This month is all about - the saying hello to my new website and name

Hello my loyal lovelies!

Well things have happened here in noisy boy land and momma decided to get her big girl pants on and get herself a swanky ol' website and a new name to celebrate.

Head on over to:

https://www.stitchedpictures.com/stuff-i-wrote/august-is-all-about-the-flight

To see August's blog instalment.

Thanks for following here and I look forward to greeting you over on my website www.stitched pictures.com

CX

July - is all about the brown stuff hitting the fan

Look at that, you’ve made it over half way through the process. Well done guys! See it wasn’t as hard as you thought it was going to be, hey? You had a greater sense of yourself and what you needed than you thought, I’ll bet. Maybe, dare I say, you had more talent than you expected and look you found new and old friends who get it, who get you, who support you and all you are trying to do. The universe has shown itself to be quite magical sometimes, hasn’t it? Opened up doors you never knew existed…or that the “likes of you” could have ever been a part of. Isn’t that great…isn’t that amazing, isn’t this everything.

And guess what!

Just at that moment, that very moment where you start to relax in the moment…feel a stronger sense than ever before that you really have got this…a determination and an energy for something that makes your brain sing and your heart swell…don’t things just start to go all bloody wonky again. WTH!

It can look like anything.

Life throws you a curve ball like never before.
That thing on the thing suddenly isn’t working out like you thought it would.
That surety turned out to be not quite so.
That razzle/dazzle you were enjoying has now gone and lost some of it’s shine.

Sometimes this wonky can come from within – you might be stirring up some stuff inside you that just has to come out.
Sometimes it comes from our outside – a relationship, a health, a finance, a new situation.

I don’t know what the “thing” is for you, but I do know for sure that this happens.
This happens to everyone.
This is infact as much a part of the process as the good stuff.
This just is.
This is what life is too.

The other thing I know for sure is this isn’t because of you, it is just what is happening right now and it really, really sucks. All we can hope is of it’s passing as quickly as possible and our growth on the other side.

The good thing about this bit, is we get to have a little control over this bit.

1. We can help ourselves to understand when we are dealing with a something, with a now thing and when we are holding onto the something or the now thing. There is a difference and it is important we try to see when that line has been crossed.

2. We can work on dealing with the thing in it’s very own, abstract space and try to not let it rain too much into the stuff we can still hold as good.

3. We can hold our knowing that this shit happens to everyone not just us because of our laziness, unluckiness, uselessness or whatever our “beat ups” are.

4. We can do this by remembering our true sense of who we are still, separate from this “thing” that has come to unsteady us.

5. We can give up the blame and the guilt and the brain rambles with some of the things we have done with this project and the 2 before in this blog. (See I did prep us!)

6. And this one, my most favourite of favourites of all of these …we can keep our sense of humour of all things…because that truly can be the best medicine of all in the face of so much.

I am sincerely sorry to anyone right now who is experiencing their “down” time. I know mine will hilariously occur usually the day after I have confided in someone just how good things are. We CANNOT let this stop our celebrations though – these down times come – we can’t eliminate them by not looking at the good either. That just makes us grey. Our times of celebration’s will come back – that is another thing I definitely know!

Don’t give up on your projects if you can when these dips come. The dips mean you are still in the process, you are still on your path. Even if you need to totally scale down for a while, that is ok, just try to keep walking though. You will come to the other side of this.
The dips and the downs and the downright blown off course’s are always going to be there for us as they are, sadly, the process of life. Sometimes just knowing that can keep that croc at bay!

Always walking with you on this.
CX

June - is all about filling our well

Ahh this month is a really fun one – no dark emotional wranglings this time I promise.
See I can be fun Caz, well sometimes.
This month we get to think about playing and connecting with the things that make us all giddy and goosebumpy inside.
What turns you on creatively, what do you connect to, what is pulling you at the moment?

This isn’t indulgence over work – this is fuel for the work. We need to be thinking about this all year, but a month's focus will get you into good practice. You know me by now, I am not asking you to spend big money, travel to the ends of the earth (although I do have a travel bucket list) ..you can find these things that make you sing in your everydays or at least your weekends. Plan a workshop, a coffee with an acquaintance who inspires you, a new book – a library book. Even google “pretty blues” – it honestly doesn’t matter how big or how small – it just matters that you start the process and fill your well again…top it up regularly rather than letting it run dry with burn out.

So now I want to let you into a little Cazza secret, as it might help you with this practice, especially if you struggle with the guilt or the trap of too busy. I want to talk about birthdays.
Now stay with me.

Unless you have one of those extra special effort birthdays – adult birthdays can kind of suck.
DO you remember when you were a child and how special your birthday would feel?
Even if it was a school day it felt different – lighter – like everyone was a part of and in on your special day.
Fast forward (cough, splutter) how ever many years and it is impossible to capture that kind of childlike, birthday magic.
You probably still have appointments, responsibilities, work loads, deadlines and bills.
Life still chugs on and within that space you try to feel different, to feel lighter, but sometimes the push of “special” can make it even harder – this is my ONE day you say – shouldn't it feel more?

Hmmmm but what if it wasn’t your one day?
What if I gave you permission for another very special day in the year?
A day I like to call fake birthday day!
Birthdays can be whatever – but imagine how it would feel if you knew you had another special day tucked in your pocket still to come – what if you celebrated “Fake Birthday”?

Fake birthdays are amazing!
For one thing you get to choose the date – you can even decide last minute.
“Oh wait hang on it’s my fake birthday day”.
If you spy a day in the future that looks like it could have fake birthday potential simply declare it.
Now what makes a good fake birthday? Here are some of my tips.

I take a day that already looks pretty nice. Maybe I have some booked time alone somehow or have a little workshop planned. Something that is already in line with what I would love a nice birthday to look like.

I don’t really tell anyone (obviously – because it sounds mental) – but it is my little secret. I don't involve anyone too much as it really gives you the space to do what you want to do without any justification. Your real birthday is kind of a public space, people are involved with their ideas of what you would like - this one is just you in complete charge! So maybe after a nice lunch you take a different walk in a park, stop into a bookstore you wouldn’t normally go into, go to a favourite spot, read a book somewhere quiet. What ever it is, add a little more to an already lovely day. Sure you still have to do some life stuff – but it isn’t your birthday so you're not as frustrated by life stuff…because this is your secret day that you are just squishing some really good fun into.

And my last rule of thumb?
Sure I gave you permission for one fake birthday, but once you get a feel for them maybe you’ll let yourself have a couple of fake birthdays a year. The best thing is these ones don’t age you! They probably even make you stay a little younger, because they allow you to leave the guilt packed away for doing something you enjoy.

I know right!

So this month take a fake birthday – even if it's your real birthday - to help top up that well of yours.

This is just between you and me, yes?

CX

May - is all about the emotions arghhhhh!

Welcome May!
Funny how as the weather gets lighter my theme gets a little heavier.
I will try not to make it too heavy I promise!
This is a theme with a lot of layers too, when you start to delve in.
It can be VERY personal in it’s meaning and relevance to you, just as it is to me.
So I don’t want to get too bogged down either – hmmm let’s see how I do!

On first glance we are taking a sidestep from where we were heading with our personal projects. We are moving from a practical headspace to the emotional.
I guess we had to go there at some point.
When we embark on something that is important to us – the emotional is always going to be involved somehow.
The question is how are we going to handle it?

My creative journey started from an emotional space.
It was me feeling down that made me grab the idea of bringing creativity to my life almost by my teeth. If I hadn’t been so low I don’t think I would ever has seen it as important because I wouldn’t have needed it so badly.
Finding this way of joy helped to lift me and anchored me better to my day to day.
I guess you could say (though I loathe to do so) it gave me purpose.

When we embark on this kind of journey we are never doing it in isolation.
We have day-to-day necessities and we have people who surround and love us.
The role of creativity is not to distance us from this but to be woven into the fabric of our life as it stands now.
With my situation it can be no other way.
It is unreasonable to expect life’s needs to stop needing us – this is a fact.
We always need to go as much to where life needs us as where our creativity leads. As a mother and a citizen there can be no other way for me and I never expect it to be. My journey walks hand in hand with this and sometimes the universe will give me more time with my work and sometimes work will slow a little to give time for more pressing needs. As frustrating as it may be sometimes, if I want to stay sane and kind this is a truth I have to accept.

That said (and this is where it gets interesting) – I am also a terrible fixer of things and have a strong need to know, that oversteps the boundaries of how involved in peoples lives I need to be. This is something that I have needed to check myself against. This is not something that other people put on me – this is something I put upon myself. I feel like I can tell immediately when something is not right for someone – I can feel it or see it in a glance. I thought this was a gift of mine, but as I grow older I wonder if I am not really using this as wisely as I could.

Because I didn’t have something strong to ground me in my own life I tended to be swept by other peoples emotions very easily. I thought in some way I was helping, but I am beginning to see that the person I was helping was me, in the distraction from my own stuff.

I am really happy to be there for someone – I see myself as a crap cook or practical person (I am always so stunned by people who do the really helpful stuff when people are struggling) – but the one thing I can do is listen and try to understand. This is something that I want to do, especially if it can even help. It helps me to feel closer to people and I am better with the big stuff than I am the small chat.

My mistake though is that when I leave, I seem to take a person’s feeling or situation onto myself and will let this live inside my head and my body well after the conversation has finished. This is my and only my issue. This is not what my friend has asked or expected of me and this is where my responsibility fails them. It is not my place to hold someone else’s private and highly personal feelings. People have shared themselves with me to create space to figure things out and they have trusted me with this. They do not need me adding to their problems by thinking that I am now leaving with their emotions and their hurt and burying them inside myelf. This is not helping them one bit and I am just figuring this out!

Thinking of it in this way has helped me hugely in allowing myself to still be there for my friends and my family without taking their experiences for myself. This lets me be a much better listener, supporter and leaves me with the energy I need to figure out my own stuff and to get on with my own work. My work has given me the anchor I need to know where I fit in the world and allowed me to be a much better support than coming apart when someone is suffering. SO I still can’t bring good lasagna or help with the cleaning, but I can be there for you and this time I have the perfect energy to be there appropriately. I have learned that your experiences are just that, yours, just as it should be and I can now walk with you through them as I have a much stronger footing than I used to and I have my work to anchor my own feelings so I won’t get swept out. You are good and I am good!

What sweeps you out to sea in your life?
How can you use your project to anchor you better?
Are you emotionally drained and is there anyway you can better protect that?

These are just some questions you might like to ask yourself if you feel that you are lacking in energy for the project that you love doing. It can make more space for you, your friends and family and your work.

If you are embarking on a project that is important to you, you will find yourself attracted and pulled towards people who are doing similar things, have similar loves or are treading on a similar path to you. This is the great stuff! This is the place where you finally feel you are finding your people, your way and your direction from the fog. One thing that I want us to keep in mind though is that everyone is doing this at their own pace. Everyone has different circumstances surrounding them that will affect the speed with which they travel and develop and that's ok! That's ok as long as we remember this. I had to make this little saying as it is so important for me to keep in mind when I see myself sliding down the slippery slopes of comparison. I have neither the energy, staying power or surrounding circumstances that allow for me to do any more than I am currently doing - i am working as hard as I can, given all I have and where I am today. That makes me feel sooooo much better!

April - is all about the peeps

Ahhh welcome April, welcome.
This sun is shining here and everything feels just a little bit lighter, a little bit happier, and a little more skip in the step. This should help us with our next stage, as I am going to push us a little harder now. The time has come to bring our ideas out into the world, at least just a little. If you are still in the really early stages of the creative process then I would say hold off on this. Imagine your work as a baby bird in your hands, even a soft release in the world would end badly. Your work is too vulnerable at the mo - too in need of nurture. Let your bird gain more strength, more mobility, more feathers first. Then it will be ready to flutter. If, however, you have been making great strides with this process, then you are ready for support, accountability and sharing. This will help you stay on track as you progress through the year, where your initial thrill may wane and the inevitable bumps in the road come up.

Now remember I said a "soft release" of our ideas into the wild.
This isn't the time to throw ourselves to the lions, but this is the time to bring together a select number of people who are like minded, light hearted and safe speaking.

A few months after I started my pictures I knew I was looking for people who were creative too.
I wanted to be part of something that reflected my interests.
I wanted somewhere I could talk about what I was working on without feeling stupid and I needed something to make it feel real and important.

I managed to club together 4 people that I knew from different avenues of my life.
Our first meeting was at the little blue house with coffee, cake and wonderful conversations about our different creativities. We realized from that first chat that we enjoyed talking about our projects, our dreams and the issues we were facing.
These were conversations that we didn't have with our families or friends and to give ourselves that special time really helped us to focus on what we were looking for. For me it made my little pictures (that were in very early stages) a reality and a possibility for more. We decided to meet every other week and have been doing so for what is now our 5th year. We are currently 8 members, including those original 4! We have seen a lot of change for everyone over this time - people will go through tough months and great months in their creative progress. We see life's interruptions as pulls of time and changes of focus come in waves for all members. People who have to leave can always come back when they are ready and there is a true solidarity between us all. I have never been a "joiner", but this group of people has been a real anchor for me.

I would love for you to go out now and make your own little group of people.
If it helps here are a few tips I would keep in mind when you begin your creative mate hunt.

Be brave!
People really want this - creative pursuits are very isolating - there is a need for connection and people are usually, very receptive to the idea.

Be Sensible
If you have someone in mind, but you know that they can be difficult, they are not going to be good for the group.
Keep the idea of safe, kind and easy going as a guide.
You don't need drama in this area of your life.

Be Simple
We keep our meetings to a really simple format.
There is not a great deal of prep work that anyone has to do just for the meeting.
It is open enough to be all about their own goal.
Our format has worked for a long time and I think it is it's simplicity that kept it going so long.
We go around the room and each person talks about what their last 2 weeks have been like for their creative pursuit and then we go around again and list our goals. There typically arises a theme that also becomes a general discussion in there.

Be aware
Your group is going to go through changes.
Be aware and open to these as it will keep the energy going.
We are trying some new things out this year as we needed a little more accountability and are also going into more detail about some common hurdles (a focus meeting on social media for example).
We are starting to do regular format for one week and then a topic discussion or focus the next one.
This has really engaged us all I think and made us more committed to our creative pursuits.
So when change is necessary be aware and open to it.

Be Accountable
Accountability is the big take away from these meetings.
You are going to find that with each little step you take (ummm complete Bobby Brown steal and now in my head), you will be making progress that would be hard (read impossible for me) to make if you were doing this alone.

Be a cheerleader
No matter the size of your group, you will all celebrate everyones wins.
Other peoples wins are inspiring for your own development.

Be a Supporter
You can share each others work, go to events other members are involved in, purchase products or simply listen attentively when things get hard for other members. This is never your competition - this is your safety net.
Being an active supporter and participant will make your group the success I know it can be.


Are you ready to find some friends?
Do you have people in mind already?
Don't be shy - they will honestly love the idea.
I am excited for you and your new gang.
You will be amazed at what you all can achieve - I promise!

CX

March - is all about the uncertainty

Hello, how are you today?
Did February wreck you or did you find a way through?
Did you get to make your statements?
Are you ready to go?
How are you going to start?
What are you going to do?
Why are you doing that?
Arghhh!
All these questions hey!
All these questions that demand a neatly packaged response.
Yep, this is our third stage and these questions are coming for us.
They are coming for us from the outside and the inside.
These questions are going to come strong.
They are going to come loud.
And they are going to upset and distract us if we aren't just a little prepared.


Who in your world is asking you questions?
Who is sending you into a tail spin at the moment?
Is it family?
Is it friends?
Is it you?
From the outside, innocent enquiries of “so, what are you up to these days?” or "what do you do?" can send you on an excruciating journey of word mincing and body shifting as you worm your way through some uncomfortable explanation.
This picture came into being because one person asked me “What do you call that thing you do?”
Along with my uncomfortable, high pitched giggle and calling it my “basket weaving” it left me with all THOSE questions that I berate myself with - what the hell am I doing, what is this, is this really something or just me being weird? Can this ever sustain me financially - if not then why am I doing it - am I doing it just to make myself happy - isn’t that selfish - shouldn’t I be giving my time to more constructive things?

Sound familiar?

This month is all about knowing that you have no idea what this is - and then beginning to enjoy that, in fact insist on it. Do not try to package your "this" into anything just yet - it is too young, too frail, too innocent. Keep nurturing it, not forcing or directing it. Let it direct you - let it take you where it wants to go - let it take you at the speed it is ready to move. Get comfortable in that awkward space - let your brain go nuts trying to boss you around, but ignore it - or tell it to take 5 breaths and chill out - let it know, it will be alright. When you feel the strict voices come, hush them gently - not now, not now - no deadlines, no expectations just you and your project however it may look.

Where are you going with that?

No idea.

What are you gonna do with that?

Who knows.

What is the point of this?

We’ll know later.

How is this going to look?

Not sure yet.

Are you happy?

Good god yes!

Easy this one hey!
Quiet the mind, relax the well meaners, get a big cushion and schooch on into that comfy armchair. You might as well get comfortable because this could last a while.

All the best my friends with all the things.
CX

February - is all about the commitment

I am excited for this month's theme because it is kick up the bum time for me.
February is time to get on.
January was a lot in my head of what shall I do?
Where am I going..what do I want..who am I?
Blah, diddy blah, blah.
February is more about - let's go girl!
Now if you feel like you still don't have answers from January's investigation do not panic.
The exercise below is still for you.
I thought I had a good sense of what I was going to do this year, but my commitment exercise showed me how mis-guided I was and forced me to sit down and get honest and real.
Oh No! Not honest and real Caz..I'm not on the internet for honest and real.
I want escape and purdy.
I know, I know...but what if I could get you both?
See...now I have your attention.

Ok, so before I go into my spiel I should start out by saying that some of you are of course way ahead of the game.
Yes, yes, put your hands down we know who you are (ummm hubby)!
So if you are ready, concrete plan and concrete commitment then your month is easy.
Go to My Noisy Boys Facebook page and print out / fill out the commitment report I have posted there and away you go.
You got this!
Keep it somewhere easy for you to find and refer to if you feel you need a reminder of your plan of action.

Ok commitment phobe folks like me.
Walk this way.
I am going to take you through my process to show you how important this task is for us!
My first commitment sheet was this!

Isn’t that a grown up, business savy kind of commitment to make!
DO you know what happened as soon as I saw these words on paper?
I felt a mixture of sick, deflated and stressed.
Instead of burning that inner flame brighter – it dampened and snuffed it out.
It wasn't just that my years plan did not inspire me – it actually made me feel ill.
I have time constraints in my life right now.
Adding 2 MORE shows to my year as well as demanding time in the week just wouldn't fit with my current situation
and would just add too much stress to my family.
How could I have got this so wrong?
Wasn't this what I had been working towards for the last 4 years?
Wasn't this just the next step?
Apparently not for me.


Me feeling so ugly with what I thought "should" be the way for my year put me back a bit.
I went down the rabbit hole of, then why am I doing this?
Obviously I shouldn't be spending valuable time and money on this venture if I'm not ready to pursue it.
Spiral, spiral I went.
But then I chanced a chat with a friend and as she was talking about her own pursuit of goals she said something that completely resonated with me.
She said:

"I strongly believe that there is a place for me and what I have to offer, I just don't know how that looks yet."

Yes! This creative journey I have taken myself has never been about business.
It has been about my own sanity.
Connections with people since I started this journey though has been an amazing off shoot from this and is part of my fuel.
My pictures & words help me to understand the foggy things & sometimes they help other people too.
There is a place for this and there is a place for me - I strongly believe that too.
So after this tea and cake revelation I went back to my pukey commitment sheet, printed a fresh sheet out and wrote this:

These make me smile.
These give me friendly, realistic direction.
These keep me on track.


Making a commitment to ourselves is very important for the sustainability of our project for the year.
It is easy to start passion projects, but then come the days where you run into a problem or a life interruption or a crisis of esteem. Then working on the project can become a task or a problem in itself. You might be in a foul mood, a tired mood - you might be hangry and you won't be as passionate about turning up. This is just a natural part of project completion and we can discuss that later in the year, BUT if you are already starting with a commitment that isn't a real reflection of you and what you really love then you are setting yourself up for a fall before you have even started. Learn from my mistakes, please. You can print off as many copies of your commitment sheet as you need. You have a whole month to take those ideas out of your head and commit them to the world - then just check in and make sure they make you feel your coziest version of yourself - as then you know you're onto something truly exciting!

Best of Luck with it all
CX

January - is all about the where to start?

Happy New Year gang!
How are you finding the start to your 2019?
I hit January like a slug…soooo tired and a little bit numb.
I can definitely see why I put rest as the first month for last year’s project.
The first week or so I was in total rest need.
Now I can start to feel the shift.
The rusty brain cogs are beginning to move, but v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.
That’s ok!

When I sat down to think about this January post, I realized we are all probably in different places with our year’s plans and our thoughts for our project. Some of us will have been ready off the block with the Christmas tree already disposed on Dec 26th and our “Year Goals” in pretty lettering stuck up on the fridge. Others of us (ummm me) are more passive processing – maybe on the couch, horizontal position, staring into space while zombie eating chocolate and murmuring “don’t know, chew, chew, what to do, chew, chew”.

With this in mind I've come up with 3 scenarios.
See if you can find you in there somewhere.

For the ready and raring to go

If you know exactly what project you want to work on this year, then this is for you.
Maybe you have everything in place and just need to start.
Maybe you have been working on something before and would like to commit more time and space to it.
Or maybe you just have a few easy, manageable things to set in place and you are ready to go.
The key for the ready and rarers is that the thinking and deciding period has already been done.
If this is you – you are doing great – permission to start.
Your word for the month is GO.
Go, go, go and enjoy.

For the hmmmm I think I have some ideas… but I’m not completely sure.

If you have an idea of something you have always wanted to do, but unsure how to start.
Or you have a few ideas for things, but unsure which to pick.
Then this one is for you.
My word for you this month is TRUST.
It seems like you already have a voice guiding you a little so this month learn to trust that voice that has given you these inklings.
Listen hard to what it is saying.
Your cloudiness could be due to all kinds of factors.
You may be scared, shy, pleasing others, or dealing with old opinions.
When we give ourselves the chance we often know exactly what we want to do.
It’s clarity just gets messed up by these others factors.
Don’t be hard on yourself – whatever you learn or do is ok.
Starts are just that, starts – they do not have to become big concrete goals.
If you have a couple of ideas and honestly can’t decide which to choose, start the one that most appeals.
If you needed a couple of things to start, then get those couple of bits (Aside - I said couple of bits…do not get overwhelmed at the store – start with one thing or a limited palette, you can go nuts later when you are more certain).
The key here is to start, play and TRUST your own movements.
There is no rush - slow is good.
When you go slow you move quietly and it is in this quiet that you hear properly.
Learn to trust that wise voice because that voice knows – it just needs encouragement to talk more.

For the Project Zombie

If you don’t have a clue what you want to do,
how to go about doing the thing you don’t know what to do
and don’t even know if you want to be doing the thing you don’t know what or how to do.
Then this one is for you.
I know it might not feel like it, but this is going to be the best month and the most fun.
Don’t get bogged down by the idea of a project.
This can sound too packaged when you are in zombie state.
Take it right back to the simple idea of happiness.
When I ..(what?)… I am happy.
What do you need to do to find the answer for this?
Look back at what sparked you when you were a child?
Remember something that has left your routine because of life things?
Is it as simple as enjoying a subject through books, a friend, tv?
Keep the idea as loose as possible,
as open as possible and take a step towards that.
Your project might not be very tangible straight away because you are still figuring out the flow of the path.
Let this be the enjoyment, not the goal seeking.
If best, don’t share these curiosities you will be following until you feel more sturdy.
People can well meaningly affect your flow with an off hand comment.
Your word I would say is PROTECT.
This process is vulnerable for you and important.
It will be building on a foundation so it is good to make sure you are feeling secure and sure-footed.
I was in this place about 4 years ago.
I was lost and unhappy.
I took steps so slowly and found my pictures.
The process of finding them felt sacred at times and other times like a painful squeeze.
I felt the joy they sparked, but the feeling was so fleeting at the beginning.
It is this fleeting spark though that you are looking for.
The spark is going to become a brighter and brighter light the more you do, but it begins as just this occasional flash.
What is it that creates this light in you?
No matter how small or silly it may sound to you at the mo – write it down,
or give space for remembering,
or just be awake and aware as you go about your business.
These are what can guide you for this year.
Excited now?
I hope it’s yes.


Whichever stage you are at, I want to welcome you to your own yellow brick road.
It is yours and only yours!
There is no one ahead or behind you.
There is no expectation of arrival or completion.
You are still a participant in the “musts’ of your daily life,
but this time you have your own little space in the world too and that little space is all yours!

Have great January Cx

An Introduction to Pearls of Random...for Crafty Creatives 2019

I wanted to say hello before we embark on our monthly themes and welcome any new readers to the blog. For three years now I have made a calendar and each month write a little blurb about whatever it is we are looking into at that moment. This year I have chosen to take us through the highs and lows of personal projects and hopefully guide you to following through on something you have always wanted to do. This was a little introduction that I wrote on the Facebook page that goes with this year's calendar under the name Pearls of Random...for crafty creatives - open to anyone who owns a calendar.

"I remember the exact moment that I came up with the idea for this year’s calendar.
About this time last year I was having a chat and a coffee with a friend at our local café The Fish Bowl where I had hung my pictures for the 2018 calendar. A couple of friends of my buddy were at the café and came over to say hello. Through chit chat it transpired that I was the person on the walls. Both friends immediately spoke of their own creative dreams with such passion – one lady had always wanted to write her families history from detailed diaries she had found and the other lady was a lover of watercolour painting.

I was so excited to hear about their projects and told them that it was completely possible for them to start their creative dreams. We had such a big chat about it and the friends were ramped up and raring to go, but when I asked them what they thought they might do to get started their air seemed to escape them – their enthusiasm waned. What just happened? I could hear the doubts come flooding out as quickly as the passion had flowed – they looked around the pictures on the walls and spoke with such a foreign description about my stuff. I realized they were looking at the pictures on the wall and thinking that somehow my creative project was different to theirs. That somewhere I had a confidence, a strategy, a great plan, a secret that they did not have.

I wanted to exclaim – NOOOO this is just me and my wonky self – this is just the stuff I do – I don’t have a clue what I am doing, where I am going or how to do this either. I just started, made stuff, made some more stuff, step by step. I throw pictures away, yell at paper, moan to my husband, doubt myself (a lot!!)…I nearly passed out when my pictures were first hung on the walls. I don’t have money, or public validation. No one is telling me that this is what I should be doing in any way. If I stopped doing this today – no one would notice – I don’t say this in a poor me kind of way – I just mean that you can start or you cannot, but it is completely up to you.

You don’t need permission, professional credentials, a huge space, or a work contract…you just need to take that first step. That little step that is taking you closer to your creative project you have inside. Taking the time to think about the journey of a project I have chosen 12 themes to help you along. You may see yourself, you may not, and you will probably have a few more stages you would like to add."

I will check in again next week to talk more fully about January's "Following my own yellow brick road", but in the meantime if you would like to join the private discussion group do pls head on over to the Facebook Page as well. My hope for the page is that we can be an invisible support and helping hand you can take along your way, especially when we start to step out of our comfort zone. I see us keeping each other accountable for the personal, quiet goals we set ourselves, the little ones, which may or may not lead to the bigger ones. Whatever we achieve at the end is not the prize, it is what we achieve in taking a step, and then another towards that inner dream we all have that makes us secretly smile.

I look forward to getting to know you better, learn about your projects, cheer at your successes and nod knowingly at the things that are making you wail. Until next week. Cx