Creative Spaces

My current workspace at home looks like this...

I find that in order to settle down and be remotely creative I have to have some sources of inspiration and joy around me. Luckily for me, the view outside my window is luscious and green; I look up from my work to see birds flying under the eaves and wild flowers growing in the hedgerow. 

However, I also need a certain prettiness within my space. Eye-candy in the form of cheerful photographs, pretty greetings cards, cut flowers and little boxes covered in decorative wrapping paper are essentials. I cannot bear the thought of a workspace looking cold and corporate. 

These treasure troves of inspirational tidbits over at A Storybook Life are truly beautiful and led me to think about some new ways to organise my creative space at home.

I love the idea of hanging photographs and pretty ribbons on a tree branch for decoration, ensuring that those memories brighten up the home, rather than staying stored away in boxes.

How about you? How do you like to organise your creative spaces at home? I would love for you to share your ideas with me and if anyone wishes to email a picture, I can post it up with a link to your blog or site. 

Brightest blessings and inspirational wishes for within your own little havens of creativity. 

Rune of the week

Odal - The Rune of Hearth and Home

This rune's name translates as 'home' or 'hereditary land' and so its meaning is focussed on the hearth, homestead, inheritance and familial possessions. Benefit through birthright or inheritance is the most obvious outcome this rune is suggesting if it falls like this one. It is worth remembering, however, that as well as fixed possessions one inherits characteristics from family and it may be a sign that a temperament or trait borne down through generations is due to surface.

With such focus on the family and inheritance, the rune also reminds the reader that these aspects of life for prior generations were the most valued. Loyalty to the ancestral line, the importance of the home and a united family's strength are all professed via this rune.

For the questions that the reader has, the rune could be suggesting that they should seek guidance from those they trust and re-evaluate their priorities by considering the importance of home and family. Before taking risks or making decisions, all these aspects must be taken into consideration and an objective must then be fixed firmly in mind.

If the rune has fallen in 'reverse' (upside down), it suggests a worthless inheritance or lack of forethought leading to costly consequences; if it falls 'converse' (face down) it suggests that an apparently worthless inheritance has hidden value or the honest and true path is being obscured.

Home

I'd been looking for it for years...

Finally found it, right here.

'A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.'

A love letter

Dearest B,

A small selection from the multitude of reasons why I love you...

Ahem.

One. You don’t think I’m insane for believing what I believe in. You understand what I mean when I say, ‘I’m a witch’.

Two. You nurture my creativity and inspire me to write. This blog would still be a zygote without your encouragement.

Three. You empathise with children.

Four. You take time out of your day to talk about my work with me.

Five. Your thoughtfulness and consideration: for me, for your family and friends and for the wonder of everyday things around you.

Thank you for my surprise treats today.  xx

Confusion and awe

Me:        I.JUST.DON’T.UNDERSTAND

Him:      Understand what?

Me:        How DO they make them smell so real?

Him:      What?

Me:        Yankee Candles.

Him:      Oh, well they will have specialists in perfumery who work out all  the elements that create the smell and simulate it.

Me:        But this smells like ACTUAL cut roses.

Him:      Right. Well that’s how they do it.

Me:        But it smells nothing like anything ‘rose’ I’ve ever smelt. It’s too                authentic. ACTUAL CUT ROSES.

Him:      It probably doesn’t have anything ‘rose’ in it. It’s a synthetic                      smell.

Me:        ACTUAL CUT ROSES!

(One of my work colleagues was today exclaiming the same surprise at this candle’s authenticity of aroma. As far as I’m concerned it must be voodoo trickery. And probably a whole host of flower-bearing sprites.) 

Going bananas!

I thought I would post a simple recipe for banana cake: the perfect way to use up overripe bananas that you wouldn’t otherwise eat. This quick and easy recipe makes a deliciously moist cake with next to no effort.

You will need the following ingredients:

2 very ripe bananas

4 oz butter or margarine

6 oz sugar (most sugars will do, I use unrefined caster sugar)

8 oz self-raising flour

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp honey

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180˚c (gas mark 4)

Grease a 2lb loaf tin.

Mash the banana in a bowl and keep to one side.

Cream together the butter and sugar.

Break the eggs and beat into the mix.

Add the vanilla essence, cinnamon, honey and mashed banana.

Fold in the flour gently.

Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

Enjoy with a cup of cinnamon tea or a mug of hot chocolate. Perfect for a Saturday afternoon!

Brightening my desktop today...

...are these glorious tulips. B surprised me with them a couple of days ago and they add a cheery spot of colour to my workspace.

What a treat to look up amidst the flurry of coursework marking to see these gems blooming. 

Smiles all round. Note to self: must take care not to be over-generous with grades!

Make do and mend

Recycling is so much more enjoyable when you get the second use out of something. I take my cans, bottles, plastic, paper and card down to the local recycling centre; I take old clothes to charity shops and pass books along to friends. However, knowing I have got as much use out of something as I possibly can, rather than discarding it because it is getting worn or tatty gives me real pleasure.

My parents and grandparents' generations embraced this ‘make do and mend’ attitude wholeheartedly, yet it is something that a lot of people today have little concept of. It seems to me that many are too eager to have the next model, the newest piece of technology, the latest design and simply throw away those which no longer fit with their forward-thinking aesthetic. As a country we waste so much and it is rapidly becoming a real bug-bear of mine.

This week’s small step towards wasting less was inspired by the growing collection of empty jars in my kitchen cupboards. These come in handy for mixing salad dressings in, storing pins and buttons or adding a sweet shabby-chic touch to the house, dotted about with tea-lights in. Taking this one step further, I thought I could make them into longer-lasting lanterns, by melting down some old candles and a little wax I had spare in my craft box.

I simply melted the wax into a liquid, using a glass measuring jug sitting in a heated water-bath on the hob. The wicks were taken out of the old candles carefully (you can buy full lengths of wick from any good craft shop if you prefer) and tied in place within the jar. The melted wax was then poured in and left to cool until set.

Et voila! Recycled candles in recycled jars. 

Simple pleasures

After a day spent spring cleaning, crafting and pottering around the house, this is what I would love to be doing.

Sadly my partner in crime and scrabble is away this evening and I don’t quite feel desperate enough (yet) to play against myself. 

B thinks that I love playing scrabble with him because I win every time. However, this is not quite the case. I enjoy our games so much because they symbolise a connection. Not only are we having fun creating memories together; we are also interacting, chatting and thinking.

Chaucer used the 'game of chess' as an allegory for love, but I think scrabble fits equally well. We anticipate each others' moves, think carefully about what the other person has written and respond accordingly - sometimes having to compromise. I'm not suggesting either of us is out to 'win' in our relationship but I like the fact that this particular game struggles to work without equal participation. If one of us does not put down good words, the other has difficulty playing as a result and the web of letters fails to grow.

Tonight, however, as I just have my radio for company and a glass of wine, it’s time to delve into a good book instead. These are simple pleasures that I feel moderately less guilty than normal revelling in – it is half-term after all. Bliss.