space & time

People always say 'time flies', and I suppose it does, but you know how a year can seem such a long time and at the same time so quick. This whole episode with the leak and having to move out and in, has been a very interesting time. As much as we could we moved things out of my studio. What remained had to be moved aside for the painters and the plaster guys to finish the restoration. One night I sat in the mess, space all around where my stuff used to sit. I sat on my yoga mat and took it all in. I thought how nice it might be to only have a little bit of stuff. And lots of space. Space, a word with so many meanings. Whilst packing I had come across an old planner of mine from 10 years ago. Life before Selatan. And smidapaper. Life with 2 teenagers & a 5 year old. Life before getting sick. 10 years. Wow! The pages in the planner were neat . 2 things were highlighted in most pages. Chores & daily household type tasks and the kids schedules. Some craft classes .(smile) Lots of empty space. My planner today is about the same size. Also a weekly format, not Hallmark Forever Friends but a serious black moleskine. My days are divided into 3 columns, one for each business and the other for everything else. Colour coded and super packed.I write in the margins. There is no space. At all.
This whole episode with the leak has forced me to make space & time. Very symbolic. Like a 'new year resolution'. A space between the 10 years past & looking into the next 10 years ahead. I feel a change coming. Like sitting in the middle of a pregnant pause. With hope, expectancy. A sense of not knowing & yet knowing. Not of the details, but that it will be good.Even as it was. Mountains notwithstanding.
Take a little time to reflect on the last 10 years. What were your triumphs. Defining moments. See how wonderful life is? Think about capturing some of it in a scrapbook. Make space. And time.

I'm working on a class , well it evolved from the pink & blue book I started. So I hope you like pink & blue. I didn't but now I'm open to colour. It highlights the things that I mentioned but just a few from 2008. May turn out to be a 2 part class because I'd love for people to be able to work with the story as well as the design and I'm hoping that everyone will be motivated to create from their hearts so there will be some free expression and choices. I'm expecting that will take more time. Will post details later.
And while we're celebrating life I thought I might do a guy type layout in honour of Philip's birthday. I cut out some patterned paper, looks like flowers but rather abstract and ethnic looking. Philip saw it and said, 'Flowers?' .Ha ha. In the end I caved in and used some prima flowers. Oh well, my interpretation of a guy inspired page.
Ok, coming to the end, you'll be happy to note that the episode with the leak is officially over. Everything has moved back in . I've arranged things in a way that there is still space. For yoga. Or reflecting . And I'm resolving to make space in my moleskine. Here's to the next 10 years!

pink?

After all these years of loving browns and blacks and neutrals, I am finally learning to use colour. Not the muted shades in my home but real, pop in your face turquoise and pink! All the time I choose Hambly in black and white and now I'm gobbling up the brights . So funny. I'm loving colour and have been working on a little book featuring,well, pink. Imagine that!

subduing the inner control freak

My studio sits on top floor of my house. My office on the ground floor. No guest room. Last week I thought i might make use of the space and put a work corner up there , too. Just to try. It started out with good intentions. Books just seem heavier than they used to... Well, I kept at it and finally , voila, new mini office within a studio! (You can tell I love re arranging and decorating)
It worked pretty well until water started coming down from the ceiling. There was some kind of leak and we worked til early morning moving things from the scrap area. My scrap desk looked safe so we left it and went to sleep, ignoring the piles of stuff now collected on our dining table.
In the morning, my desk was soaked , water was coming out of the track lights and some of the projects I was working on and all my glue, zots and a pile of stickers were drenched. SOB! Thus ensued 'back up'. Plumbers, moving people, kids (mine) ...we moved everything we could out and down.
By day's end I created a little scrapping nook next to the kitchen (no more breakfast area) , the leak has been identified and is being addressed. When it all dries out the ceiling will be re plastered, walls repainted and eventually all the stuff will move back up. As if I needed the extra work. Ha ha! Proof that you can't control anything. I did realize that I have way too much stuff and am going to use this oppurtunity to , yes, redecorate and to sort and give away stuff that I don't need, use or love. Philip says I can take my time as long as I don't block the TV. Talk about priorities.
This morning, I was still shocked by the stuff everywhere and had to subdue my inner control freak. instead of trying to sort it out or fix it, I decided to have breakfast at the marble table that got pushed to the window. a little calm before a full day of work.