. In fact, it changed days before I gave birth to her but then that's hormones for you.

I'm facing that same adventure again this April. I hope that I can keep a steady hand on my head, hormones and emotions this time but only time will tell. 

When I was pregnant with Edie I thought a lot about how it would be to have a baby. I had no idea. This time I know about the joy, the frustration, the boundless love and the sheer boredom of it but I don't think of it at all. Even though I'm over the moon to be expecting again I just take each day as it comes and I don't think about the future, post April. Maybe that's the wrong thing to do. Maybe I should be day dreaming about tiny toes and walks in the park. Maybe I should be preparing myself for my hair falling out and my boobs turning into milk squirting burning boulders. Maybe I should take some time to sit and write through all the good things and the not so good. 

Maybe I should. 

little things to make you happy this weekend

•Plan your breakfast for Sunday now and go get what you need! Maybe...

Banana pancakes (I sometimes make the batter the night before and keep it in the fridge till morning)

or... 

Breakfast crumpets (I had the mushroom ones and they are lush)

•Make a list of films you want to see, books you want to read and things you want to make to get you through the rest of the winter. 

I want to: see this, read this and paint a big stick using these as inspiration!

•Organise your hand bag, and throw in a few feel good treats. Maybe a bright and beautiful lippy you always forget to wear, a gorgeous hand cream, a new note book, a photo of your lover, a couple of left over chocs from Xmas...

Screw it, mine's getting filled with all of the above. 


Have a fun weekend!

mantelpiece

image by Paula Mills whose Etsy shop is here

Our not-so-new fireplaces have been waiting for mantelpieces for around 18 months now. There always seems to be more important things to spend our money on, like, er, food and, um, heating, but this Christmas I found myself wishing we had somewhere to hang our stockings, display our cards and light our candles. 

Paula Mills 

I suppose mantelpieces are like little shrines, places to displays the beautiful things that are important to us, family photos, mememtoes, ornaments that tell a little of who we are and what we stand for. Plus, with young children around mantelpieces are thankfully high off the ground and out of reach of little hands. 

image found here

I love the thought of changing our mantel displays season by season. We're just a month and a bit into winter but realistically I can't see us getting our living room mantelpiece up and running until the spring. We have to find and buy the thing first and that is proving to be a bit of a challenge.

From The Pottery Barn

I found all these beauties whilst perusing Pinterest. Go take a look at the other lovelies if you wish.

Have you got a mantelpiece? If so I'd love to hear about (or even see) what you choose to place upon yours. Please share!

goals for January

image from http://design-seeds.com/index.php/home/entry/penciled-color

So it's January 9th and I'm finally getting around to making not some huge goal for 2013 but just three little ones for the rest of the month.

•organise my wardrobe space

my father in law is arriving at ours today to spend a few days building a wardrobe in an alcove in our bedroom. I'm pretty excited about this as my clothes have been piled upon a clothes horse in our room for the past year and a half. Getting them out of the way and behind doors will make our bedroom so much more of a sanctuary. It looks fab in magazines when there's a clothes rail on display with floaty white dresses and sequined cardigans hung neatly on it but when yours is bulging with maternity leggings and your water proof jacket it looks a bit shit to be honest. So here's to our new hand made wardrobe!

•write or draw every day

Why the hell not. It's what I love after all.

•plan our meals more carefully

This one is much needed. Blame the pregnancy fatigue/sickness/general disinterest in foods that don't contain bread, potatoes or pasta but our diets need a real kick up the arse. I went through the Innocent Hungry recipe book on Sunday night and I'm inspired! It's packed full of delicious and simple recipes that are suitable for little ones too, but even for grown-up girls and boys it's fab. 

Here's to a January full of good food, doused in creativity and with somewhere to hang my elasticated waist jeans. Happy days.

thank you Bee

"The Liebster Award is for bloggers with under 300 followers and the rules of the award is that the nominee must link back to whoever awarded them, write 11 random facts about themselves, answer the 11 questions from the award giver, and then nominate another 11 bloggers and make up 11 questions for them to answer. It's a great way for new and undiscovered bloggers to meet new people, get more followers and find some blogs that they want to follow."

Thanks to the lovely Bee over at the linen cloud for this! 

I'm not usually great at completing these little tasks but this time I got stuck in straight away. 

So...

11 random facts about me...

I met my husband whilst on an art college trip to Madrid. I was drunk for around 70% of that trip.

My dog is actually an angel.

I can't touch my toes but then my legs are quite long.

My granddad was a miner.

I have that gene when you can't stop eating till it's all gone.

I passed my driving test when I was 17 and it took me another 17 to get in the car and drive it.

I never wear heels.

When I was upset as a child I'd always want a bath. Crying in the bath is good for you.

I'm a chronic over-sharer. TMI.

But I'm also an excellent secret keeper.

I have no tattoos. Doesn't almost everyone have at least one these days?

And the questions Bee asked...

When I was little I didn't know what I wanted to be, still don't! But I longed to be able to talk to animals. It was my favourite fantasy.

My favourite flower is a rose.

My most vivid childhhood memory... that's a hard one as I have so many. I'll tell you my earliest one instead; I remember climbing the stairs to see my granddad who was dying in bed. He gave me a red sweet. It's a happy memory.

If I were invisible for a day I would totally freak everyone out as I'm 6 months pregnant. Floating fetus.

If I could choose to live anywhere it would be... right here.

At the moment I could read this book happily over and over with Edie, and I do.

If I were an animal I would like to be a very much loved dog.

My desert island essentials would be a huge pile of moleskins and an endless supply of fine liners.

I've always been a night owl but as I now have a three year old and with another on the way my inner early bird is finally (and mostly reluctantly) getting to spread her wings. 

And lastly savoury rules! 

Now, the final part of the process is to pass the award onto 11 others and construct 11 questions to ask them. 

I haven't done that bit.

Perhaps I'll get back to it sometime later in the week. Perhaps it'll remain unfinished business.

12th random fact, I often leave things half done.

go easy on yourself

not just a random picture of a man and a dog- this is My man and MY dog on New Year's Day. Cleary.

With Christmas almost at a close after a blur of coughs, sneezes, croaks, stress and the usual magnificent sparkle and family-love I'm ready to take down all the glitz and razzmatazz tomorrow for twelfth night. Taking down the tree always makes me feel smugly minimalist (I'm not), I mean, look at all that space and the clean lines of the window sill without all that glittering tit-tat. Fab! Shame about the rogue pine needles I'll still be hoovering up come Easter. Ouch.

And so it's now two thousand and thirteen! Wow. Sounds monumental to me. I really think it's going to be a good year. 

Edie- New Year's Day 2013

Last January I started 2012 with the words 'be brave' to take me into the new year. I think I was brave in 2012, though I'm sure I could do with a little more effort in some parts of my life. And that little bit of self-criticism takes me neatly onto this year's mantra, 'go easy on yourself'.

Go on, be kind to yourself, just because you're so bloody awesome. 

And because you're doing OK, OK?