Back with a new wave of creativity...

Holidays have a wonderful effect on me... even though to be fair, I can hardly be accused of having 'me' time or a rest whilst I was away... With seven of us camping together, just that in itself, makes for a busy time. There was no silence (even when people were sleeping - think "snoring, rustling and other noises amplified in a tent :P).. and no real resting during waking hours either.. but all this aside, it was fun and I love being away with my husband and my children who I can't really call kids anymore plus, their two boyfriends who came along to muck in with the whole camping experience. Amazingly, there were a few moments of 'nothing' (when I wasn't cooking, talking, thinking about where we should be etc). Moments like when I was lying under our beach tent, watching my family have a surfing lesson and they'd gone off into the waves and were too far away to distinguish who was who. Unexpectedly, I found little ideas popping in. Ideas that were like old friends, some that I'd known from a while back, forgotten about and were now knocking on the door of my conscious mind and saying "Remember me? Well I thought I'd show up now, as you're not sooo busy and all that..." I began thinking about the eventual creation of the banner for my blog and etsy shop. As a result of my thoughts..I began putting the ink on the paper last night. There's something so mindnumbingly freeing about drawing which absorbs time really fast and yet stops you thinking about all the mundane stuff of life. Last night was my first proper evening since coming home where I had some free time to work. And it felt good to be creative and I'll post my pics of it developing soon. I remembered also how I had wanted to organise a collection of unusual black and white photos on our hall wall, as our hall upstairs doesn't really have much 'going on'.. Having been inspired during the final year of my degree, by an amazing mourning photograph of a group of women from the 19th century - I fancied a selection of random images, some odd, some nostalgic..possibly a little like this. I want them all to have a slightly old and definitely quirky edge, with the hint of a story behind them.

Taken from the Book - Sleeping Beauty 2 We went for a day trip to Clovelly and ended up buying some prints of vintage photos from their little museum. Clovelly is a little town built into the side of a sloping cliff in Devon, where there are no cars. In the old days, donkeys ferried supplies and deliveries around pulling little wooden sleds. Me and my hubby's conversation in the museum shop went like this: Me: So.. which one takes your fancy then? I like this one here..." He: Mmm yes.. that's a nice one.. I like that too" Me: Mmmm but what about this one..? It's so 'old'... and I know it's more expensive but it's gorgeous" He: Yes.. I like that too.. mmm yes.... (scratching goatee beard and considering merits of photo) Me: Oh. And there's this one.. with two little donkey's on it. (Never could resist a donkey me.. but that's another story).. He: So.. which one is it to be? Me: All of them then. He: What? All of them? Me: Well.. yes... it'd be wrong to just have one.. when they're this lovely. He: Ok. That's cool. Let's get them. That's what I love about my husband. He gets my ideas. Even if the penny doesn't drop straight away and he doesn't see the 'big picture' till the end.. he trusts me. Here's one of the photograph prints we bought. Isn't it so so lovely? Street scene of Clovelly circa 1900s As the week went on, new, unconsidered ideas also sprang up in my mind over time. I have long wanted to begin to learn to sew. But sewing in my school days was a miserable affair and I only ever got to attempt a gingham washbag.. and it scared me somewhat, the prospect of using a SEWING MACHINE.. I was also unsure of exactly WHAT I'd sew. I have never really sewn anything, except name tags onto my children's school clothes and buttons onto shirts. My dream right now would be to make an artsy patchwork creation. So. Today I'm shopping for materials. A bonus was stumbling across an article about Tracy Emin and her 'blankets'.. which also felt like a cosmic shove in the right direction. AND. (wait for it). A bear. I have a huge soft spot for bears.. but don't really have any at home. Apart from my 60 year old Much-Travelled-Ted who belonged to my mum and then was given to me when I was tiny. So. A bear it is. I shall keep you posted on that one... And finally (for now) I also wanted to find an old chair for an upholstering project. I plan to put said chair in the corner in the hall upstairs.. and place my photo collection on the wall behind it. I haven't done this reupholstering thing before.. but hellfire.. it's only a chair. It's not going to die if I do it wrong (I tell myself sensibly) so on the morning after our return from holiday, I bid and won this little darling on ebay. I love it!!! So comfy.. so.. so.. exactly what I was after but didn't know it till I saw it! My list therefore of creative jobs is: Finish the banner for my blog/etsy shop Upholster Chair Begin researching patchwork making Scouting for photo frames for our hall wall (for black and white photographs) Make a bear Oh. And spoons. But I'll get to that on another post.

None of those things will happen in that order.. and some of them may go on at the same time as others.. but that's how I do things. To summarise then.. on the subject of holidays.. I'm not sure I had one (in the truest sense of the word there was no sipping a cocktail by the pool and contemplating my pedicure in a spa) but I'm happiest when I have a project and the opportunity to think creatively. And it seems being out in the Devonshire air and sleeping warmly at night tucked up under canvas has unleashed some fresh inspiration.

Have a great day Michelle xxx