Step Away From the Computer

Yeah. We work hard. We work long hours. We work on computers. Our work is also our passion. Our hobby. Our great love. It is hard work starting a business, getting new clients, sustaining a high level of fresh creativity. But we love it. We feel so completely blessed to be able to work from home and to work together. However, sometimes you just have to take a break. Step away from the computer and that's what we did yesterday.

Everyday we go for a walk or 2. We have to. You can't work like we do and not get exercise and fresh air. It's absolutely vital and is also an important part of our day. Anyway, we decided to go to the other end of the town and beach to the Harbour. We went to the Fish Market - beautiful, fresh local caught fish. And then we walked into town and went to a couple of local galleries. Steve has decided to start painting again and we thought we'd go see what local talent his up against! He really wants to do some paintings of our home here in Whitstable and capture its beauty being an historic coastal town.

It was just a fantastic time together. We got lots of exercise, fresh air and some quality time away from the computer. It's funny really as it completely fuelled our inspiration and we found we were so fired up for work this morning. Worth taking that time out and just push ourselves to walk a bit further and do something different from the every day routine.

Oh and here's a couple of photos that I took. Steve took the photo of us together - longer arms ha! Oh and the word prompt for HS|MS is "organise" so I took a photo of one of the book shelves of our art books.


Hope everyone has a great Thursday! x

Tagged - Wanna Know a Little More about Me?

How cool - I've been tagged by Marina

1. You must post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself for each beginning letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name.)
3. After you're tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and answers.
4. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged & need to read your blog for the details.)

Ok - don't have a middle name - my maiden name is ROONEY (yep, as in Mickey or if you're too young to get that, as in Wayne!). Rooney is also the name I use for work. Pinchbeck is my married name.

R - Redruth - my childhood home in Cornwall. Not Cornish but that's where I was brought up
O - Oslo - we moved to Oslo, Norway when I was in my teens for four years. Fantastic place to live!
O - Overweight - I've been overweight since having my four kids (youngest now 20ys old)! ha!
N - Nanny Di to my granddaughter - yep - only 44yrs old and a grandmother. Ultra cool!
E - Eldest - I am the eldest of four though my youngest brother died when he was a baby
Y - Yuck - food I don't like: shellfish, rice pudding, milk, offal, cream, macaroni, grapefruit, lamb,

So... that's a little more than you knew before eh?

Hmmm who to tag - let me think - it has to be Caz - Sorry Caz - just had to do it :)
x

Tuesday Thoughts

Steve and I went to Hobbycraft yesterday and it was just fantastic. Although Steve's a graphic designer and 3d product creator working mainly on a computer, he's an artist through and through and wants to get back to painting in oils and getting more "hands on". Especially since moving to Whitstable. It's got a fab art and craft vibe. You just want to be creative. It's so inspirational.

Anyway, we bought some canvasses - all half price and a bunch of other bits and pieces. Last night Steve sorted out all his art supplies and is now itching to get painting. He wants to do some seascapes intially but we also talked about doing some small canvasses and hand made craft presents for our family for Christmas this year. Yep. I said Christmas! ha! You have to plan early when doing craft presents. I want to do some altered art projects and bought a 12x12 canvas. Not sure what I'm going to yet but want to use my own digi products somehow.

So I thought it was appropriate to take some photos of my man working. Thinking - HS|MS word prompt is "think". Working. He's working on a new 3d product - a dance studio and should be finished today. Hopefully. As we need to get it submitted and working on our next product.


Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

Monday Again

Wow! Another week has started. Just can't believe it. There's so much I want to achieve this year and it's slipping away so quickly. Hope I have enough time. The weeks are flying by... oh and it's February 1st this week!

Been out all day today and then had a 2hr nap when I came home. Shame I couldn't take a photo of that really as the word prompt at Her Space | My Space is "Snooze". Ha! My photo is of my computer just about to be put into "sleep" mode before I went out this morning. I know that's not really snooze but kinda eh? My computer snoozes until I need it again hahaha!

Snuggling

Feeling much better today but not great. Should be back to normal by tomorrow which is good as Steve and I are going out on Monday. He wants to get some new art supplies - easel, boards, oils, acrylics, etc.. so we're going to Maidstone. Going to also pop into Hobbycraft and then the best ever - we're going to Ikea.. whooo hoo - love Ikea. Won't do my diet any good. Gonna buy some Swedish goodies. Oh and a bunch of storage stuff we desperately need. So I need to be back to normal by Monday morning.

Today is "Saturday Self Portrait" at HS|MS. Ugh! What to do? And then I thought I should just take a photo of me snuggling up where I've been the past 2 days. In my chair, in the living room with my snuggly Ikea travel rug, my homemade cushion. Laptop. Tv. Yay. All set. All joking aside. I hate this time of the month. The pain is horrendous and I can't move due to flooding. You all know what I mean. So I honestly thought it would be a good photo to have for my collage at the end of the year.

Hope you all have a great Saturday!

Those Three Little Words

Went to my sister's yesterday. Was great. We went shopping and managed to get most of what we needed for our parents 45th Wedding Anniversary. Shhhh! It's a surprise. I got home earlier than I thought but went downhill fast. My mood changed dramatically. Rotten time of the month. In pain. Miserable beyond belief. And just couldn't shake the blues. It was made worse because I was working on a 3d product with my hubby that we need to get finished asap and I lost all my motivation. That was it gone.

I sat and cried. Felt worse. And at about 6pm went to bed. Just for a nap. Steve woke me at just after 7pm and I did feel much better. Still in pain. Zapped that with some heavy duty pain killers but my mood was lifted a bit. Steve put dinner on and went into the office. There on my monitor was a post-it note. "I love You". I cannot tell you how much that really lifted my mood. What a darling my husband is. Just a simple, silly little post-it with "I love you" scrawled on it. Well not scrawled so much. Steve never scrawls anything. It has to be a bit fancy in one way or another.

Magical words. I love you. We say them a lot. Just the way we are. Not in a cliche mushy way. We say them. Simple. And yet that small gesture in the written word touched me deeply.

Set the mood for the evening. We had dinner. I did some more work even though I still wasn't "into it". And then about 9ish I decided to go and sit in the living room and just do some hands crafting. I got all my fabrics, ribbons, buttons and other such bits and pieces and made a bunch of fabric flowers. Not quite sure what I'm going to do with them. I made a bunch of them before in pretty blues and pinks. I scanned them, cleaned them up and sold them as digi scrap embellishments. Wondering whether they would be good for trad scrapbooking?
Anyway, I'll do something with them. For me it's just about being crafty and creative. I love using all the odd bits and pieces most people throw away. I keep meaning to sort out my Nan's buttons. She used to keep everything and had a couple of tins full of buttons. I played with them when I was little. My aunt sent them to me recently and they are just fab. I spent hours soaking them and cleaning them up and now I need to do something with them.

Ok - I digress as always. So yeah. HS|MS prompt for today is "Three" which is perfect. I've taken a photo of the post-it note my hubby left on my monitor. It's now stuck on my "to do" notebook on my desk so ignore all my scrawling notes.


Oh I almost forgot, here's my photo from yesterday. I did take it yesterday with every intention of posting it but obviously didn't happen. These are my pins for my cork board. They only overflow because I'm always knocking them over. Keep meaning to put them away.

Hope everyone has a fab day today!
x

Loo Paper, a Freebie and a Tutorial

Whoohoo - just a quickie today. Got lots on and I'm out all day tomorrow planning my parents 45th wedding anniversary with my sister. So yeah. Lots to do. Places to go.

First of all, I got a freebie for you. A couple of really pretty overlays. In 12x12 and A4 (for the UK girls!) sizes. And I also did a tutorial for using overlays for those that might not be too sure. I noticed so many are just beginning to do digi scrapping. I think this year is going to be exciting (in the UK) with lots new people joining the digi revolution! Yay!

You can grab the Freebie Overlays here in my store. Tutorial is here.

Oh here's the loo paper. Word prompt at HS|MS is "tube":

Hope everyone has a fab Wednesday!
x

Sunshine at Last

The sun is shining. At last. Yay! It's alot colder though which is ok. It is January! ha! So going to have a really good long walk today. Make the most of it not raining. Yesterday was just awful gale force winds and driving rain and its been like that for a few days now. I did go out but my goodness, it was mad.

I spent the day finishing off another one of my digital fabric/craft packs. I love doing these kits. For those that might not have seen them before, they are sets of seamless tiles and embellishments. I create them mainly for my 2d texturing projects but they also seem to sell well to hybrid crafters including card makers. So I need to get this little one all packaged up and uploaded to my store. Also working on some new freebies for my blog and hope to get them finished for tomorrow.

[image is clickable]

Oh and my photo for HS|MS is of a pile of washing waiting to be ironed. Yep. Lots of wrinkles. Oh you didn't honestly think I was going to do a self portrait and show my wrinkles?! I don't think so. Especially since I've not been up long. Wrinkles. Puffy eyes. Nope. Wrinkles in my washing is all you're gonna get!

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!
x

4:30 am

Wide awake. Couldn't get back to sleep so up I got. Ugh! I'd only just gone to bed. Well, just about midnight anyway. I went on my computer. Did some email catch up; surfin' round forums and also a bit of work. Groovy. Or "cruisin'" as my 20 yr old daughter says.

So today is supposed to be the worst day of the year for depression and feeling fed-up or blue. Blue Monday. Apparantly. Not me. Even though I'm dog tired - I did have a bit of a nap about 8am - I refuse to be depressed or bothered about today. I'm gonna be up. Going to go and have a lovely warm shower and then go for a nice brisk walk before the rain that's forecast for this afternoon. It is gale force winds though so who knows what's going to happen once I get to the beach! Ugh! Gotta do it though. That's the drawback with working from home on a computer everyday. Your backside spreads big time. You gotta get up and walk. Move around. I do that every half hour actually. Move around. And then once a day I try to go for a long walk with hubby!

Because I'm just so tired, I've kinda cheated with my photo challenge today. The word prompt at HS|MS is "ring". "Find ring in your space". It's a photo of my granddaughter happily playing with her rings. Not taken today obviously but I did edit it signficantly in Photoshop so I think that counts ;)

Oh and this just happens to be my 100th post! Cruisin'! Happy Monday everyone! Positive thinking! x

Still Raining

Yep. Rain, rain go away. Gale force winds as well. Never mind, it is January. Guess we shouldn't expect Spring/Summer weather this time of year! ha!

I spent the day cleaning the house, doing washing and generally sorting out and tidying up. I also sat and watched a DVD this afternoon. What a luxury! It was Pearl Harbour. Wow! That bombing scene really takes your breath away and to think that really happened. Ugh! Fantastic film. Thoroughly enjoyed it even though I've seen it before.

It's "show off Sunday" at Her Space|My Space and I decided to show off a photo collage that I did just before Christmas. I created it for my sister and her hubby of my little niece, Coral. I'd done one of their older daughter a couple of years ago which they absolutely loved and "commissioned" me to do one of Coral. I was very pleased with the final image and it looks just fab printed and framed. All photographs were taken by me. My family are used to me now. The old camera goes where I go!

Happy Sunday Evening, everyone! :)

Slowly but Surely

Yep. Slowly but surely. It gets easier. I have so much emotional baggage from my first marriage. So many hurts still. As each one raises its ugly head, I deal with it and move on. And thank God for my Steve. He's so patient with me. Last night I had another kinda melt down. Long story. Not going to go into. Woke up this morning feeling so much better.

So interesting that it's "self portrait Saturday" at Her Space | My Space. I took some photos of my self and was quite shocked that my expression was so contemplative and "deep". I just had to do a layout because I felt the need to have this one in my "book of me" album. Another part of my journey! I have a very deep faith in God and that's what I felt this morning. Forgiveness. God's Grace in my life. And that feeling of "it's ok, everything will be ok".

[image clickable]

Hope everyone has a great weekend! x

QVC UK - Craft Day - Whooohoooo!

Yep - I feel really daft but I'm so excited - it's almost midnight which means "Craft Day" all day at QVC here in the UK. Whooohooo! Very rarely by anything but always find it inspiring. Just love watching craft stuff while I'm crafting/or on my pc is a bonus ! x

Weekend!

Surely not?! But yep. Lo and behold we are staring at another weekend. So where did this week go?!

Got a lot on as always. Going to go and visit my little granddaughter, Jorja. Sunshine in my life. Precious girl that she is. Just 13 months old and so funny. Full of character. And oh so smart. Yeah, yeah I know, I would say that. Alas, it's true. She's a smart little girl. This photo was taken back in August and then edited somewhat in PSCS2 by my hubby.
And then the rest of the weekend, I'm going to be doing some digiscrapping tutorials for my website. Most of them are done. I just never seem to get round to getting them online. So gotta fine tune a few and get what I can uploaded. Also, working on some new kits and freebies.

Oh and here's my photo for hs|ms. The word prompt is "dangle" and first thing I thought of was my candle decs. I lived in Norway and Sweden for a few years when I was younger and fell in love with their homes and their use of candles. Oh and Ikea. Yep been shopping at Ikea for 30 yrs now. Started off with Mum and Dad going. They still have their bed that they bought in Norway all those years ago. Was thrilled beyond belief when Ikea came to the UK.

So yeah, I digress. My photo is of my little flower/ribbon decs for my candles. I got them from Sweden on my last visit about 3 yrs ago. Love them.
Happy Friday, everyone! x

Moving On

Yep. Time to move on. I've been working on these 2d textures for too long. I'm thoroughly fed up and just want to start something new. I love my work but this set is annoying me now. But it's my bread and butter so I have to push through and get them finished.

Part of the problem is that I'm itching, itching to do some new digi kits. Not done any for a while now. I really want to get my online store working for me. Like really working. Earning real money. Really need to look at getting some good marketing and advertising sorted out. I want to pitch it right. To the UK market as well as Europe and USA. Takes time. That's what my hubby and business owning Dad tells me all the time. It takes time. Be patient. No success overnight.

So yeah. Move on. Get cracking. Get my bum moving. Going to do some digi stuff tonight. No matter whether I'm finished work or not. Surely I can take time out to do something different in the evening?!! Yep. Of course. That's the problem with working from home. Never really switch off. After dinner and watching a couple of soaps or tv, I got straight back to my pc and work until about 1 or 2am! So yeah - tonight - going to start some new digi stuff.

Oh yeah - hs|ms - today's prompt is "number". Well, I bought this excellent "one day to view" desk calendar which has amazing inspirational prompts, sayings and quotes. Brilliant. So just had to take a photo of today's date!x Hope everyone has a great day! x

Inspiration

Funny thing. Inspiration. I had a rotten day yesterday in regards to work. I couldn't concentrate. I felt completely uninspired. Nothing was working. I struggled all day. Nothing. Ugh! I even went for a walk in the bitter cold, gale force winds and horizontal rain. Still nothing. That usually works for me. Remove myself from the computer and office and do something unrelated. But not yesterday.

By the time Steve and I switched off our computers, I felt thoroughly depressed. I want to be a successful graphic designer and digital artist and it's important to keep inspired and motivated. Steve was wonderful as ever and pointed out some home truths about the work that we do. That there are days when nothing works and nothing flows. And that's ok.

So then this morning I wake up and can't wait to start the day. One of the first things I do is check my email, blogs and forums. And of course HS|MS. Prompt word being "indulge". How cool. Steve indulged me a couple of days ago with some beautiful fresh cut flowers - white lilys. I love them so much. I often indulge myself this way. I really love having fresh flowers here in my office.

I decided to indulge myself more by spending some time doing a bit of art with the photos I took. A digi layout of sorts. It was quite indulgent considering I have a couple of work deadlines I need to be working on. It was good as I was feeling inspired to be creative and that fuelled my motivation for work. Oh and I wasn't that pleased with the photos I took. Out of focus. Bad composition. etc.. And so here's my digi layout:


I created the background by starting off with a beautiful blended art digi paper created by my dear friend, Denise. She no longer creates digi products as she's concentrating on her beautiful family after recently emigrating to the USA. Her work is just fab and so inspiring. She still does lots of photography though which you can see on her personal blog.

Anyway, yeah, I started out with a paper Denise created and then used various brushes to add further dimension and texture. I then added a couple of the photos I took of my lilys this morning and blended them into the background using masks, brushes and layer blend modes. The cardboard background for the photo is by Scrapadelic - I love Ronna's work. The swirls are various brushes that I've got and created in Photoshop. The journal strip is also by Denise. I think that's it. Took me just over an hour and a half to create.

On with work while I'm feeling up and inspired! x

All That Jazz

Steve just got a couple of new cds from Amazon and he's playing the Miles Davies one. Jazz. So mellow. So uber cool. So perfect for working to. But it also makes me feel like I want to go to one of those really cool jazz clubs in London. Nice romantic meal. Jazz band playing live. Laid back. Easy. Yeah. Would love that.

Ok - reality - it's pouring with rain and gale force winds outside. Just perfect for my hs|ms photo. The word prompt is away. And that's what's been happening. Everything that isn't nailed down is blowing away. Ugh! We live in a ground floor flat and have beautiful communal gardens but nowhere safe to put our bin ugh! And so when we get hit with high winds, our bin likes to get blown away.

So yeah - we heard a big bang and knew the bin had gone over for the millionth time but before I let Steve go sort it out, I just had to kneel down and get a photo. Believe it or not me and camera got soaked in just the few seconds it took to take the photo.. Not good.

Personally, if I'm working, this is my favourite weather. Also, cold or snowing. I love to look out on the bad weather while I'm wrapped up warm working on my pc. In the Spring/Summer, I just want to get out. I don't feel it's right to be indoors working but work I must come rain or shine!
x

Sensibility and Music

Had a very lazy day yesterday. Just really did nothing. I was on work overload and somehow just couldn't concentrate so decided to just do nothing. I always find that I'm able to do much better work and get more inspired after taking a whole day off every now and then.

I love that I can work from home. I love being a digital artist but I never know when to walk away from it as it's also my hobby and passion.

Anyway, yesterday. Watched some tv and doodled in my sketch book. Also went for a really long walk with hubby to the beach. Windy and freezing cold but nice to get some exercise and fresh air.

Today I'm working on creating some textures for a Georgian styled 3d dress. Funnily enough I watched "Sense and Sensibility" last night so grabbed loads of ideas for the textures. I love doing this kind of work. It's a bit like dressing up those paper dolls. Remember them? They used to be in the comics when I was little.

For those that aren't quite sure what texturing 3d model is exactly...I'll try to explain. 3d models are meshes. They are created a bit like a sculptor works but it's all done on a computer - my hubby is a 3d artist. Anyway, once the 3d mesh is completed, it needs textures to look real and that's where I come in. I create the textures in Photoshop and when completed they are applied to the 3d mesh.

Think Shrek. 3d model. Next time you watch a 3d film, look at the textures. The clothes. I mainly do clothing textures. And mainly for my hubby's work but also for Daz3D - that's my store at Daz3D.

So yeah. Being sensible today haha and creating pretty Georgian styled textures!

Oh and here's my HS|MS photo. Today's prompt is cd's. I have 100s and 100s but here's the ones that we play the most in our office. We do change them out every now and then. Quite an eclectic collection really:



x

Show Off Sunday

Interesting. Following on from my previous post, I decided to show off this layout that I created last year. I wanted to create something that was "me" to show my creative side. My love for digital art. Hubby took the photo.

Most of the layout is my own work - papers etc.. The stamps, brushes (as in paint brushes) and alpha are from scrapgirls.com.

Just Me

So I decided that this year I wanted to take part in some kind of daily challenge with the view that it would help me post to my blog everyday. I love to blog but I'm not the most organised of people (although hubby will tell you different) and time just disappears and lo and behold, I didn't blog.

Anyway, so I decided to go for HS|MS but what I didn't realise was that they do a "self portrait saturday" thing. Great! Self portraits. Too hard. Don't like me very much. Have low self esteem. Although it is getting better since marrying Steve.

Long story cut short for those of you that don't me - I was married previously to my "childhood sweetheart" for 20 odd years. We had four children - all now grown up in their early twenties. As my kids grew up, I realised I wasn't happy in my marriage. Could never really put a finger on why. Just felt cut off from my husband. Not the most communicative of people. Oh and anyway I wasn't happy so decided to talk to him about it with a view of fixing it and "starting fresh". But he had other plans. He told me that he was transgendered. He wants to be a woman. He is a woman trapped in a man's body.

Long story. Too much to go into. But one of the results of that was it impacted me as a woman. I suddenly felt very unattractive; self esteem shot to pieces etc... lots of stuff going on with me really. And then I met my Steve. I'd worked with him online. We were good friends for about a year or two and then just met and the rest is history. We've been married for almost a year.

He's been good for me. He is good for me. He's a real man's man. I love men to be men. I like being the "weaker" sex. I like being a woman with a man who's strong but also gentle and kind. Do you know what I mean?

So yeah. Me. After having four kids in 3 yrs (last pregnancy was twins) at just 20 yrs old, I'm now 44yrs old and for the first time in my life, discovering what it's like to be a woman. Being just me. Diane. Who's Diane? Never had a career. Just looked after and brought up my wonderful, beautiful kids! Time for me.

My life is so different now. Just me and Steve. We work together and are together more or less 24/7. I know. Lots of you couldn't stand that but it works for us. It works for me.

He's an artist and graphic designer. He has supported me in my pursuit of wanting to also be an artist/graphic designer. Something I dabbled with for many years just as a hobby. I've always been a crafter..always done something with my hands. And then my Dad gave me a computer when my kids were quite young to help him do some work. Bit of extra pin money. Well, I totally got into computers and the internet way back in 1994 and loved creating computer art.

Self taught digital artist here.

Back to self portraits. No. I don't think so. Yesterday was crazy busy so I didn't have a chance to really get to blog or do a photo. It gave a chance to think further about it and suddenly realised it might be a good thing. Start doing self portraits. Learn to accept me more. And then I thought more. How about a photo of "just me". First thing in the morning. No lotions and potions. No brushed hair. No make-up. No posing. Just me.

Well truth be told. It's quite scary. Scary photo. Scary experience. But necessary. It feels like that's a good place to begin. The beginning. The plain truth. This is me. 44 yrs old. Wife. Artist. Crafter. Mother. Grandmother. Daughter. Sister. Aunt. Niece. Friend Yeah. Yeah. You know the stuff.

I have bad skin. Really bad skin. I got very ill 2 yrs ago with anaemia due to a period from hell. Collapsed. Rushed into hospital. Couldn't breathe. Had anaemia. Who knew anaemia could make you so ill? So then I was given a Mirena IUD to control my out of control hellish periods and the side affects is weight gain and acne - not just spots - it's very red and blotchy. Joy. Great joy. So another reason to not like me. I look horrific. But somehow someone loves me anyway. They saw through this shell of mine. And fell in love with me. They saw my heart. Yay!

Anyway, here's the photo. A day late. And for those of you that have read this far - thank you for your patience and for reading. It's actually been a very cathartic experience writing this all down. A good start to this New Year to be doing this.

Cold

Brrr too right, its freezing today. We live on the north Kent coast and the north wind whistles down that coast line! Hubby and I try to go out for walks every day depending on how bad the weather is during winter. It's been dark, gloomy, rainy and the wind has been cold. So I laughed when I saw the HS|MS word for the day was "Cold". Ha! You're not kidding. So yeah, the cold skies of the north Kent coastline.

Giving it a Go!

So I thought I'd give this daily challenge thing a go - for me, I've chosen Her Space | My Space. Mainly because it's so simple. A word. A photograph. Every day life. No complications. I wanted to be able to add something significant to my blog daily as well as my own wafflings about my life. Taking photos is another good way of documenting my life. So it's win win all the way round.

I have to warn you though - I'm not a photographer. I love my camera - Canon EOS 350D and I love taking photographs but I'm not a photographer and don't want to be one. To me it's all part of my desire to create art - digital art. I love this medium. My camera is just another tool for me as is my precious Photoshop, fab fast PC and other digital goodies.

So yeah. Gotta give it a go.

This is my Thread photo. I have lots of thread. Tons of the blooming stuff. I'm a crafter doncha know?! But the first thing I thought of was my little trinket box I got for Christmas from my beautiful friend Dana. It's a Boyd's Bear collectable and is perfectly chosen for me. I was so excited to recieve that in the post. Dana is an online friend of 10 yrs and so cool that she knows me that well!

This little fella sits on my window sill right next to my desk.

Goals

The beginning of a New Year is always so great for resolutions and goals. I've got new goals for this year. Steve and I went out and bought a magnetic white board, 3 month to view wall calendar and a little desk day to view calendar for me. We want to be more organised re: our work this year.

I also got a couple of lovely journal books for my birthday and I'm using one of them to do daily "to do" lists. It's helping me stay focused day by day.

We found that last year went very quickly and while we loved the work that we did and achieved, we also know that there was a lot we wanted to do but didn't and a lot of it was due to lack of organisation and being focused. Planning.

So one of my goals this year is to be more focused and plan work and leisure time.

I want to create more themed and seasonal products this year and it means working a couple of months or more ahead the whole time. I need to visually see that on our calendar/board. I don't want to miss opportunities for either my 3d or 2d products re: seasonal/themed. Time goes by so quickly and suddenly we are looking at Valentine's Day and then Easter, Spring and Summer. So many opportunities right there for products.

So yeah - more organised and better planning.

Pixie Primrose

Finally, finally finished working on my latest product with my hubby! Pixie Primrose is a 3d character, texture, clothing and scene set for Aiko 3, a cute 3d figure available from Daz3D. Steve did all the modelling for the clothing and the scene as well as texturing the scene and I put together the clothing textures.

I loved that I was able to use my own fabric packs for texturing the clothing. Cool eh? As much as I loved working on this set, I'm glad to be shot of it now. I get like that with all I'm working on. I love it, love it, love it and oh then I just want it to go away. Next please.

Anyway, here's some promos of Pixie Primrose - isn't she so cute?

[Click to see larger image]

Kick Start

First real, back to work week. Yay! Had a wonderful birthday Saturday - 44yrs old - wow - where'd those yrs. go? I love having my birthday right at the beginning of January. Kinda fits in with wanting to start fresh... same time every year.

This year feels different... I'm really excited now to get this year kick started. Lots of new goals and resolutions including losing weight and getting healthy.

I've ordered a year planner and a new desk diary. Got some nice journal books, sketch pads and other art/craft/work goodies for my birthday so I'm all set for this new year.

Been working on a 3d model/scene and texture set with hubby and now just ready for it to be finished. I love my work but I always get tetchy towards the end of a project. For some reason, this has taken us so much longer than we had planned but finally there's light at the end of the tunnel.

And then I've got a couple of fabric packs to finish; a new 3d pose/texture pack to do and more digi scrap products for my new store. Actually the work load is unending. Good thing really. I'm a workaholic. I think. I love my work. I'm blessed to be able to do this work and from home. I do know when to stop though and love nothing more than going out for walks with hubby and visiting my family or having visits from them.

I just know that it's a blessing to wake up each morning and just be so excited about the day! Work and all.

2008 - New Year - New Hope

Wow - 2008 - already. It's exciting. I like that "new year" feeling. A chance to "start afresh". Make some new goals and resolutions. I know it's cliche but it's good. It feel great to be staring fresh in a New Year.

Today, I've been cleaning the flat. De-Christmassing and cleaning. I love Christmas so much and am sad when I have to put everything away but today I feel excited about this New Year and starting off with a nice, clean tidy fresh home seems the right thing to do.

Also, started a "internal cleansing" ha! Diet. Well, I don't like to call it a diet. Just being more aware of what I eat. Eating sensibly and exercising more so I continue to lose weight and get down to my "pre-baby" weight. Considering my last babies were born over 20 yrs ago, it's going to be interesting to see if that goal can be achieved. Actually, all I want is to be a little healthier than I am now and comfortable in terms of my weight. Not stick model thin but not hugely fat like I am now either. Something in the middle will be fine. So yeah. New Year. New routine.

It's the same with work. I don't really like calling it that. Work. It doesn't feel like work to me. I love what I do. I love that I can sit at my computer creating "pretty graphics" and make a living. I'm truly blessed to be able to do that. And be at home with my husband 24/7. Now I know a lot of you would be climbing the walls at the thought of that but not me. I met my husband through work - through the same kind of work - graphic design - 3d artist and so we have an awful lot in commone. We work well together and are great companions. It just really works for us. It's great fun every day. We do a lot of brainstorming for new products and new ways of earning money through this medium, creating digital art.

And my family. I want to spend more time with my sons, daughter (when she gets home from New Zealand) and my granddaughter. Also my sister and her little girls. Family is what it's all about. Being together. Loving each other and enjoying precious moments creating memories. Again, I know its cliche but it's really really true.

We spent a wonderful evening bringin in the New Year at my sister's with my family. It was a great evening and a wonderful way to see out 2007 and bring in 2008.

Bring it on! x