Creative Opportunities.

Over the past 4 1/2 months I have begun to realise that I desire to create everyday. It may be a card, a scrapbook page, an experiment in my art journal, a canvas, a cushion, a stitchery or something as simple as lighting some candles, cutting some flowers from the garden and decorating the table for dinner. I am discovering that being creative is giving to my soul something that has been missing for quite a while.

The problem with this desire is that it comes with guilt. Thoughts about how selfish it is to waste time doing 'art/craft'. Especially when there are still dishes in the sink to be cleaned or ironing to be done etc.

I am not saying that my responsibilities should come second to being creative. Of course not. What I am saying is that if I wait till everything I have to do is done then I would NEVER get to be creative. Somedays there will be an opportunity to be creative for a few hours. Somedays the opportunity will be 5 minutes here and there. The point is I need to keep an open mind. I won't always be able to get out the paint, or scrapbook 5 pages but I can try and do something creative everyday.

A work in progress........

Here is a picture of something I am working on. It is not finished yet but it is progessing. I really enjoyed playing with the flowers and string.

Monday Musings

Sometimes life doesn't go the way I would like. Sometimes I have to be open to change. Sometimes I need to let go and just let life be.

Sarah and I were planning to go to the Papercraft Festival this weekend. We had been looking forward to it for quite a while. A day just for us to be inspired and have fun together. On Friday evening I thought I should go online and check the opening times of the festival. Instead of times I discovered that the festival had been postponed and rescheduled for September. What a disappointment. Sarah, as expected, was upset. 'Was our day out cancelled too?' was her question. Ahh not at all. We were going to have our day out. We just needed to change some of the details.

And so we did. We ended up having an awesome day. We shopped, we ate, we talked, we laughed, we discovered, we learnt some things and we enjoyed being together and just let the day happen. Our planned event had changed but we had a day I will never forget. I love you Sarah and I am so grateful to share my life with you.

Dawn

Tom took this photo whilst he was away on a school camp. It is a perfect image of how I feel at this moment. Calm with a hint of knowing life is still moving along, reflective, seeing clearly despite the mountains still to climb, and beauty. Thankyou Lord for your handiwork. Thankyou for allowing Tom to capture your beauty for me to see when I needed too.

So tired...and yet...

Here I sit at 1.10 am. I am tired yet the sleep does not come. The house is peaceful with the soft sounds of breathing children and a slightly louder breathing husband. I can hear the clocks ticking too. Reminding me of how late it is and how soon it will be daylight. I read. I paint. I drink a warm milk. I pray. I beg. Please come sleep. My mind will not shut down. So many thoughts running circles in my head. I feel anxious. I know I will be so tired come daylight. Come Lord, please. Bring me peace and bring me rest for my utterly weary soul. Soothe the aches, the concerns, the anxieties, the hurts, the busyness, the worries, the loneliness, the brokeness. Calm my thoughts and release my mind to the beautiful place of rest. Allow my mind and body to be restored and rejuvenated.

New Book

This book just arrived in the post. And it is beautiful. I am going to make myself a cuppa and spend some of the afternoon reading and being inspired. The authors blog is here.

I also have a date with my Sarah this weekend. We are spending the day at the Papercraft Festival in the city. Should be lots of inspiration there.

Pencil cases and cushions..............

Recently I began to teach my 8 year old daughter Sarah to sew. And she took to it like a duck takes to water. I was actually surprised at how easily she picked it up. She is very precise, neat and straight. Sarah decided she wanted a new pencil case for school this year however she wanted a handmade one and not a store bought one. She chose the fabric and designed her pencil case. Then we went about sewing it together. We had so much fun. It was a real delight to do this project together.

Here is one side:

And the other side:

Of course when Tom realised Mum could sew pencil cases he put in an order as well. He couldn't decide between cricket and star wars so we did one side of each fabric.

Soon I will begin a pencil case for Timmy as he has seen the possibilities.

And Jack, well he is in high school now and I don't think he thinks it would be very cool to have mum make his pencil case. But that's OK with me because he would like a few cushions for his room and it is OK for mum to make those.

To love...........

Found this quote here . It is true and beautiful.

Cards

Here are a couple of cards I made recently. I really enjoyed using different techniques incorporating paint and chipboard and old text paper.