WOYWW 306

Greetings and Salutations!

Just a quickie from me because I have to go to work in a moment.

Here is my desk today.it's reasonably clear because to be honest I haven't done much work on it lately. Having said that though, the glass painted bottle was used as a sample to work from. My mum has something very similar and one of her friends was eyeing it up the other day. Mum found me a lead crystal decanterto work my magic on. That has now been handed over and I hope the recipient likes it.



Lots of happened since Last being on here my mum has decided to move house and we spent a lot of time clearing it out. We acquired a cat, Marley, who has given us a few grey hairs already. And I hate to be tantalising but I have some news that I am bursting to share but can't because someone may read this that really needs to be told face-to-face first. Nothing big or scary just something great!



So see you on the hop hopefully! I'm a little busy this week because Mr B has a special birthday tomorrow and we have a party on Saturday to celebrate, so I have a bit of organising on my hands.

TT FN


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It's an age related thing.

Every morning I walk my dog at a ridiculously early hour before getting ready to go to work. This morning was no different and it is the case every morning that I tend to find myself mulling over the day ahead or a problem coming up, or just considering life in general. This morning the phrase popped into my head "I'm too old to learn...(insert new skill".

I think the reason that this phrase went through my head is that we are in the process of helping my mum to clear her house ready for a house move. She's lived there for 50 years and has accumulated as many possessions and chaff as you would expect for such a long period in one place. Amongst the possessions are many musical instruments and, being the only musical one in the family, said instruments have been promised to me. It has always been my understanding that I would eventually get these instruments as part of my Mum's will, but this seems to have been brought forward by the impending relocation. The new house Mum is moving to is considerably smaller and she has to downsize and therefore remove a lot of the possessions from her life that she either no longer requires, or has space for. These include, amongst others, my Grandad's cornet, possibly the two violins which have sat on top of a wardrobe for my whole life, and a Welsh lap harp. The last time I visited my Mum, she made me promise something. "You will learn to play the harp, if I give it to you?" My husband looked at me, raised one eyebrow, and said "hammered dulcimer?" I am just like my mum and that I collect possessions with an intent to learn how to play or make or do something. Sat by my piano at home is a student half-size hammered dulcimer, a travelling one if you will, which I have had for a year and been promising myself that I will learn to play it.

So where does the phrase "I'm too old to learn a new instrument" for example, come in? Is it simply a case of too old and therefore incapable? No, I don't think one loses the ability to learn something because one is old. I think it is simply a case of one no longer having the time. When we are children and we have no responsibilities it is an easy matter to put in a half hour to an hour's practice the day, whether we want to not, to learn new instrument, a new language or a new craft. Once you reach 40+ - sometimes younger sometimes older - your time is divided up in so many ways. You have so many responsibilities to family, work, clubs, that finding time to learn and develop new skills is sometimes almost impossible.

So what to do? Find the time. I did indeed promise my mum that I would learn to play her beloved harp. Not that she's learned to play it herself yet…


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WOYWW 301

I seem to be leapfrogging a few WOYWWs, and managed to completely miss 300! Shame on me!

Here's my offering this week.


Sorry it's so small (there have been complaints, don'cha know! LOL) but I tend to grab a few minutes to do this before going off to work and usually the computer is off!

It's not a very exciting desk I'm afraid as although it's overcrowded I'm not actually in the middle of anything at the mo. I have managed to make three cards this week though, which is pretty good going. I also made this but couldn't blog till the recipient received it *just in case*.



So onto another week. Hope it's a good one for you all!

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WOYWW 297

Ugh. Cross with myself for missing yesterday's WOYWW! So I'll be brief and say here's my desk, late last night. The rot is starting to creep in again! I must have another tidy up today.







I did get some nice new blanks for the business though.

And good news - I've got a job starting Monday. Yay! Ish.

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WOYWW 296

Gosh, look at me! Two weeks on the trot! That hasn't happened in a long, long time...and here we are in February already. How did that happen?

So, we're back again for another session of WOYWW courtesy of the lovely Julia. Here is my desk for the week:




It's still not properly cleared away although the head has now gone and I have a few spare inches in which to be creative! There's a couple of new jewellery projects I'm working on for the business and leftover shapes from some cards Mr B made for Panto but other than that, all is quiet on the Western front... Panto is now over - all bar the shouting aka post production and committee meetings, the after show party (yay!) and the AGM and DVD nights.

Hope your week is going well and you're all fighting fit!


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WOYWW 295

Hello Bloggers!

Today's post comes from the desk. More accurately, it is courtesy of Julia over at The Stamping Ground and it's What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday - week 295.

I've actually been having a tidy up and a move around again, now that our run of visitors is over and Livvy is permanently back in her own room. It's a good feeling, clearing the decks. Ready for some creativity! There's a little way to go yet but I'm nearly there now!







So what has everyone else been up to?


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Location:Windsor Way,Fordingbridge,United Kingdom

Sucked in....

Life is tough, ain't it? Some awful person invented Facebook. Another invented Pinterest. And Instagram. And Twitter. It's easy to get sucked in by these terrors of the modern age. All of this is aided and abetted by the invention of the smartphone - damn you, Apple! (Other smartphones are available...LOL)

I would like to put my hand up here and say that I am an internetoholic and would like to stop. So what am I doing on HERE then?

I am a recently made redundant, budding female entrepreneur. I am trying - and struggling, and currently failing - to build my own little business that will support my family and save me from having to go back out to work for some big corp. who have office politics and want to suck me dry. And I blame FB and Pinterest for getting in my way. Of course, the real person to blame is me. I have very little willpower and am easily distracted by all the bright shiny things and games and news and quizzes and....

Sound familiar?

The trouble is, I need all those platforms to help grow and develop my business. Marketing is essential these days and social media is the way forward. 750 million people use FB. That's one in every nine people on the planet. Of those, a third access FB through mobile devices. That's staggering! But to be successful, to raise your head above all the others and get noticed? That takes some doing. First you have to have a product everyone wants, then you have to promote it. Blogging is a major way to do this and without posts, you can't have a blog!

The good news in all this is that I won't be using this blog to do that! I will be setting up a new blog for Hare Moon Crafts and keeping this blog for my more personal stuff. Both blogs will be accessible to all, but I'll try not to turn this one into an advertising fest. I promise.

Now, to get off here and actually go to work....

Where was the power off button.....?

Stats courtesy of http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/09/02/20-stunning-social-media-statistics/

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WOYWW 293

Oops.

How long has it been since I last blogged?! Far too long.

So without further ado - I'd like to wish everyone a Cool Yule, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. Better late than never, that's what I say!

I do have an excuse for some of it. At the beginning of December my Mother, bless her, took a flying backwards leap off the stage at her local church. She'd gone up there to collect some Christmas decorations to be put up, and a well-intentioned lady accidentally turned all the lights off. Now, my Mum is 83 - but amazingly enough she bounced. Broke a padlock off a door in the process, mind you, but bounced nonetheless. And then the shock brought on a bout of shingles. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that she spent Christmas with us. Then a week after she went home, I took a tumble. Between all that and Panto, I've not had time to do much else!

So, the real reason you're here is WOYWW, courtesy of the lovely Julia Dunnit and her fabby blog The Stamping Ground. And here is the mayhem that is my desk. Still not sorted from the teen using the room as a sleeping pad while Grandma was in residence. I could explain the head, but I won't. I'm sure that whatever is in your imaginations will be FAR more interesting than the truth!

Until next time...

Morti

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WOYWW 280

Yup

Hi

I'm back
Not sure how long for, mind!

There's developments...

Not on my desk though!!!

Have a happy hop!


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Time to be more present....

I’ve just come upon this post by following links in this “Around Here” layout post, and found a very resonant feeling with where Ali was at in January.

 

Our family is a small unit, myself, my husband, his daughter and our dog (not forgetting a snake). Like Ali, half my life seems to exist online, I work full time and I’m trying to set up a business of my own as well. Being present for my 13yr old stepdaughter is a difficult reality to deal with, and we have all struggled with our phones and tablets etc. And not just being present for the humans, but for the animals too – it’s all too easy to pick up the phone and not the snake, as the snake does need attention and handling to maintain a decent “relationship”. So many people forget that the pets need love too…

 

We have no TV in our house. That is to say, we have no beamed in Satellite television. We have a physical television, and we have a DVD player, but watching the box is something we only do at weekends. The rest of the week we have a restriction on rectangle time, but it’s all too easy to forget, or pick the phone up to check an email and BAM before you know it 45 minutes have passed, and you’re late getting to bed.

 

I need to put my phone down. I also need to get my business running. But ultimately, Lil Miss B needs me and quality time together now is spent in Zentangling, or cross-stitching, or card making together. Every so often it’s sharing ice cream and having a girly chat. I’d like to get her journaling more. I am blessed that she is a loving, caring girl and we have a good relationship. 

 

So, I thanked Ali for her insights. She have reaffirmed what I have known and felt for some time, and been working on. It’s comforting to know that someone as successful and well known as Ali Edwards is having the same issues we all are – and it gives me hope that my business will be successful too. 

 

Time to be more present…..