Creative Tuesday and some LOVIN!..

Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. ~Kahlil Gibran

Would you be shocked if I said I was a HUGE believer in love?!... the all encompassing kind, that makes you feel humbly grateful to be alive and blessed for all the amazing people and extra-ordinary experiences you meet along life's yellow brick road. (with the blog title of "love and peas" I'm thinking probably not! )

So while I'm no great believer in the commercial version of "valentine's day" I'm most certainly at the front of the queue for celebrating that little old thing called LOVE.....

For LOVE transforms........ shines a rainbow on the darkest of days.

Gives you strength and faith, the courage to open your wings and fly.

The theme for this weeks "Creative Tuesday" is "valentine"..and this is my little interpretation...a quick and simple effort, all that time will allow.

But reminds me of one of my favourite quotes

"we can do no great things, only small things with great love" ....Mother Theresa

Awwwwwwww...... :)

The winner and a bit of whimsy....

And so to the important bit.......the winner of the JOY journal giveaway is.....JENNIFER BOWER from jen's pen!! YAY!! Congratulations to you! :) And a huge THANKYOU to everyone who took part and left a wonderful comment. There will be more giveaway's of JOY journals to come so please do come back! :)

Apologies for the delay....things haven't been going quite to plan this week, but i'm sure you'll feel heartened to know that while I made you suffer in wait (ha!) I too have endured strife! There has been tears over school scots poetry recitals, sleepless nights as little people move from cots to beds, delerium at work and the final icing on the cake...my celebratory "Burns supper" turns from the traditional" haggis neeps and tatties" to "veggie pasta cheese medley" or rather "what was left over in the cupboard as the food shop hadn't be done"! And we're only on Wednesday!!:)

Below is a piece I've just finished painting, which would be the first time I've got my paints out properly this year. So I'm joining in the whimsical wednesday fun, which I have been intending to join in for some time now but never quite made it. So yay!! I got something right this week! :)

Hope your week is going to plan :)X

How much am I worth?!

I wish you could feel my delighted sigh as I FINALLY get these 3 'babies' of mine finished and photographed...aaaaaah and relax!

For these are ALL I have done over the last week (and longer!)...every stolen moment, every back turned of small child...I have been like a woman posessed!

And while I have laboriously loved and sewn and cut and stitched I've been wondering all along how on earth I'm going to put a price on these babies of mine...because I don't know about everyone else but I find the whole task of pricing near impossible.

I've been doing a lot of thinking and dreaming whilst making these fabric books and this voice of inner assertion has been repeating over and over "stop selling yourself short....it's time to ask for what YOU are worth".

Well yes, this is all very good advice..but how do I put what I am worth into money form?? And really...do I have a good handle on value when most things I see in the shops I think...well its lovely..but I could make that for £1!! (I know I'm terrible!!)

Ah well, all i do know is that I need a little time to let the frenzy settle and the rational mind return...my etsy shop shall just have to wait!

Do you realise this will be the first time I'll actually be selling something with my art on..which is a baby step but the BIGGEST baby step I've taken yet. Deep breath!!

I've been experimenting with transferring images onto fabric and thought why not turn my two favourite things into one...painting and boooooks! They still have the feely fest of my JOY journals, and a few pages are adorned with stitch/fabric/paper doodles...the rest of the pages are all nice and thick, some smooth, some with a bit of texture, made from a variety of re-purposed, art and hand-made paper. Of course there is an odd envelope thrown in there too.....gotta love those envelopes :)

some little stitched doodles that adorn the pages

How do you guys feel about pricing your items...any tips on working it out? I would sooo love to hear :)x

Oh and please come and join in my JOY journal giveaway here....there's still 3 days to go!!!

Creative Tuesday- "scarf"!

Even though the sun shines it gets very chilly up here!

Mr Toast had me completely scratching my head for this weeks Creative Tuesday's topic of "scarf"! But since taking part in this lovely community and having always managed to submit something...I was determined not to let "scarf" get the better of me! :)

So here we have it...the longest scarf in the world....certainly blows Dr Who's one out of the water!!

Go see lots more scarf inspired art here...I can't wait to see what everyone else has done!

(oh yeah, and I wasn't sure which I preferred for the giraffe spots so I left both!)

Sunday Sketches and gifts galore :)

I've been busy busy over the last few weeks focusing alot on making notebooks (all of which are half finished!) and uncovering my dreams (for Louise Gales e-course... all of which are half dreamed!) ...which all in all makes for little reading as a post!

Thankfully I have been sketching!! And so can join in the lovely Sophia's "Sunday Sketch".

These sketches are for a little project at work...thinking about how to get images to promote the benefits of skin to skin (with mum and babe at birth) and the benefits of breastfeeding too.

Little seeds of ideas...no idea where they are going...!!

Ooooh but VERY lucky me.....I've been the receiver of goodies this weekend!

This gorgeous "big stitched postcard" arrived all the way from America and the lovely Sonya Mac!

I love the black and white house against the vibrant red background, and the words read

" a house is built with walls and beams, a home is built with love and dreams".

Just LOVE it :) Thankyou Sonya!

The second goody goodies came from the sweetest Melissa. I won her giveaway over Christmas time and received ALL of these gorgeous stickers,tags and labels!!! My two girls sat as I opened the package and we all ooohed and aaaaahed together :) a funny and sweet moment. Thankyou soooo much Melissa! :)

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend...

go and check some lovely Sunday Sketches here!

Joy Journal GIVE-AWAY!! and TUTORIAL!!

Oooh, my heart is beating a bit fast here and I've got butterflies in my stomach! ...which I take as a VERY good sign and that i've done the right thing!!...I've just hit the "publish" button for my very first tutorial!! A junk to JOY tutorial...on how to make your very own journal out of paper and card that most of us have in our recycled boxes! (or in a big pile in the corner...if you're not very organised like me!!) I hope it gives a small bit of inspiration to look at the bits and bobs we have around our home in a different light.I also hope it encourages you to note down all the things that fill you with joy, the dreams that are waiting to be fulfilled, the small things that fill you with gratitude....

To celebrate I'm having another JOY Journal Giveaway too....I did say I would make this giveaway a regular event and it remains my intention.....

(To find out more about my intention behind the JOY journal check out here.)

If you would like to join the joy (and making one seems like way too much effort!!) just leave a comment below and I will randomly pick the winner on 25th January (which is "Burn's night"...so we'll toast the famous poet with a little JOY!)

Near or far, follower or not... all are welcome!

This time the journal pages are based on a pink/orange/brown theme, with lots of pink feather that have moulted from my youngest's feather boa!! (a xmas present..which has left a trail of feathers ever since opening..thanks Granny Alexis!! )

There are tags, clear pockets, a spinning wheel, an envelope pocket, to name a few.

A "feely"- fest for sure!

Additional NOTE:

I'm adding on another day to the giveaway, so the winner will be picked on Wed 26th January ....work commitments getting in the way of blogging..alas! :)

good luck!x

Sunday Sketches & Blog Award!

I've titled this post Sunday Sketches but its more a sunday splurge of colour and random shapes with a couple of works in progress added for good measure! It shows I have been doing some artwork however!

There are many more great (and proper!) sketches to be seen here.

As for the Blog Award, I'm so chuffed to say I've been given two awards from two very lovely ladies Anne and Lisa . Thankyou!!

And so due to their very loveliness I am compelled to go against my natural urge to avoid all things that involve standing under a spotlight.... and go for it!! :)

So the Award requests I give you 7 pieces of info about myself and then pay it forward by nominating 7 "recently" discovered stylish blogs! Here goes.....(and in no particular order)

1) My first ever crush was on BA Baracus..... "I pity the fool"......

2) Rock and roll is in my genes...I'm related to the original singer of ACDC....

However I never found out until I was well past the age of using it as "cool" leverage!

Which leads me onto...

3) My Dad was a chemistry teacher at the same high school I went to.... thankfully there were 2 chemistry teachers at the school one of which everyone hated, so I didn't get too much flack as a result. However I never took Chemistry as a subject to find out!!

4) I gave birth to my two girls at home (no it wasn't an accident!!) It was soooo lovely to be able to curl up in my own bed a few hours after birth for the night.

5) When I was 21 I set off to Australia with a one way ticket and £350 in my pocket....I pray my children never put me through the same scenario! :)

6) After quite a bit of wandering I have returned with my family to live in the same place that I grew up..a pretty wee town of red sandstone where James Barrie wrote Peter Pan in his wash house......hmmmm maybe thats where all these winged girls are coming from...

7) I met the love of my life on a blind date :)

ok and the wonderful blogs I am paying the "Stylish Blog Award" forward to are

Le Grand Lapin

Kristin Dudish

Sweet Limes

Shelby Healey

Nelly's Junk Drawer

Fur will fly

Colette Moscrop

Itchifingers

ooops, thats 8....!

Creative Tuesday - New Year

I thought the Creative Tuesday challenge was for next week! I know...not like me to do 2 posts in a row...but I so didn't want to miss this! Apologies for the quick sketch using kiddies pencils and the one black pen I can find..I hope it gets my message across!

So this week's theme is New Year and what instantly comes to mind for me is the linking of the arms to sing "Auld Lang Syne".

I think this has to be one of the best parts of New Year for me, as its one of the few times in our lives when the barriers are down and we actually hold out our hands to random strangers and link with them to sing at the top of our lungs.

We are one.

A precious moment and should happen more often I reckon :)

Go and see more lovely New Year inspired artwork here.

Grateful for the small things

My big stitched postcard... which I'm not sure ever made it "home"

While I have never been big on New Year resolutions I have always liked to mark the turn of the year by sending out a few intentions to the world. This year, the message has been driven home to me LOUD and clear......being grateful for the small things!

And how has this message been driven home I hear you ask!!?

None other than the losing of a small set of keys....the only small set in the world that opens our car door and sets the engine roaring!....

which today we have found! Yipeeeeeee!

Nestled in the end of an oven glove there they have lain for 6 days, placed by my 2 year old's fair hands...whilst the rest of the house has been tipped upside down and turned inside out....

Such a joyful relief to discover such a simple thing! I can't tell you how relieved and grateful I am!!

Of course, there are SO many other things to be grateful for and I have a whole year ahead of me to search out the little things that often pass me by.

I know I certainly feel grateful for the magic and unfolding that lies ahead with Louise Gale's "Big Dreams Small Wonders" course which begins today!!!

I also look forward to reading all about your blessings and small joys that this new and bright year will bring :) x