☆ Water Lily [Friday Art]

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Happy 2014! I wish that all your big dreams, your hearts desires, become realities.

Do you do goals + resolutions? It has become a ritual for me to spend a couple of days thinking about what I want the next year to look like, what big dreams I want to achieve.

I have found that if I don't do this ritual, my mind is a mess, I have no direction, I am adrift. 

I hate that lost + overwhelmed feeling.

I won't bore you with my dreams for 2014. I mean, while there is some value in sharing them, a sense of accountability I guess, I am not sure they are all that interesting to any one else.

But what I do want to share with you is one of the two commissions I was working on before Christmas.

Not for my kids this time! This was a painting for a client's daughters birthday. I loved working on this one, my client wanted very specific elements in the painting, full of personal meaning for her family. And I was so honoured that they chose me to paint this for their daughter.

So I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season, I am taking a bit of time off, I need to catch up with Lifebook 2013, before I start 2014, a blog update, and a shop to reorganise. I also want to spend some time with Bean before she starts big school!

I should be popping in a little, here and there, but no set schedule!

Do you have a ritual you do at New Years? I would love to hear about your rituals below.

[LINKING TO PAINT PARTY FRIDAY]

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☆ A New Year.... A Fresh Start

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I love a new year, like a clean page in a journal or like Mondays, new year, for me is a fresh start. My ritual is to sit down with a journal and a glass of wine, and really think about what it is I want out of the coming year and how I am going to achieve it. I learnt a long time ago that simply writing 'lose 10 pounds' was never going to get the job accomplished!

For me, last year was so last year, and this year is exciting, and uncomplicated and well, new - there is no history muddying the waters... Well how could there be when its only four days old!

Of course it is not as simple as that, oh that I wish it were! but sometimes, just sometimes, I manage to achieve something major on the list - like the time I finally quit smoking, or the time I actually did loose those 10 pounds, or when we left Australia to travel on our mid-life gap year (or seven years) and the time we moved back again.

This year, with pen, journal, and a large wine in hand I sat down to write my resolutions and came up with a fairly sizeable list (not unusual), but I feel in my gut that I have a core list of achievable resolutions. We'll see...

So for all those interested here are the highlights....

♥ Fit into the dress I wore to my sisters wedding for my brothers (aka loose 20 pounds)
♥ Exercise for fitness - swim, walk, yoga, dance to the bloody Wiggles if need be - just move.
♥ Make healthier meal choices, limit take away and plan weekly menus - and be creative with food (Pasta is not the only thing you can cook Kirstin!)
♥ Set myself more daily, weekly & monthly sketching/ art challenges  (any suggestions on subject matter are most welcome!)
♥ Be creative in some small way every day (either by myself or with kids)
♥ Sew some more clothes (Hem those bloody curtains!!)
♥ Seriously work towards selling my art (locally and via web)
♥ Spend quality time with my family, talk more, make time for friends
♥ Play with focus with my kids
♥ Honour Date Night - and stop being slack and coping out with a dvd
♥ Spend responsibly (no more credit - eeek!!)
♥ Book a trip back to Raasay


I feel optimistic, its a slightly challenging list but also quite exhilarating to think what if... What if I manage to resolve my resolutions?? 


Do you have resolutions? Do you keep them?  Maybe this is the year to take responsibility for our resolutions? I know that I am going to try - Because what if? What if, just maybe, you achieve something great? (And if you do please share!)

x♥x

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☆ Illustration Friday

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Wow - I cannot believe another Christmas has past us by and here we sit on the eve of the new year! Craziness huh?

We had a great chrissy with Santa being a very generous fella with every one, not just the girls, we are very spoiled and very, very lucky - I am so thankful.

So I managed to squeeze time to do my IF prompt this week while we were away on the coast. No chance last week to do my IF prompt, although in crazy Kirstin Land, I had grand plans to squeeze it in between last minute xmas shopping and cooking chrissy dinner!

Something a bit different this week, I had limited supplies whilst I was on holidays - a few pens, my water colours, not much else...

Winter

I had to dig a little deeper this week since it is 30 odd degrees here at the moment - and yes that is centigrade and not fahrenheit!

I hope you all had a fabulous and chilled christmas, and the new year brings you prosperity and love.

I'll see you next year!

x♥x

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