“What I Want to Accomplish in 2019” Gr8Blogs bloghop

My writerly pals and I are sharing our hopes - on the creative road and in our family life - for 2019 in our #Gr8Blog hop: “What I Want to Accomplish in 2019.”

Please have a read, and then visit the other #Gr8Blogs linked at the end of this post for more smiles and inspiration.

The start of a new year is like a blank slate, and we don’t know what will be written upon it, but to me that’s half the fun of it.

I promised myself not to tell the world about my plans before I did them as sometimes they go right out of the window! So there are some super exciting projects in the pipeline but, until I know they are definitely happening I am keeping my lips sealed.

The main big news that I can officially share now is that I have launched my online shop for Splatterink Art,  yes I am doing a happy dance. Honestly I have never known anything take so long  to put together. I felt like I was just redoing and correcting everything over and over again. Being a faffer has not helped, I have got to be more decisive!  Those with the more logic minded brain would probably have done it in half the time but me being me had to look at 5000 different options first only to stick with my first choice with pretty much everything I touched… sigh. Anyway it is done, woohoo!!

The main aim with this range is to uplift peoples hearts which is why the option of including a personalised message on all the products has been included at no extra cost. There is nothing more heartwarming than receiving a gift from someone you hold dear that is personal to you. I am hoping these products will create many happy memories out there and put a smile on peoples faces.

Setting the shop up was probably the easiest bit, now I have to market the bad boy lol. Which brings me to the next thing I will be doing this year, marketing! I am continuing to do my course and hope to complete it this year.

Sharing a big tip here that I encourage any business owner to do…. Pop down to your local university and ask to collaborate with students on your chosen field. I have done this with the business and marketing department and am going to be working closely with some students for a year starting in March. I cannot wait for this! I think it will teach me so much and hopefully they will find it highly beneficial too, it is a win win situation.

So basically they want to offer the students two projects to work with, my Splatterink art collection and relaunching my illustration’s website. They will pitch the projects to the students at the end of this month and then the ones that want to work with me have to put together a video presentation of why I should choose them. Then I go with whoever feels right for the job and then that’s it, got me a mini guru for a year. How super awesome is that!

Along with me doing my Richard Branson bit (a girl can dream right lol) I have several books lined up for the first half of the year so will continue to illustrate for others and I am putting together a proposal for an after school art club for a primary school. I feel I need to get out of my comfort zone again and this seemed like the right thing to do. I think it is extremely healthy to face your fears now and again, it really does push you in the right direction.

Outside of work I will continue to spend time with my nearest and dearest. My eldest is heading into his final years of high school now and has his work experience this year so important years for him now. My youngest has adapted well to high school and has seemed to taken up a musical passion lately which is lovely, she and my husband are bonding over their love for music which has inspired my husband to pick up the guitar again so our little home is a creation station at the moment. Both of them are excelling at school and are big dreamers when it comes to what they want to do afterwards. I admire them for having a vision and sense of direction at such a young age, those two make me proud every day.

I will be meeting up with my best friend from primary school in Zambia at the end of January, we haven’t seen each other for 23 years so it is going to be quite a surreal moment. I can’t wait to hear about how her life has developed since then. There is another big thing to look forward to but again not saying anything until I get the green light tee hee.
So there we have what I know is coming up, but like I say half the fun of the year are all the surprises that pop up along the way so who knows what weird and wacky little u turns might appear.

I am not sure if I will continue to run this blog for the remainder of the year as I will be doing newsletters and a routine blog through the Splatterink Art site so I will post most of my content on there from now. If you did want to sign up to the mailing list then you will be kept up to date with all the latest news / blog posts and any new products / artwork added to my shop not to mention the giveaways and discounts.
Thanks for stopping by! What do you want to tick off your bucket list this year? Please share in the comment section.

For more inspiration, visit my #Gr8blogs pals below.

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If you blog and want to join us on this hop, just add the family-friendly link to your blog post in the comment section. We’ll visit and give you some blog love-:D

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Cat Michaels

Sandra Bennett

Jacqui Letran

Julie Gorges

Shana Gorian

Rosie Russell

Carmela Dutra

Rebecca Lyndsey
Jim Milson

C*U*R*R*E*N*T*L*Y Blog Hop - Summer Dreaming

Yay another blog hop! I do enjoy these as it gives me a chance to catch up with the lives of my writerly pals. In this blog hop we share our summer dreams with you. Please have a read and enjoy. Then visit the other #Gr8Blogs listed at the end of this post for more Summer 2016 C*U*R*R*E*N*T*L*Y inspiration.

My plans for summer are like no other summer I have had before. Huge life changes are happening in the background and will come to fruition by the end of July. So what’s been going on these last couple of months, well….

Loving

I am still very much into my new found love of energy healing and meditation. I must write up a blog post about the star magic workshop I went on by Jerry Sergeant http://www.starmagichealing.com it was an experience that I will never ever forget and I didn’t realise how much my fear was controlling my life until I attended it. It gave me some extremely deep healing and really opened up my world in ways I didn’t think possible.  I have done a huge amount of self discovery this year through meditation, reading endless blogs / articles about the whole subject and connecting with fellow like minded people. I have made some amazing friendships through it and met some real characters! I feel completely at peace and things are all snowballing into a crazy little whirlwind of much fun and excitement, with the odd spell of fear thrown in ha ha. One of the biggest changes this year, is my growth in confidence! I am surprised with what I have been throwing myself into, there is no way in the world I would do half of the stuff I am doing this time last year. I am so curious to see just how far I will push myself with it all, but the more you face your fears the stronger you become, in all areas of your life.  My blog Don't Let Being an Introvert Stop You From Living Your Creative Dreams gives some tips for those introverts out there. Don't let this trait run your life for you, if I can do this... seriously, anyone can!

with thanks to http://anjaphotos.com/

Anticipating

So a couple of weeks ago I decided to do a new moon ritual to manifest my goals and desires. Are you starting to back away? Ha ha. Yes I know all this sounds nuts, but this is what is working for me and what I believe in, so as crazy as it sounds I feel I should share it.  I personally get affected by the moon a lot, and I know many others do too. It will either be a case of being on an extreme high or an extreme low or even full on internal rage…. It might just be a woman thing ha ha. So I came across a post advertising Sarah Prouts new moon manifestation ritual. The New moon was a few days away which was ideal timing to do the ritual so I thought, why not. You have to try these things right.

The new moon signifies beginnings so is the perfect time to put your intentions forward. I have had some major decisions to make this year and will be taking a massive leap of faith so I kinda need all the support I can get out there. So I thought lets give this a bash, what have I got to lose. The  ritual consisted of writing your 5 intentions out 55 times in a meditative state. I won’t give away all  the instructions as they are not mine to give away, but if you are interested then please do check Sarahs website out http://sarahprout.com

Now two have already come true! The first one was to lead a healthy lifestyle and stop smoking the second was to be chosen for an art competition that would be an opportunity of a life time. I can’t say too much as I am still waiting to see if I have made it to the finals, but I got as far as the 2^nd stage which I am absolutely blown away by. Out of over 1000 artists, I was chosen as one of the 200. Apologies for gloating, but I am so dam proud of myself! Anyway we will see what happens there, but it well and truly gave me the reassurance I needed for my plans this summer.

Reading

My intention of stopping smoking happened in an odd way. I put my intentions out to the universe and the next day I was struck down by an infection that literally wiped me out for a week. So while I was stuck in bed I thought I would try finding another hypnosis video for stopping smoking, I have tried them twice before and lasted a week and then the will power crumbled.

I stumbled across a video clip mentioning  Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking. Now any smokers out there will know how difficult it is to stop, I have lost count of the amount of times I have tried! Well this book was amazing! It encourages you to smoke the whole way through it which is every smokers dream ha ha

I just found it a fascinating read more than anything because it makes you really look at the whole psychology behind smoking and you start to see the truth for what it really is and that is MIND CONTROL! It really does make you look at smoking in a whole new way, fascinating stuff. Now you can’t force people to stop, you either want to do it or you don’t, but if you really do, then honestly… download the book! What  have you got to lose? If anything it really is a good read.

You are encouraged not to stop smoking until you finish the entire book and after that you set your stop date. I was very skeptical, but while I was reading it I was finding I didn’t really want to smoke even though I was being told to go and have one. When I finished  the book I was eager to start there and then and it has been so painless!  I won’t pat myself on the back yet as it has only been a week and a half but I will dedicate a blog to it when I reach a month, and I WILL reach it.

Making Me Happy

Everything is making me happy right now, my family, friends, the people I am meeting through my workshops and creative endeavours.  We recently went on a camping trip with some friends to the New Forest which was amazing. It was the children’s first camping trip and they absolutely loved it. We loved it so much, all of us are doing it again at the end of August. It was so lovely to get in touch with nature and to leave the gadgets behind. Days were spent on long walks followed by bbqs and pub lunches. Then the evening was spent playing cards and hanging out. Most people know my obsession with trees so this little trip was heaven on a plate for me. Beautiful part of the country!

We have started to become green fingered again and started doing bits and pieces in the garden. I have a little vegetable patch on the go which is lovely, hopefully we will have some tomatoes, green beans, pumpkin, courgettes, corn and strawberries on the go. We are also planning to deck out the side garden so that we can do some summer entertaining and for the childrens art workshops that I want to run from home.

August is going to be a month that I am a grin on legs. My sister is having a baby… yay!! So that is super exciting and my other sister is coming down for two weeks from Australia. I haven’t seen her for over a year so I cannot wait for that. My Mum is also back from Australia for a while so it will be so lovely having most of my family around me again.  Most of my family live in Australia which at times can be difficult as we are all very close, they are my best friends. Thank goodness for skype though, at least that makes things easier. August also marks the time that this bird finally flies. I think that is a rather nice little thought to end this blog post on.

Thank you to all who do read my blogs, if you have any questions at all on any of the subjects that I talk about or just want to connect with me then feel free to get in touch. I love getting to know new people and listening to their tales. Life is one big game and learning experience, there is nothing better than sharing it with people and just spreading the love.

Namaste

For more Currently -Summer 2016 inspiration, visit the #Gr8blogs below.

And hey, if you’re pumped about writing your own Currently - Summer 2016 post, just add your family-friendly Currently link to your blog post in the comment section. We’ll visit your blog and give you some blog love!

Auden Johnson, Dark Treasury
http://ow.ly/DQrK301hW8U

Cat Michaels, Cat’s Corner
http://goo.gl/2OIYQg  

Carmela Dutra, A Blog For Your Thoughts

http://carmeladutra.com/blog-post/currently-a-blog-hop-of-what-im-up-to/

Jd Holiday, JD Writers Blog

http://jdswritersblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/currently-what-im-up-to.html

Julie Gorges, Baby Boomer Bliss

http://babyboomerbliss.net/currently-how-im-finding-my-bliss-the-summer-of-2016/ 

Station Creation Blog Hop - Our Creative Spaces

I don’t know about you, but I just love seeing the work spaces of other creative folk…. from getting more of an insight into the lives of my online buds to being in awe of how the professionals have created their perfect workspace. This has inspired another blog hop between my writerly friends and I on sharing our creation stations with all of you.

So I would like to take you all on a little journey around my current workspace, going through how I have been working in the past, how I work now, to my dream workspace. Please also visit the awesome bloggers at the end of the post to find ideas and inspiration with how they create their perfect space to get their creative juices flowing.

Creative Space 1

So how have I worked in the past… well… it’s a good job I have a sense of humor that’s all I can say! My workspace has for the last 6 years, been, what one can only describe as a tip! I have literally taken over our kitchen / dining area and filled it with my endless supplies of art materials. Having a husband who is extremely laid back has been a god send as a tidy house is not something our family has been used to, between me and the kids we really do know how to trash a house in style.

Countless evenings were spent of me losing art materials down the sofa and wondering around the kitchen muttering a few choice words of where I had left the last sketch, rubber, pencil, tablet.. you name it… I could lose it. Then I had the delights of sitting down for all of five minutes and then being told someone was hungry, bored, had just been bashed over the head by their brother / sister. Yes, very hard to concentrate! I would paint on the easel in the kitchen, living room… anywhere that fits really…paint splashes would appear everywhere no matter how careful I thought I was. Yes our last house was very, very... erm lived in, shall we say.

Creative Space 2

Well last year we moved house and I had a spare room to use as an art studio but due to a complicated house move I wasn't able to use the room until last month. At long last, I now have my own room to create in and we have an area just for eating! The house is tidier, we sit down and eat our meals on a clear table and have more family meals together….it truly is a transformation.  I had always dreamed of the moment I would have my own private space to work in, but after so many years of working on a sofa I was convinced that I wouldn’t use it, thinking that it would take the pleasure of painting away, as it would then turn things more “worky”.  I think I just told myself that to appreciate what I had at the time. Well, I take back my words because I absolutely love it! I still need to put my stamp on my room, I want to dedicate a wall to all the gifts I have been given over the years by artist friends. Then It will be my little haven, it already has a lovely calming vibe to it.

Creative Space 3

I get so much more done now, with not as many interruptions or distractions, although the kids do seem to be hijacking my room quite a lot… lock on the door sorts that out ha ha! Seriously though, even the children are benefiting from it, my daughter has started writing again and my son has started doing his homework in there and even started sketching again. Not sure how long all that will last, we will see.

The next step will be to have a bigger space in the garden to run workshops, but that will be a long way down the line, or I might even look into renting a bigger space. It all depends how my new plans evolve, there are big dreams that I am working on right now. For the now I am perfectly happy with what I have got, it suits my needs perfectly. All I have to watch out for is not hiding in there too much, so I am trying to find the perfect work / home life balance.  I believe I will have this in oooh, lets say, five months ha ha. I will write a blog later on this year about everything that is going on in the background, for now I will have to go quiet for a bit while I put my plans into action.

So I shall leave this post on that cryptic little nugget he he. Will be back with more posts on inspiration, energy healing, living your dream, stepping out of your comfort zone, empowerment and taking control of your life later this year when hopefully I will have the proof to back me up.

Looking forward to seeing the work spaces of the other hoppers.

Thanks for stopping by.  For more ideas and inspiration about writerly work spaces, please visit these #Gr8blogs today.

Auden Johnson,

Dark Treasury

Cat Michaels

Cat's Corner

Julie Gorges

Baby Boomer Bliss

K. Lamb

K. Lamb, Author

Leigh Shearin

Leigh Shearin, Writer

If you have a PG-13rated blog about work space, we'd love to have you post your blog link in the comments section below, and we'll give you some blog loving!