Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.The question this month was 'how do you juggle your time and/or how do you wish you could juggle your time'.
It is actually a very, very tricky question for me as I'm one of those people who always feels there are too little hours in a day an too little days in a week and I'm very, very bad at managing my time.

image by zkamalee

For this post for example, I wasn't organised enough to get it ready in time for you to read with your morning coffee or tea nor did I take a picture to accompany it. And that's not because I'm lazy but because other things took over my week.
I spent Easter Monday with my partner and we walked a bare foot trail (FUN) , Tuesday Elza D. and Celeste B. came to my studio to play (MORE FUN), I visited my friend Mariana on Wednesday evening (jip, MORE FUN) and I dragged myself to sewing class on Thursday evening (not so fun as it's so slow). Add 4 days of day job work to this week and running my on line business and you know that there is little time to manage here.

I have one list and that states the things I need to make.
No more, no less.
That list is never empty.
Never.
It tick things off and I add things.
And when the list gets messy, I copy it onto a new sheet.
It's nearly the only handwritten thing I do since I dislike my handwriting.
I don't do housework very much.
It feels like a waste of time.
But I love it when it's clean so I force myself once in a while.
Although I dislike doing it.
I ship two days a week.
That saves me heaps of time.
I do the wrapping, my partner goes to the postoffice.
I wish I had some sort of control knobs.
They would be needed to prevent procrastinating.
Or wasting time on the computer.
But I love to be able to decide in a blink to go sit on a sunny terrace with a beer.
I can do that because I don't do time management.
It always fits in.

Control knobs by Elston2001

Because I post so late today, I decided to check out the other merriers posts and share with you some of the things that caught my eye...

• I am learning to set bounderies to people who try to make me busy with their affairs, ’cause they have unwisely/in greed/deliberetly taken on too much. (Monika)
• I’ve decided that I will put a few limits just because otherwise I get sucked in and I forget that I should be using weekends to do stuff with my son and husband. It is not all about work. (Mariana)
• Blogging. This really encourages me to create new things. I want to have something to share with my blog readers each day and thus, I work at finishing off new pieces. (Ruth)
• I find that minutes turn into hours, hours turn into days, and days turn into years, and all in the blink of an eye. (Samantha)
• I enjoy having a full schedule, but just full enough tho be happy and well rounded. (Bethany)
• I try not to kick myself too hard if I don’t get everything done. I just move it over to the next day and highlight it! (Laura)
  

Want to know more about what the other Merriers wrote about time management? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)

Laura at Blue Terracotta
Monika at Red2White
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Crafts of Texture
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Jen at Painted Fish Studio
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

What's your weather like today?

via the Violet hours

Back on track

While my collaboration partner Anna from LilaRubyKing is still recovering from the second (!) operation on her hand, we took the opportunity to lock ourselves up in a chatroom on Etsy and make new & exciting plans.
It will involve quite a bit of testing but it is so, so, so exciting to finally be able to work on new things & I hope that once it's ready for revelation you will love it as much as we do already - and we haven only just started!
A bit more then a year and a half ago we started our collaboration and it's really unbelievable that we have not met each other yet.
Jip, we do all the communication via e-mail and it's working out really well and I'm sure we will meet each other one day! Then we'll have some ice cream together, no doubt about that! :)Did you see Anna's new collection 'Form' with beach pottery & her Myka necklaces line? Check it out, it's different, unique and stunning!

In the mean time, stay tuned for more updates on our collaboration work.

Flickr Favorites

1. ., 2. 108 Daisies in April Explored,
3. Rainy Friday, 4. Untitled

For this weeks mosaic, I browsed through my favorites and got attracted to bright and happy pictures. I love how children can be so full of play and totally be absorbed in their own world. I try doing that too when I'm claying but I'm easily distracted by thoughts in my head. I start one thing and half an hour later I think of something else and try that too etc. etc. It's a vicious circle and it is frustrating as I get less done this way. It's the restlessness in me that causes this... too many projects too little time! :)

Next Tuesday is the first Tuesday of the month so we play by theme if you like.
Jennifer Rose suggested the theme 'shiny' which I find a real challenge & I hope you do too! Thank you, Jennifer for the fun theme!
Do you have a fun theme for next month? Don't hesitate to let me know! :)

The Easter bunny exists...

It has been a long time ago that the Easter bunny came to visit me & the older I grew the less I believed it all of course. Especially when I once saw my dad hide the eggs again that I put in my basket so that I kept searching for ages. I think I was 8 or so. He cheekily told me he was teasing me & I probably believed it the first time but the second time I knew better of course.
I still smile when I think of that & when I was older, I used to do the same with my nieces and nephews. :)

Today, while I was busy trying out a new recipe, my partner came inside with a package for me. He said the Easter Bunny brought this and drove off by car right away. When I opened the bag, I read the card that accompagnied the package first and it said: 'no chocolate eggs for you this year, but something you can probably use really well' It wasn't signed with a name but when I saw what was in there, I knew immediately who the Easter Bunny was that dropped by my house...It was the same person who left some really cool texture books at my home last week after we spend a really fun day in the studio together. That already made me mighty happy 'cause as you might know I can get really excited about textures & paper.
But the package contained an even bigger surprise: vintage letterpress stamps.
You have NO idea how surprised and happy I was! Such beautiful font and a perfect size too! Love love love 'em!
Jippety jappety happy with this new toy and I can't wait to make & create with these.Thank you so much, Ann for making me believe in the Easter bunny again! ;)
Ann has her own artsy studio called 'De Zilverij' where she gives lots of workshops in Silver Art Clay. Check out her work, it's beautiful just as she is! :)

Happy easter!

Image by Lego-LM

HAPPY EASTER everyone!
Wish you lots and lots of chocolate eggs! :)

Handpicked

As a kid, I used to pick flowers for my mom in the fields. Exactly as the taller ones in the little vase. I'd go out of my way to get to them, creep under the barb wire of the pastures filled with cows and gallivant the way back home to proudly hand over a tiny withered bouquet of flowers. When I saw these flowers the past weekend on a walk, I just couldn't resist! And they smell so lovely.
It's the small things that make me happy...

Flickr Favorites

1. Cuba Gallery: Cat / pets / animals / eyes / kitten / cute / photography, 2. It is not down in any map; true places never are, 3. peeling, 4. Bouquet d'octobre

I realize that I often fall back on the same color scheme for my mosaics. Don't really know why that is and I hope you don't get bored of my minty mosaics! LOL
Actually, I planned to do a mosaic around cats but I got distracted when I saw the mint in the color sheme of the cat's picture.
Today I have someone come over who is afraid of cats. We have one cat and she is very shy and anxious when there are people at home. When she hears the doorbell, she can't be fast enough to run upstairs and not come out for the rest of the day. She is supersweet but oh so demure and only comes out when she hears familiar voices and feels comfortable vibes.
For example, she will never come out when my family is here as they dislike cats and I think she feels that. She usually stays upstairs all day anyway - the only difference now is that the door is closed but she won't even notice as she sleeps all day! So it won't be a problem at all for her to be locked away for the day and she'll get extra cuddles at night.

Guestpost: celebrating and Making Sakura

Note: If you would like to guest post @ ArtMind please contact me (mitsy@artmind.eu) and I'll send you the 'how-to-blog@ArtMind' -info.

By Greg from StylishHome

image by photographybykarina

Where I live we are having a late spring, but the cherry trees have just come out in full bloom. We have them throughout the city and they got me to thinking about their deep and rich history, particularly in Japan.
In English, “sakura” refers to the Japanese flowering cherry and “hanami” is the centuries-old practice of picnicking under a blooming sakura tree. Today, millions visit parks and gardens to see the sakura and celebrate. The sakura is a cultural institution in Japan and can be found in art, décor, clothing, and gardens. Most Japanese schools and public buildings have sakura trees planted outside. The cherry blossoms have come to represent the ephemeral nature of life. Their beauty and short life are often associated with our own mortality. The beautiful trees really make you stop and appreciate life, especially in light of the recent natural disasters in Japan. In that spirit, 100% of proceeds from the above sakura photo will be donated to Japan via the Swedish Red Cross. Who wouldn’t want to picnic under one of these beauties?!

Top left: Called “Down the Rabbit Hole,” this looks positively enchanting.
Top right: Morning light on a row of cherry trees.
Bottom left: Cherry trees in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.
Bottom right: Classic pink cherry blossoms with a great film look.

A picnic wouldn’t be complete without a nice cup of tea. Why not take several teacups with you and enjoy the afternoon with friends.

Top left: Ceramic clay teacup to keep your tea warm on a cool spring day.
Top right: The sakuras are hand-painted by Japanese artisans.
Bottom left: Very delicate hand-painted cherry blossoms.
Bottom right: Small bird and sakura with gold accents.

Feeling relaxed and rejuvenated yet? What a perfect time to put your skills and energy into your own beautiful sakura creation. You can create elegant décor items with sakura fabric. The blossom patterns are beautiful all year round. What will you create?

Top left: This Yuzen Chirimen silk fabric is gorgeous. Made by a kimono-dyeing artisan in Kyoto.
Top right: The rubber stamp material is imported from Japan.
Bottom left: Bright and classic sakura patterns.
Bottom right: A tonal yarn reminiscent of cherry blossoms.

Five ways you can help earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan.

Meet Andy

Oops, I've been a bit absent the past few days.
Couldn't really help it because Andy kept me quite busy.
I don't like Andy very much although he smells nice, he's a real pain to be dealing with. He always makes me do things I don't really want to do but I know they are neccesary.
He makes my life a lot more organised though as I often get the urge to re-arrange stuff when he's around.
He is no man with muscles but quite a mister too.
Want to meet him?
I have always wondered why cleaning products often have male brand names?
I'm glad that Andy is back in the cabinet today ! :)

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and wish you a fun sunday!

Process

Ceramics is such a lenghty process. You never get to see the end result on one day. After the making the stuff needs to dry. Then it needs to be fired and if you want some color, it needs to be glazed and fired again to get the end result. There is a lot of patience involved in what I do. *sigh*
But opening the kiln and seeing a bunch of colored flowers just makes me extremely happy! Still catching up on work here but I'm having a few days off and will do some relaxing and ahum housework (bweurk) too! :)

Flickr Favorites

1. Library, 2. llibreria - bookstore - Amsterdam - HDR,
3. Day 236/365 - DPS Assignment "Books" - EXPLORE - Thanks for favin my fav :), 4. Book Cell

It's been ages since I read a book. I miss it.
There always seems to be so many other things to do then reading. I just can't seem to concentrate on a book when there is so much other stuff on my mind.
I have a few days off in the coming days and most of 'em are filled up with plans already but I'll make sure that I'll try to get my hands on a book too. I have also ordered some books of Keri Smith recently and I can't wait till they arrive!

Do you want to know more about Belgium?

by JacobsFrederic

Wrapping up

Today I've been wrapping up lots of things for my collaboration partner Anna aka LilaRubyKing.

I kept postponing sanding all the hands and it is equally boring to wrap 'em all up individually but I'm sure that Anna will be making lots of lovely things with 'em.I made more pebbles and they got the same careful wrapping treatment.
And I made a whole pile of olive green happy girls to head off to Greece...I put some samples of an experiment we're doing and I'm really eager to work more on this and I can't wait to show you more so let's do some teasing...
Happy weekend everyone! :)

Photobooth

My niece came around today.
She's 13 and a bit crazy - she takes after me.
She loved the photobooth on my Mac...
I don't dare to show you all the effect pictures we took as they are ridiculous but this one came out cute.

Font

Tiny... and mine! :)
I love the font.

Bought from Vinetrotique

Flickr Favorites

1. barefoot, 2. Jeans, 3. crafting 365: 181 new a-line skirt, 4. linen pleated tunic

It's the first Tuesday of the month so we play by theme if you like. I thought a fashionable mosaic would be a lovely challenge. Perhaps you would like to show us what clothes you like wearing, accesoiries that blow you off your feet or admit you have a shoe addiction...
Do you have a fun theme for next month? Don't hesitate to let me know!

I love walking barefeet. Love love love it!
Jeans are among my favorite wear and when the sun is out, I get out my skirts and dresses.
Which reminds me of all the fabric that is still waiting to make clothes off.
I can't wait 'till I'm good enough at sewing to make exactly what I like best.
But then I suppose I need to take time to practise.. *sigh*

Hello new week!

Just some images of what I worked on in my studio yesterday.
Really enjoyed myself while watching the Ronde van Vlaanderen, a yearly cycling event in Belgium that is just insanely big and popular.
I'm not much of a sports person but I love to listen to sports events.
The enthusiasm of the reporters, the crowd that is cheering, the tension of the competition,...
Nothing so inspiring than devoted people!

Happy weekend

Irish blessing by SeedFactory

I seem to have a weakness for quotes lately...
Happy weekend, everyone! :)