Bees and Bugs and Other Beautiful Things

It’s been a while (again) since I posted here, have been so busy offline … so I’ve gots lots of lovely things to share!

Where do I start?!

The Heartmade Garden is flourishing again this year, albeit a little thirsty. Goodness! This Summer is making up for the last few, in terms of sunshine. It’s lovely to have a place to sit and enjoy the balmy summer evenings:

We have veg again this year, too:

Including peas and lots of bean varieties, brassicas (hidden among the wildflowers, a tip from the wonderful Alice Fowler!), salad leaves, tomatoes, fennel, beetroot, leeks, aubergine, courgettes, potatoes, carrots, parsnips and beautiful beetroot:

The meadow is thriving, but the balance is tilted this year in favour of poppies and there are fewer daisies and cornflowers. Not that they aren’t all beautiful:

But the bees seem to prefer the cornflowers. (Note to self: Be more ruthless when thinning poppy seedlings next Spring!)

At least we have lots of gorgeous, elegant Viper’s Bugloss, which the bees adore! I have spent many happy hours stalking bees in the garden recently and almost all the images I have managed to capture are of them on this:

The garden at the back is this year’s major project. Inspired by the planned Baby Shower for Kaitlin’s baby (due four weeks today!), we are going to make the back garden the Heartmade Party Garden. Meghan and I have cleared all the weeds, a massive job … quite literally, as most of the thistles, nettles and docks were taller than we are!

I did leave a small clump, though, always reluctant to get rid of thistles and nettles. Bees love thistles:

And butterflies love nettles. I think this might be something to do with a butterfly or a moth?

After clearing weeds and burning them in the perfect earthen fire pit (happily, accidentally created having dug some of the earth out of a huge pile … for another project!), we are spreading the small hills of earth into a blank canvas to work on.

Wishlist:

A small area of (recycled) decking for table and chairs

Lots of wood chips to make a soft and safe place for Baylee and friends

A fence to protect little adventurers from the pond (when it actually gets a liner and some water in it … it remains a large hole in the ground which needs weeding regularly!)

Plants that feel lovely, look pretty, smell gorgeous … and are safe to eat!

One small project in the wildlife garden, was a little piece of garden furniture. It’s a coffee-table-come-shelf-come-bench-come-footstool … or a snoozing place, depending on your view!

Made from some fence planks, broken paving slabs and an old round stepping stone, Tizzy claimed it before I had even finished it!

So the gardens have kept me busy. And elsewhere, there’s been plenty happening, too.

One of Meghan’s favourite things to do is riding and she’s been going every week recently, practising for her Bishop Burton riding assessment:

I often tag along to keep her company and take photographs and while walking to the stables a couple of weeks ago, we were lucky to stumble on this field full of poppies:

A little further afield … we spent four days house/babysitting recently, for a friend who lives on the other side of Scarborough, just around the corner from Peasholme Park. The weather was gorgeous and it felt like we were holidaymakers for a while, especially a lovely long walk around the lake on a warm and sunny evening:

We saw lots of lovely things, including some squirrels:

They were very friendly and the kids loved them:

Well, yes, very cute … but can’t help wishing they were red!

We saw lots of moorhens and ducks, this pair really caught my eye as they crossed the rocks between pools:

Plenty of swans too, mostly in groups and couples, but this gorgeous creature was making pretty shapes all by himself (herself?):

And we came across this sweet family, out for a summer evening stroll and supper:

We saw some pretty cool plants too. This flower makes me think of a bunch of bananas!

While we were wandering around Peasholme, Meghan decided she wanted some photos for her facebook profile … and was a brilliant model, trying out all kinds of poses with no prompting from me!

And finding her own props!

And she was very patient, letting me mess around with what I think is called depth of field. I love the results and can’t wait to play some more!

This one is my favourite … Meghan is such a star:

Indoor creativity has included the preparations for a new baby, mainly changing a teenage crash pad to a Mum and Baby bedroom. Mum is blooming and everyone is very excited:

Although happy to have her bump photographed, Kaitlin doesn’t like having her own photo taken, so I have to stalk her:

Or ambush her!

You can see the different attitudes of the girls to having their photo taken in this – one loves it, one is saying, “Will you just hurry up, please!”

Have been busy with Heartmade too, designed and made a beach bag from some gorgeous flowery tea towels, then written an article about it for Creative Crafting magazine (will post a link when it’s published, filled with lovely summery projects.)

I also finished the lighthouse and made another Hug Hut, for my nephew’s birthday. (More about that soon on the Heartmade blog.)

Oh! And the promised bugs …?

They are here.

Because they deserve a post all of their own!

So, lots of lovely things keeping me very busy and very happy. I hope you’re enjoying the fab Summer we’re having here this year! x

Beautiful Bugs!

I’ve always enjoyed photographing bees, such fascinating creatures and very beautiful too.

This year, with a new camera that has a super-macro lens, I have started playing around with capturing images of other small creatures and now have a collection of quite a few different bugs and mini beasties, though am unsure of the names for most of them!

All Kinds of Bugs in the Heartmade Garden …

Ferocious Looking Bugs

Pretty Bugs

Busy Bugs

It took me ages to capture this, a little hoverfly, I think … very quick and nimble!

Acrobatic Bugs

Bug Parties

Uninvited Guests

Though it completely ignored the tiny bugs … it was there for the pollen, it seems.

Bugged into Leaving

Strange and Beautiful Bug Mysteries

Perhaps some sort of gall? I kept an eye on it and nothing’s happening, it just seems to be drying up.

Indoor Bugs …

These were mostly taken one morning, following a very balmy evening, during which lots of moths were fluttering around the kitchen. (Kaitlin said it was like a Zoo for Bugs!)

Pale Beauties

Beautiful Markings

Bugs with Big Ears

Actually, I think they’re wings … fascinating design!

Battered Bugs

Spots

Flowing Lines

Fascinating Shapes

Gorgeous Patterns

And Bug Births!

What looked at first like a green smudge or maybe a paint chip on the wall …

… turned out, on closer inspection, to be these …

… which hatched into these!

I expect they were some sort of moth or butterfly caterpillars, in which case, their parents had miscalculated, it seemed. High on the far kitchen wall, they were days of hard travel and difficult terrain away from anything resembling food … assuming they don’t like papier mache!

So I scooped them off and into a leaf, which I curled up and put in the garden. Hope I did the right thing!

I have so enjoyed looking closer at the bug life around us and am looking forward to looking some more. And to learning more about them as I go.

Encouraging Wildlife into the Garden

Besides being created from mostly recycled materials, I want my garden to provide us with fresh fruit and vegetables and be a lovely place to share with friends and family. But perhaps most importantly, I want it to be wildlife friendly.

With all this in mind, as a complete gardening novice, I muddled through last year, enjoying happy accidents and learning lots of lessons.

My favourite lesson was this:

Gardening for wildlife is not only incredibly rewarding, it is also incredibly easy!

Just think about who you’d like to visit and make it a nice place for them to be. Think about food, water and shelter:

~ Sew a mini meadow.

I sewed a mini meadow in the centre of the garden to encourage aphid-eating creatures to visit.What a glorious, magical success that was!

Filled with pretty white daisies, yellow daisies, red poppies and gorgeous blue cornflowers, it was a riot of tumbling colour for weeks on end. And on a sunny day, the six inches above it were literally buzzing with life as bees, wasps, ladybirds and hover flies gently bumped into each other, drunk on the heady delights.

~ Grow plenty of herbs.

Herbs are not only great for attracting wildlife but smell gorgeous, provide a range of colours and textures, often have pretty flowers, and taste great too! What more could you ask from a plant?

Try chives (you can eat their flowers too), thymes, rosemary, lavender and sage. They are all easy to grow and will provide joy and sustenance for many years.

~ Grow native plants.

Provide local wildlife with the environment they need.

Choose gorgeous native plants like foxgloves. Think about winter food too; plants that will provide seedheads or berries later in the year are perfect. Sunflowers will provide a wonderful display in Summer, through to Autumn, when they will help feed the birds with their seeds.

~ Don’t be too tidy!

Encourage a messy corner.

Leave the leaves accumulated over Winter for as long as you can. Have piles of rocks and logs. Let plants tumble and be a little riotous. Don’t be too fussy about weeds.

~ Love weeds.

Leaving what are commonly thought of as weeds will also encourage wildlife.

Bees adore thistles, and tiny pink sweet nettles provide them some food early in spring when little else is around. Lots of insects enjoy daisies and buttercups. Some would say a weed is just a flower in the wrong place.

I would ask, “How can a flower be in the wrong place?!”

~ Build houses.

Shelter is important for all small creatures.

Building homes for hedgehogs, toads, or various insects is very easy and needn’t cost a penny if you use recycled materials.

~ Provide plenty of water.

Birds and hedgehogs will appreciate water.

Hedgehogs need water to drink, so leave a saucer or two in overgrown areas or along a known hedgehog route. Birds will enjoy water for a bath as well. Almost any container will provide an improvised bird bath. They love using this old seed tray and have happily used a water-filled bucket or plant pot too.

Make sure you raise it well off the ground or leave it in an open space with plenty of nearby perches, so they can be safe from cats.

~ Keep up a regular supply of food.

Leave food out for hedgehogs and birds.

You can feed hedgehogs cat or dog food (not bread). I have yet to try it, but I wonder how you can be sure it’s enjoyed by a hedgehog rather than neighbourhood cats?

Leave a variety of different bird food out, depending on your local birds and on the season. The peanut net above needs replacing, which reminds me of another important thing to remember when feeding birds; be consistent. If you feed them, they will start relying on your food and may travel some distance to it, using up valuable energy.

~ Avoid use of any nasties.

It really can be done. If you work with your garden to encourage the good guys, they will help you keep the pests down. Hedgehogs and toads love slugs and there isn’t a much sweeter sight than watching a thrush teach it’s youngster how to extract a snail for tea.

Not that I really have anything against snails, I could spend hours watching them and think they’re rather cute! And since I turned the expanse of knee high grass into a proper garden, there have no longer been battalions of them. I rarely see them now. Perhaps it’s because most of the flowers in the garden are weeds wildflowers, which slugs and snails don’t seem particularly keen on. I think the stones around the beds probably help to deter snails too.

Hoverflies, wasps and ladybirds are all expert hunters, ridding your garden of aphids, so encourage them to visit by providing a wide range of their favourite plants and somewhere warm and snug, to curl up safe and sound.

It’s all about balance, really. Allowing your garden to find it’s own equilibrium. Don’t worry too much about unwanted guests, if damage is limited. Look on the positive side, instead; if you have slugs, you will probably attract a cute little snuffly hedgehog, or a beautiful, melodic song thrush.

:0)

Recycling in the Garden

Last year, I started a veggie garden, in the large area we have at the side of the house, with varying success.

We had some broad beans, beetroot and swede, a few peas, carrots and parsnips, lots of (green) tomatoes, two pumpkins and mountains of courgettes! Potatoes, celery, and leeks really struggled, the sweetcorn never appeared and the brassicas were mostly munched by hordes of hungry caterpillars.

I decided … well, really, I have made few decisions, as such, about this garden. The basic shape evolved from the paths created by us wheelbarrowing in 18 tonnes of top soil (recycled from some agricultural works).

The soil was filled with stone in various shapes and sizes from tiny gravel to large boulders. As I raked the garden to level it as best I could, the smaller stones built up around the paths, which I extending into circles to make a pumpkin patch and a (still unfinished) wildlife pond:

So, it seemed as if the garden chose to be like it is now. I love that!

And since then it has continued to evolve naturally, into a garden filled with pretty flowers, buzzing with wildlife:

And continuing the experiment by Meghan and I a few years ago, in our tiny front garden, the veggie garden is very much a recycled garden.

I left the larger rocks, in a pile, much loved by spiders, but have used some of them this year, as stepping stones across beds:

The others, I have spread around the garden, into slightly smaller spider haunts, and used some to make a toad house:

There are also a couple of wood piles from an elderberry I cut down, which had been blocking out all the light. And we still have two, one back and front (I keep thinking I might try making some elderberry jam sometime, but I don’t want to deprive the birds!)

So. The soil, the paths, and the insect homes have all been made from recycled materials. I have also left a couple of broken terracotta pots upturned here and there:

In one overgrown corner, I covered a half-buried pot with sticks and dried leaves, thinking our visiting hedgehog might like it.

And I dug up three house bricks, with holes through them, so have left them lying around the garden. They look perfect for tiny things to shelter in:

We had a new fence put up last year and the old one has been recycled in various ways, including a vast bird table, built by Meghan and a friend’s two children:

I wasn’t sure how much of a success it would be as a bird table, as Mrs. Tizzywinkle seems to think they made it for her, as somewhere to sit on when sunbathing, and lie under when she needs some shade:

But the birds do use it quite happily, they seem to know when Tizzy is in the house.

I used some of the old fence planks, held in place by canes and string, then further supported by some rocks, to make a raised vegetable bed. It’s in a part of the garden where things hadn’t grown well last year, under a sycamore tree and against a fence:

And I layered a few on the ground as a base for a new compost heap:

I had a couple of compost heaps in the back garden last year, which were doing really well, but ended up riddled with weeds when I stopped tending them after hurting my back again. The new compost heap will hopefully remain weed-free, whatever happens.

I have left a compost heap of sorts in the back, too. I don’t turn it, but add to it now and then. It’s mostly hedge cuttings and will take a while to rot down, but meanwhile it’s a nice snug home for any passer-by who fancies it.

Rather than buying new canes, I tied old broken canes together with lots of string, to make a frame for beans and peas, and used some of the old fence as walkways to divide beds:

I recycled a toaster as a plant pot for some lavender:

And our old cooker is now, with the addition of some fence planks, a potting table! It makes a great plant pot too, housing some trailing lobelia and sweetpeas so far:

The latest addition to the garden is a set of slightly battered, white plastic garden chairs, which were being thrown out by our neighbours:

Simply perfect for enjoying a quiet five minutes, watching the garden begin to bloom again.

7 Easy Ways to Recycle in the Garden:

~ Re-use household items as plant pots, rather than throw them away.

Your imagination is the only limit to the possibilities. You could use large tin cans, fruit boxes, a pair of old wellies, old wicker waste baskets, old sieves or collanders would be great as hanging baskets, and an old bath would be perfect as a raised bed.

~ Start a compost heap to recycle kitchen and garden waste.

You can recycle all kinds of things in a compost heap; the RecycleNow website suggests a third of the average household bin can be recycled in a compost heap. Check it out, they have some great links and advice.

~ Recycle water in your garden.

Use your washing up water or bath water  in the garden. Avoid harsh chemicals, but any gentle soap suds will help alleviate bugs. Treat your garden to a water butt to collect rain water, too. Nick Leech has plenty more tips for water-wise gardening.

~ Use wooden lolly sticks as plant labels.

Or cut strips from a plastic milk bottle.

~ Feed the birds your kitchen waste.

This can include bread, but rarely and make sure you soak it first in oil or water. Much better fare is provided by chopped fruit and vegetable peelings. Seeds and nuts are good too, but avoid whole peanuts at this time of year, while adult birds are feeding their young. For a special treat, offer a little stale fruit cake now and then.

And for lots of great advice about feeding birds, check out the Young People’s Trust for the Environment website.

~ Use wool from old jumpers as garden twine.

Strips of fabric work too. And if you choose brightly coloured fabric or tie old Christmas ribbon to pea stakes, it will help keep the birds off your peas and beans.

~ Keep an eye open for things you can recycle as garden furniture or sculptures.

Old drawers can be planted up, long hedge cuttings can be woven into various shapes or used as plant supports and an old mirror can be used in the garden to great effect.

Extend your garden beyond its boundaries with a large mirror, or hide an unwanted view while reflecting one you do want. Small pieces of mirror are great for putting at the back of plants, doubling the display, while splashing light around the garden:

Try a little recycling in your own  garden. It’s fun and it saves you money as well as helping the environment. Plus, it’s a chance to get creative. All in all, it’s a very heartmade thing to do! :0)

Muddling Through with My Muse

My muse is a complex creature, often contradictory, even contrary. I think of her as the Wild Woman archetype (beautifully explained by Amy Palko.)

I love her wildish nature, I admire her refusal to conform, I wish I was as strong and brave and vibrant as she is.

Sometimes, we don’t see eye to eye and she sulks. Or I sulk. Or we rage and weep and tear our hair out at each other. But mostly she just wants to play, to explore, to have wild adventures; she doesn’t really mind how or where and she’s usually happy to have me along as travelling companion. Unless I try telling her we’re going the wrong way again. She doesn’t care. She likes to go the wrong way.

She likes getting lost.

Since the beginning of the year, she has blessed me with her company. And she has been truly lovely company, full of wonder and whimsy, full of questions, full of enthusiasm. She has loved making a mess with papier mache, is very excited about anything to do with recycling, she relishes diving into my ribbons and beads and keeps nudging me about the garden.

But when it comes to writing – when I say, “Hey! Let’s do some writing today! What about a blog post? We haven’t written one for ages and I have loads of ideas!” – she shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders and flounces off into another room.

I just ignore her negativity, make a cup of coffee, sit down at the kitchen table and write anyway. I write, thinking curiosity will get the better of her and she’ll come in to see what I’m doing. I write. Because sometimes I know she likes to watch me doing something before she gets involved. Perhaps she just likes to prove how much I need her! But I think it’s more to do with the fact that she likes to work with me. She knows we work better when we work together. As much as I need her inspiration, my enthusiasm inspires her.

Sometimes, just my sheer dogged determination wins her round, but not when it comes to writing at the moment. I have numerous draft posts on here, about all kinds of things. Started enthusiastically, continued resolutely … but always petering out. My muse has even started siding with my internal critic: “He’s right! You know it’s rubbish. Just give up, come and play with papier mache instead.”

So the deal today is, if she helps me finish a post, then we can finish making that little papier mache key cupboard and mess around with daisies. So. She’s banished the critic and is sitting sweetly beside me. She’s not saying very much but at least she’s being agreeable, happy to snuggle up for a while and not mention any wild distractions until I’ve finished.

She’s even coming round to the idea of writing up our Heartmade notes this afternoon, with a little bribery: “We can use lots of colour and pictures. And we’ll have cake!”

Sometimes I want to hug her. Sometimes I want to shake her. Sometimes I want to throw something at her. I’m sure she feels the same about me.

But mostly, we muddle through together. Somehow.

Firing Our Creative Neurons

Creativity is a rather like a muscle, I think. In that, the more we use it, the stronger it gets. Or perhaps a firing neuron is a better analogy … the more we are creative, the easier it gets. It becomes second nature to live a creative life, to use creativity in all arenas of life and in all kinds of small and simple everyday activities.

Here are three quick creative thinking techniques I have picked up over the years:

1. Fill in the squares

Or any shape. Draw a number of the same simple shape (circles, hearts, triangles, stars, moons …) onto plain paper.

Decorate them in any way you like, but making each one as different as possible.

You could keep this exercise very simple and fill each shape in with a pencil or pen. You could add colour with crayons, felt tips or paints. Or you could glue on various different materials, playing with textures.

Anything. The stranger, the better … go wild! Try fabrics, flowers, beads, birdseed, cereal, dried cat food  …

Really. Anything goes!

2. Fill a matchbox

Choose a letter and fill a matchbox with as many things as you can think of that start with that letter.

Think outside the box! You could put a tiny piece of paper with a smile on it, in an S box, for example, or a crumb of soil or a few grains of sugar/sand, a sprinkle of glitter for sparkle (or sprinkle!) or a few strands of stuffing from a cushion.

Have a competition with a friend or the kids to make it extra fun.

3.Find different ways of using something

Choose an item. Any item at all, the first time I came across this was in a Sunday supplement I think, suggesting you choose something like a butterfly and I attended a workshop recently, where a paperclip was suggested.

List as many different ways of using it as possible.

A butterfly could deliver tiny mail, for example, or keep you cool like a fan or be a piece of organic, dynamic art. A paperclip can be used as a bookmark, or a hairslide, to make a hole in something, to pick a lock, to brand a shape on top of a cookie, to engrave a message onto a piece of wood, as a form of counting …

The possibilities are truly endless.

And this is exactly why these are such great creative exercises, opening our minds to possibilities, encouraging us to explore, to be curious and playful.

Why not try one and let me know how you get on? I’d love to hear from you!

Or join in my creative challenge this week: How many ways can I make a daisy?

Have fun! :O)

Some Thoughts on Creativity

I’ve been thinking a lot about creativity recently, having been immersed in it, in one way or another, since the first New Moon of the year, when I began writing Heartmade Gifts. Writing and making things with my hands, from my heart … for me, this is pure bliss!

I was going to post this on the Heartmade blog, but feeling a little guilty at neglecting Words and Pictures, I decided to post it here. Although it is about Heartmade, about the underlying philosophy, it’s also a wider call to arms needles, craft-knives, crayons and paintbrushes!

It’s about tapping into and nurturing our own sense of creativity.

I can’t count the number of times someone has said to me, “But, I’m just not creative, Dianne! I can’t write, or sculpt, or sew … “

This always amazes me! Everyone is creative.

My answer to those who doubt their own creativity is:

“Maybe not. (Maybe not.) But you can cook beautiful, exotic dishes or make a meal from hardly anything/stop folk in their tracks with your gorgeous garden/organise fantastic highdays and holidays/decorate a room so people feel happy and loved in it/put together such funky, colourful outfits that always make me smile/tell the kids rollicking stories … with the voices and everything! I wish I could do that!”

Creativity goes far beyond the limits of crafts, or even Art in the wider sense. We are being creative when we do all kinds of daily activities, perhaps without even realising

Heartmade is not just a labour of love for me, it’s a mission statement. I want to encourage everyone to find their own creativity and to relish it. To revel in it. Creativity is such a rewarding experience and I did that! is such a lovely feeling. But perhaps more importantly, the actual process of creativity is a wonderful learning curve, an expression of love, a joyful adventure.

So, Heartmade is not just a series of craft projects. It’s not a book of How-To-Do-Somethings, it’s more about encouraging your own sense of wonder and curiosity. Your own creativity.

Try something new. Experiment. Have fun. Try and remember what it was like as a child to just mess around and see what happens, to approach things with a sense of playfulness and no fear of ‘failure’.

So. How creative are you? (Bet you’re more creative than you think!)

What do you enjoy doing? How can you use that to make someone happy?

Happy Valentine’s Day! X

I wish you the gift of recognising and relishing your own creativity! :O)

Small and Simple Things

I wrote a couple of posts today on Heartmade Gifts, one of which was about making Valentine’s Day gifts from salt dough and reminded me of the lovely story behind my ‘Passion Pebbles’. It made me smile to remember it, so I thought I’d share it with you.

One Tuesday, a few years ago, while on Working Tax Credits, I went to the ATM and my bank account was empty. I phoned the Inland Revenue who said the computers were down, they were working through a backlog and it would take a week to sort out a payment. Living from week to week on a tight budget as we did (still do!) it was somewhat of a disaster: the freezer was empty, the cupboards resembled Mrs. Hupboard ‘s and we were running low on gas and electric.

I came home, threw myself on the floor and howled for a while. But it didn’t take long to accept that crying wasn’t actually going to help and that I needed to do … something.

Inspired by a collection of heart-shaped stones found over the years in the garden or on walks with the girls…

… I got out some flour and salt and started making heart-shaped ‘stones’ from salt dough, painting them with the dregs of some paint I had and writing words on them like Angel, Strength, Hope, Gorgeous Girl, Happy, I Love You, Good Luck, Best Mum …

Little Meghan went to neighbours and friends and asked if they’d like to buy one. She was running in and out all day, while I kneaded and baked and painted … they sold like hot cakes. I sold some at university and a local tea shop and lots by word of mouth and they kept us warm and fed for two weeks!

I learned a lot that day:

I am capable of getting out of a sticky situation when I really put my mind to it.

Nature is the best inspiration. Besides love.

While I can’t deny I think crying is often a very healthy thing to do, it doesn’t actually solve problems.

A gift for creating things is worth more than  money. Any day.

The small, simple things in life are the best.

I’ve made Passion Pebbles now and then, since, usually when someone asks me to make a special one for someone they know. Not very often, but they will always have a special place in my heart, so it was such a pleasure to make some again for Heartmade.

The day after I first started making them, one of the students I worked with said she’d had a dream about me picking pebbles up on the beach, watching them turn to hearts in my hand, then giving them to people I passed. That made the whole thing seem extra special.

Try making some simple salt dough hearts for Valentine’s Day yourself. One of the loveliest things about salt dough is the kneading … imagining kneading a whole lot of love into the dough!

And it’s very meditative, a soothing, calming break from the busy lives we lead.

Clearing the Way for Fresh Starts

The great thing about fresh starts is that we can make them whenever we like, in any direction, in a myriad of ways. We can choose to make fresh starts in our health choices, our relationships, our way of thinking. We can start afresh on a project, or start a new one.

I see the New Year, every Monday and the first of every month as opportunities for fresh starts. This year, though, is extra special for making a start. The whole of January feels like a good time for new starts, inspired by the wonderful Joanna Young at Confident Writing.

But tomorrow feels like the perfect day as it’s the New Moon, not just the first of the year, but following a full moon that closed last year. And last decade. And was blue, to boot!

So I spent New Year’s Eve clearing and cleaning the house with my youngest daughter (what an angel!) I said thank you and goodbye to 2009 and reflected on the things I’d learned. But it was more a time of closure, of endings rather than beginnings, for me. I have spent the past two weeks continuing the decluttering mission.

I make a lot of clutter. As a writer (piles of paper and magazines and books of scribbled notes), as a chaotic creative (heaps of paints, fabric scraps and sewing threads, card and paper, various craft tools, clay, ribbons and beads and lots of other sparkly things, craft books and magazines, various unfinished projects and a huge pile of empty cardboard boxes for cutting up) and as a natural, lifelong hoarder … it will come in very useful, one day!

You wouldn’t believe the stuff I found stashed in pots and bags and boxes, crammed in the back of drawers and cupboards. I now have only one, small, not-sure-where-to-put-this box in the kitchen drawer.

It made me laugh to find a box that had been passed on by my parents when they moved house and generously donated some extra furniture. A box just like I have always had, filled with random bits and pieces, most of which are completely unrecognisable, bits of plastic or metal, unusual screws, unknown keys, uncomprehendible tiny gadgets. Does everyone have a box/drawer like that?

I was ruthless this time. Even though I cringed every time I threw some strange and wonderful thing away, sure it would be something very important, something the world might hinge on someday!

I found it helpful to use the rule of thumb: Only keep what you find useful or beautiful. And added my own parameter: If it’s been here since last New Year and you still don’t know what it is, it can’t be very important, Dianne! Admittedly, some of it ended up in a big bag of random things I think I might be able to use in one craft project or another. But I amazed myself at how much I threw out or passed on.

So now the house is clean and clear of unnecessary clutter. My craft things are well organised so I can lay my hands on things without raking it all out into a big mess, my diary and calendar have been filled in properly and put in a place where they actually work, and my writing stuff is all labelled and properly filed. And I am truly ready for the New Moon!

I often start something just because it interests me, without thinking of any practicalities, or whether I will be able to complete it. And I often start things but get easily distracted into starting something else.

Sometimes, I don’t start something because I think I won’t be able to do it (writing articles for publication.) Sometimes, I start things and convince myself I can’t do them (the book I started last year.) Sometimes I start things and give up because I’m bored. No, that’s not quite true … I never get bored! It’s more a case of something else grabbing my attention.

So I have embraced Joanna’s January theme of Start! And I’ve chosen Focus! as my own theme for the year.

I can’t promise I won’t start things on impulse, almost without meaning to, just  because they intrigue me or fire my passion or simply make me smile. It’s in my nature and my mindset to try new things, to be curious, to explore, to be open to whatever the universe throws in my path. But I am promising to start three specific things (three projects, I have other starts in mind too … another blog post perhaps, as this is getting rather long!):

1. Writing: Submitting articles to magazines and writing a book

2. Photography: Setting up a small greetings card business

3. Setting up The Student Mum website

In fact I have started. In so far as I have outlined and prepared everything I can in advance. I have a (sensible) timetable for the book and have already started the first craft project (a blanket made from recycled clothes.) It’s a book about making gifts with hardly anything, recycling things and saving money. It’s about giving the gift of love and time instead, so I’m calling it Heartmade Gifts.

The other projects are all prepared and ready to start, but this will be my focus for a while. I’ll write some more about it soon. I’ve started a new blog to chart my progress and share some crafty ideas!

So. A beautiful New Moon tomorrow. The perfect time for fresh new starts.

Make wishes! Try a Dreamboard. And if you’ve been struggling with resolutions made at New Year, embrace this as another chance to start them. Or leave them behind and start new ones!

Happy New Moon! x

Happy New Year Wishes! x

Well, this final day of the year (of the decade) is proving extra busy … coffee with my parents, lunch with a friend, this afternoon I hope to finish the total declutter I have been working on since returning home after spending Christmas away with my family, hopefully finding time to relax with a glass or two of mulled wine later, a chance to reflect on the past year and to make some goals for the new one.

But first, I just wanted to wish you all a very happy and healthy start to your new year and an extraordinary 2010 filled with beautiful moments, with new experiences and awesome lessons, with energy and creativity, with the people you love, and with a great deal of laughter!

For us all, I wish a year filled with peace and understanding, with compassion and tolerance … although I don’t much like the word tolerance at the moment, especially its frequent link to difference (physical, philosophical, cultural, etc. )

I have always thought that we should never tolerate difference. We should celebrate it!

(Neither do I like to see tolerance linked to things like cruelty, violence, or any kind of ism. These, I think, should always be challenged.)

Anyway. Here’s to another interesting year, a year when we will all grow a little more (or a whole lot!) when we will take a few more steps, a few more tumbles, learn a few more lessons, have a few more adventures, discover more treasure, love more, laugh more, live more!

Happy New Year, Everyone! x