Monday's here again :D

So another week has passed and it's Monday again. Don't worry though because my Good Mood Mondays segment is here to save you from a day filled with bleakness and sleep-deprivation :D

This week I wanted to share a video I found a few weeks ago. It's been making the rounds globally and I can understand why. When I first watch it, it nearly killed me with it's utterly loveliness and sweetness. If you like it PLEASE share it and help the cause. I'll put a link to the web address after it too.

I hope everyone had a good weekend and are looking forward to the week. My task for today is to finish my Jane Austen themed items for the shop :) (photos will be coming soon)

                            
                                     

The link for the organisation is here

Try to have a great day whatever you have planned, and I'll see you in the future!

♥

I'll show you mine, and you show me yours....

Workspace week :)

A big part of my first week back has been spent reorganising my studio. In all honestly I do this every month or so but this time I was gone for a full three months and left my parents with access to it. Last Thursday I came back to this:

  

With my cutting table dismantled and hidden somewhere under the window.

I set to work...first on the agenda was getting some proper shelving. I have lived too long without proper shelves in my studio, so after a quick trip to B&Q I have somewhere to keep all my costume books and various bits and bobs.

Not nearly big enough but at least it's a start :)

Yesterday included a visit to Ikea for storage items including this my new tower of fabric :)

Again, no where near enough space but it's a fun way of storing some of it and being able to see what I have at a glance :)

I also bought this because it's awesome :)










So now after a week of the shop being reopened and finally getting over the jet lag enough to do some physical labour I have a tidy and usable work space even if I am still sharing it with my mum :)

So I want to see your workspace :) even if it's just a desk with a pile of books and a laptop! Share in the comments and have fun :)

♥

Let's start again

I arrived home safely from my Canadian experiance on Thursday. Despite travelling constantly for almost 15 hours and being awake for almost 30 I haven't suffered from jet-lag too much whcih means my plans for reopening the shop today go ahead without a hitch :)

Apart from reopening the shop I'm hoping to start blogging more consistantly, and to help me with that I propose a weekly segment called "Good Mood Mondays" I know from experiance how difficult it can be to get out of bed really early in the morning especially when it's below freezing and still dark outside. Any way the point of this segment is to give a bit of happiness and cheer to your early morning monday starts. I'll be picking things that make me smile, giggle or that I just find sweet. If you have any suggestions I welcome any comments :)

So our first installment is at least a few months if not about a year old but it still makes me smile it's from XKCD and it's about the discovery channel :)

It's so happy and upbeat that it makes me feel better everytime I look at it. Ok so after that little interlude it's back to work I go: lots of things to make and do if I want to earn money in 2012 :)
Hop over ot the shop and say hi! Wednesday's Child Is on etsy

One Year On...

So it was pretty much a year ago I started this blog and even though I haven't posted as much as I would have liked I'm glad I keep coming back.

This year has been interesting in many ways. While some fairly major events have happened, both good and bad; this year has not been a year of complete highs and complete lows, for which I thankful.

One of the major events was me finally graduating from university. I knew from the age of about 9 that I would be going to university so as much as I would like to go back and get a masters of a PhD eventually it feels really good to say I have finally graduated with a 2.1 undergraduate degree. It also marked the end for now of my life in full time education. Apart from the year between college and university when I worked on my portfolio I have been consistently in education for 18 years and I am really ready for the next bit.

Which brings me to Etsy. Finding out about Etsy and deciding to open up a shop made a huge impact on my confidence levels. Come June, I will have been open and operating for a year. To be able to imagine actually making a living doing something I love is incredible and gives me belief in myself and my abilities.

While the start of 2011 was a bit rocky - losing 2 beloved cats in the space of 2 months - the majority of the year was fun. I completed a 13,000 word dissertation (was only supposed to be 10,00 oops ha ha ha) participated in the biggest anti-cuts march ever to happen in Britain and received my first "first grade" in a module at university.

The middle of the year hit a slight bump when on the return journey from my graduation ceremony my family and I were involved in 4 car crash on the motorway. 3 of the 4 cars were written off because of the damage but thankfully other than a few minor bruises no one was hurt. My parents composure and strength through that time was incredible, my brother had been sitting next to the point of most impact on the car and had the other driver hit us in a slightly different place we would have probably lost my brother. The echoes back to his first car accident were frightfully loud.

However, we came through this OK and now my mum has just finished her first term at university doing a fantastic masters degree in Art Therapy while my brother has traveled down to London to attend a very highly acclaimed university for his BA.

The last part of the year has been the most exciting and unknown for me. I had planned to move to Canada for 7 months starting in October and while my plans got slightly changed thanks to Canadian immigration I am now coming to the end of a 3 month trip which has included getting ot meet lots of new people, spend christmas and new year with my best friend and her husband and meeting my gorgeous god-daughter as she said hello to the world on the 18th November.

It has been an amazing experience for me and I am preparing to leave knowing I will always have a home here if I wanted it. It's been incredible watching my gorgeous god-daughter Anne grow up so much even in these 2 short months, from being new born to being so aware of what's around her and watching her learn to smile.

And in a couple of weeks I will be heading back home, my plans include expanding Etsy, working on some interesting projects with friends and saving up either for driving lessons or another trip to Canada. 2011 was good to me so let's hope 2012 is even better :D

<3