top ten pictures from the week ~ 12 May 11

Hello possums...how the heck are you?

via collage of life

Me? I'm knackered.

by Katie Quinn Davies of What Katie Ate (she's a complete genius)

Work is soooooo busy. I'm leaving early for work and I'm back home late. Buffy must be a bit lonely now that the 22 23 year old has decamped...

light locations via the red thread

I've been home so little I haven't even had the opportunity to wallow in the pleasure of having my studio space back

via an indian summer

I think sorting it is going to be a work in progress for quite a while yet

a canberra home (yes, we can do edgy!) via the design files; photographs taken by canberra photographer peta rudd

...a bit like me really...the work in progress, not the edgy :)

via the diversion project

So many work projects on the go...it's ludicrous really

via from the right bank

starting projects, finishing projects and middling projects...

via solid frog

as long as there aren't any muddling projects I probably should be ok!

via my pretty space tumblr

didn't manage ten this week...sorry about that...but, you know...stupidly busy. Or just busy being stupid...one or the other!

my creative space...styling workshop

I went on a little trip last week. A flying visit to Bangalow and Shannon Fricke's Little Cottage...for her Styling workshop.

It was a terrific day, for several reasons:
I got to spend time with my dear bloggy friend Kerri with an 'i'. We didn't stop talking from the time she picked me up from the airport on Thursday lunchtime until she dropped me back on Friday afternoon. Except maybe when we were being model students...demonstration by Kerri below...
I got to meet some really lovely women, all of us with a shared interest in the stuff we bloggers love. And three who are doing the Certificate IV in Design that I'm doing as well. That was fortuitous, especially seeing they're all way ahead of where I'm at and I now have their email addresses :)

I learnt some really good stuff about concepts...and I feel that I can apply this process to a whole lot of things (my spring concept: 'a carefree life' is shown below)

I confirmed that I love styling and will continue to do it with gay abandon around my own house and at anyone else's who'll let me in the front door! Here's the little scene I created to demonstrate my springtime 'carefree life' concept...

... and most importantly...
I recognised that styling will NOT be my next career move. But I did come a great deal closer to working out what that might be...words and pictures in some combination...exciting :)

And apart from anything else the day offered (and there was lots), if that didn't make it a worthwhile investment, I don't know what on earth would.
By the way, that Shannon Fricke is one impressive woman. And super nice as well. Complete bonus :)
all photos taken by me

my creative space...crochet chaos...please help!

The first born is putting the pressure on somewhat.
An email last week said, ever so politely of course..."do you think you might finish my blanket sometime before winter starts mum?"...or words to that effect!

I've made the squares. Now I just have to work out what order to put them in...that's the hard bit. I did have it mapped out but I lost the piece of paper I'd written it down on :(

Pondering, pondering...

...and wondering how to join them together. I'm not sure about that either. Does anyone have an idiot proof method. I'd be more than happy to be educated.
And do I have to do this blinking blocking thing as well?? It appears so.

On matters non crochet, I'm on a slightly less complicated endeavour today...heading off to Bangalow to do Shannon Fricke's Styling 101 workshop tomorrow. Perhaps I should take these and get a few clues!

Someone else you might know is going to be there too...we'll try not to get up to too much mischief :)
Unlike the vampire slayer...who, like a typical cat refused to move from this spot so I could vacuum the rug (which was surely in dire need) so that I could then move it to its new spot under the table...it was previously in my study, but it's undergoing a revamp. The study that is, not the rug. Or the cat.

She looks so innocent. Don't be fooled. Not for a minute.
So...can anyone help with my crochet dilemma? I'm hoping those clever people who link up over at kootoyoo on Thursdays might have a clue. But anyone will do really. For I'd hate Jess to be cold or for me to loose precious good mother brownie points by not delivering on time...even though I may have promised it for last year :)
I'll be back next week with news of styling shenanigans. Enjoy your weekends when you get to them.

top ten pictures from the week ~ 3 May 2011

Good grief...how did it get to be May already?

And wowsers...how about the bin Laden news? That was a surprise.

While I may have been cutting back on the old blogging lark...

it hasn't stopped me from collecting lovely pictures...

it is after all, one of my ways of gathering inspiration...

and while it's mostly my taste I know...

I hope you like at least some...heaven forbid if I go down the Pinterest road :)

Thank you so much for sending Julienne some love...

I knew that you would...

I think it matters that you have

...and I know it makes a difference.

Grief shared isn't necessarily any easier...

but loving thoughts lift us up just a little don't you think?

There's a lot to be said for reaching out. Thanks for being kind.

images this week are from: from the right bank; desire to inspire; sally conran via desire to inspire; i suwanee; one sydney road; princess anne county; table tonic; the decorista (2); vogue living; belle maison; compulsively compiled; from the right bank

a blog friend needs our love and care...

Hi everyone. Thank you for reading. Some of you will know Julienne who writes the blog Mostly older than Me. Some of you won't. But I wonder if you would send some love her way...

Julienne's husband Brandon...who she always referred to as 'TOP' on the blog, died suddenly and totally unexpectedly last Sunday. There is a tribute to Brandon in this local newspaper article.
http://www.wellingtontimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/trusty-friend-great-sparring-partner-fondly-farewelled/2148008.aspx

Julienne is surrounded by her family at the moment, and she's asked me to tell you that she'll be back as soon as she can. In her own words: 


I will come back to my bloggy friends soon but at the moment my house is full with the kids and whilst it is ringing with tears so, it is ringing with laughter.

As it should. But in the meantime I would be very grateful if you could send Julienne a message of love, care and support...the stuff that bloggers are made of. I know she would find some comfort in your words. This is the link to Julienne's blog or if you'd prefer to comment here I will make sure she gets them.
Thanks everyone. I'm sure Julienne wouldn't mind me saying that you're a top lot :)

my creative space...certificate IV in design

Bet you didn't expect to see a post the day after I told you I was cutting back did you!! But...I had to share this evidence of my new found cunning plan being put into place! This is one of those creative foci I was talking about :)) I signed up to do this course through the International School of Colour and Design...oh, just about a year ago now!

One thing got in the way, and then another...as happens. And the ISCD very kindly let me defer. Best not to rush these things...you know how it is, right?
But now that I've got my focus sorted...this is one of the creative things I'll be working on over the next several months...ok, ok, it'll probably take a year or so!

Assignment 1 is almost in the bag...I just have to gather up some images that represent these secondary colour spectrums...that shouldn't be too hard should it? I knew I bought all those magazines for a reason :)

And even the mess looks quite interesting!
Head on over to kootoyoo for a whole colour wheel of creatives :)
...and importantly...thank you so much for all your lovely comments yesterday about my decision to cut back. As usual, you made my day. I love that about you lot :)
all images by a tranquil townhouse

Blogging: knowing when enough's enough

Warning Will Robinson: there are a lot of words in this post. 876. It took me a while to write them and it might take you a while to read. I found the 'writing down' very helpful. Perhaps you might find something in this post for you too...I hope so. I've thrown in some pictures as well...consider this a de facto top ten or so for this week :)

I said that I was going to do some navel gazing over this long combined Easter/Anzac break. And I did. I also told you that I would have a cunning plan by the end of it...a plan to transform my life into some sort of organised miracle. And I tried that too. Much more difficult than the navel gazing bit!
In my 'real life' I'm a consultant. I'm not too bad at it. So I attempted to put my consulting skills to work on me, instead of some poor unsuspecting client. It appears that I'm a difficult customer... as the 22 year old will no doubt confirm!

Heaven forbid that I give away my trade secrets, but suffice to say I asked myself a lot of questions. I probed. I poked. I suggested alternatives. I asked myself why, what was important, what was stopping me, what was supporting me, what was giving pleasure, what should I start doing/stop doing/change, where were the frustrations...were they worth it? On and on I went...for most of the long weekend. I was a pain in my own butt!
One of the things I try to do in my work is help people see through the complexity of the issue they're dealing with to the simplicity on the other side. It's almost always there somewhere. So that's what I tried to do for myself. I got clear...well, pretty clear. And I decided that I have four areas of focus (loved ones and paid work aside). 
Four discretionary areas of focus if you like. I'm not going to give you the details (you'll probably see some of them emerge over time anyway) but I will say that two are creative, one is about health and one is financial. And I'm very comfortable with them. I could have had a heap more but I thought it was important to set some sort of limit...simplicity remember!

What I will share with you is this. Having found my areas of focus, I now have two questions I can use to keep me...well, focused. And they are: 
"is doing this/spending time or money on this/investing your effort in this going to have a positive impact on one or more of those four foci Kez?" 
(ok, I don't actually say foci...who would!!) AND...here's the second question kicker...
"will it enrich your life or someone else's in the process?" 
Except in the case of the financial focus...because if it's enriching someone or something else external to my life, (especially a bank) and it's not enriching me as well...then that's a big no- no!
So you're probably wondering what's all this got to do with blogging and the title of this post? It's this. I've been blogging for a bit over a year now. It's been a fabulous thing to do. It's introduced me to new things, masses of ideas, made me laugh and sometimes cry, shown me that I can do some things, and not others...and most importantly helped me find lovely people who weren't in my life before this experience began.

But it takes up so much time. If I were to add up all the hours I've spent composing blog posts, thinking about posts, rewriting blog posts, reading other people's blog posts, 'cutting and pasting' beautiful pictures to put into blog posts, squirreling away ideas for things to make, projects to attempt....well, let's just say that I could probably point to a few 'lost' weeks, or more. 
So I asked myself those two questions. Does blogging have a positive impact on one or more of my areas of focus and does it enrich my life? The answer was yes...and no.
It really does take up too much time, when time is one of those increasingly precious and rare commodities...especially now that I'm back working full time. It does actually steal time from other things that are important to me...especially now that I have that focus. And sometimes you just have to wise up. So I'm not going to stop, but I am going to cut back.  I'm not entirely sure how...as we all know it can be slightly addictive...but I know I have to. So there'll be fewer posts and possibly, unfortunately, fewer comments on your posts. I will keep commenting I promise, I think that's a really important thing to do, but it's not going to be as frequently as I'd like, and certainly not every day. I'm going to restrict my blogging activity to some set times...not sure what they are yet. So if you don't hear from me as much as you used to...it's not personal. Well, it is...but not in that way. It's about me taking control of 'my personal'. 

So there you go. That's where I'm at. Extra long weekend well spent? I think so :)
first image: chasing satellites; others from weheartit