The passage of time

I can't believe it's been months since my last post on here. I've been busy, busy, busy, I promise. Lots of orders for my knits shop (especially custom stuff for friends and family back home), lots of new products, new ideas, new patterns, and lots of neat stuff happening on my art shop on Etsy as well.

So much has happened, so many amazing things, I'll have to work backwards and completely not in chronological order, just to get them all out of my system.

Well, we've had a Halloween, a Thanksgiving, a new school year, a Christmas, a New Year, a few trips, some big news, new challenges, lots of yoga, lifestyle changes, bursts of creativity, some exciting times, some laughs and lots and lots of amazingly good food.

Where to start!?

I would say the best place to begin is by mentioning the lack of something I always have, in the past, had near me when writing or reading. Coffee!!!

Waking up in the morning was difficult, nigh impossible, without a great big cup of coffee in front of me. My body was on automatic...get up out of bed, sweater on, eyes still closed, shuffle through the flat to the kitchen, rinse out the kettle, fresh water in, two giant mugs out of the cupboard, onto the counter, heaping teaspoon (and sometimes more!) of coffee in the bottom, half a teaspoon of honey, and wait. Kettle boiled, hot water in, lotsa milk, quick stir, one to mr. and the other for me. down the hatch. Usually, the first one would barely touch the sides. I would make another!

Some days were easy, 2 or 3 cups. But other days, it was a steady diet of coffee, and then loads of water to negate the dehydrating effects of coffee on my system. (Don't think that's all I was ingesting...I love my food!) It all seemed pointless! I had read of people giving up coffee and the positive effects it had on their lives. But I've enjoyed countless cups of coffee since I was in my early teens. And University! Massive double shot Americano right before the cafeteria closed at midnight, so I could write my essays and research papers. Mental.

It was a social thing too. Going out for cups of coffee with friends and family; Mom grabbing me a cup of coffee on her way home from work when I was visiting my parents; it's such a North American thing to do! Now in England, I've slowly learned that most people go for a few pints, not a couple cups of coffee. It seemed a bit odd to me. When I generally thought of pubs, I would think of nights out - not necessarily just going for a drink to chat - going to have a huge party with a bunch of people. I think the coffee culture is slowly catching on here, but there seems to be only one place in town that's open into the evening (10ish) that does coffee and tea and fancy caffeinated drinks. That's one Starbucks (of several in the town) in a city of well over 150,000 people. Everywhere else we've tried to get into closes around 6 or 7! So social coffee drinking here seems to be less popular than it is where I grew up, and certainly less popular than Whistler and Vancouver on the west coast of Canada where I spent 5 years.

So drinking beer would replace drinking coffee? Not on your life. Now I drank beer the way British people drink coffee. One every now and again. On a night out, a couple drinks and I was finished. I like tasting and enjoying my drinks nowadays, not that I ever was a heavy drinker. But drinking beer when I'm trying to work, or work on my photographs, or knit? Nope. That would be a disaster and then I would have a serious problem on my hands.

So....coffee became a thing that I would do to fill the gap...the gap that's there when you have tasks to complete, but need something to accompany you - to comfort you as you go about your daily chores, work, etc. So working from home, with my work beneath me, and also working from home with my two online businesses, and a fancy little coffee machine downstairs with all the coffee I could drink - that spelled disaster!

Soon I discovered not only that I NEEDED coffee to open my eyes in the morning, and at various times throughout the day to keep going, but small headaches would appear if I didn't have coffee. My teeth were getting stained. I could never get enough water in my system to hydrate me. Wrinkles were appearing on my face. Um...hello! I needed out of this crazy addiction. Just because it's legal and everyone does it, doesn't necessarily mean it's good for you - on the physical or mental side of things. What was the difference between me needing 3 cups or more of coffee a day, and someone needing 3 pints of beer, or three rum and cokes, or 3 cigarettes!?

So I went home for Christmas. Not because of the coffee thing. I just went home for Christmas. It was fantastic. But I discovered that the coffee I was drinking there was making me feel funny. Weird. Like heart-beating-rapidly, sweating-and-feeling-woozy kinda weird. The kinda weird that would make you feel like you're having a panic attack. Awful.

So I got back to England. I had coffee for a couple days while I got over my jet lag, and then voila. That was it. I replaced the coffee with tea, and before I knew it my moods were evening out. My teeth were looking whiter. My skin (after an initial period of freaking out) is looking better too. And waking up in the mornings is easier. So much easier. The bags under my eyes aren't like buckets anymore.

Less than a month later and I've stopped having teas in the mornings too. The occasional tea or green tea, sure, but no dependence. More herbal teas throughout the day (I love these anyway), and the water I'm drinking is actually hydrating my body, rather than trying to make up the lost ground from all the dehydrating caffeine. It feels great. We go through way less honey and milk, and I feel so much more grounded. Not up and down like I did with coffee. It wasn't too hard either. There might have been a small physical dependence for the first couple days, but then that was it. It was harder to break the actual habit. The fact that I was used to having a cup of something in my hand in the mornings. But I don't need coffee anymore. I don't even enjoy the fuss and havoc that it creates in my body when I've decided to treat myself, either. I feel awful.

Want to enjoy your mornings more? I highly recommend going coffee free. But if you enjoy your cuppa Joe, that's cool too.

What a wonderful start to the year.

Free Shipping!*

I hope everyone is having a good week! 

Autumn seems to be in full swing now, and my favourite hoodies are back in rotation again. :)

"The Road Less Travelled" ipad case.

For a limited time, I'm offering those in the know, FREE SHIPPING* on most items in my shop on society6!

Click here to visit my shop and take advantage of free shipping!

Please note that you must use the link above to get the offer. Happy shopping!

*Promotion expires September 22, 2013 at Midnight Pacific Time. *Offer excludes Framed Art Prints, Stretched Canvases and Throw Pillows with insert.

It's autumn.

For some reason, when everyone is complaining about the cold weather creeping in, the days getting shorter, and having to dig out all their warmer clothes, I just have to sit back and smile.
I love this time of year, all the changes in seasons actually. I love the change in pace, and how a simple changes in the natural world has such a distinct effect on everyone.

I've been busy working on a new shop (my etsy shop is still going too), and it's a really exciting time for me.

My photography is now available not only as high quality prints, but also stretched canvases, iphone/ipod cases, framed prints, stationary cards, iphone/ipod skins, tshirts, ipad cases, laptop/ipad skins, tank tops, hoodies, indoor and outdoor throw pillows, and tote bags! Phew!

Each design is available on different products, depending on its compatibility with that product, so not everything is available in a tshirt, or a ipad case.

Check it out!

Feature: "Buzz-worthy Pictures"

Just found out one of my photos is in a really cool collection of "buzz-worthy photos of bees". Thanks to Beth from Photography Blogger for the post!

Check it out: here!

Get this sweet photo from my shop!

Sunny days

It's been so bright and wonderfully warm out lately. I just love this time of year!
Each day is longer that the one before, inspiring me to get out there with my camera and explore the shift into summer.
It's been so gorgeous, we've broken out the Pimms a few times (strawberries and all!) and sat out in the garden on Simon's handmade picnic tables. It just doesn't get much better than that!

Spring-ify Your Pad!

A new project

Over the last few months, a grand project has thrust itself upon us and we have risen to the challenge...so far.

I've been working hard on some photography for this new project, and today I put in one (of two) orders for prints. They should arrive in the next day or two, for a quick check, and then off to the local framer (who's work is superb) to get them ready for display.

Exciting days!

Checklist complete!

Shop: Vinyl Impression

I love discovering new (to me!) artists and craftspeople.

Yesterday I came across Vinyl Impression, a UK based wall sticker company founded and owned by Edward Currer. The idea came about as him and his partner "started renting and were faced with blank walls all around with little licence to make changes". He went in search of wall stickers, was unhappy with what he found already on the market and decided to create his own! And so, Vinyl Impression was born. Having rented for many years myself, I wish I had found out about these sooner!

Some of their products include awesome photo murals, maps you can pin-point your travels on, and wonderfully heart-warming, large text "house rules" - or even design your own quote to put on your walls. Designs for offices and workspaces, homes, bachelor pads and lots of cool kids stuff too. I just love their stuff! Go have a look...

Hard to choose, but I think this is my favourite. 

Check out Vinyl Impression here:

http://www.vinylimpression.co.uk/

Or check out their online shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Vinylimpression

Quotes and images on this post are courtesy of and owned by Vinyl Impression and Edward Currer.