Do What You Love

Have you ever gone searching for treasure on a beach?  It is so much fun to seek out sea glass, collect lovely pebbles and bring beautiful shells home as a reminder of a trip to the sea.  On the way back from Bressay to Aberdeen I spent a couple of hours poking around Lerwick, findingread more >>

  [View from the studio window] Recipe for a blissful weekend: Take seven ladies, much chocolate, several boxes of supplies (paper, glue, ribbons, washi tape, paints and who knows what else) and put into a studio in the Chief Keeper’s Office of a lighthouse on a remote Scottish island.  Add wine and homemade cake and leave for severalread more >>

[View of Bressay lighthouse through the crooked stone window of an abandoned croft house] Staying in a lighthouse has always been a bit of a dream for me, so when I found out about a book making workshop taking place in a lighthouse on the remote Scottish island of Bressay, I knew I had toread more >>

Do you ever find yourself so busy that going away is the last thing you think you should do, when actually it is exactly what you need?  This past weekend I had to force myself to shut down my computer and head off up north, on a journey that door-to-door took me longer than getting to theread more >>

*** This week we share two very different stories – from artist Jennifer Carter and retailer Paul Codd *** Jennifer Carter I have always been different and very expressive. Whether it was what was coming out of my mouth or what I was wearing I was always trying to bring my point of view to light.read more >>

Playing about with jam jars, ribbon, twine and flowers to decide on table decorations for our tipi at the retreat.  What do you think? ***   Only 2 places left! Registration for the Do What You Love retreat closes at 5pm UK time on Wednesday 27 April (or when the last two places are gone),read more >>

After falling for her adorable creations, I am excited to bring you this interview with French designer Juliette Collet, owner of Zü.  Juliette lives in Marseille with her husband and daughter. – Tell us a bit about your creative journey to here I’ve always drawn and created, ever since I was a child.  I amread more >>

I have had a flurry of last minute requests about the upcoming Do What You Love retreat.  Flora Bowley’s class is sold out but we do have just two places left in Rachel Hazell’s class and in Priscilla Jones’s class.  There is one Luxury A double room, and one Luxury B double room available.  Registration closes at 5pm UKread more >>

[Pyrus] Don’t you just love shop windows?  When I first started taking photos of them I used to get frustrated with the reflections on the glass, but more recently I have noticed that sometimes the reflections actually make them more beautiful -  a bit like when you used to get double-exposed negatives on print film. read more >>

*** This week we take in three continents as we share the stories of artist Mandy Saile of Bijou’s Whimsy and art therapist Karen Wallace in Canada, and ’jack-of-all-creative-trades’ Helen Agarwal in the UK *** Mandy Saile I am… – A creative & inspired maker of whimsical things – A gal who’s usually most comfortable around animals, or inread more >>

Walking and nosying, sitting and watching, exploring and observing.  I’m not really a city girl, but sometimes I like to pretend. A day wandering the streets of London is a day filled with stories, beauty and possibility… *** Are you a city person?  What would you like to do on a free day in the bigread more >>

  Have you ever been to Liberty of London?  I can’t believe it has taken me 33 years to discover it, but now I have and I am in love!  Established in 1875, Liberty’s was the dream of Arthur Lasenby Liberty, who had told his artist friends that if only he had a shop of hisread more >>

What a treat to get invited to the launch of Holly Becker of decor8′s new book ‘Decorate’, co-authored with Joanna Copestick.  decor8 is a daily source of visual inspiration, and the book is no different.  Offering over 1000 ideas for decorating your home, ‘Decorate’ is both practical and lovely to look at.  I soaked itread more >>

Tara Agacayak is a coach for creative entrepreneurs, and an American living in Turkey.  After marrying her Turkish husband in 2002, Tara followed him to their first home in a small town near Istanbul on the Marmara Sea. Battling culture shock, isolation and an identity crisis, Tara tried to find herself in a series of unfulfilling Englishread more >>

Love this little bookmark from East of India.  It is so true, n’est-ce pas? ***

I can’t believe how much pleasure I am getting out of watching these little seedlings grow.  Normally I just buy pots of fresh herbs from the supermarket, but I decided to grow my own, to watch them emerge and change and grow.  The coriander is shooting up, and the basil is not too far behind. read more >>

*** This week we share the stories of artists Brenda Mangalore of Sashe Studio in Australia, and Luisa of Happy Serendipity in Germany *** Brenda Mangalore My story isn’t the usual tale of realising how much I hated my job and finding the courage to quit in pursuit of doing what I loved. I leftread more >>

Taking a stroll around Richmond, the old town near where we are holding the Do What You Love retreat next month.  Fell in love with the ceramic work of local artist Caroline Hudson at 5 Millgate, and the gorgeous gardens of Millgate House, soon to burst into colour as Spring arrives. The perfect garden studio?read more >>

…that buying him could help raise funds for people living in the devastated areas of Japan – so how could I resist?  In fact I bought two. These gorgeous wingless birds were lovingly made by Japanese ceramic artist Maki Hastings who is making ONE THOUSAND of them.  Each one of the 1000 birds is individually shaped, numbered,read more >>

Getting stuck into Juliette Crane’s fun ‘How to paint an owl’ e-course and loving getting messy (and using these bright juicy colours).  Here are my first couple of backgrounds – over the coming weeks I will be adding owls and some embellishments.  Can’t wait to go mad with the spray paint…  Will share more here as the paintings developread more >>