Design Time

Who says you have to be a crafter to have a creative life?  In the last few days I have taken upon myself to actually manage to watch a vid or two on youtube all the way through, which for someone whose attention span with anything like videos or films is about as long as a goldfish's memory, about twenty seconds,lol! So to actually set myself the task of watching a few videos never mind just one has been bit of a challenge to myself!
And the reason?  Well, what I wanted to do is to  see how others on this planet of ours defined the word creative.  And what I found made up quite a varied description I can tell you!  Disregarding the dodgy, the dirty and downright strange, I found it backed up what I have always thought, that being creative is not just confined to the world of art and craft
 Creative can mean thinking up money saving yet beautiful and unusual ways to display the things in your home, its can mean being inspired to do something different from the rest or the way people usually do it, it can mean expressing yourself through dance, music, performance theatre or the way you dress. Now they don't have to mean that you are or try to be crafty minded or artistic.
Have you just moved house and are thinking about what décor you would ike for the various rooms? Are you someone like a student, a very low income family or someone who is unable to work and so hasn't got much if any spare cash to spend on making your personal mark on your living space, but still want it to look totally you? Perhaps you are a still at school, college or university and no cash to fork out on the latest look or entertainment?
Creative to me means expressing yourself in whatever way you can by however and whatever means you can[as long as you cant get locked up for it mind you,lol!]. It means saying to yourself,' why should I think that I have to spend loads of dosh for that new look or to have an environment that makes me happy'. You want to have clean clothes, a garden that you can relax in, have a social life that is worth putting in the diary, a house that looks like a home and fits in with your personality, and you want a life that means you can manage to look after yourself, you can manage to stay looking less like a   bedraggled creature from the undergrowth and more like a yummy mummy or even a just a human being instead of an animal. I get you, me too!
There are lots of ways if you look into it [  youtube and pinterest great places to look for ideas] that you can achieve great strides towards these goals without breaking the bank. It doesn't take half a craft shop to do this, just look around your local area.
What I love doing is this. I have a box at home [think maybe waterproof and spill proof box best] with a lid that I put in thing that I think may be useful in making into other things. What I mean is empty plastic pop bottles[ bird feeders, plant waterer, water feature, pen and pencil container, eco-bricks, fruit bowls, picnic ware are just a few things that these can be used for], elastic bands[not just for tying hari back.lol!], old eyeshadow and blushers[for use instead of sink pads or chalks to make wall art with using stencils and adding finishes to furniture],  Baking powder/soda[its amazing how many uses for this there are once you look into it], nets that have held tangerines and oranges[body buffers, gentle pan washers, hanging nets for plant pots and more[, cardboard egg boxes[have you ever tried cooking meatballs in the micro or oven in these, they absorb a lot of the fat]…… and the list goes on.  Visit your local amenity site and have a skeet in the re cycle bit. Its amazing what some people throw away as rubbish that maybe just needs a new plug, a new battery, cleaning up a bit or a splash of fresh paint to make it work as something in your home.
 You see, the actual thinking of different uses for things you might ordinarily throw away, is creative in itself as you are thinking up of a new purpose for it.
After all, one of the definitions of the word Crafting is..creating something new from an existing material,  creating something new. So you don't have to get out the pencils, glue and sticky tape to be creative you see. For ideas galore, just pop over to youtube and if you type in life hacks, handy uses for..whatever, money saving uses and that kind of thing, you will find hundreds of ways you can be creative without even using a ruler!

New year, New decade, New start, New beginning, New hope

Happy New Year to you all! And not only that but Happy New Decade. With my design today I have wished you all a Happy New Year but in manx gaelic.
As we start this new year and decade, and indeed over the festive season we often spend a bit of time reflecting on the year gone by and all the different things that have happened in it, and well as think about what the new year may bring.
This time of year is a time where we think perhaps of friends made, friends lost, and family, both those still here and those who are no longer with us, as well
It is a good time to reflect as it mean we can also reflect on the way we see things and view life.
A new year is a time to perhaps think about how you can tweak the way you view the world or find better ways to deal with issues that you find hard to process.
To that mind, I have brought together a few sentences that might give you pause for thought. May this new year bring you peace , calm and happiness within yourself and in your world


Every child that is born brings a new beginning and hope for the future

The innocence, trusting and gentleness in a child's eyes can melt the hardest of hearts

It doesn't matter how large the step or how long it takes to make it, the important thing is that you have made that step

Bridges are built so people can meet in the middle

Whenever you feel like life is making you go at break neck speed in order to get things done and have to be a certain type of person to be able to do that, just look up at the clouds. They move at their own pace, they move in different directions and in different ways, they don't rush, sometimes they are big, sometimes they are small, but they all get to where they go. Life your life like clouds

When you count all the things in life that are beautiful, don't forget to count yourself as one of them

Our bodies are just vesssels for the person inside. They do not define who we are, they are just there to be a house for the beautiful person contained within its walls

Every day is a new chance, a new beginning, a new start and a new opportunity to be the person we want to be.


Enjoy today and indeed the new year with all it has to bring and all its possibilities! x