9 of My Favourite Things

I had amassed a fair collection of good stuff on my Feedly Feed towards the end of 2014 and have finally worked my way through it all and am planning to make Tuesday the day I share some of the goodness with you.

Traditionally a day for Treasuries, especially if you are an Etsy Buddy I thought I'd stretch the Creative Net a little wider and create my own little Cube of Creative Goodness.

My first set of stars are:

1. Aaron Draplin - Got to agree with Bobby Solomon @TheFoxisBlack, a great designer and a great video here too.
2. Aurora Borealis - this is a dream visit of mine,  and the pics on Bored Panda make me want to visit all the more.
3. The inspiration and tutorials on Graftgawker are amazing and well worth a look.
4. Nicole Jenkins at Circa Vintage is great for sharing the beauty and knowledge of all things vintage.
5. Brett at I am The Lab is always good for inspiration and highlighting great designers out there.
6. I used to love the Sunday night #CBUK twitter chats and still tune into Hilary's wisdom at Craft Blog UK.
7. Craft Gossip has so many facets - these Wraphia baskets are on my list of makes for 2015- perhaps go with my Gift Making resolution.
8. Ah Craftivism - I'm planning on doing a lot more of this in 2015.
9. Another from Bored Panda these comic illustrations by Lucas Levitan will bring a smile to that first work week of the year.

Hope you enjoy my first selection.

Namaste

Catherine

From 'Meh' to Me

You wake up in the morning, your energy levels are low, you're more 'Beyond Help' than 'Beyonce' and your get up and go is nowhere to be seen.  What do you do?

You're initial reaction may be to pull that duvet over your head and hide out. Whilst I fully believe in going with your gut, sometimes it's good to go a little deeper, beyond the surface.   Going back under the duvet doesn't have to mean surrender.  We don't have to make everything a monumental step.  It can be as simple as a step back and taking the opportunity to start again.

Remember that this is your body and this is your day, you can choose to focus on whatever version of 'what is' you like. I'm liking that it's a glorious Autumn morning and I get to choose what I do with the day.  Believe it or not there is always choice.

How are you choosing to face the day?

Namaste

Catherine

Where to Start???

A Recent Pin

There’s a whole lot of starting going on around here right now.  I’m going through the frustration of so many things being half done because everything is tied together.

That’s what happens when you decide to live holistically, you begin to see the connectedness of everything.  It can be pretty overwhelming at times but taking it one step at a time and breathing helps a lot.

How do you decide what to do first when there is so much to do, and it’s all part of the whole picture?

So much to do – that’s my September Issue.  What's yours?

Namaste

Catherine

The Art of The To Do List

Love them or loathe them we all come across a time when we need a ‘To Do’ List.  To be honest I’ve never really been a fan but as I build my Abundance Centre I find myself with more and more things to do and a need to put them somewhere.

There is a tremendous release in endorphins as we tick that done box and relax in the knowledge that something is done.

The big advantage I am currently finding with my to do list, (I have one Big To Do List, that I add to whenever a ‘To Do’ arises and review on a weekly basis), is that knowing I have added the To Do means I can let it go until it’s time to do something with it.

A great lesson I’ve also learnt is that just because it’s on the list doesn’t mean it has to be done.  I’m finding that there is an additional endorphin release in ‘letting go’.  Could letting go be the new done?

A fun to do list from Pinterest for Friday.

Some Fun From Pinterest

Namaste

Catherine x

Look What I Made – A Commitment to Craft

If you read my post on Wednesday you would have seen me make my commitment to completing 3 books by September .

This is part of an all encompassing plan for my Freestyle Life. The resources available via the World Wide Web (apparently the typing of  www dot is no longer necessary) are pretty amazing.  I’ve realised that you don’t have to spend a fortune setting up a web site, nor do you need to be an expert in the craft in order to produce a good looking site and have it do some snazzy extras.  Just some extra reading , or watching a You Tube video.  I recommend this one by Tyler Moore I used a different Responsive Theme but all in all it made the whole journey a lot less daunting.

I have, until now, resisted the urge to create a “list” (an email list for marketing/promotional  purposes) mainly due to the niggly feeling of the whole “hard sell” vibe to them.   Which I think goes along with my muddled feelings about money.  Perhaps it also goes with my afore felt self doubt. Not imagining that a “list” of people would be interested in my creative journey.  Who am I to expect people to want hear what I have to say?  Slowly, I have come to know the truth of Marianne Williamson’s often mentioned quote “....As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  Always worth Tweeting.

 Whilst I have admired many lifestyle coaches over the years I have found myself turning away from them as they seem to enjoy more commercial success.  I’ve seen it as a kind of selling out.  Lissa Rankin highlighted a talk on facebook this week by Sera Beak which in a way went along with my feelings on the subject.  However as I have moved along my own creative and sharing path I have found a new point of focus.  In order to maintain this creative and enriching life it is necessary to create an income.  Surely the ideal way to create this income would encompass the sharing of this creative knowledge.  Back to Marianne “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” In order to shine times are a changing and it may be necessary to go ‘a little’ commercial.

And so I am creating a list in order to share the light and share my journey along this creative path, the first stage being the 3 books.  You can add your name to my list, firstly I’m planning on sending out a more detailed update of the writing process that will only be available here.

For Me Made May ’14 this week I wore a piece of my Ribbon Jewellery each day.  It’s bringing up lots of ideas for new pieces and helping me find what works and does not, in a way this is bringing in the market research I never really done first time round. 

May 5-10 Me-Made-May'14

Looking at what others have been doing (great Pinterest pics here) I am feeling the urge to make an outfit before the end of May.    Off to check blogisphere for other creative magic making this week over at Handmade Harbour and Jamie Ridler’s Studio.

Namaste

Catherine

Imperfect Perfectification

When I say ‘look what I made’ this week, my ‘mades’ have been around for a while.  In keeping with my pledge to wear a fashion garment or accessory made or transformed  by me throughout May.  This week I chose to wear some of my ribbon jewellery; Thursday I wore a cream necklace and bracelet; Friday I wore one of my favourite creations a black and brown chunky link necklace; yesterday I wore my multi-coloured link bracelet and Sunday I had a lazy day and stayed with my jammies so no garments or accessories for Sunday.  I’m looking forward to cracking out some different pieces this week.

My first few days of Me Made May '14

In uncovering these pieces I was conscious of having had them in my Etsy Shop for quite some time – and without an Etsy sale.  I closed my Etsy shop toward the end of last year.  There were a number of reasons for this, not least of all the lack of sales.  The reason for my lack of sales?  I’m not really sure. This MeMadeMay journey has already brought some answers and given me some modifications I can make both in products and marketing as I move forward.

What I do know to be true is that everything happens for a reason.  And as my print says – mine is not to question this truth but to believe and grow.

 I have surrendered to this truth and got on with the growing, and look forward to revealing just how much here on Wednesday as I introduce my new, using what I’ve got and adding texture, venture.

Until then I’ll be checking out all you creative folks participating in Me Made May and checking in at Handmade Harbour and JamieRidler’s Studio to see what Craft Therapy you have all been indulging in.

Namaste

Catherine

Chilling out for Christmas

For those who have stuck with me through this year, Thank You.  As you may know 2013 has been a challenge in so many ways. So, I've decided to to take December out - focusing on my own Handmade Christmas and prepping for 2014 and beyond.

For my prep I'm delighted to be able to put my prize from Molly Mahar (for my Pinterest Quote)  to good use and will be taking part in the Holiday Council.  I  am so looking forward to spending December with a community of creative women - definitely just what I need.

So, I'm off to get my Christmas Card design for this year done - so far it looks a bit like this...

The background is a canvas I had in our old kitchen I'm planning on painting it a cloudy midnight blue.  I just have to add some words to my embroidery work.  Having spent the afternoon chilling out watching Craft Wars I'm feeling inspired and getting ready to dust up some of that Christmas Sparkle.

Namaste and Happy Holidays

Catherine

xxxxx

Start Over as many times as you need...

Found via Bits of Truth

I regularly find inspirational quotes at Bits of Truth as I check out My Feedly - you'll find a lot of them on my Pinterest Board.

From someone who has started over more times than I care to remember - I wish you all the courage to find your path.

Namaste

Catherine

xxx

Happiness Is

What We Need..

I recently watched a great TED Talk with 13 year old Logan LaPlante, and he seems to already have it sussed.  Not only has he hacked the school system and is getting himself a truly wonderful education but he already knows what he wants to be when he grows up.  And he's already there - because he not only wants to be happy, he wants to be as happy as he is now.

I remember sitting in a Paisley Pub whilst I was a student and being asked what I wanted to be - and my answer then was "happy".  It didn't strike me that I wasn't happy already.  But I do believe that I believed I was working toward "happy".  Get my degree, get a good job, meet a decent bloke and live a happy life.  Sounds like a plan.

I now believe that happiness is not a destination - I'm sure there's a quote about that.

From my Inspirational Quotes Pinterest Board

From my Inspirational Quotes Pinterest Board

If this is all seems a bit too altruistic then I must admit that it's not always the 'good stuff' that makes me happy.  I get a lot of happy when karma shows up sometimes...

From my Inspirational Quotes Pinterest Board

Wishing you lots of Happy 

Now

Namaste

Catherine

xxx

Time For More BS

So, that was the week that was;

Checked in at Handmade Harbour on Monday and contemplated the concept of Christmas in July - the hottest July Ever.

I'm loving the Creative Mornings vibe and would so love to be involved in something like it at a local level - a theme that's kind of stuck, more later.

Wednesday I posted a piece about choices and my choosing not to be a Domestic Goddess.  My gut told me not to post the piece.  But I failed to listen and, at a time when the traffic to my blog is building up, this piece had the lowest hits ever.  Lesson learnt: Trust The Gut.  I had already said I'd only write 2 long pieces per week - that way I can focus on quality - and I can easily fill the other 4 days with Feedly and Pinterest finds, like the posts for Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week.

And, as always, Sunday is for the BS, round off one week and set up the next.

Branding was the key task for this week and I think I now have that sussed, I just have lots to do to put it all together, so watch out for the changes ringing through this week.  You may have noticed already that I've changed the name here.  Keeping it simple really, using the label I was born with Catherine McAtier.

Almost got the label sussed - just need to add the Paisley Touch

Whilst on the surface I'll be re branding everything in the background I'll be working on my first mini project.  I'm taking the advice of Marianne Cantwell being Free Range and jumping right in, giving myself 6 weeks to get the project off the ground.  I could say more but I'm still ironing out the creases.

Suffice it to say I'm still reading Lissa Rankin's Mind Over Medicine, and I'm thinking if my mind can help heal my body can it help heal my town too?  I wanted nothing more, when I finished college, than to move out of Paisley.  I so wanted to move to London - the grass is always greener etc.  I'm finally coming to love the beauty, history and possibilities held by Paisley.  There are a lot of positive Paisley vibes out there, it takes a little digging to find them.  But I've started digging and my first project will involve a lot more.  I believe it's time to be grateful for the history, be hopeful for the future and live and enjoy the now.

Namaste from a True Paisley Buddy

Casting wonderful wishes for the week ahead...

Catherine

xxx

What's on the Desk?

Usual BS

Sunday is a pretty good day for checking in.  I haven't decided whether it's the end of my week, or the beginning - maybe both.  I tend to use my Sunday Post to sum up the week gone by and to lay out my plans for the week ahead.

Definitely getting the attitude together

I have come to realise over the past couple of weeks that writing a 'good' post can take some time, and it can provide ideas for add ons and new posts.  As such, to gain and maintain the quality I want to have here I cannot write a post a day.  Well I could but then I wouldn't be able to do anything else.  And I want to do so much more too.  So I will write one or two full posts each week and stick with short and sweet more visual pieces on the other days.  Sounds like a plan.  And as Alex Franzen suggested as a meditation mantra 'I gave myself these tasks and I can un-give them too.'.  Here, I mean un-giving me the task of writing an indepth  piece every day - consider that one let go.

So this past week I created a piece for the Pinterest Contest at Stratejoy and in case you missed it already, I didn't come first but I did get an 'awesomeable mention' and won a free entry to the Holiday Council.  I am really looking forward to this and connecting with some like minded and awesome folks.

just in case you didn't see it already - the piece

So I'm feeling like I'm in a pretty good place right now.  There is a lot of stuff in my notebooks and on my desk - but it's all good.

Aiming at bringing some life and colour to these ideas

And I've already decided that this week will be all about Branding. I was going to tackle this over the weekend but got myself to get real.  I've got loads of stuff in my Marketing section on Evernote.  So I have lots to check out and have to check myself on limiting my research time and concentrating on getting things done.

Writing it down helps make it real

I'm feeling good about this week and about all the ideas that are coming to life, slowly and surely.

Have a great week

Namaste

Catherine

xxx

Surfing Under the Surface - Saturday Sunshine

Surfing Under the Surface

Just the thought of this post title has me plunging into a light blue ocean, completely cool, with the sun glistening on top.  The reality is that I'm not really talking about that kind of surfing.

Surfing in the Sunshine

I got a beautiful comment on my latest post yesterday. Yay me, and yay Ann for writing it.  It made me take a little time out.  Clicking on Ann's google+ feed made me realise that I follow Ann's blog because of her style and the beautiful pics she shares but I really don't know much about her.  Now that doesn't mean she hasn't shared who she is or what she does , it's my bad...  I haven't really taken the time to read deeply.  Until now I have been more of a surface skimmer, looking at the lovely pics and picking up on the highlighted words.  It's a habit I have developed over many years but one I am now working on breaking.  How can I create more connection in my life if I don't fully engage?  Are you as engaged as you want to be?

One of my Forgotten Pins

This was repinned this week - how many forgotten pins do you have? - Perhaps that's a whole other post.

Have a great Saturday

Namaste

Catherine

xxx

I'm Not Done - and that's a beautiful thing...

Getting Some Zen - my next needlework project

I’ve been thinking about a can of worms I opened last week.  It is true that we get more of what we focus on.  And for quite some time now I have focused on depression and stress and the innate lack of understanding of the effect of these illnesses on our overall well being. I have rallied to have them recognised as disabilities.  In so doing can it be that I have lost sight of the big picture?   Can it be that I have done nothing but feed the beast?

I’ve been reading Lissa Rankin’s Mind Over Medicine and having my belief reinforced that ‘what and how we think has a powerful effect on our physical well being’, positive or negative.  Then, today I happened upon Lisa Esile and her ‘7 Secrets Your Mind Does Not Want You toKnow.’  And it struck me that I’ve really been giving my mind too much space.  And working my way through ‘Mind Over Medicine’ I have come to see the big picture and finally found the ‘a-ha’.  It’s about everything working together – taking the whole person into account.

There is no compartmentalising, life is a whole package thing.  And we have to look after the whole package.  That’s why it’s so important we look after our mind, body and spirit.  Each relies on the other and if one is out of sync they all are.  And that is why I need to step up and live my life fully.

In living my life fully I am leading by example.  What I have been doing up to now has served its purpose but now I know better and serendipity sent me this on my Pinterest front page.

Because it's meant to be

Hope you all have a complete week.

Namaste

Catherine

xxx

Making - Never Done

A Thing of Beauty

I really enjoyed putting this piece together.  

One of the things I love about it is that it's not meant to be finished. And it led me to thinking about how we are never done - there is always space for change, for improvement for rethinking, yet there is a beauty in the unfinished.  I've already got so many ideas for other similar unfinished/finished pieces.

I particularly love the hanging thread and the possibility of more and the beauty of enough.

My new branding is still a work in progress - and it is progressing.  Texture, things being unfinished, words... all will be revealed very shortly.

In the meantime I'm off to check out what everyone's been up to over at Handmade Monday and to post this piece on Pinterest. 

The words are by Molly Mahar and this piece was originally made for entry into her Pinterest Competition at Stratejoy.

Hope everyone has a creative and fulfilling week.

Namaste

Catherine

xxx

Monday is for Making

and Using What We Have

Last week I showed you the beginnings of some luxurious ribbon jewellery. Today I bring you the one piece that is now ready to wear.

Is it just me or is it a 'creative' trait ? - I love the idea and the working out how to transform that idea into reality.  However, half way through the creative process I can already see the end result and seem to have difficulty in distinguishing the fact that seeing the end result is not the same as having the end result in your hands.  Note to self, new rule on the Rules for Creatives with no Rules - #1 "if you start it and blog about it then you MUST  finish it."  i am such a critic of those who do not follow through or maintain momentum - which just goes to show that the flaws we see in others truly are those that lie within.

Something else I said I would do a few months ago was create my own desktop calendar pieces.  In order to bring some accountability to that one I even volunteered my services over at Going Home to Roost.  Whilst as we go to print I haven't completed the final piece for August as it will involve some threaded texture - for July I'm using some Pic Monkey trickery and invite you to download and use July and fill it in for all it's worth - you could even take it over to Pic Monkey and add in your plans for the month.  After all once they're written down they're more likely to come to life.

August will be inspired by the Zen canvas I have at home, colours will vary but the essence will remain the same.

Another thing I'm committing to over the next week is designing a canvas to enter the Pinterest competition on Stratejoy.  I'm aiming to have this ready for Thursday's Thoughtful  Thread.

So, as far as making is concerned I'm committing to a pretty busy time. Between that and compiling pieces for my daily blog posts and getting my Etsy Shop up and running I am looking forward to a creatively busy week.

Pop on over to Handmade Harbour to see what some other Creative Lovelies have been up to - and be inspired.   I've already been inspired over at Highland Monkey, especially loving the recycling element.

What are you committing to this week?

Namaste

Catherine

xxx 

Saturday - some silent sunshine and smiles...

Namaste

(You can follow the pinterest links back to the original source - or just enjoy the moment of sharing this smile)

Thursday's Thoughtful Thread

Catherine@WhenatTheMacsX

In keeping with the redesign – and my one day at a time deal – I’ve decided to make Thursday the day of the Thoughtful Thread.  Mainly because I want to combine my love of words and creativity and create some inspirational canvases.

Today’s piece, inspired by my chosen word for the year, is a bit of a cheat as I’ve pc’d it together – for next week I will create a needlework piece.  In fact I might well pop over to Molly Mahar’ssite and kill two birds with one stone, create my entry for her PinterestContest.  Combining my love or words, needlework and Pinterest – how much more inspirational can it get.

Time to get busy...

Catherine

xxx

Usual Sunday BS – Checking In / Moving On - What week?

That was the week that was _over a week ago_

Monday 10th I'm creating a procrastination list, I really enjoyed this take on procrastination when I was reading Free Range Humans and would have added this to last week's post but....

Find this and more on the Free Range Human Site

The week’s discoveries/rediscoveries:

Springforest Healing Fest - I started this journey but once again let life take over, I really need to work on that.  The key  things I took from this were that western medicine is a passive healing, it's not preventive and looks only at the symptoms and not the cause of the illness - treating the whole person is the way of quigong.
energy is effected by - emotion - nutrition - changes in weather/season - environment - wrong medication - injury
To experience this healing energy go into the emptiness
keep everything simple
use your consciousness
elements - breathing, postures of body, mind and sound
faith, confidence, call upon the master's energy, visualisation, focus, consistence
love, forgiveness and kindness
Life is for happiness
When it is time - it is time
xoxo
Pinterest I pin to share as much as to remind myself of the idea.  Am I the only one who finds myself going to repin something of mine that someone has repinned - because I like it, still.

xoxo

I'm loving the Intention Video from Apple:

xoxo

Loving these definitions/descriptions:

A great description of meditation:

Meditation, the way he described it, was a way to stop running. You sat still, and watched your thoughts and emotions and desires and aversions come and go, and you resisted the urge to try to flee from them, to fix them, or to cling to them. You practised non-attachment, in other words. Whatever came up, negative or positive, you stayed present and observed it. It wasn’t about escaping into ecstasy – or even into calmness, as the word is normally understood; and it certainly wasn’t about positive thinking. It was about the significantly greater challenge of declining to do any of that.

The importance of routine:

[T]he daily rituals and working routines of prolific authors and artists – people who really do get a lot done – very rarely include techniques for ‘getting motivated’ or ‘feeling inspired’. Quite the opposite: they tend to emphasise the mechanics of the working process, focusing not on generating the right mood, but on accomplishing certain physical actions, regardless of mood. Anthony Trollope wrote for three hours each morning before leaving to go to his job as an executive at the post office; if he finished a novel within a three-hour period, he simply moved on to the next. (He wrote forty-seven novels over the course of his life.) The routines of almost all famous writers, from Charles Darwin to John Grisham, similarly emphasise specific starting times, or number of hours worked, or words written. Such rituals provide a structure to work in, whether or not the feeling of motivation or inspiration happens to be present. They let people work alongside negative or positive emotions, instead of getting distracted by the effort of cultivating only positive ones. ‘Inspiration is for amateurs,’ the artist Chuck Close once memorably observed. ‘The rest of us just show up and get to work.’

Via Austin Kleon

And Danielle La Porte has some pretty profound stuff to say The real you emerges.Because it’s already there — beneath beliefs, and untruths, and fatigue, and wonderful experiments.  DLP

xoxo
 I was especially taken with Seth's making a point:

Seth Godin - 'making a point' via Miss Swiss
"ideas that are free spread faster and ideas that spread win"
xoxo Is it sad that I really want to send myself a Burberry Kiss - 

xoxo

I found the magic of space held by the Yoga Mat via Jamie Ridler I just need to find my Yoga Mat now!

xoxo

I realise this is all a bit 'bitty', it's a reflection of life around here recently.

Still, over the next week I intend to get organised, get things in order, finish stuff I've said I'll finish and move on.

Here’s to another week
And to using up lots of stuff

Catherine xxx