Oyay! Oyay!

If I were a town crier I'd be ringing my bell loud and clear!  Because you see, my blog will be one year old on Monday 20th June.

And I am organising a  

BLOG HOP 

to celebrate.  

This is my way of saying thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey.  I have some amazing participants lined up, a surprise or two, and am I excited ?  Yes I am!  I hope you will make a note of the date and join us for some fun!
Thank you to Robert Needham, Town Crier for Colchester, Essex for permission to use this photo. 

I'm also celebrating progress in other areas too.  In my last post I named 10 things I wanted to achieve in the coming weeks.  I have ticked off Project 365 and these photos are now sorted and downloaded onto my Flickr site.  Yay!!

Thank you to anyone who left a comment on my post.  I was truely grateful and encouraged and have visited each of you to thank you personally.  But the Google Gremlins were about... grrrrr!  After writing a comment I would be signed out..... I would sign back in and repreat the process only to be met with the same problem.  I can't tell you how much time was wasted and it got so bad that I actually gave up.  And I don't give up easily!  But I did get to see what other people listed as their 10 things and loved the ideas and the sharing.  And I also found out something pretty special, but more about that next time.... 

Another of my intentions was to start a art journal.  I love using all kinds of media so this seemed a good place to experiment and work on pieces that are small enough to complete.  There's no point in starting yet another project that remains unfinished!  And so I bought this book.  There are no techniques or instructions, just 1000 images of completed work.  But a great souce of inspiration which will naturally flow into my other creative areas.


By the way,  has anyone else had Google sign in problems or is it just me? 
Enjoy your week, what ever you are doing.

1.1.11

How did you celebrate the New Year?
My celebrations were quiet but that was okay. It was what I needed at this time. We lit a lantern to mark the transition and I loved watching it inflate and float away into the distance. A tranquil start to the New Year which felt good.

MY WORD FOR 2011 ~

I have been blogging for 6 months now. Still learning as I go and today I discovered some people choose a colour and a word for the New Year. I like this. It gives focus and intent. And my immediate thought went to the word 'intuition'. Sometimes when I get busy I stop listening and trusting myself. But I know my intuition is reliable when I am open. Take last night. I was trying to think of someone's surname. I had been told it, once upon a long ago, but I never have need to use it. I went to bed, trusting that the name would come to me if I stopped trying to think of it. And guess what? I woke in the middle of the night with the name shouting at me. It almost felt impatient, as though I needed reminding that I can relax and rely on my intuition. And so there can not be any other word for me this year. I know it will be a year of change, especially in my professional work, but I will be calm around this even if, at this time, it is not of my doing or what I want. Of course, intuition is just what I need in my creative work too. To be open to new experiences and playful.

MY COLOUR FOR 2011 ~

In her blog today Susannah Conway asked what colour I have picked for the coming year.
My immediate thought was 'green'. She then invited me to follow a link, where Bridget Pilloud asks questions which lead you to a colour. Guess what? The random questions picked green - but not just any green. The exact shade that I would pick from a paint chart! I was then asked to choose a name for my colour. I could choose one of the given names or one of my own. I picked Willow. I love lots of things about willow trees. It is also the middle name of my granddaughter. And the colour my summer house is painted. And the colour of my craft room. Bridget asked me to describe my colour to someone who can't see it.
This is what I said:

This colour embodies warmth and connectedness. It is a colour of growth and harmony, a natural balance. Not hot, not cold. It is the colour I need in order to go off at tangents, to step outside of and come back to. It is nurturing and fulfilling. Willow is a stable colour and comfortable to live with. If I could have chosen from a paint chart, this is exactly the colour I would have picked. Or did it pick me?

I'm not sure how I will use the colour and the word during the year. But I will be thoughtful. I have joined: Sketchbook Challenge, so perhaps I will create something to remind myself and to keep the focus. But rather than think too hard, I will go and sleep on it.

Have you chosen a word and colour for 2011? Do tell!