Golly, I hadn't realised how long it has been since I last dusted the cobwebs off this blog. I've had to learn a few self care lessons since my 'collapse' earlier this year; I do things very slowly, but I do get them done. I have to take things at my own pace and not stress about them. Which is why I'm terrible at answering emails and updating this blog. Otherwise it would be like pouring boiling water into a cracked jug, something I've done in the past with predictable (broken) results. Nowadays I take things carefully and one step at a time, so that I don't get overwhelmed.
One way or another, for the first time in six years since Andy and I made the disastrous decision to up roots and move - when my life and certainly his, fell apart - I feel some kind of normality and even content happiness most days, although even writing down that feels like tempting fate.
Consequently I've only held one workshop this season, my second of the year, returning to the friendly space of Loudwater Studios at nearby Ludlow. Christmas Cottages are an old favourite and I had a super group of women who worked hard all day and produced a lovely collection of festive mini-villages.
At the beginning of this year, which seems to have slipped by so quickly, I had plans to bring out a new range of premium needle felt kits, but with finances being so stretched I had to put everything on hold. Happily, we are on a more even keel now and I've been able to put together two kits, 'Hatty Hare' and 'Snowball'. I've even had my first trade order, so if you're in the Cambridge area, you can get these in-store from The Cambridge Fabric Company. Or they're available for sale in the kits section of my Etsy shop.
As for my own work - well, that's something else I've been resting, while I sorted the kits out. Designing, photographing and putting together a kit is 'left brain' stuff, not usually my strong point and creating new work is definitely a 'right brain' activity. It's sometimes hard to juggle the two to make them work in harmony. My latest little piece is another 'Little Arcadia', where I've played about with different tones of wool to reproduce the light falling over the autumn landscape.
And finally, thanks so much to everyone who signed up for my Sleepy Squirrel online workshop. Much to my surprise and delight, an old acquaintance who has been to a couple of my workshops in the past, created a video review of her experience with it and gave my book a good plug while she was about it. I'm not very good at blowing my own trumpet, so many thanks to her for kindly taking the trouble to do so.
