Made By Hand - Link Up

'Made By Hand' is a weekly creative show and tell, with an aim to foster community, conversation and inspiration.

My aim is to craft a life of homemade, home grown happiness. 

So, what are you creating right now? Join in by leaving a link below.

Progress is (s l o w l y) being made on my Larch cardigan.

Lately I've been pondering creativity, inspiration and ways of working. We all have different ways of working and I couldn't say I understand how anyone else works. I can only talk for myself, and even then I am still learning. This is what I know so far. I tend to have bursts of creativity, where I can't sleep at night for all the thoughts that are circling in my brain. At these times I keep pen and paper next to my bed so I can jot things down, so my brain can stop concentrating on them, and I can try to sleep. At these times I am utilising every chance I get to write or draw. I grab every idea I can, while I can. I'm constantly thinking over the ideas. Over-thinking the ideas in some cases. This flurry dies down and is replaced by the work. All the notes I've taken, all the sketches I've done, all the images in my mind are worked in to new projects. Sometimes another flurry of creativity is not far behind. Other times I am anxious less it never returns. But these times of busy inspiration, followed by lulls in which to create, are how I work. This pattern relates to everything from jewellery design to renovations, knitting to blogging, gardening to market preparations.

What I have learnt is that creativity needs nourishment and that nourishment can come from unexpected places, completely unrelated to your work. Taking the time to nourish your creativity might look like you aren't working, when really you are. It might take the form of reading classic literature or watching popular movies. It may be a holiday or having friends stay. It might be blog hopping or going for a walk. And more often than not in my case, the key to nourishing my creativity seems to be by having a second creative project, like knitting. A second project that I'm committed to forces me to step away from what I'm doing and give it some space. It gives me a chance to use my hands in a different way and achieve a different type of creative satisfaction. The repetition of knitting creates a mind space with room for creative flights of fancy which often lead to another flurry of creativity.

What worthwhile ways have you found to nourish your creativity?

Do you work in a similar way, or completely differently?

What have you been making this week?

Be sure to leave a link below.

Spring cleaning rewards - DFO

Yesterday, after spending the morning at a Prep open day with Cohen, I was feeling a little emotional. It's bittersweet to imagine him going off to school next year. I'm going to miss having him as constant companion on my daily adventures. So, rather than go home to the dirty dishes, I decided to reward myself with a spot of retail therapy at DFO Jindalee*. Both my little companions were only too happy to attend to a spot of shopping with the promise of hot chips afterwards.

I had my heart set on some new home wares to freshen up the house after Spring cleaning - surely another cause for reward. I found a new clock to replace the broken one on my jewellery bench, a dear little sleepy owl vase, a wooden person figurine and some washi tape (not officially home wares, but who could resist?) from Typo. I was pleased to chat to the lovely man behind the counter about the Cotton On Foundation, and donated toward educating children in Southern Uganda. I love it when big business has heart!

While wandering around Adairs Cohen's energy began to flag. One perceptive sales assistant came to the rescue with a page of stickers for him to choose from. And new towels came to my rescue. Recently, one of Dave's work mates came to stay and I was embarrassed to have to offer him a beach towel for his shower. It was a choice between a beach towel or a kids towel. The rest of the towels were in the wash. It has been our first Winter without a dryer and we have been managing quite well. I had been feeling rather smug about being dryer-less until that point. So it was certainly time for some new towels.

It was my first visit to the Jindalee store and I was quite pleased with our shopping adventure. I managed to park right next to the entrance, there is a wide variety of stores with genuine discounts, the nappy change facilities were clean and user friendly, all the staff we encountered were lovely and the waitress at the Coffee Club even gave Cohen and Emerson complimentary baby chinos. It was a lovely break from our usual day to day and on the drive home I was blessed with two sleeping children. 

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*This post was brought to you by DFO, but my opinions are my own. DFO is a well known destination for leading Australian and International brands at up to 70% off. DFO Jindalee is located at 16 Amazons Place, Brisbane. Open 7 days, 10am - 6pm. You can find their website here and they are also on facebook.

A big thanks to DFO for the opportunity to be a brand ambassador for the next few months. 

8 Little Things

1. A row here and a row there - a new cardigan by next Winter?

2. New in the shop, Everyday Adventurer Rings in silver or two tone with 9ct gold

3. Watching the sun set from our front deck feels like a little holiday

4. Pickings from my flower bed

5. My dear old cat Seth, who must be about 14 now, and spends most of his day relaxing in above mentioned flower bed. He comes inside smelling of lavender.

6. Roses and lavender, also making my dining room smell amazing

7. A custom ordered One For The Pot as a pendant - now also available in the shop

8. This little mantis came in with the laundry and fascinated Cohen for hours before being released again.

The first day of Spring

A hole in one on the first hole

Yesterday as the sun shone and Spring became the official season, we celebrated Father's Day with mini golf and a family lunch. Mini golf with two little ones and my golf loving husband was such fun and so amusing. Emerson tottered about the course, ball in hand, dragging my putter behind her. Cohen took great delight in the challenges of the game and was quite pleased to have the highest score at the end. While my gorgeous husband only beat me by two shots - with a minimum of cheating on my behalf, that I choose to call a handicap. (He had to sink the ball in the black holes, which were the most difficult, while I could choose which ever of the three holes I could get the ball closest to.) 

It was such a beautiful day. My heart was so full of love and pride. Dave couldn't have been happier with our choice of celebrations (unless of course he had been able to squeeze in a surf first).

I hope my fellow Aussies had a wonderful Father's Day and first day of Spring!

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It seems not so very long ago that we celebrated our first Father's Day.

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"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013." Che and Fidel.

Cohen: Unable to sit still with excitement while he waits for his soccer trophy

Emerson: A spark of mischief behind those blue eyes

I am a bad soccer Mum. I could not wait until the last day of the season. I was counting down the minutes yesterday until it wrapped up and we need never return. We have struggled though an entire season of soccer with Cohen and it is finally over. Hoo-ray!

I wasn't always a bad soccer Mum. I'm all for children playing team sports. Cohen participated in weekly soccer skills sessions last year and loved it. I ran around the field with him when he first started and was too nervous to leave my side. I jumped over obstacles and cheered him on at the sidelines to encourage him. At his request we enrolled him again this year. However, each Friday evening this past season he has whinged and complained that he didn't want to go the next morning. Once there, he'd muck around for the first half of the session before getting in to it and enjoying it, then saying he couldn't wait until next week. The next week he wouldn't want to go again. Thus began the tedium and frustration that lasted the entire season. We offered gentle encouragement. We let him sit out several weeks. We discussed why he didn't want to go. We didn't pressure him. We didn't want to push him, but were mindful of the financial investment we'd made. Yesterday he didn't want to go as usual, until we mentioned that it was the last session and he would be getting a trophy. He swiftly changed his mind. 

As we walked back to the car afterwards I felt immense relief that we would no longer have to negotiate this particular weekly hurdle. Cohen, on the other hand, pronounced that he had had a wonderful time and "could not wait to come back again next week and get another trophy."

Working from home with children

Playing with buttons while Mama works

I have found that working from home with children is the perfect way to develop your distraction and interruption management skills! It's also a great way to develop an understanding of your personal patience levels. I am quickly learning when I need to stop and take a break, and when lack of sleep, hunger, or unresolved issues are contributing to the frustration I am experiencing. It is my tendency to set a mental goal and work uninterrupted until I have reached that goal, whether that means missing lunch or staying up late. This is not an option with children! Interruption, distraction and having to walk away are all parts of the process. While working at the bench today I have been listening to Inspiration Bombs and thinking about ways to maintain the balance between mothering, self and working creatively. I decided to see what Google had to offer in terms of advice about working from home with children.

This is the first helpful article I found that wasn't written by a man working from home while his wife was taking care of the children. Rather, it deals with finding a balance between working for short periods of time while your children play independently, and then spending time engaging with your children. Exactly what I needed to read today. And on that note, we are off for a spot of scooting on our lunch break.

Any tips you'd like to add? Whether about working from home, or just getting things done around the house with little ones?

Made By Hand - Link Up

 

'Made By Hand' is a weekly creative show and tell, with an aim to foster community, conversation and inspiration.

My aim is to craft a life of homemade, home grown happiness.

So, what are you creating right now? Join in by leaving a link below.

 

My crafting this week has been all but consumed by my market plans. I'm gaining a much better appreciation for all those makers who sell their crafts at markets. I am slowly discovering all that goes on behind the scenes. My days have been spent working at the bench and wrangling children, while my nights are spent writing lists, placing orders, stamping bags, cutting lengths of string, trying to guess how much stock I will need and budgeting for new business cards and packaging. I am thoroughly enjoying the process, despite the lack of personal crafting. I did manage to finish the Twin Leaf Loop for myself - right in time for Spring. I'm itching to start another knitting project, but with one cardigan still on my needles, I think I need to make an effort towards finishing it first... at least in time for next Winter.

 

What have you been making this week?

Leave your link below!