Find a Happy Place

 

Sometimes, if we've had a particularly organised morning, and the boys have all had their breakfast, brushed teeth, packed lunchboxes and remembered PE kits, there is a little pinhole of time in which to sit and have a cup of tea before school.  Usually it's a case of sitting at the table, surrounded by crumbs and bowls of soggy cereal, but we'll ignore that, because like I have said before - one day I will have lovely clean and tidy house, but there will be no children living here.

The other day  for some reason only my subconscious knows a memory flew into my head.  It was the Christmas Party at my infant school and the teachers had decorated the hall with garlands and hoops (borrowed from the PE cupboard, no doubt) covered in brightly coloured crepe paper and ribbons.  There were also loads of those gaudy foil fold out decorations and baubles galore.  The whole place looked like a magical wonderland to a 6 year old me.  There was nothing remotely stylish or classy about the scene.  No window dressed whiteness or understated hues of antique gold and cream.  That had gone out of the window in favour of an explosion of colour.  It looked like the teachers had had a LOT of fun! 

Christmas Passed - Decorations from our tree a few years ago.

 

This fleeting memory (because that's about all I can remember of the party - other than dancing to the Birdie song, but we won't go into that!) made me smile as I sat there.  I guess because I was able to see the grown up me in that little girl.  She was also to be found digging her hands into a gifted box of buttons and beads, carefully cut from old garments.  I can still remember the coolness of the beads and the excitement of discovery as I dug to the bottom of the box.  She was also to be found absconding into a Scottish Charity shop while on holiday with her mum and finding scraps of half patchworked fabrics with all the thrill of someone who has found precious gold.  We then spent the rest of the holiday making tiny purses to sell in my dad's Trug basket shop!

It's no surprise then that these days, I spend a lot of my time in those same Happy Places.  Yesterday mum brought me a shoe box  saved from my Auntie's house move.  That same feeling......what would be inside?!!
A whole bundle of half patchworked fabric!  Obviously someone in the 70's was planning on a rather wild and technicolour quilt, or maybe even a skirt!  Goodness knows what I will do with them!  For now I think I'll just admire their authentic garishness!

Not only that; she had also had a fruitful visit to a local charity shop and found a great stash of embroidery threads and lace.

That early excitement and wonder about colour is still there.  I really do get a thrill from combining fabrics and textures for a new project and I would like to thank all those fun loving staff at St Andrew's school in Keighley for the inspiration.

This week I have had the pleasure of watching Noah discover the joys of felt tips.  When I was little I would look through the toy shop window yearning for my own set of Berol felt tips. (Never mind the Barbie!).  He sits for sometimes a whole hour carefully colouring and I can see the same look of pleasure on his face as I imagine I had on mine.  It's something about the magic of colour appearing like a string of rainbow from a magic wand.

If there is a point to this rather long and rambling post, it's this:

 I think children have a heightened sense of magic and wonder.  After all, pretty much everything is new to them!  Simple things are amazing to them.  The time that adults give to creating memories with and for children is so important and sometimes, you will never know the effect your investment has made.  For me, this puts the fast approaching season of Christmas into a new light.  I'm going to be thinking about ways to give them memories full of colour, magic and fun.  Little surprises that childish hearts leap at. 

And I think that will satisfy my heart too.

xxxxxxx

Must...stay...awake.....

Half way through half term holidays and I have actually mostly avoided the chaotic inside of the house with 5 boys so far! My lovely husband has well and truly taken over child entertaining duties for the week and I have to say, does a better job than me! So far he has been out of the house every day with them - and even managed to time today's trip to see Tin Tin to coincide with the first heavy rain (and sleet!) we've had in a long time - well done!

I have been working away in my studio in the meantime, perfecting my new range of jewelery, ready for the Christmas shows coming up.

I'm quite pleased with the way they are working out so far. It's my aim to create a whole range of things that look like they've come from the same designer - namely ME! I have a tendency to veer off in every direction when I get a bit of time in the studio - which can be great if I have all the time in the world.....but that doesn't occur much these days! So, stick to the plan Naomi! I hope you like them as much as I do. I have quite enjoyed adorning myself with each new creation today for my little self-portrait photo shoot! I will have to make one for myself too!

So, I'm back out here again in my little crowded studio, the boys are playing Tin tin adventures in the house with a tired Daddy. And as for me - I WILL stay awake long enough to make something lovely.....I WILL....I will.....zzzzzzzzzzzz

Not really. The buzz of being out here always wins through on the tiredness - which can be a bad thing when it's midnight!

Hope you have a lovely evening too.
xxxxxxx

Super Hero Saturday!

We LOVE dress up in this house (or at least I love to indulge the dressing up urges of my boys!). No, I don't get to do sugar plum fairies, princesses, or Snow White, but I do get to do Medieval Knights, Dinosaurs and today - a very cute little Superhero, off to his first party "on his own"!


There seems to be a ceaseless torrent of requests from school to do dress up - and now that I have 3 at school, it can be quite a time consuming event. However, if you could see the mountain of photos clogging up this hard drive of various boys transformed into pirates, wizards and Jedis, I think you'd be able to tell, I don't really mind!
The investment of time last year to make spotty capes for Children In Need day paid off today when it came to the Superhero party "Supa Noah" was attending. He is at a particularly edible age, when the whole world is new and exciting and small things mean a lot. It was lovely watching him work out how he was meant to act with the outfit on - racing round the garden making all the right noises for someone with superpowers!


Today has felt like one of those days when things go right.
Superhero safely delivered to the party.
Quick jaunt to the farmer's market in town which produced a bounty of Olives and ciabatta for lunch....
around the fire.


We are taking every opportunity for outside time at the moment, not knowing when the weather will change. The boys had a lesson in fire lighting.....


and we toasted brie sandwiches and ate our olives.



My lovely boys also brought me back some cyclamen, which Reuben and I planted up in my new flower border (we have reluctantly given up on the vegetables for now). I love cyclamen - as I explained to my bemused husband, for the tenuous, but significant reason that they featured on the tea set we used in our honeymoon B&B. I know! They just stuck in my memory! And now I have a little splash of colour in the garden to take me back too.




I have had the day in the studio - finishing of a growing "sisterhood" of dolls, which I am uploading to my Facebook page for purchase over the next week if you would like one. It's been crocheted flowers and smiles today! Now they are finished I am looking forward to creating a collection of jewelery.


I hope you have been enjoying this low Autumn sun today as much as I have - there is something quite special about this crisp, clear, but mellow light.

xxxxxxxxx

Oh, and by the way, the real Superhero of the day was definitely my lovely hubby - determined to give the boys a brilliant half term holiday, and succeeding with panache on the first day. Well done. Time for a lovely dinner to finish the day off. xxx

One Step at a Time

Every day is a new beginning. Even when the night has been LONG and disturbed! After a broken night, the last thing I wanted to do this morning was the pile of housework that had accumulated whilst I hid in the studio over the last week or so. However, the washing will always be with us and it's never good when there is more weetabix on the floor than on the table, (there you go - I've let you into my awful secret - this home looks lived in!). So a morning of home making was well and truly required!

Now I'm sitting here in the peace of this hour, most of the children in bed - one on his way, and feeling most content. I know my home isn't going to feature in any magazine. I know I struggle sometimes to find an inch of clear space to take photos of the things I make. I know there are seven people living here - Oh, my goodness, do I know! However, I also know that every clean surface, every freshly washed bed, every dinner cooked, every drawer full of folded clothes, every school project completed.....


.....is hard won in this house - as I am sure it is in yours! These are small achievements in the grand scheme of things - but taken together, they ARE the grand scheme - not the cleanliness - that's a means to an end. I mean the LOVE that is poured out and into making this home and family work like what my husband's dad called a "well oiled machine" the other day!!!


It doesn't always work like that. A lot of the time we are tearing around the place trying to find the lost football sock, or the form for parent's evening, or trying to cook dinner with a screaming toddler clinging to both legs. That's why I think it's important - for me, and probably some of you, to learn to sit in the peace, with the hum of the washing machine in the back ground and the sound of sleeping children on the monitor and remember that on the whole, you're doing OK.


You're doing OK.


And because I didn't want to show you photos of the washing pile (although I'm sure it would have made you feel a whole lot better about yours) or the weetabix on the floor (the food equivalent of cement), I have included some pictures of the projects I am working on in my hard won studio time. Hopefully a little bit more interesting and colourful!

Tomorrow is another day!
xxxxxxxxxxx

What is this life?

Good morning!I am rushing out to my studio, after hurrying to get two loads of washing in the machine while the sunshine lasts, after dashing down to drop N off at Pre-school and I just thought I'd share a quick 5 minutes with you - because sometimes life is too much of a rush!
After getting back in the car this morning, ready to race back home to the creative haven that waits patiently for me at the bottom of the garden, I looked out of the window and saw this.


It's not anything out of the ordinary, in fact, most of you probably pass by a similar scene every day. that's why I wanted to share it. Isn't it beautiful? The light at this time of year takes on a different quality; dreamlike and magical. It's like that lovely time as you drift off to sleep and all is right with the world after a long day. Creation seems to be sighing contentedly.


I know that for some of you, this is a hard time of year. The days are getting shorter and Summer seems to be drawing rapidly to a close. What sort of winter will we have to get through before we can again breath in the Spring air?
This little encounter with the beauty of Nature in all her simple finery reminded me this morning of one of our "growing up" poems, "What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?" Maybe if we take a moment, whenever we can, whenever our eye is drawn to something amazing and soak it up, we will gather a harvest that will see us through the winter.

By the way - this was my washing yesterday - I don't usually take photos of my laundry, but this charity shop cache warranted a photo I think. I was so pleases to find so many beautiful, embroidered tablecloths and tea towels. When I have ironed them too, I'll take a few more close ups of the wonderful stitching!

Celebrations

What a lovely thing it is to create something special for someone. Something that will make them smile.


This last week I have had the pleasure of creating two such things, one of which will hopefully have caused a a few giggles and added to the festivities of a 70th birthday party.


What a privilege to hand over a cake to someone, knowing that it will help create the memories that family will cherish for years to come. I hope you all enjoyed eating it as much as I did creating it for you. Happy Birthday!


My second opportunity to bless (and surely this is what life is for?) was for my lovely newest nephew on the occasion of his dedication.

Three years ago this coming January, my wonderful Dad went to be with his Creator. Some people travel through this life lightly, and dad did. He didn't leave us much that the rest of the world would count as valuable, but goodness me, he left us so rich.

His three children all have beautiful families now, and we each have one child who was born after he died. I have been realising a lot recently that there is comfort in the knowledge that although they may never have met this wonderful man, they will know him through the homes they live in, the way they are brought up gently, the creativity that oozes from every corner of their living spaces, the way problems are overcome, the things we say and do without knowing and the inheritance of our family history (and I don't mean the superficial "who married who", but the much deeper bonds of how we loved each other and built our memories together).


It was an absolute honour to present my brother's boy with our dedication present to him. I had a special time reading through my dad's letters to me - of which there are many, and picking out the words I wanted to give little J. He is welcome to use them too - they are big enough to share! These are words of comfort, encouragement and love from my Dad, embroidered into a cushion made with a remnant from one of his shirts. I hope that as J grows, he will understand these words more and more, in different ways and that they will comfort him and spur him on.
Maybe they will be a comfort to you too?


I've also been thinking about you - yes, I mean YOU.

We are all creative in some way, whether it be baking, fixing things, gardening, sewing, problem solving, encouraging words - whatever - no-one goes without the gift of creativity in this life. Whatever your gift is - why not think about using it to make some one's day? Sometimes we shy away from giving in this way because we think it's not what people want, or we're not quite good enough at doing it. Let me reassure you - the gift of creative thoughtfulness will always touch someone deeply, and perhaps the way you have gone beyond your comfort zone in giving it, will make it even more special to the recipient.

Go on - give the gift of creativity.

Fruitful seasons

It's been a productive few weeks.
For the first time in seven years, my lovely hubby and I went away on our own, courtesy of my brother and his wonderful wife and their beautiful Bath town house. We had a lovely time, mooching (great word!) about, getting up when we wanted to, going out of the house without having to dress 5 children for whatever weather the next few hours may contain, and basically eating lots!


One of our favourite pass times is good food - mostly cooking it together, but also on the rare occasion a restaurant. And we just had to visit Jamie's, didn't we!


I have to say, it was right up our street. Great food, lively and welcoming atmosphere, originality and creativity and best of all, the chance to watch the chefs working away in the kitchen and the hustle and bustle of the waiting staff preparing bread baskets and drinks. They seemed genuinely happy, and that's got to rub off on you when you're eating their food, hasn't it?! Having worked in restaurants, as a waitress and behind the scenes as a cooking the kitchens, I know that it doesn't have to be shouting and swearing to make it work. There just has to be good working relationship where everyone knows their role and a healthy amount of fun and laughter. That's what food's about - and I really think it tastes better when it's made with a giggle. And that's why I love cooking with my husand! Mmmmmmm....


One lovely treat was to be able to have an undisturbed hour to draw a thank you present for our hosts of their house. I hope they enjoy looking at it as much as I did that hour.


Since getting back, the house has been a flurry of clearing out and making ship shape. We both came back inspired to make our home work for us and our family as we grow into a new season of life. The children are growing quick (too quick!) and we packed the cot away for the fifth time. I have cleared a huge cupboard of years of "too precious to throw out, but not urgent enough to sort out" boxes of photos and memories and we have both filled the recycling bin with our University notes. I now have a Redeem Creations stockroom in said cupboard and very organised under bed boxes full of birthday cards, first drawings and hospital bracelets......sigh.

Time for a new season of fruitfulness.

The Little ones continue to make me smile and I reminded myself this week that one day I will miss finding random toys in my pan cupboard


and the sight of freshly washed soft toys drying.


One day soon I won't be searching frantically everywhere for teddy before bed,


sticking autumn leaves to bits of paper,


or sharing the wonder of colourful balloons in the last sunny days of the summer.


But I am excited about the days to come; helping my boys become young men and gradually finding little windows of time to create.

It's all good.