Tag: create

The Creative Year

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It’s a little dream of mine to support my family through creative work, so when I see other mothers making a go at this I get really excited for them and want to help them find success. So, when my friend Ellie told me she was developing an e-course where she would teach her crafty skills to others over the course of a year, I was not only excited to learn her creative techniques, but also to see her succeed in turning her creative passions into a sustainable source of income for her young family.

{ Long-time readers of the blog will know that I have a series on Creative Mothers and Ellie fits right into the inspiring group of women. }

Natural dyed yarn Hippie in Disguise Plant dye Creative Year

 

Having a modest readership here I wanted to share a little about the course with you in case it might interest you or someone you know. Sign up is ongoing, meaning you can start the course at any point in the year, but there is an early bird discount that ends December 15th

You can read all about the course on Ellie’s website Petalplum and ask her questions directly via her Instagram account @petalplum or through her contact information on her website.

Here’s a little bit about The Creative Year course that I copied from her webpage:

“Imagine a whole year learning new skills, new crafts, new techniques & connecting with a community of like-minded creatives! Connecting heart, mind & hands you’ll learn how to make things for your home, your friends, your body, yourself.

  • You’ll get practical how-tos combined with thoughtful essays on being creative & finding your voice.
  • Each month you’ll receive video how-tos as well as downloadable written & illustrated information on a different project & creative technique.
  • Some months will include more than one technique (i.e. – basket weaving will also include easy tips on how to naturally dye your raffia).
  • The activities are designed to fit around family life and are perfect for beginners or great if you want to change up your current creative makings

The aim of the course is to grow and expand your skills, but also to spend a month dedicating to one new craft at a time.

  • Each project will be a surprise, but as an example, some will be: + Raffia basket making + Natural & botanical dyeing + Fabric printing + Crochet + Stitch work + Weaving + Necklaces and more…..”

Read all about The Creative Year course (and sign up!) on Petalplum blog.

Happy making!

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Have you subscribed to the Global Guardian Project yet? These are monthly learning capsules for children and families to learn about global stewardship. Each month features a different country’s wild life, landscape and challenges, and includes art projects, activities, meditation, recipes and more! Use my discount code: HIPPIEINDISGUISE for 10% off, you can read more about it here

 

In the News: Project Calm, Mindfulness through Making

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GIC_08_calmcoveruk

A few months ago I was approached to contribute to a new magazine titled Project Calm, a mindful magazine for creative types. Project Calm is all about “mindfulness through making”. It was an honour to be asked to contribute as mindful creativity is to close to my heart and soul. It’s also serendipitous that the magazine was launched during the Slow Living month focused on nurturing, given the magazine aims to help busy folk slow down and nurture themselves through craft, encouraging us all to channel our energies into creating mindful beauty.

Bringing mindfulness to craft and creativity is so important (which I wrote a little about here, in relation to picking flowers and making flower crowns), both in terms of the personal, spiritual and mental health benefits of mindfulness, but also the environmental benefits of being mindful about how and what we create. I am always inclined to create from natural materials as much as possible, so that our projects have no waste from packaging and is fully compostable (for example, Ro’s halloween Mother Nature costume, made from real leaves, or our holiday Botanical Advent).

For this first issue of Project Calm, I contributed my Real Flower Temporary Tattoos tutorial. It is so exciting to see my work in print!

GIC_08_p8-9_naturenews_72dpiCopies are almost sold out, so if you’d like one order soon. They are available for purchase here.

Here’s a little sample of what you’ll find in the issue among the four sections covering Home, Nature, Travel and Mind & Body:

  • Paper-based crafts to make, colour & create
  • Positive features to inspire and enrich
  • Case studies and profiles of successful creatives
  • Travel, retreats and courses to try
  • Papercutting template on card
  • Paper animal kits
  • Poster with floral illustrations

Or, you can take a look at the preview here…

 

Thank you to my friend Erin, the florist, who collected discarded petals and flowers for my tattoo project. And, thank you to Kate for connecting my work to the folks at Project Calm.

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Photo by @lillalinaea

Slow Living Project: Create, take 2

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Photo by @veronikagphotography
Photo by @earth_mamma

What a beautiful month it was for the Slow Living Project, with our focus word ‘create’ there were so many inspired moments shared through the #slowliving_create hashtag — over 3200 in fact! The images were not only beautiful, but more importantly captured the spirit of creativity and creation in a slow and intentional way : slowly working away at a creative project over days and weeks, bringing slow intentional creativity to our time with our children, bringing our creative spirit outdoors, gathering, building, decorating, creating family traditions and even creating life (both plant and animal).

You can view all the contributions to the gallery here. Thank you to everyone for sharing and inspiring others.

Photo by @lillalinaea

Photo by @lillalinaea

Photo by @fareisle

Photo by @fareisle

Photo by @veronikagphotography

Photo by @veronikagphotography

Photo by @onbeing_kristy / @onbeing_mom

Photo by @onbeing_kristy / @onbeing_mom

Photo by @lightlovers

Photo by @lightlovers

Photo by @devine_tribe

Photo by @devine_tribe

Photo by @aplayfulday

Photo by @aplayfulday

Photo by @aspetalsfall

Photo by @aspetalsfall

Photo by @vanillalemoncake

Photo by @vanillalemoncake

Photo by @sapphireandlars

Photo by @sapphireandlars

Photo by @travel.little.one

Photo by @travel.little.one

Photo by @heartenohana

Photo by @heartenohana

Photo by @growingwildthings

Photo by @growingwildthings

Photo by @joyfulnoisephoto

Photo by @joyfulnoisephoto

Photo by @earth_mamma

Photo by @earth_mamma

Photo by @lessmeansmoreproject

Photo by @lessmeansmoreproject

Photo by @mommetry

Photo by @mommetry

Photo by @findingjoyforus

Photo by @findingjoyforus

Photo by @mama_2thelittleones

Photo by @mama_2thelittleones

Photo by @littlekinjournal

Photo by @littlekinjournal

Photo by @ambertia

Photo by @ambertia

Melanie’s selections can be found over on her blog www.geoffreyandgrace.com.

Congratulations to those who were selected for the blog, and thank you very much to everyone who has added their special moments to the hashtag gallery. With over 3200 entries to the gallery we were overwhelmed by the participation this month. Each image left us with something some sort of inspiration. As with last month’s theme ‘love’, there’s no reason to stop using the hashtag on your images, you never know who or what it might inspire in someone else.

As mentioned on my Instagram account earlier this month, April will bring back another favourite theme ‘Bloom and Harvest’. This time around the seasons have switched, with it being spring in northern hemisphere and fall in the southern hemisphere. Like the first time, we would love to see how you capture the colour and beauty of these seasons. Use the hashtag #slowliving_bloomandharvest to include your photos in the gallery. Please feel free to join in even if you have never participated before. As usual, Melanie and I will curate a collection of our favourites at the end of the month to share on Instagram, our blogs, and on our Pinterest board ‘Slow Living Moments’.

In December we started using the hashtag #slowliving_ for all our images in the project. Feel free to use it yourself, especially for any photos you love but don’t feel quite fit the theme of the month.

You can find selections from other themes here: “explore” “nurture” “love” “renew” “raise” “bloom and harvest” “create” “gather”

Thank you to everyone who shares photos and inspires us to live slowly, wholeheartedly, with gratitude. Best wishes for a beautiful and colourful month! xo, Danielle

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You might also like my post:

Ecominimalism: Minimalism & Sustainability, an Interview with @twentyventi

How to Get Started with Minimalism

How to Make All Natural Temporary Tattoos from Dried Flowers

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Such Wild Grace egg in hand

Slow Living: Create

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What a beautiful month it was for the Slow Living Project, with our focus on creativity we saw so many inspired moments shared through the #slowliving_create hashtag. Melanie and I have picked some of our favourites to share on our blogs (see Melanie’s here). The images were not only beautiful, but more importantly captured the spirit of creativity and creation in a slow and intentional way, whether it was bringing creativity to breakfast or a simple moment on the beach, slowly working away at a creative project over days and weeks, or bringing slow intentional creativity to our time with our children.

I absolutely love the symbolism of creativity here, and goodness knows you can’t rush an egg. Photo by Leah @sangthebird

Such Wild Grace egg in hand

The slow and creative process of naturally dyed yarn and gathering flowers. Photo by Fleur @teaandfleur

Fleur Lyon

Slow afternoons mother and son collaborating in the art studio. Photo by Kaylan @emeraldhomestead

Creative breakfasts: there are opportunities to be creative all day long. Photo by Erin @ekwetzel

A creative project can take a year or just a few minutes, but it always gives back to the soul. Photo by Katrien @growingwildthings

Stunning images of slow creation throughout Faith’s gallery, demonstrating a seasoned understanding and interconnection with creativity and slow intentional living. Photo and artwork by Faith @faithevanssills

 

 

Photo by @faithevanssills

Illustration of a slow creative family, a drawing that is part of a slow artistic project to create homesteading colouring sheets. Illustration and photo by Michelle @danceypantsdisco

Like an egg, you can’t rush a flower. Patience to wait for the right day to gather flowers and creative talent to know how to bring a vision to life. Photo by Kaity @fareisle

Photo by @fareisle

Creative photography captured ‘slow’ perfectly in this stunning image. Photo by Ali @ali_dover

A slow project made from found and gathered items. When you work with what is available you can’t have a pre-determined end result, the slow creative process leads the way. Macrame and photo by Alana @alanadorothy

Stunning floral mask and photo by Mer @mer_mag. It is worth visiting this photo on her gallery because her caption captured my sentiments exactly about slow creativity and working with natural objects as art materials. Excerpt: “Nature give back to you in ways that paper can’t…nature is a living thing that shares some of its life with you…working with flowers there is a delicacy involved…a limited timeframe…[but] you can’t force nature.”

Photo by @mer_mag

Congratulations to those who were selected for the blog, and thank you very much to everyone who has added their creative moments to the hashtag. Every image left us with something to think about and some sort of inspiration. As with last month’s theme ‘explore’, there’s no reason to stop using the hashtag on your images, you never know who or what it might inspire or lead to.

Now, on to October’s theme. This month with fall in full swing in the northern hemisphere and spring bursting forth in the southern hemisphere, we wanted a theme that could capture the colour and beauty of these seasons. So, for October our theme is ‘bloom and harvest’, using the hashtag #slowliving_bloomandharvest. Please feel free to join in and add the hashtag to your images that fit the theme. As usual, we will curate a collection of our favourites at the end of the month to share on Instagram, our blogs, and *new* on our Pinterest board ‘Slow Living Moments’. If you are on Pinterest come find us there: Danielle ‘hippieidisguise’ and Melanie ‘geoffreyngrace’.

Thank you, again, and if you’d like to read about last month’s theme ‘explore’ you can find it here.

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Slow Living Project: Explore

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slow living project hippie in disguise nico nico clothing

What an incredible first month for the Slow Living Project. Thank you to everyone who contributed photos to the #slowliving_explore hashtag. Melanie and I have been positively overwhelmed by your interest and excitement for the project and for living a slower, more intentional lifestyle, and hugely inspired by your photographs and the moments you captured.

At our last check, there were over 850 photos under the hashtag. We never expected this level of participation a few weeks ago when we first shared the idea with you. Needless to say, it was quite a task (with lots of enjoyment) to look through the photos. We reviewed each and everyone one, and came up with about 70 photos we absolutely loved. We eliminated a few based on the fact that some were too similar (family on the beach, person on a rock), because we wanted to share the greatest variety of moments. Please know that our selections are only a sample of the beauty and inspiration to be found when you explore the hashtag. We applaud everyone’s contributions!

Ultimately, I chose my favourites based on how well the image captured the theme of ‘explore’ but in a slow living way, where the subjects were living in the moment, connected to the earth in spirit or literally with their bare hands, feet and skin. Exploring in both a mental and physical sense. If you don’t see your photograph here, please continue to participate, we hope to find new and inspiring photos and photographers each month.

slow living project

Rida @ridasj

slow living project

Sharlene @warnjai

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated and congratulations to those who were selected for my post and Melanie’s. Thank you to the friends, bloggers, shops and others who shared this project with their friends and family, we really appreciate the support and hope that this community will grow each month.

The theme for September is CREATE, using the hashtag #slowliving_create. We hope you will find interesting ways to capture creativity and creation in the everyday. Slow down and notice those moments, create them and share them. Please join us by adding the hashtag #slowliving_create to your photos that fit the theme. At the end of the month, Melanie and I will select our favourites to share on Instagram and on our blogs. We can’t wait to see what you create!

To find out more about the project see my post Slow Living Project and Melanie’s post Join In With Your Slow Living Moments.

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