All you need is faith and trust...

and a little bit of pixie dust!

Or a little bit of Fairy dust to be precise.

Sometimes you just need to switch off from all the drama and immerse yourself in the land of make believe.

xxx

"Sabbatical......

 or a sabbatical (from Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos, from Hebrew shabbat, i.e., Sabbath, literally a "ceasing") is a rest from work, or a break, often lasting from two months to a year."

That's where I've been, on a blogging sabbatical.

That doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything and just lying on the sofa stuffing my face and watching mindless TV. (Well, actually I have been doing a lot of the last thing)

It was a sort of enforced break from blogging as my computer has gone nuts and has developed a mind of it's own. 

I've been doing more of this:

I actually sold a couple of these from my Folksy site, which was exciting!!

They make me feel content when I'm making them, happy little flowers!!

Maybe they're my equivalent of Bob Ross's Happy Little Trees?

I've still been working on my Little Woman images. There is a possibility that a local shop may want to take some!!

There has also been some Craftivism going on....

And a bit of flag making...

Flag can be seen in all it's glory HERE

(It's the second to last picture)

It's been good to have a break, but now I'm back on it (like a car bonnet!!)

xxx

Be joyful.....

And still the sun is shining....

Clouds over Dartmoor

Contrail...hope they are flying to somewhere as lovely as here

I've been working on my paintings....

Finished and framed

I'm really loving creating these paintings, they are bringing a little joy to my life. (I've been struggling to find the joy this week. I've allowed myself to get caught up in other people's drama and shit, which, in turn, has made me angry and annoyed. To quote a friend . "It's not yours S, you don't have to deal with it" This will be my mantra whilst at the 9-5 job)

Works in progress

I received in the post this week my Mini Protest Banner from the Craftivist Collective. I'm going to be taking part in their Summer/Autumn Project. I can't wait to get started!!!

The goodies inside

In amongst my doom and gloom moments this week I have been finding inspiration and enthusiasm from Anastacia Drake, She is a motivated, dedicated artist and rule breaker...go and check out her work!!

I was also incredibly stoked to be involved in this project for Tony Plant. With a little help from his friends and strangers, he managed to raise enough founds to buy essential equipment that meant he could continue to show his art to the world. And it was funny to see my name in one of his artworks!!

See if you can see me:  here

xxx

When an idea comes together......

What started off as an experiment and a play around has blossomed into an idea.

Which has made it's way into a new card range (once they've been tweaked they'll be available on my Folksy site)

And I've also reopened my Cafepress shop, so these images will be available to buy from there too. (Again a bit of tweaking and rejigging and it'll be good to go)

I'll keep you posted as to when they are available etc etc etc 

Now if you didn't know, the UK has been under a beautiful blanket of blue, cloudless skies for the last week, so I'm off to make the most of this very rare event.....

xxx

Tea and Cakes.....

This week has been about tea and cakes and rekindling friendships.

If you ever visit the South West, try and stop off here for a some refreshments.

They do things a bit posh, but its amazing!!!

I've also been brewing an idea and baking some plans.....

It all starts with a small idea

I'm going to be getting on that Wild Donkey again and riding off into the sunset.

So I'll be donning my cowboy boots and hoping not to get too saddle sore!!

YeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaa!!

xxx

Be Happy........

This has been the theme this week.

Don't blame it on the sunshine

Don't blame it on the (super) moonlight

Yeah, you know how the song goes.....

 I've been a bit creative this week

Not sure where these are going quite yet, they're a work in progress

I've been pondering this video a lot this week too....

Enjoy...

and be happy!!

xxx

Summertime......

and the living is easy...apparently??

Finally the garden is springing into life.

Do children still use these to tell the time??

Exploring the shadows

Looking north you can see Wales

Looking south you can see Dartmoor


Get out there and enjoy the sunshine peeps.....

xxx

Revisiting......

For what ever reason, this week I was called to revisit my old sketchbooks and work from my unsuccessful attempt at a degree. (To get a quick background into the nightmare that was college go here)

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, I've decided that it was actually pretty good. The whole college thing busted my confidence in the work I was producing. It made me doubt everything.....

In a world of my own

The project I was working on when I did my Dear John email to college was quite powerful stuff, very different to how I would usually work, very different subject matter....

This project was full of strong ideas and meanings, it's a shame it didn't reach it's potential.

Looking at it with renewed, less weary, less defeated eyes I think that I'm going to push this project on. 

I'm going to give it life again  

(And at this point I'd like to point out that I don't regret the "dropping out of college" thing..it was the best thing I did. If I had stayed I'd probably be writing this from Prison after murdering either a tutor or fellow course participant.)

A quick landscape paintings from a previous project (told that they were crap!!)

So onwards with some renewed vigour....

xxx

Cloud Appreciation.....

I've been doing a lot of cloud watching and navel gazing this week.

Sometimes you need to just get out into nature and experience it.

Feel the sun on your face (being careful not to burn it).

It becomes so easy to forget how beautiful the place where you live is.

Focus on the good stuff.

Focus on the small stuff....look at the amazing rock formation going on here

Focus on the fun

See the journal? Way over there?

(Wreck This Journal)

Focus on the things that make you happy.

Tony Plant

I've been doing my bit for art and philanthropy  this week, as well as my regular donations to various charities and my Kiva donations, I've pledged the artist Tony Plant some money to help him get some important equipment to assist him in producing more amazing works like the one above.

Please go and check out his work here and if you like what you see go pledge some money here.

Go on.....it'll make you feel good...I promise...

xxx

Sunshine......

....my only sunshine..

I know, typically British to talk about the weather, but how nice is it to feel the warmth of the sun???

It just makes such a difference to the mood.

I've actually done some crafting in between smiling at the sun. 

Some glass beads from Ikea

Became a beaded tealight holder...just need to finish it off

This was part of a art/craft gift swap I signed up for.

I got a jar of yummy chilli jam in return

This morning I woke up to sunshine and Grandmother Moon

So I stood there and watched her for a while, whilst Hula-Hooping I may add, listening to the birds

The birds were loud and proud today!!

I believe this little chap may have been responsible for a lot of birdsong today


In typical Explorer style, I set out for an adventure....






Primroses have taken over the garden this year

Finding a home in the most unusual of places

The beautiful old conker tree, just stating to burst in to live (we were beginning to worry that it wasn't going to recover from the brutal hacking it received during the winter from the local electricity board..that's a whole other ranty blog post to come)

And the swallows have returned, a sure sign that summer is coming!!!

Get out in the sunshine and enjoy

xxx