Spring means a fresh start

September = officially the start of Spring here in NZ. Although I don't get excited about expecting to be into warmer clothes until after the Equinox on 23rd September, I remain hopeful - as I began to write this I was in bare feet and we had lots of sunshine and 18 degrees during that week ♥ (not so warm this week I might add!)
Spring's a time to take stock, spring clean the house, sort out the garden... It's also a time filled with the promise of light and warmth and longer blissful days. We've still got a whole 4 months of the year left - what are you going to do with it? 
In amongst all the looking forward, I want to BE PRESENT to what is in front of me. There's work to do, and it's a great time to think about whether there's anything that needs changing....Last weekend I left my family at home and went to Otaki beach with a lovely creative friend.

We walked on the beach, ate well, shared stories, and took our sewing machines. I took my hydrangea quilt project, and started stitching another leaf....it was tedious! And I realised with sudden clarity that although I enjoyed the day that we had stitching as a group in the holidays, I'm not prepared to spend the hours that are still required on a project that I'm not absolutely in love with. Yes it's a beautiful quilt, but it will always be recognisable as someone else's design, and I have so many other projects I want to be doing that while I learned some great techniques, I'm not going to finish it. I put my leaf away, and went back to stitching on paper again. Immediately I was in my happy place ♥ 

Don't do something just because you feel like others expect you to, or because you started something and feel like you "should". Life's too short to be caught up doing things that don't make your heart sing...I thought I should have a look again at my year-long projects.  I want to complete my Daily Journaling project because my journal looks like this ♥

and I'm mostly enjoying the prompts. I've also realised {duh!} that I don't need to be constrained by the way I started this project and I've moved to this being a weekly spread often without documentation. I'm not sure I'll continue with a weekly challenge like this next year, but I'm happy to continue for the last third of the year.

I LOVE Book of Days with Effy Wild - we have just started Session 3 after a month-long hiatus. The break was welcome for me in a month that turned out to be overwhelmingly busy, but I am looking forward to getting back to the energy of the awesome FB group, the weekly Bed Head diaries (Effy's video musings), more learning from full-length mixed media art lessons (videos & detailed PDF every 2 weeks), as well as continuing written responses to the daily prompts offered. I think BOD is something that will remain into 2018 - it's very special. BOD is on sale right now - read about that HERE.

Inner Work journal - I write in this regularly and stick useful bits in too : responses to Effy's prompts (above); exploring Tarot as a mirror to what's happening with my own self-development; capturing wise words from others; responding to One Little Word prompts; printing out messages I want to keep from FB...I feel like this is a long-term habit now.

LOVE this Oracle card - perfect for Spring ♥ (click on the photo so you can read it)
One Little Word online class with Ali Edwards. The monthly prompts encourage you to think about your word and stay connected through the year. This month we are looking at our word in relation to the three words of Rest, Pace and Joy = paying attention

It's the perfect mix of things for me to consider right now - I'll share when I've given it some more thought.
If you're looking for some new things to spark your creativity in September there's a FREE 29 Faces Art Challenge (daily prompts) that's happening HERE, Flora Bowley's got a FREE Creative Revolution Playful Prompts Challenge HERE, and Effy's doing a Blog Along for September - posting every day. Workshop 3 of the FREE Strathmore workshops for 2017 has opened as well - so all are available HERE until the end of the year. See my entire list of cheap and free online art classes HERE - always available top right of my blog.
And if you want to check your direction, I've been enjoying some of the prompts from Susannah Conway's mid-year check-in

I was too busy to unravel at mid-year, and at this change of season there's still time to think about where you want to direct your energy for the rest of the year....
I hope that something I've said here has struck a chord with you and helped to clarify what you want to do with your precious creative time. Don't do something because you should - do something because you love it. Talk to you again soon.