There has also been the excitement of seeing our belongings with a fresh new mind. We have now unpacked everything and are at the stage of deciding where the art might go on the walls. Since this space is very different from our last home, everything we have looks new, and needs to be considered differently. It is very exciting. 

As I settle in to a new space and routine here, I wrote myself a note, which is now posted in the studio. This is helping me to move gently through this stage of things. Every day feels like I am starting fresh, which has its advantages and disadvantages.

I try to approach it with a sense of wonder.

In order to stir things up in my head, I have participated in a few online workshops on a variety of art methods that I do not currently utilize. From surface pattern design to creating in a sketchbook with watercolours, my idea is to gain a new perspective and different ideas by looking in different places. My strolls in the garden also help me to see things in a new way … pattern, texture, relationships, time of the year … how each thing connects to the other. 

Looking for ideas in a variety of odd places is a wonderful way to wake up your senses, and offer you a new approach to your work. Never underestimate the power of pen on paper!

As I write this, my furry friend Squeak, seen in my arms, has yet to return home. He disappeared two days after we moved. We miss him so much!

Everyday I hold space and hope that he will find his way back to us, so that I can share this new and amazing world with him.

May this week offer small wonders that make a big impression!

~sarah

Some of the silliest things make me happy … 

This big move of ours has produced a good deal of packing materials, and after we moved in, we realized there were a few things we needed to buy … which came with more packaging. I am not sure many people get as excited as I do about good, efficient, simple packaging … but I tell you, things like these crazy, simple, reinforced corner pieces made my day. These are not the sort of thing you throw out … they are keepers in my world, for sure! Anything that is so sturdy should certainly be used more than once!

And while I was unpacking, I came across a shoe box that we didn’t seem to need anymore. As I went to break it down, I noticed how brilliantly it was designed. No glue, no tape, no staples, just folds and tabs. It was so well thought out, I put it back together and decided to keep it. 

I really appreciate good design and pieces that lend themselves easily to be used again and again. I even envisioned a whole store of used packing materials where people could come and package up their parcels with just the right materials, and save them from having to be recycled. What a great savings this would be for small business!

Remember the 3 R’s … Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. 

The new studio continues to morph into a comfortable working environment. 

A sure sign that it’s a good space is that the little grey muse finds this her favourite space in the whole house. Yes, it is grey cat approved. 

In this space I have started the creation of an altar to all things not digital. I was going to do this at our old house, so to be able to do it here is a lovely feeling. There is more to add, but this is where it has started. 

My mantra for this week has been this:

KEEP WRITING + EXPLORING

STAY OPEN + CURIOUS

MAINTAIN JOY + WONDER

I wish this for you also!

~sarah

The beginnings of a new studio …

This is definitely a work-in-progress, and this is my first day of actually “working” in this new space. It’s huge. Probably three times the size of my previous studio!

It has French doors leading on to a deck, overlooking a garden, so lots of light streaming in.

There is a sense of endless possibility, and also of “what-the-heck to I do now”, to it. I certainly feel as though I need to “grow into” this new space.

I am very pleased to have my furry muse on hand, she seems to approve of the space, as long as I am not hoisting boxes around the room. She definitely prefers a quiet and peaceful work environment, and seems particularly pleased that this studio comes with appropriate sunbeams to lie in.

I have some logistical issues to solve, once everything is unpacked, but so far, the set up is pleasing me. A definite work-in-progress sort of situation … so stay tuned!

A bit late in the month, but this is the first chance I have had to create the desktop image for March.

It definitely is going to be a much-needed reminder for me for the next few weeks!

I hope you enjoy it.

Just right click and you should be able to download it and then set it as your desktop image.

Cheers, ~sarah

It feels good to be back to creating in a calm space … it seems like so long ago that I felt this. Ahhhhh …. this is the energy I want to send into the world!

May you feel your deep connection to all that is, and add your heartfelt gratitude for what is right in this moment.

~sarah

PS. I am still working my way through the book pile from last post … and now that things have calmed down, I look forward to more time to read! I will write more about those books when I have worked my way though them.

what’s next to my reading chair these days …

I am currently blessed with a plethora of excellent reading buddies, and I am feeling grateful to all of the people who created these books, that are now making my world a much more interesting place!

I am also very, very grateful to my friend Simone for introducing me to The Art of the Fold, by Hedi Kyle and Ulla Warchol … a gift from her that has taught me that, with the right instruction, I can fold things! This has blown apart a myth I have been telling myself for far too long!

This sent me on a search for more book making/folding ideas, when I came across Bound, by Rachel Hazell. Yes, it was the cover that got me, BIG TIME! That is one compelling cover, to be sure. It’s also a very inspiring book. 

HÅNDVÆRK was a surprise purchase, because I received a book store gift card! It is expensive for a magazine, which is the section it was in, but then the subtitle of it is: bookazine. It comes from Denmark and is such an inspiring publication about people who work with their hands. It is one to savour and go back to!

Another gift, from my partner Mary Ann, was Atlas of the Heart, by Bréne Brown, someone I have become quite fond of. And this book is all about my current personal exploration ~ our emotions. I love the discovery of what is under a layer of emotion. It’s fascinating!

And finally, the latest Daniel Pink book, The Power of Regret, How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.  I remember how much I loved his book A Whole New Mind, and knew that I would love this one too. So far, I am not disappointed!

Thanks for reading, it’s been a pleasure to reach out and share a bit of my world with you today. It’s ONE THING I really needed to do.

That’s the thing about connections, we need to nurture them always. And that realization is inspiring  me to write some letters today!

May your pen be at the ready when you have something to share!

~sarah

The new desktop wallpaper for February

This follows in the footsteps of my printed calendar … just something nice to share. (if you would like a calendar for your wall, I still have a few and they are on sale in my shop!)

This should be a simple right click to make it your desktop image … if you have problems, please contact me and I will email you the file.

I hope you enjoy it!

Things continue to be completed in the studio … although I am not sure how.

I have dedicated myself to finishing things in the studio, and not moving anything undone to the new house. 

Each day, I move things along in a quiet and peaceful way. There is no rush, just a desire to complete things and move them to their next home. 

These are two of the pieces that I have been working on for the past several weeks. The panel has been in my studio, waiting patiently, for about 2 years. 

The table, named Charlotte, was a gift from two lovely people who bought one of my tables, and then gave me their old one to rework and sell. Now that’s the kind of support you don’t see everyday!

I encourage you to purge your stuff …

One of the biggest lessons in this move is, we all hang on to way too much stuff. We don’t go through things and toss them, or give them away, nearly as often as would be good for us. 

And why is that? Because it’s hard. And why is it hard? Because we allow it to pile up. 

The other thing is, we have attachment to things. Or we think we might need it some day. 

My most embrassing moment of this packing up, was finding a container stored in the basement, filled with coloured glass that belonged to my father. I had forgotten all about it. All of that beautfiul glass has been sitting in a dark container in the basement for almost 17 years!! That is shameful in a way, and certainly does not honour the makers of those lovely pieces. 

There are many other things that will not move to the next house, and what makes me feel good about moving these things along is where they are going. 

The books are off to Well Read Books, which uses the proceeds of sales to fund all of their literacy programs. 

All of the other stuff is going to friends or to Haven Society Thrift Shop, whose mission is: “to promote the integrity and safety of women, children, youth and families and the development of a respectful and healthy community.”

It feels lovely to clean and carefully wrap things up to give away. To send them off with intention that just the right person will find what they need, at a price they can afford, and the item goes on to be useful once more.  

And here we are, at another New Year … the Chinese Year of the Tiger. There will be lots of energy with this one, that’s for sure!

I am off to purge another cupboard or two, and do a bookstore and record store run … so we can have some floor space back, and stop freaking the cats out!

Cheers to February! Stay well and happy.

~sarah

And moving with intention is just what we will do this year … we have to find a new home by March 1st. It is worrying, looking at the state of rentals in the area, but then I remind myself, this is not our first rodeo (a phrase I have come to love!). We have been in this exact place before, and things have worked out very well. I have to remind myself again. And perhaps again.

I remember that the answer is already in the works, we just don’t know about it yet. This is where my practice of trust and faith needs to ramp up. Turns out, not many humans like those in-between places that are void of answers. it pretty much scares the poop out of us.

So we wait. And do what we can do, which is trim down all of our stuff by probably 60% … which will feel good, since we are taking it slowly and intentionally.

We are finding strange things every day. Like a letter from my Mother to my Father, before they were married … it was in Mary Ann’s collage stuff … hmmmm … curious. I remembered that it is connected to a piece of stone my father had kept, and I still have … more on that another time … it’s just fascinating to find these little threads.

And so, the journey continues, getting life organized in a whole new way … for the future!

Yes, we are reimagining our lives, and it feels exciting for sure!

A new offering … coming once a month … a gift to you!

This is my first, but not last Desktop Wallpaper … I will do one each month, to refresh my computer screen, and be inspired by both image and words.

This follows in the footsteps of my printed calendar … just something nice to share.

This should be a simple right click to make it your desktop image … if you have problems, please contact me and I will email you the file.

I hope you enjoy it!

A couple of new pieces from the studio … as I venture into finishing all unfinished pieces that are here.

These two, a bamboo bowl and a turntable, have been in the studio for awhile, waiting for their remake. They were done simultaneously, which is interesting. One has a Southwest feeling, the other a Celtic. Hmmmm …. I have no explanation, I just show up and do what I am told.

The bamboo bowl is more decorative than practical. It can’t really hold food … well, I suppose it could enteratain things with a skin that will come off … oranges, as an example.

The turntable can serve two purposes … I have put a hanger on the back, so when it is not in use on the table, you can hang it up and enjoy it. I like mult-function pieces!

My favourite paper … Canson Marker

I switch back and forth between pens, markers and pencils on a regular basis, so it’s nice to have found a paper that loves all of them. 
This paper is smooth and makes my writing instruments glide across the page. There is no bleed-through, so using alcohol-based markers is just fine. 

It is a delight with a fountain pen. So smooth. And the brightness of the white means that colours pop!

It’s one of my favourite things!

There are so many things that are swirling around in my head these days, all about the future. I think what might serve me well in these moments is just be here in the present, answering the questions I can answer and doing the things I can do, without fuss or worry. It sounds easy, but as you all know, it’s not. This is yet another of the lessons of life that I must practice, in order to get really, really good at it!

May your days be filled with what you desire!

Happy New Year!

~sarah