{beginnings - blogtoberfest day I}

 

Time

Acrylics, spray paint, inks, Pitt pens and collage on canvas

8 x 12 inch

Good afternoon festive peeps, and a big welcome to the official beginning of Blogtoberfest.  I am full of excitement for the month ahead.  If you haven't signed up yet pop down to the post below this one and add yourself to the list.

I've been thinking a lot over the past few days about the beginnings of Blogtoberfest.  Do you know that one of the initial reasons I started Blogtoberfest was to help kick start my Etsy shop?  2 years ago I was at the very beginning of setting out on my journey with my creative business.  Even the Etsy shop was so completely different back then.  I was selling 'Tinnies', vintage tins filled with fabrics and other crafty goodness.

I was even pretty new to blogging back then.  I remember being so amazed when around 80 people signed up for Blogtoberfest in the first year, and blown away when we hit 290 peeps last year.

I really had no idea then of what I know now.  That deep in my soul there was a birth taking place. That I was at the beginning of a journey that would carry me to the places I'd always dreamed of going.  That I was stepping into my place in the world.

That there was so much more happening than the opening of an Etsy shop.

There's a post that I go back to whenever I want to really connect with how far I've come.  It's kind of like a touchstone for me.

September 28th 2008:

"...I'm going to start listening to the secret desires of my heart and I'm going to let them become loud and visible, tangible and possible. How am I going to do it? Well first of all I'm going to give them voice.

I want to be an artist, and a writer.

Wow, it feels frightening to see that on the screen in front of me, to think about pushing the 'publish post' button. So many thoughts of being an impostor, of not being good enough, of not being allowed to wish for such flights of fancy. I can't help but worry that everyone is just going to laugh at me either overtly or behind my back.

Somewhere deep inside though is a tiny flame that won't be extinguished. It's been there for as long as I can remember. There's an energy and lightness to my being when I am being creative. When I dream of a life as a creative soul, and when I am being creative, I feel energised and at peace with my place in the universe."

Beginnings are awesome things.  I am so glad that I created this place to record my journey.  That I can look back and see the countless steps that I have taken along the way and see how far I have come.  That I can see the amazing changes that have taken place in the way that I view myself in the world, and ultimately in my very way of being in it. I'm so glad that I found a community who share my hopes and dreams, and who have gently but irrevocably become a part of my story.  And I am glad to have a special time each year to celebrate all of that.

To pay homage to my Blogtoberfest beginnings I thought it only fitting to kick off my Friday Giveaways with a very special prize.  The lucky winner will receive their very own Tinnie.  The vintage tin above will come to you full of fabric and buttons and other crafty bits and bobs.  All you need to do is leave a comment and you'll be in the running.  I'll draw the prize on Tuesday.

Happy Blogtoberfest everyone.  Thanks so much for joining me on this incredible ride.