{marathons, sprints & a wee bit of housekeeping - blogtoberfest day III}

 

The Cows Came Home

How are you settling in to your Blogtoberfest journey?

After feeling like I got off to a great start with my post on day 1, I left myself a little short on day 2.  It got me thinking about marathons.  Blogtoberfest is quite the marathon.  Even though I post most days every year it's still a challenge to blog daily in October.  Which is good.  I like a challenge.

Here's my guide to pacing your way through Blogtoberfest:

1. Enjoy yourself.  It's all in fun and it doesn't matter if you miss a day here or there.  We won't hold it against you.  In fact I always love to see what fun excuses people can come up with for missing a day.
2. Don't worry if you can't get to every blog on the list. Maybe just try and visit a couple of new places.  That way I bet everyone will get a bit of new love from the blogosphere.
3. Giveaways are not compulsory.  If you feel like having one, by all means do.  If you just want to put your name down to win as much loot as you can, well that works perfectly too.
4. Have fun.
5. Have fun.
6. Have fun.

 Nice and simple.  Just the way I like it.

On the housekeeping front I just wanted to let you know that I tidied up the sign up list.  For some reason it didn't like apostrophes and ampersands and other punctuation.  So I fixed all that up, along with a couple of links that weren't quite right.  If there's a problem with your link just email me and I'll fix it right up for you.  If you haven't signed up yet, it's never too late.

Fields of Gold

And now for a sprint or two. 

Firstly, I'm having a 48 hour sale in my Etsy shop.  Until 5pm on Tuesday buy any print, including print sets, and get a second single print of your choosing free.  Just tell me in the 'message to seller' when you check-out which free print you would like.

Secondly, you've got just under 48 hours to sign up for my first Friday Giveaway.  If you'd like to be in the running for your very own Tinnie then visit that post and leave a comment.  I'll draw a winner on Tuesday.

Until tomorrow...

{i heart paint - blogtoberfest day II}

I really, really, truly do.

**************************************

It's not to late to join the Blogtoberfest fun.  Join in anytime.  Pop down to the sign up post and throw your hat in the ring.

Oh, and definitely pop over to Kellie's blog and grab your free Blogtoberfest calendar.  While you're there make sure you tell her how awesome she is for making the button for us this year.

Hope you're having a lovely day.

{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.

{your journey starts here - blogtoberfest preface}

Hello! Top of the morning to you.  My goodness I'm feeling a wee bit excited today.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's not October yet.  Not until tomorrow.

However, Blogtoberfest is just around the corner.  So, without further ado may I present to you the 2010 Blogtoberfest button.

It's designed by the very talented and creative Kellie from 74 Lime Lane and I absolutely love it.   Thank you so much Kellie.  I'm so grateful to the creative peeps who help with Blogtoberfest every year.

Kellie is so fabulous that she's actually designed the button in different sizes and with a white or clear background.  So you can decide which button works best for your blog.

To put the button on your blog the first thing you need to do is download the version of the button that you want:

• Go to the Blogtoberfest set in my Flickr account
• Pick the size and style of button that suits you best and click on that image (there's two large and two small versions)
• Click on the actions tab above the photo and select view all sizes
• Download the original size photo and save it to your computer

Ok, now to uploading the button to your blog (these are instructions for blogger, which is all I know):

• Go to the design or layout area of your blog
• Click on the add a gadget tab
• Choose picture and upload the picture from where you saved it on your computer
• In the link section add my blog address http://tinniegirl.blogspot.com so that the button links back to {tinniegirl}

If you happen to be new to {tinniegirl} or Blogtoberfest then pop over to the Blogtoberfest page where you can read all about it.  Essentially though, it's simple.  All you have to do is post daily to your blog in October and you're playing.  

Easy peasy!  You're all set to go.

Last item of business for today. Blogtoberfest couldn't happen without CurlyPops. Once again she'll be the queen of the giveaways.  To get the scoop on giveaways this year pop over to the special page over at CurlyPops.

I'm not going to say too much today about the whole event.  I'll save some special musings for tomorrow.  Do pop by and throw your hat in the ring for the first of my weekly Friday giveaways.  I've got something extra special planned.

OK, let the fun begin.  Are you in?

{it's simple}

Pop by tomorrow, sign your name on the dotted line, pick up a button for your blog and get ready for a month of Blogtoberfest fun.

2 sleeps peeps! 2 sleeps.

{gearing up big time}

Card generator via here

{gratuitous}

If you're a regular reader you know the owners of our house are selling up and Ms L and I are looking for a new place to call home.

The first 'open for inspection' is on today.  So, lots of strangers trapsing through our home.  

I figure never miss an opportunity for a bit of gratuitous self promotion!

{roll with it}

About a week ago Ms L and I made up our minds that we had found our new home, after spotting a gorgeous place in Kyneton on the internet.  6 acres, big, gorgeous house, rumpus room (read really large studio), light and spacious, plenty of trees and birds.  It ticked ALL the boxes.

I was up early today ready to head off for a day trip, and to inspect the property.  The agent rang early this morning and told me that the landlord had chosen a new tenant!

But we had decided.  We had made up our minds that this was the place.  We knew it was the one!

So I did what any self-respecting cautious dreamer would do!  I demanded that the universe provide an explanation!  And here's what I got:

From The Brave Girls Club daily email:
Try for the next 24 hours to say yes to whatever lessons life is handing you...Say yes to a disappointment that you wish would have turned out the way you wanted it to, and say yes to what is going to show up in it's place.  We bring ourselves so much pain and suffering when we resist the flow of life, when we try to paddle upstream...

and from The Daily Om email:
There is a thrill and a power in simply surrendering to the ride and fully feeling the ups and downs of it, letting the curves take you rather than fighting them.

Do you think the universe is trying to tell me something?

*************************************

Have a lovely weekend peeps.  I'm off to the opening of Home is where the Craft Is.

And don't forget, only 7 sleeps now till BLOGTOBERFEST is here.

{just around the corner}

Do you realise that there's only 8 sleeps until BLOGTOBERFEST begins? 8 sleeps peeps!

I have been working away, getting things ready and you are going to be so excited when you see all the goodness I have in store for you.  Oh my goodness, I can't wait to spill the beans.

Firstly, there's the blog button.  It's all ready to go.  Someone super talented and super lovely designed it and I can't wait to show you.  But I'm not going to spoil the surprise.  You'll be able to pick it up here on Sept 30th when the sign up list goes up.

Then of course I'll be having the Friday giveaways every week.  There's 5 Fridays in October this year, so that's 5 giveaways from me.  I've got some absolute beauties planned.  You won't want to miss them. 

My super fabulous crafty-partner-in-crime will be managing the BLOGTOBERFEST giveaway list again this year.  Last year there were around 150 giveaways across the month.  Maybe you'll start planning a BLOGTOBERFEST giveaway of your own.

And then, I've got some seriously super secret squirrel business that I'm dreaming up.  Something for the dreamers and soul searchers amongst us.  I'm not sure if it will happen this year or not.  My gremlins and inner critics are riding me pretty hard on daring to dream of putting myself out there in such a big way.  Stay tuned.

So that's what I'm up to at the moment. Planning and scheming, thinking and dreaming, writing and making, all in preparation for BLOGTOBERFEST.

Who doesn't love a festival?  Will you be joining me this year?

{on weeds}

What is a weed,

but a plant whose virtue

has not yet been discovered

                              Ralph Waldo Emerson

{northern craft bonanza news}

Just a quick announcement for local peeps.

The next Northern Craft Bonanza will be on Thursday 30th September.  I'm hoping after that we can return to regular fortnightly catch ups, but I'll keep you posted.

See you next week.

{the week ahead}

Create your own list here.  

Let me know if you do so I can see what you're up to.

{go on, just admit it}

Affirmations

set of three prints available here*

"Every day when you wake up, ask yourself, 'What do I really, really, really want?'  

You have to say really, really, really, otherwise you won't believe it." 

                                        (Elizabeth Gilbert)

When I find myself thinking about the things that I really want, and I mean passionately, truly want, there's an inner dialogue that rings a warning bell.  It tells me be careful of dreaming too big, wanting too much.  It tells me that it's dangerous to want things so badly it hurts, to wish for my deepest desires.  Oh yes, I'm a cautious dreamer at heart.  I talk about trusting the universe, but I try to keep my hope in check, to not ask for too much, so as not to be disappointed.

As I'm slowly growing into my new skin these limiting beliefs are no longer working for me.  I want to embrace a world of possibility, to lean in and say yes please to opportunity beyond my wildest imaginings, to know that there's more than enough magic if I open myself to the gifts the universe has to offer.

You know what? I really, really, really want to be a successful artist.

There, I said it. 

*******************************************

*'grow', 'shine' and 'surrender' are now available as individual prints in my Etsy shop.  Even better, I've also put them together as a special package - you get the full set of 3 prints for the price of two.

I'm also adding some photos to the shop of framed prints, so you can get an idea of how they look framed.  I'm more than a little bit chuffed with the results.

Have a lovely weekend peeps.  What are you up to?

{i am a painter}

 

Last night I had a dream.  I was talking to a stranger, who asked me what I did for a living.  I said...

I'm a painter.

I woke up this morning and knew that it was true.

More Creative Spaces over here.

{on cake, and it's purpose}

A wonderful friend once said to me 

"what's the use of having cake if you can't eat it?  

Surely cake, in it's very essence, is created to be eaten!"

I think she was right.  

I think from here on in I'm going to have my cake and eat it too!  

How about you?

Ms L's Splendiferously Colourful Marble Cake