The importance of good lighting … 

Lighting is one of the top elements of a good work and living space. It can make or break the comfort of your tasks. Poor lighting creates unnecessary eye strain, whihc can cause headaches, neck pain and general irritability.

The Ott bulb shown here, emulates daylight, giving high contrast, bright white light that makes everything easier to see. In my world, it serves a few purposes. 

The first is the clean light it gives me on my work table, which helps with any detail work I am doing. The second is utilizing these lights to photograph my work. Because they have daylight colour balance, the colours come out just right!

And now, I realize I need to incorporate this light into my sitting/reading area, to help my eyes while I await cataract surgery. Friends have told me what an incredible difference it has made for them!

A convenient and cost effective shipping box … from Canada Post!

I discovered these boxes about 2 years ago, and for many shipments, they are a game changer. They come in three sizes, Small, Medium and Large, and you can pack up to 5 kg of stuff in them! When comparing them to just creating a regular parcel, most times I find that they are most cost effective! I tend to keep a small one on hand. Just fill it up, fill in the paperwork on the side, drop it off at the post office or in a post box. Done. 

Canada Post Flat Rate Boxes

Also, for those of you who might not be familiar with Canada Post’s Solutions for Small Business, which gives you a bit of a discount on your shipping … it’s pretty handy. And now that Canada Post has a good online shipping tool, creating your packages from home is so much simpler! You can prep packages whenever you want and drop them off … or they will pick them up!

Canada Post Solutions for Small Business 

I have fallen in love with doodling all over again.

The thing about doodling, I mean really just making a bunch of marks on paper is, it is relaxing. There is zero expectation of what will result from it. Absolutely no presssure whatsoever. It’s great!

I am a natual doodler. If there is a pen and paper in my vicinity, I will write on that paper with that pen. I can’t help myself … nor do I try. 

I have been particularly enjoying creating these “structured” doodles, which is to say, I outline a bunch of boxes and then just start doodling. There’s also the pen choice of course. My current favourites are my Pilot Perera Fine Nib fountain pen with Damson ink … shown here, and two Stabilo grey markers, one fine and one thick. 

The thing is, you doodle differently depending on what instrument you have in your hand. How it moves across the paper. Oh yes, paper makes a big difference  too, but since I am sticking with the paper in my journal, it is more the pen choice that makes the difference. 

Earphones really help for online tutorials!

I’ve been doing some online tutorials recently, and found that simple earphones, like the ones shown here, help tremdously with staying focussed and really getting into the lessons. They seem to shut all other things out in a nice way, while letting you feel a bit more like the instructor is just sharing knowledge with you. 

It’s made my learning experinece really delightful. 

And … for those of you who live in the Vancouver Island Regional Library area, did you know you can get great online tutorials through Lynda.com, via your library card? What a fantastic resource for online learning of all sorts of programs/software!!

The art of making an adaptable space. 

Over the past couple of years, I have revamped my studio/workspace several times, always with a better understanding of what makes it more functional for me. Changes in what I do oftem precipitate the need to shift and rethink things, but there is also the greater understanding of how to make it adaptable. 

Since my space has to function well for a multitude of activities from computer work to painting furniture, drawing or shipping things, tabletop photography and a sleeping cat, things have to be able to be moved and switched easily. I can transform my space to accommodate any of the necessary activities in a few short moves, and that helps me work more efficiently. 

I suppose the main ingredient in having an adaptable space is that everything has a place to be, so when it is not in active use, it lives in its space. Then, I can grab it, use and put it back. 

It also helps to have less stuff … but that is an ongoing project of “using things up” … which is taking longer than I had ever imaged …  a story for another time.