[ Today I *Heart* ]

Making people around me feel good about themselves

Making a healthy menu

Making.....so many different things

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Smelling a freshly brewed cup of coffee

Smelling the air just after it has finished raining

Smelling my grans perfume on her letters

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Taking time out for me

Taking a walk in the park

Taking a different route home

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Watching the sun rise

Watching ArmyWives

Watching dogs run and play in the park

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Finding money in my jeans pocket

Finding some cool mail on my doorstep when i get home

Finding those "everyday" blessings in my life
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[ A Great Tip ]

I thought i would share a tip. You might already know this and it is probably old news but just in case you are as behind the times as i am, i thought i would share.

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Last night i was doing a page in my art journal. Its ones of those pages that seem to come together all on its own. The inspiration hit me while i was crying along with ArmyWives, so i found a scrap piece of paper, wrote it down, dried my eyes and finished watching.

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When i started working on my page i decided to use one of my pens and do my journaling directly onto my photo. I didn't even give it a second thought that the pen that i was using might not actually be any good to write on a photo with. I picked up my photo to stick to my page and my finger smudged my thoughts.

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I was totally freaking out because this was my only photo that i had and i cant get another one (a lesson to be learnt here - i know) and now i had ruined it with my smudged finger print. How was i going to fix this one?

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I sat back and took a few deep breaths. Then it dawned on me - I remember hearing somewhere that to stop glitter from falling off of art items you can use hairspray to keep it on. So i picked up my photo, held my breath and began to spray my photo. Ten minutes later the hairspray had dried and *ta da* my journaling no longer smudged off.

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I don't know what the effects are from an archival point of view but for my art journal it seems to have worked perfectly!

[ So Grateful ]

I am so grateful for so much in my life at the moment:

Fond memories of a happy past

A hopeful and blessed future

My family

Friends - near and far, old and new

Mom's family muffin recipe

Feebie

Shoes that fit well and don't give me blisters

My ittle sewing machine

My "arty farty nature" - thanks Dad for the term

Those old songs that send you back in time to both happy and not so happy times

Dreams

For learning to loving those things about me that make me Me

To my Heavenly Father for the relationship that we share and that we are building on

For the promise of Spring and all that it brings along with it

For Life

[ Glimpses of the real me ]

Words or actions, that is the choice we each face in many aspects of our lives each day. We talk about eating right, about exercising, about getting organized, about spending more time on those important things, about cleaning the car, about doing something nice for our loved ones. We talk about a lot of things. On January 1, we talk about our New Year's resolutions. By February 1, many are ancient history.

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Actions vs simply talking has been sitting on my heart for a while now. Its something i think that we are all guilty of at some time or another but i had let it get to a point where all the talking that i had done and all the lack of actually carrying these things out had started to make me feel like a failure. I don't want to be one of those people who never do what they say. My word means something to me and i don't want to lose that.

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A couple of weeks ago i came across this book that a friend of mine had recommended a while back. I found a copy on eBay and it arrived just in time for the Easter Break.

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What a great book. It is easy to read, truthful, hard hitting and so relevant for where i am right now. I didn't want to write in my book so every page that has something meaningful for me i have bookmarked. So much good stuff! So much to think about and apply!

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From the title of this book it probably isnt what you think it is about....but then again perhaps it is. This book is about living your life now, being in this moment of your life, about realising that more often than not there is more going on emotionally than what we think. There is so much more i can say about this book but for now i will leave it here.

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This is a journey for me. I don't know if it is going to take months or years for me to feel like i am where i want to be in this area but i do know that this is something that i am working on and will have to work on daily. Loving myself, truly loving myself is something that i am learning to do. It sounds simple. It sounds like this is something that you should be doing automatically but its not - at least not for me.

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Over the next few weeks and months i will be sharing more of my journey on my blog. The good times and the bad times. Things that i have learnt and things that i am battling to get a grip on. These are not just words - These are actions.

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And what better way to experience and really feel my journey than to art it. This is my Best Me art journal. Many more pages to come, many more pages to share.

[ A Great Easter Weekend ]

This is what we woke up to Easter morning. Snow all over the place. It was beautiful. I got up, made myself a cup of tea, opened the curtains and just enjoyed the snow. The peacefulness. It was lovely.

I got so much done that i had hoped to do. I spent time with family and friends. I made some really good progress with my knitting project. I painted a new canvas. Cleaned up the flat. I did some more on my quilt.
And also managed to put together my photo frame for in the lounge. The lounge is my favourite room at the moment. I am really enjoying making it my own.
I also did a lot of reading, some art journaling and some cooking. A good few days off of work.

[ vintage love ]

1. a little rust, 2. Jen Duncan's super cute kitchen!, 3. 098/, 4. family room, 5. Untitled, 6. aubrey, 7. Old records & pepito, 8. day 49: me & my pucci, 9. Letter´s Lives, 10. 69/366, 11. vintage kitchen things, 12. Vintage Silhouettes, 13. Leaf Pocket Bag (Vintage Orange), 14. Delicate, 15. 0604 vintage cutlery, 16. goin' nowhere fast

This is what i am falling more and more in love with lately..... All things vintage

Fresh Flower Love

Yesterday morning i decided to buy myself some flowers. I love having fresh flowers in the flat and with money being a little tight i haven't been able to have too many over the last few months. They cost me £1. Yup only £1 and somehow, the shop have managed to guarantee them for 5 days! How do you guarantee flowers and who on earth actually takes the flowers back if they happen to die on day 4?

[ From my art Journal]

I made this last week after seeing this post on Sarah Bowen's blog. It was very freeing writing down the things that i worry about. It helped to see it in black and white and in some cases it helped me to realise that some of my worries are silly and are out of my control. I am currently reading a book called Let the healing begin and the chapter that i have just finished reading is about those fears in our life that hold us back. The ones that are small and the ones that are big. The ones that are a real fear and those that still cause us to fear but when looked at from a different perspective are not founded fears. I am glad that i have this recorded in my art journal.

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And thank you to Stu who has noticed and pointed out to me that my top left hand corner in the quilt block below is wrong. I wouldn't be me if i didn't have to unpick or frog several times during a project.....lol. Anyway, it is now fixed and the second one has been made. Pictures to come soon.

Im hooked

On this. Only been watching it a few weeks and love love love it! Especially the theme song thingy

Fabulous Friday

So last night this didn't happen. Instead i spent some time putting this together...

The first block of my first full size quilt. I love how it has turned out. I really like the colours and am so pleased with myself as i had to make alterations to the original pattern. You see when i first got this fabric a few months back i was so excited that i just started cutting and figured i would find a pattern that i liked later.....not such a smart idea, i know. But luckily i have managed to find a pattern that i like and it seems to have turned out alright. Needless to say that i wont be doing that again!! LOL.

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After i finished that i watched this instead..... I have seen this movie several times but it really is one of my favourites. Such a good love story. Just what i needed.

A Thursday evening

A good movie and some knitting - what more could you want for a Thursday evening!

An assortment of things

I have an assortment of things on my mind lately so i hope you don't mind if today's post is a little all over the place.

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Lets start with knitting. I haven't done any knitting in a few months now due to moving and studying and and and but i am glad to say that last weekend i picked up a pattern that i love, some yummy yummy Brown Sheep yarn and made a start on this pattern. It is coming together so nicely and so much quicker than what i thought it would. I will take some photos soon. This morning i was reading Adrienne's blog and she had a link up for the new Knitty patterns. I love Knitty and so decided to head on over to see what other patterns i can add to the list ......seeing as the knitting bug has bitten and i may as well take advantage of it while its around.

First off we have the Honeycomb pattern which can be found here. I love the elegance of this pattern and am thinking about one of these in green.And how about Jaden? The pattern can be found here. I think this is just gorgeous.

Then there is Nob Hill which can be found here. "Another shrug?" your saying..... i know, i know. I cant help but love these cute little things.

And then we have this one. It is totally gorgeous but unfortunately i think it is out of skills range. I love how feminine it looks and all the details...... maybe one day!

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And how about some quilting. I thought i had a photo to share with you guys but it looks like it must still be on my camera. The design that i have finally decided on looks really nice but then one of my friends threw in the idea of adding in a 5Th colour to it and now i am not sure what to do..... i think some more thought will be needed for this one.

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And then we have my desire of getting more involved with photography. I really really want to start doing wedding photography but i am not sure how to go about it. I think i should probably first see if i can find a wedding photography course and then once i have done that then take it from there. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to leave a comment or email me.

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Then i also have some paintings that i want to do. I have ideas in my head but just not enough time to get them done.

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I have also been thinking about opening up and Esty shop but i guess before i go about opening it i should really make some things to put in it.

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A few days ago i came across this Inspired by Amelie Blog and i love it.I am definitely going to have go to watch the movie, not that it hasn't been on my list of things to do for ages now but anyhoo. This has now jumped to the top of the list.

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And that is that folks, at least for now anyway. I am sure that i will have more to add to this list soon - I always do. Have a great Wednesday.

Hidden Magic

Lately i have been thinking a lot about what i want from life. What i want to do with my life and how i want to live it. I know these are big questions which don't really have one exact answer but i have been able to add different ideas and thoughts to my answer. I find that some of my answers are really sensible and others are just totally out there. As practical as those sensible ideas are i am finding it more exciting to think about those "totally out there" ones. Its those wacky ideas which i find are normally the ones that challenge me, that help me to grow and help me to achieve all that i want to. Dreaming is good. Taking up those dreams and trying to make a go of them - even if you do fail- is so important. Who i am, what i believe and how i live my life is something that i am figuring out at the moment.

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This canvas is something that i painted over the weekend. I am so pleased with how she has turned out. I do need to practice a lot more on eyes because that is the part that i feel lets her down just a little. Other than that she makes me happy every time i walk into the lounge and see her hanging on my wall. The flower design is something that i "lifted" from one of the many blogs that i visit so the design is somebody else's credit but the rest is all me.

A Study Free weekend

The anatomy of a good weekend:

- Spending time with good friends

- Thanks to Stu for finding me a free kitchen table and chairs for my flat

- Getting broadband and setting it up in my flat

- Finally figuring out what i am going to do with my fabric for my quilt and actually piecing the first full square

- Doing a page in my art journal with a prompt from Shimelle's February Challenge

- Giving Feebie a much needed bath - she looks so clean and shiny now

- Having dinner with family

- Renting a few DVDs for during the week

- Trying and loving a new recipe for Banana Bread which can be found here

- Starting a knitting project that i have been wanting to do for a few months now
- Doing all my ironing and cleaning - Yay me!

I say, i say i have now joined the 21st century!

Yeah baby i have internet at home!!

Come on Weekend!

I have got that Friday feelin today. I am sitting in the office dreaming of all the other nice places that i would rather be. Spring is in the air and i am finding that it is really tugging me to get my butt in gear and start doing more of the things that i want to do.

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So this weekend i am going to start doing a few of those things that i am sitting here wishing i could be doing today.

- I am going to our local park to meet up with K

- I will be making a start on a quilt which has been patiently waiting for about six months for me to finally make a decent start on it

- I am in desperate need of a decent size kitchen table for my lounge. I am finding it so difficult to study, sew, paint on the little side table that i currently have. Hopefully i will win one on eBay tonight and can go and collect it tomorrow or Sunday

- This weekend is a study free weekend so i am going to get out my paints and do some painting, some art journaling and some card making

- I have got a picture in my head of a wall display that i want to put together so i might try to get some things together for that as well

- I will be spending some time with my family

-And if that is not enough to do i think i will pick up a move from blockbusters tonight

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So, what will you be doing?

My Good friends Ben & Jerry

....came for a visit yesterday afternoon. I failed my exam. So dissapointed! But today is a new day and i am able to re-write it. Going to do some more revision and then try again. All is not lost!

Love letters

My favourite sort of letters. Letters of love from my 81 year old gran all the way from South Africa. Thanks Granny - Your letters always make my day!

Hopefully my poor blog will be back to some state of normality from Wednesday afternoon.