Finding Inspiration

I find inspiration in everyday places.

Whether it’s walking into a material shop stocked to the hilt with beautiful fabrics, or brainstorming about what new thing I can make for my sweet niece or handsome nephew for Christmas, small slices of inspiration can be found hiding in every nook and cranny. You just have to know how to hunt it down, and how to recognise it when it’s finally found.

To help my inspiration process along, I collect things – beautiful buttons, ribbon, material, or interesting knick-knacks that I come across. I’ve often found that having these little bits around can spark an idea, remind me of something precious from my childhood, or just give me the nudge to try out a new idea.

And something I’ve always loved – drawing and sketching – also plays a big part in my creative process. My house is filled with bursting journals and random scraps of paper covered with little images, which may (or may not) become the beginnings of something in the future. I’ve often found that the practice of sketching can lead down a path which may not have been planned, but which sees the creation of something you may not quite have imagined yet.

Sometimes plucking an idea out of the ether seems like a total impossibility. And sometimes creativity gets… stuck. When all things fail, I always try to look for a need (which somehow relates to your area of skill), and attempt to fill it in a different way. Like, for example, I noticed that when I started making our Quill & Ink dolls, that there were only a few options on the market for dolls for boys – real boysy cuddling companions (who like getting dirty, climbing trees and making mud pies almost as much as their owners do). And after a little thought, finding some old fashioned names, and sourcing the perfect fabric, it was a lot easier to take the leap to make Charlie.

Charlie, Spencer, Luca & Thaddeus

My two-cents worth of advice?

1. Enjoy the process! Creativity, imagination and making something new are amazing things.

2. Take notes while you’re experimenting and making, so that when you’re happy with the final product, you can re-create it.

3. Don’t worry if things go awry; few things ever go smoothly first time around, but you’ll learn lots of valuable lessons, and what not to do for next time in the process.

How do you find inspiration?



Kim

Grateful #12 – What are you thankful for today?

Welcome to winter, Brisbane!

This week has been frosty, and it’s all anyone can talk about. I’m so sure that every winter is the same, but I seem to have winter amnesia every year, and never remember the teeth-chattering, frosty breath, scarf wearing cold until it actually really is.

The good thing about real winter weather is that it brings lots of sweet snuggly cuddles, steaming mugs of sweet milky tea, and comforting layers of blankets, doonas and warm flannelette sheets. This year, we’ve also become a family of porridge eaters; we even ate it for dinner tonight because it’s so deliciously nourishing.

So, aside from winter weather and honey-laden porridge, this week I’m grateful for:

Friends who love food, cooking, eating, and sharing just as much as I do. This weekend, we have lots of lovely friends coming over for a wintery afternoon BBQ to welcome a pair of sorely-missed nomadic travellers home.

I’ve been seriously dreaming about this feast for nearly two weeks, and this is why -

Imagine: A big open bonfire outside, fireplace lit and roaring inside; marshmallows for toasting on found twigs, a wild boar roasting deliciously on a spit, lovely spiced mulled wine, cheese wheels for nibbling, rich gravies and warm bread, lots of hearty winter salads, baked potatoes roasted on the bonfire coals and topped with lashings of sour cream and bacon, decadent self-saucing puddings, and sweet syrupy cakes.

It’s absolutely my idea of foodie heaven. And that we get to share it with the people we love most in the world – well, it makes it all the more delicious.

Young Flaubert, looking dapper and important. Image from here.

Madame Bovary, and French writer/wonder, Gustave Flaubert. I’ve had a rollicking good time re-reading my absolute favourite book this week. Beautiful Madame Bovary (Emma) is spoilt, absolutely self-centred and self-absorbed, in love with the idea of love, and bored to distraction with her neat little life, married to a bumbling doctor in a small country town. She’s the perfect 19^th century anti-heroine, who cures boredom and emptiness with obsessive, suffocating affairs, smothering her lovers with a careful mix of helpless heroine in need of rescuing, and a va-va-va-vooom! bombshell act which leaves them coming back for more (well, for a while anyway). There’s also a very long drawn out (and quite amusing) death scene right at the end - it's wonderful.

I just love this book; and I'm so grateful for a great bedtime read.

Independence. I stopped dragging my feet, and began toilet training my nearly-three-year-old this week – and it’s all gone so smoothly that I’m left with very little mop-ups and a very proud heart. I love Judah’s new found toileting independence, and I love watching him strut around post-toilet, pleased as punch, knowing he’s doing such a good job. I've even overheard him telling his little sister, 'I did it all by myself!' which is just the loveliest thing to hear.

What are you grateful for this week?

Nat

Ps. Linking up with the lovely Maxabella – and you can too! Link your grateful post up with hers here, or write your grateful list in the comments section below x

Preparation and chocolate biscuits are the key…

Image from here.

I’m watching the weeks go by. You know that feeling? Where things are flying past so quickly and you’re feet are barely touching the ground, as you fly from one thing to the next?

I’ve got this crazy map/plan for the next ten weeks, with endless lists of tasks to accomplish at the end of every week; and yesterday, I realised that my system wasn’t working, because I actually wasn’t crossing anything off.

And I was a bit devastated.

But, today is a bright, shiny new day, and systems are meant to be changed and tweaked; and I’m going to take the weekend off (really off, no teeny projects squeezed in for good measure, or out of guilt for the work I should be doing) to re-evaluate and try to figure out a better way to do things.

I've had a small brainstorm this morning, and this is what I came up with:

1. No “I’ll just check my mail/FB/Blog quickly” during the day. Total time vortex.

2. Edit my to-do lists and focus on the most important project first; allow for breaks, tea and biscuits. I like the idea of rewarding myself for ticking off a big project too – something to work towards.

But I thought I’d ask:

How do you stay on task?

What systems do you have in place to get through busy weeks?

How do you stay creative when you’ve got lots on the go?

Nat

A delightful discovery...

There’s a part of my garden that I never really go – a little pocket tucked away, no plants that I’m crazy over, lots of spiders, old broken webs, a resident carpet python hiding somewhere nearby. So you can imagine my surprise this afternoon, to find these lovely flowers in full bloom!

I think they’re camellias; and the tree is all in bud with dozens more to come.

Aren’t they just the most romantic flower?

Did you discover anything amazing or beautiful today?

Nat

Adventurous Abigail

Sweet little Abigail has joined me for cake, but is dreaming into the sky;
She picks up her cup, leans back in her chair, and releases a little sad sigh.
‘Will I go to my new home soon?’ she asks, sipping on her tea;
‘I’m lonely for my small young friend, the one who’s meant for me.’
‘I’m sure you will, my little love – the time is almost here -
some sweet soul will snap you up, to bring their baby cheer.
Don’t fret, lovely Abby,’ I say to her, ‘Your friend is on the way;

You’ll soon be playing adventurous games and dreaming the day away.’

Abigail smiles at me, and I know she’s thinking of you,

about the day you’ll finally meet, and all the things you’ll do.

She gathers up her treasure map, a torch, and bag of supplies

And skips off for another quest, under bright-blue morning skies…

Abigail is available now through our Etsy store - or meet her at our stall at Mathilda’s Market on  the 6^th August x

Nat

Ps. All our gorgeous Quill & Ink Handmade tri-fold cards are now ON SALE!

Were $8 ea, now only $5.50 + postage. Check them out here.

Grateful #11 – What are you thankful for today?

And look! We’re in June already! This week has been a blur of things and stuff and to-do’s being ticked off, but in amidst of all the chaos, this week I was grateful for:

The loveliness of cooking something brand new. I often get into a little rut regarding cooking, and tend to make the same easy things over and over again when I’m short on time. But lately, I’ve been making an effort to try a new recipe a week, and it’s been quite nice making simple, hearty dishes into new family favourites.

This week we tried a delish roasted pumpkin, green bean and feta salad with lovely marinated lamb steaks, and a chicken and spinach potato bake, with a creamy bacon and mushroom sauce. And while it’s nothing fancy, it’s a tasty change from the usual suspects.

Pigtails and Plaits. One sunny, summer afternoon a long, long time ago, my very patient Grandmother taught me how to braid my dolls hair, as we sat together on her bed, silent but enjoying being together. It’s been such a long time since I thought about that memory; but it was the first thing that came to mind as I plaited my little daughter’s hair for the first time this week. It made me grateful for the simple skills that are passed down from generation to generation, and the sweetness of the memories associated with their learning.

What are you grateful for this week?

Nat

Ps. Join in! Link your Grateful post back to the lovely Maxabella Loves, or write your grateful list in the comment section below x

Image from here.

Pattern #2: Embroider me!

So, I had the loveliest time embroidering with the Brisbane Brown Owls a few weeks ago – learning a new skill and being around other creatively minded people was just wonderful!

I’ve been so hoping to use this new skill in my next ‘One Pattern a Month’ pledge, and have been on the hunt for the last couple of weeks for the perfect free pattern to tackle. And lucky me! This morning, I read a guest post on Soule Mama by Charlotte Lyons, who had made the sweetest gift for Soule Mama’s newborn baby girl, Annabel.

Isn’t it sweet?

And Hurrah! A free pattern!

We’ve got lots of lovely new babes being born around us at the moment – just another excuse for me to bring more handmade into the everyday.

Want to join in too? Download Charlotte’s easy-peasy pattern here, and follow the instructions here.

Nat