Happy May! As we begin a new month with a new 'normal', I wanted my May desktop wallpaper to be about the power of patience, along with a growing sense of hope... Good things bloom for the patient gardener, and so my message on the wallpaper this month is 'Be patient, better days are coming' If you would like to get the FREE desktop wallpaper, then here's a link to where to join my mailing list: JOIN MY MAILING LIST HERE Like last month, as we all find ourselves still in a locked down UK, I am also giving a free downloadable colour-in sheet of this greenhouse illustration. Talking of colour-in sheets and free resources, my free, colour-in weekly planners are now also available from 'The Gift of Creativity' from Make it In Design. 'The Gift of Creativity' is a great free homeschooling art resource. Make it in Design is the home for courses and resources to make it in a career in surface pattern design. They have pooled together lots of varied, free, creative resources from their world wide community of designers and artists. Here's the link to check it out, definitely worth a look: https://makeitindesign.com/product/the-gift-of-creativity-from-make-it-in-design/ Looking back at April, it has been an April unlike any other! I want to document a little of it here as something to be able to look back on in years to come... April is the month when we see two birthdays (one of them mine) and an anniversary in our house. This year all those celebrations, along with Easter had to be safe and sound at home - and with no going out, there was plenty of cake baking and Tiger King watching going on. I am very grateful to my wonderful friends for the little deliveries of birthday wine, chocolate and flowers and our online chats. It really made it feel very special. Also, the lovely weather throughout most of the month, having our garden and having some farmer's fields with public footpaths near us to walk in each day - all in all, it has been quite a pleasant month in spite of the situation! We are very aware that this past month could have been a lot worse. Especially when I think back to times in my life when I lived in flats in cities, with no garden and didn't know my neighbours. I know how very different it would have been in those circumstances and my thoughts have been with those struggling throughout this time. The positive things I have noticed and enjoyed this month have been the abundance of nature, hearing birdsong loud and clear, and feeling a strong sense of community spirit. Our neighbourhood have been wonderful. Every Thursday at 8pm - making lots of noise clapping and banging saucepans to show thanks to the NHS and Keyworkers. Also, organising Easter trails and bear hunts, using front windows and gardens, for the young and young at heart to spot on their daily walks. I am so grateful for the community I live in. To mark this very strange time, I've made a little collage of images from my April life in lockdown... A little postcard if you like, to you all from the edge of a Somerset market town, where the town meets the Quantock Hills.... The weirdest thing about April for me was aside from our two girls being home and home-schooling, I have been able to continue working and my husband has continued to go to work throughout - so it felt a little bit like a normal routine for us. It's just the homeschooling bit that takes a bit of getting used to. I am grateful that both girls are at secondary school, so can work independently for good chunks of time. Which means I can get some work done too. Having worked from home for the past 10 years, I found it a great way to fill the days and take my mind off the bigger picture that, when I stop and think about it all, makes my mind anxious and disrupts my sleep. Some of the projects I have thrown myself at these past weeks, to stop me from over thinking, have included creating some new images to add to my occasion cards and wall art collections. Such as this King Fisher one below (that was very soothing to work on). Being creative is a truly wonderful thing and I believe anyone can do it - because being creative means making absolutely anything. That feeling of losing yourself into time spent making something...so much so, that you don't even know how much time has passed by. That is a very precious thing and makes a big difference to how you feel at times like these... Another project I have been grateful to get stuck into has been a book I am illustrating for Master Reiki Practitioner & Hypnotherapist, Michelle Pattenden D.Hyp, SSoH, It's a project we have been collaborating on since the beginning of the year and were hoping to launch soon. However, the book had to go on hold at the announcement of the UK lockdown, so we've lost a little time on it. It is back on the table again now and we are powering through it because we are very excited about being able to share it with you all soon. Michelle has written a great, easily accessible guide to Anxiety and Stress Management To Promote Emotional & Physical Wellbeing. The book will be packed with practical exercises and advice, along with lots of my illustrations that can be used for mindful, adult colouring-in, for those moments when reading a book is just too much. This is the perfect project for me to being working on at this particular time and it's definitely proving to be my therapy. Hopefully, it will be helpful to many others for years to come once it's finished - that's what keeps us focussed on this book project. Meanwhile, Michelle has been regularly providing some free guided meditations and exercises over on her Facebook page, to help anyone who needs them at this time. Here is a link: https://www.facebook.com/TheWondersofWellnessPage/ Throughout April, my Etsy shop has been carrying on sending lots of greetings cards out. There are a few delays to deliveries, as to be expected, but on the whole, I have been amazed at the speed of service Royal Mail have continued to deliver - absolute heroes, all of them!.... On the subject of my Etsy, one little project I did manage to do to stop me from getting lost in the social media scroll down, is I put together a little film for the 'about' section of my shop. I had a bit of a 'piece to camera' from my desk that I did for Create & Craft TV to help launch my 'Summer In Bloom' collection last summer. So I decided a more useful way to spend my time, rather than reading nonsense conspiracy theories on twitter, would be to have a go at editing that little film together with some stills and music, to make an introduction piece for my Etsy shop. Well, it's done. It's a bit rough and ready, but it was a far more productive thing to do than read some z-list celebrity's tweets! ha ha! If you want to see it, when you visit my Etsy shop, it sits in the carousel of images in the about section - you will need to scroll down to get to it...It's buried deep in my shop!... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ArtworkByAngie That's all for my round up of April Thank you for bearing with my long blog this month. I hope that you all have a lovely May, stay creative, stay home a little while longer, because we all need to stay safe Best wishes
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Hello April! How life has changed since my last blog post only one month ago. I hope you are well and coping with our new collective situation. Regular followers of my emails will know that every month I offer up a bright and cheery desktop wallpaper to brighten your screens with. This month it feels more important than ever to give you something colourful and uplifting. Which is why I have adapted one of my existing designs to create a hopeful 'stay home' rainbow illustration, packed with all the bright blooms of springtime. If you would like to get the FREE desktop wallpaper, then here's a link to where to join my mailing list: JOIN MY MAILING LIST HERE Along with the free desktop wallpaper, I've also created a colour-in sheet version of the design. You will be able to download it along with the April desktop wallpaper. It is also available from the new 'Freebies' page on this website. One of the things I have been doing to help adjust to our new 'normal' has been to create some colour-in freebies to help make this situation better in some small way, by providing plenty of resources to help calm anxious minds. This new 'Freebies' page is where you can find all these new resources I create, along with free creative resources I discover from other artists and small businesses.... I wanted to create somewhere that's a one-stop place to find lots of useful things to do, to keep minds busy and focussed on creative activities. I also want the page to direct you to free tools I've found other businesses offer, that help to calm and relax stressed and anxious minds. Which is why, on this new Freebies page you will find lots of offers that caught my eye and I thought you may find useful. My plan is to continue to add to this page with things I spot as I go along. It is my little way of showing some support to help make things a bit better.... Many artists and creatives are doing similar things at this time. Please know that as a creative community, we are here for you! Many of us will struggle because of what is happening to our businesses right now, so all we ask is you please remember to support our little businesses if you can, whilst our online shops remain open... Talking of online shops. Over at my Etsy shop I have added some new sets of printable colour-in sheets, should you wish to take the colouring-in that little bit further. These printable files can also be used for personal card-making or scrapbooking projects. So there's plenty of scope to get creative and busy at this time. My Etsy shop is currently still open and stocked with lots of occasions cards. I am able to use Royal Mail's Click & Drop service to send cards out via the post box opposite our home. Please be assured that I always ensure my hands and desk area are very clean before packing orders (grubbiness and paper goods just do not mix and it has always been my routine). During UK lockdown, deliveries will be weekly and please expect some delays. To find out more about Royal Mail's service updates, here is a link to their site: https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12556/~/service-update One last thing...
This past week I have struggled a little with whether to keep the online shops going. However, also last week your online orders made it clear to me, that there is still a need to be able to choose and send birthday and anniversary cards, for example, to grandparents in isolation, or thinking of you cards to family and friends. It has been quite emotional to think what those cards now mean for the people they are intended for and I want to do all I can to ensure those cards get to them. So it is for those reasons I will try and keep those items available as long as possible. If you need to send a card with a message directly to someone, please drop me a note with your order and ensure I have the correct delivery address and I will make that happen for you. The card I would most like to send right now is a massive THANK YOU card to all the NHS and key workers for putting others before themselves, saving lives and keeping our country going. They are heroes, every single one of them. I hope that you all have a lovely April and make the most of spring by staying creative, staying safe, staying at home Best wishes |
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