Painting for fun

My art teacher was a grumpy old sod. Mr Gollidge was his name and he would terrify the kids by slamming a really long ruler down on their desks. He didn't scare me though, I thought he was great and I was happiest in the sixth form art rooms at school. the smell of the paints, the colours everywhere and the opportunity to just get stuck in and "create" something, it didn't matter what!

I could never paint as well as other people in my art class, I was always better at sketching but I REALLY wanted to be able to paint. I was too self-conscious to be able to paint well.

My husband is great at painting, he sees something in his mind and it just comes out on the canvas. Not me though, I have to plan it out, sketch it out and then transfer it to canvas and then paint. It becomes a little like painting by numbers I guess, but I love how they turn out.

This painting is a custom request on etsy for some artwork for a little girl's room. I love it and I'm thinking of painting a smaller one for myself.

I'm guessing that my school report from Mr Gollidge would say, A for effort. Jane is a nice girl who needs to let herself go and be confident with a brush lol

Create with Confidence

I am the world's worst at sabotaging myself. I think I have this great idea, I want to run full pelt with it ... and then it hits me ... nobody is going to like it, everyone can do it better than me, they'll think I'm stupid, that I have no taste ... and this list goes on. Before I even get my paint brush out, or I've knitted something, I'm already doomed! It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I've been this way for years, I knock myself back so many times that its suprising how much I've achieved in my life.

I worked in the media for years when I was younger and everyone thought I was confident, knew what I was doing. I once heard someone say "who is that girl, she walks in here like she owns the place". What happened to that confident person that I once was.

When I lived in the UK I taught karate to a very high level, I coached people of national and international standards, I even competed for the GB team in my day and entered European and World Championships. I was pretty good, even if I do say so myself. So why, when I'm doing something I love (i.e. creating something) do I second guess myself to the point of not wanting to show anyone what I've done.

My beautiful daughter, Bronte, is honest to a fault, she'll tell me when she doesn't like something and if she says she likes it then I know its pretty good. Megan, my darling youngest, on the other hand is a little cheerleader "Wow mama, that's great!" or "you're such a good artist mama.". Ha ha, she could make a career out of building people up and cheering them on.

What are your tips for building up your self confidence when you are creating? I'd love to hear them.

Valentine's day is fast approaching and I wanted to create some cards that I look for in the store, but can never find. My family aren't really in to the "hearts and flowers" type of cards, occasionally I'll find a funny one that makes me laugh, but they never really say what I want them to say. So this year I decided to make my own.

Taking inspiration from my eldest dancing around the kitchen and my youngest's never-ending sing-song (even though the lyrics not always right - she gets that from her dad!), I decided to make some lyric inspired cards.

I started off with Lady Gaga. Love her or hate her, you can't get away from the fact that she took the world by storm last year. Her songs get stuck in people's heads - I've heard kids as young as three singing along to Paparazzi and Seniors singing the chorus of Poker Face!

Then it was on to The Beatles - I really should have started with them first as their songs have some of the best known lyrics in the world and they have inspired so many musicians, its impossible to count.

I could go on for years just trawling through The Beatles songs for inspiration but I wanted to pick this one really caught my eye.

But of all these friends and lovers

There is no one compares with you.

And these memories lose their meaning

When I think of love as something new.

Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I'll often stop and think about them

In my life, I love you more.

- - -Beatles "In My Life"

Words like this, when you read them without the music behind them, are so beautiful. Who would have thought that a couple of "scallies" from Liverpool (my home town) could write with such feeling.

Social Media and other shenanigans

This last week has been a crazy one. First of all, I can't believe its taken me so long to get organized - where do the hours go? My creative brain has been spinning itself into a frenzy but I've barely been able to get anything down on paper. I've finished one painting in my head, but I haven't put a speck of paint on the canvas. It is so frustrating.

Secondly, although I think I have everything sorted on the social media front, I'm not so sure - but goodness me doesn't it all take time

My day seems to start off with checking emails, then looking at my etsy store.

Then I need to check my personal Facebook page and reply to any messages from friends, then I check the Edith & Elizabeth fan page and leave messages for anyone who has been kind enough to fan or leave messages.

And there's Twitter. To tweet or not to tweet that should be the question. How many times should I tweet in a day? I don't bother reading other people's tweets if there are too many, so how many is too many?

By the time I've done all this I'm sure that, if there aren't jobs Social Media Manager jobs out there already, there soon will be! It's a full time job.

By the time I've done all this its almost lunchtime and I still need to go to the store and I STILL haven't got my ideas out of my head!

Why do I feel so disorganized. I was an Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive of a major Television company, I am sure I was better organized back then!

So, I guess what I'm saying is that I need to refocus, not get waylaid reading comments on Facebook and Twitter and get creating. If only I had someone to twitterbook or Facetweet for me, then I could paint to my heart's content. If only ......

New Decade, New Start

What is it about New Year that makes us want to start afresh? New Year's resolutions abound, lose weight, be more organized, get fit and the like.

The problem with New Year's resolutions is that you start off well, but by February (if you get that far), life has taken over and those resolutions have been set aside. We get too busy, other things are more important, we just forget!

I think part of the problem is that we don't continually revisit those resolutions to see how we are doing, we don't give ourselves attainable goals. You want to lose weight, okay, but how much ... and by when and how are you going to achieve it? You want to be more organized. That's fine, but how are you going to do it? How long is it going to take? You want to get fit? What does that mean to you exactly - couple of pushups or run a marathon?

If you make your goals too big they become overwhelming. Cut them into bitesize pieces and take one step at a time.

Today, in my effort to be more organized, I am going to clean up the studio. It was crazy before the holidays and now I can't find a thing, so my plan for the next couple of days is to kick it into shape and make some valentine's goodies. I'll post them here when they are done.

What are your goals for 2010 and how are you planning to achieve them? Keep us posted

Animal print baubles hanging from your tree brings style to your home and its not just for Christmas.

This gorgeous bauble is a beige coloured glass ornament with chocolate colored vinyl decoration, finished off with a coffee colored velvet ribbon.

If you're anything like us, we keep some of our favorite glass ornaments hung on twisted willow all year round. This is definitely one that will remain in our collection.

To blog or not to blog ... that is the question

Firstly, Happy New Decade.

2009 wasn't the greatest of years for a number of reasons that I won't bore you (who?) with, but here's to 2010 - a new year, a new decade, new possibilities.

One thing I do thank 2009 for is that I found my creative spirit again. It had lay dormant for many, many years. Probably due to the fact that I was so busy with everything else that I didn't have time to paint, knit, create! Now that I do, there's no excuse, is there.

My thought with this blog is that if I put it down "on paper" for others to read, then I have to be held accountable and keep creating.

I don't want to do a Julie & Julia and give myself a long project, but I do promise to keep creating and post here things that I make and things that I love to look at.

So, enjoy (whoever you are) and feel free to comment on anything you'd like to comment on.

Happy New Year