Pen and peplum and me

Did I mention that the delightful Miranti over at Pen & Peplum interviewed me about work, life and workspaces? Take a peek here...

Treat yourself like you would treat a friend

This week I had one of those days. We've all had them - a day you're pulled in a thousand directions but never quite reach any of them. A day when you feel misunderstood. A day where you feel leaned upon a little too heavily, like every request is just one too many.

A point of bucket overflow. You've nothing more to give.

I realise it's my tendency to drive at full throttle, pacing through life at a rate of knots as the 'can do' person. It's a lifelong habit I'm working to undo, but in the meantime...

Sometimes it all becomes a bit too much.

And what do I do? I beat myself up for not being able to do it all. I treat the very being and body that's pushed on silently without complaining like I don't matter. I tell myself I'll tend to my needs later, they're not important. As long as everyone else's are looked after I'm ok.

But I'm not.

And this past Monday I realised that I wasn't. But rather than talking down myself and soldiering on, ignoring my internal whimpering, I did what I've set out to do this year.

I treated myself like a friend. Not a slave worker, but as someone who needed to be respected and nurtured. Believe me, this is a big shift.

I asked myself, what would I do for P if he rang me all messed up and worn down? Would I tell him to pull himself together and get back to work, and make sure he kept slogging til the wee hours of the morning because hey, sleep is for wimps. Would I tell him his health doesn't matter and dining on something fast and furiously unnourishing is exactly what he should do. Would I tell him his own personal desires come second to those of others, that his dreams are just that: dreams?

If I did I'd be dropped as a friend like a flash of lightening.

So I decided I'd treat myself the way I would treat any my friends. I ran myself a bath, drank tea, watched something on TV that made me laugh until I cried. I chatted long-distance on Skype and smiled stupidly at pictures of Tuna the wonder dog. I went to bed early.

By the time Tuesday morning dawned I was a new woman, and a night of nurturing had given me something more than the time out I so desperately needed: it gave me perspective. So my work wasn't completed; in time it would get done. Or not. There's always more work. But reality is if I'm not at my best, I can't do my best.

So dear people, take my lesson to heart. Please be as kind to yourself as you would be to your nearest and dearest. Treat yourself like you are your own best friend. It will make such a difference not only to you, but those people around you who can only but benefit from your renewed zest.

// KINDling list: It's a great idea to create a list of the things that perk you up when you're batteries are getting a bit low. Download and write your top 5 kindlings onto this card, cut it out and put it in your purse for when you might need a gentle reminder.

Build blocks to make time

Do you have a project or venture in your head that you've been trying to find time to get off the ground?

Does it seem so enormous that you're blinded as to where to start, and you find you're doing anything to avoid spending time working on it?

Do you fear that in devoting time to this project other important things in your life will have to give?

Dear readers, if this sounds like you I know exactly how you're feeling. You've got some kind of vision, you just can't seem to get further than that. You feel overcome by all that's involved.

I've had a project that's been sitting on the slowest simmer for months now. I find all the excuses in the world not to tackle it - 'it won't be perfect, people won't like it, I don't have time' and so on. In addition to making time to nurture this venture, I'm finding it hard to break it down into nice little chunks. Ironically, helping people break down complex problems is one of the things I do for a living. But hey, teaching others how to 'make things better' seems far easier than putting it into practice ourselves.

This week I met with my mentor and fully spilled the beans on my idea. She listened intently, and then said something that had been once said to her:

You have a huge gift that will be of service to the world. Stop making it about you. Get on with it.

There it was. The truth. I'm preventing myself making a difference to other peoples lives by holding myself back with my own insecurities. We all have something to give, yet it's only us that stops us from giving.

So I decided there and then I had to get over myself and make a start. This project isn't going to manifest by itself. This week I have committed to spending 10 hours working on moving my project forward.

Ten hours I hear you say? Woah, that's alot. On top of a full-time job and all the other things that need to get done. I thought so too, until I broke it down.

What I did was divide the ten hours into manageable time chunks and visually map them out - small squares for 10 minutes, large squares for 60 minutes. After sticking this chart in my working journal all I had to do is cross off the chunks of time as I'd done them. I'm writing against the squares what I achieved towards my project in that time block.

And you know what? It's working. I'm actually making tracks. When I'm feeling fearful and blocked I take a ten minute chunk and do something small. When I'm inspired I will work for the sixty minutes then take a break.

What about those breaks? I hear you whisper. I still need time out from this plan of mine. The great thing is this technique works for planning breaks too, actually it's good for anything where you would like to dedicate time. I've created a note in my book a chart of nice things I want to do for myself as breaks over the weekend. This way when I'm looking for some downtime, I just choose something from my chart. It could also work for jobs around the house, dinner party plans, really the applications are endless.

What strategies do you have for dedicating time to things you're finding difficulty moving on? If you're feeling stuck and decide give this method a go, I'd love to hear how you get on.

New year wishes

Well folks, we are almost at the end of January and I'm wondering if you've all been busy devising new year resolutions. Or maybe you've finished them and are well on you way to that desired flat stomach?

I myself am not. Usually by this time in January I'm full of great new intentions and have probably managed to not break all of them yet. But this year I feel different. The idea of resolutions feels like too much pressure and I just can't seem to get any down.

I had dinner with a couple of friends on the weekend and brought up my quandary. After discussing it a while very wise friend number one said "the problem is that you think resolutions are boring. It's the way you're expressing them - you're not engaging with them". He was so right. My resolutions felt like work, not fun. I mean, "have X done by X date". Who's busting to get their teeth sunk into that?

But there is also a deeper problem which stems from a phobia of commitment. I feel if I put something down I need to commit it. Rather than put pen to paper and risk being stuck with a dud resolution, I delay doing them at all. Enter friend number two. "Why don't you instead call them New Year Wishes, and just make them dreams you have for the coming year?"

I loved it, and putting the two ideas together I came up with my new year wish board. First I brainstormed on micro sticky notes my wishes making them loose and whimsical, like 'Refriend my abs". Suddenly, I was having fun with it. Next, I made a chart and arranged all my wishes, sticking it above my desk to admire and reinforce while I'm working.

I feel so much happier more engaged with my 'resolutions' than I had if they'd been the straight forward list I've made in previous years. I suppose it's an expression in what I'm wanting in my life right now: a bit of cheekiness, fun, a whole lot of colour, and to experiment loosely with my dreams.

It turned out to be such a lovely exercise I wanted to share it with you all. You can create your own wish board by downloading the 2013 wish board template, printing it out and decorating it with your hearts desire. I'd love to see your results :-)

I must not make a boring list

I love a good list. Who doesn't? I make them on Mondays for the week, on Friday afternoons planning for the weekend, packing checklists for holidays, weekly groceries, bucket lists for home renovations... the, ahem, list is endless.

Problem: my lists are boring. My materials seemed to end up being the backs of envelopes, standard issue striped notebooks and, dare I whisper, a biro. I really hate biros, especially the blue ones. I was well overdue for a list makeover.

For work I have a good system keep track of tasks. To-do go on post-its that get stacked on my desk and later entered into the Omnifocus, or directly into the app if my iPad or computer is handy. The only adjustment needed here was to brighten up my sticky collection and donate the biros to new owner. For portable notes I'm a Moleskine girl which works just fine.

But home is where the heart is and it's lists here that really needed an overhaul. Life's too short for backs of envelopes to rule my life. No more - I threw them in the recycling bin and bought myself a sweet little notepad from Kikki K. Each page being a different design makes for list-making love.

But this week I realised when it comes to creative list making I'm an absolute amateur, if not a fraud. I happened upon an article by Chronicle Books about the diary of Suzy Ultman, illustrator extraordinaire. I already had a girl-crush on her as a designer, but seeing her list-making journal takes it to a whole new level.

Her lists remind me of those I used to make as a child. Where did all that creative juice go to? Well dear friends, here's some wonderful inspiration. I'm determined to channel this lovely series on my current journey to revive my artistic mojo.

Here you go! Enjoy Suzy's playfulness.

Images: Chronicle Books by Suzy Ultman

Back to work stationery spree

When I was young going to school was not on my list of favourite things to do. It's not that I was bullied or found the lessons too challenging, but rather I got disenchanted being stuck with same routine day in day out for a whole year when really, all I wanted was the freedom to do as I please. Yeah! The last day of school for me was the best day of the year; I would rush home excitedly, kick off my shoes and make a big list of all the things I wanted to do in the holidays. Projects with friends, ones of my own. I still remember vividly sitting barefoot on my bed making those lists. You'd never catch me moaning about bored in those beautiful long breaks.

But as the last week of holidays approached I'd become melancholy and irritable, the old 'Sunday night blues' at the ripe age of twelve. My mother, however, was a very clever woman - she knew how to get me motivated about the return to the classroom. Each year, in that week before first term, we'd go on the hunt for a whole pack of new stationery - rulers, pens, a pencil case, textas and best of all, fresh pencils. Just the anticipation of breaking the seal on the newness of it all was motivation enough to get me on the school bus.

Here I am, a grown woman, still with a love of stationery and the freedom of holidays. So last week when my own two-week christmas break was drawing to a rapid close and I felt the melancholy kicking in, I came up with a plan to beat it - a 'back to work' stationery spree.

Now, I will confess that I have more blank Moleskine books than a hipster does fixies, so technically I don't need more stationery. But this is about a therapeutic fix, something to get me excited about getting back into work mode.

Here's what I ended up buying:

1 //  Pack of seven Moleskine notebooks - on sale and came with the free fluorescent orange pencil. Bargain!
2 //  Ultra cute Scandinavia Labels and Stickers Dictionary from 7321 Design.
3 //  Four rolls of bright washi tape, my latest obsession, from Cutetape.
4 //  Muji gel pens - gifted from my gorgeous friend and fellow stationery swoon, Janna.

Great loot, don't you think? For some great ideas on how to decorate those brown paper books with washi tape check out Miranti's cool washi projects over at Pen & Peplum.

And then there's item number five. Could you leave this cute as a button O-Check deer in the store? I mean, look at those eyes! He just had to come home and get comfortable in my new home-studio space.

So what about you? What do you do to get through the back to work blues? 

Creative space

“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

For a long time I've dreamed of having a room dedicated to just being creative. I usually have a couple of projects on the go, and wherever I have lived I've tended to spread them out all over my dining table only to have to pack them up to use the table to eat or entertain.


Everyone needs a little pocket of the world that inspires them. It might be a room, it might be a table at a favourite cafe or spot in a local park. You don't need to physically own it - you just need to love being there and for it to provide you with the space to play and to dream. I'm a big fan of working in cafes, soaking up the buzz of whats going on around me. But I also wanted a dedicated space for my dreams to transpire into mess, a mess I didnt have to clear up until I was good and ready. On Friday I got just that. My 'dump room' was turned into a little studio, and I absolutely love it.

This is what the room used to look like. An old bookcase and random paraphernalia - just a place to throw things that didn't have a home. It's not really a space that inspires one to be at their creative best, now is it.

The room itself isn't very wide and houses sofa bed that is used for guests. So my studio solution had to allow for it folded out with room to move. I wanted a narrow but long desk so I could spread out my work, but also lots of shelving for all my art/design/psychology books and space for inspiring installations of my favourite things.


Here's the result. Ooh, it's just itching to be filled with precious objects don't you think? And a canvas ripe for inspirational bits and pieces on that wall. Added to the love - the whole thing was surprisingly budget friendly. I had a local timber company cut panels to size for the desk and the shelves, and bought adjustable shelving from a hardware store. A handyman came and installed the lot in just two hours. I also added an IKEA kitchen wall cabinet under the desk to store my art materials and have the filing cabinet on wheels as an extra rollaway workspace.

For now I've just plonked everything in but I'm looking forward to seeing how this space transforms in the coming months. For starters I'm going to invest in a new desk light, paint the magazine holders and make a new cushion cover for the chair. Have you got any good ideas? But really all that can take its time - I'm already loving sitting here just as it is.

Do you have a creative space of your own?