2011 February | Sleep is for the Weak

February Makes

Posted by Josie on Feb 28, 2011 in Art, Knitting | 14 comments

I’m tired tonight, but my blogging synapses are itching after a few days off, so I thought I’d go easy on myself and write a picture post. Quite often at the moment, a month will go by where I feel like I have achieved almost nothing. It’s a frustrating feeling, and not an accurate one, for even in those weeks where I feel that I haven’t achieved what I should have achieved (or would like to have done), still my fingers manage to churn out things without me really noticing.

So at the end of each month I’ve decided to post them in a gallery, as a kind of homage to direction-less creativity.

Here’s February’s (made harder by the fact that I just can’t seem to say ‘February’ however hard I try. Febroorary. No, FebrooARY. Febyou… oh I give up…)

A hat for the very beautiful Matilda Coffer, who I'm told by @mydaddycooks wears it wherever she goes (okay, I cheated here, this was end of January, but shush)

A teeny hat for @cosmicgirlie who used this in a stunning newborn photography shoot last week (she's offering discount rates on maternity and newborn shoots until May so click on the photo if you'd like to have a look at my hat in action and find out about her packages... HA! packages... that joke will make more sense at the end of this post)

A collaberation project between me and my very talented friend @Mhairiwild, spinner and dyer of beautiful yarn, which we dubbed 'Wild George', with me knitting Mhairi's yarn into a hat for our friend @jonseyaj who was off on a snowboarding holiday. Thank you to AJ for our lovely presents in return x

A portrait, in pastel and charcoal, for my lovely Scotsman's birthday, of his daughter.

There were also pots… (which won’t fit into a caption because WordPress is stupid).

And finally, for @cosmicgirlie's birthday, as featured on #SilentSunday, yes, it is a knitted penis. AND a lip balm holder. Possibly my greatest life's work.

There were photos too, of course, but I think you’ve probably already seen most of them.

I’m starting March with something the colour of sunshine on the needles for a special friend, and a yarn delivery tomorrow (that I couldn’t really afford but screw it, it’s been a bad day), to make myself THIS. There will also be more drawing. There will. It’s like pulling teeth but damn it I need to stop being so bloody afraid of it.

Writing Workshop: I Believe

Posted by Josie on Feb 24, 2011 in Creative Writing, Me, Photography, Writing, Writing Workshop | 20 comments

Now it’s your turn. What beliefs have you been writing about this week?

Leave your name and the URL to your post in the Linky below (the URL should be to your post not just to your blog) If you have the time it would be great if you could try and show your support to other participants by reading and commenting on at least two other entries.

If you haven’t had chance to respond yet, then you’ve got another whole week to take part and enter your link so there’s plenty of time. Don’t forget that anyone can take part! Our next workshop will be in two week’s time, so I hope to see you back soon.

The Gallery – Expressions

Posted by Josie on Feb 23, 2011 in Photography | 19 comments

Taken at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow on Saturday. The hundreds of alternating grimacing, grinning faces, despairing, laughing faces that hang from the ceiling there just about summed up our day actually

Writing Workshop Prompts: I believe

Posted by Josie on Feb 21, 2011 in Writing, Writing Prompts, Writing Workshop | 2 comments

Hello from me. It seems to be Monday again, fancy that.

Right then. I am a big fan of separating out the idea of ‘religion’ from ‘belief’. All of us, no matter how religious we profess to be, live our lives according to our own set of personal beliefs, be they within a moral framework, or some kind of spiritual one, or even beliefs based on scientific reasoning.

This week I want to learn about YOUR beliefs, and how they affect your life. This is not about preaching, though, this is about sharing. Your blog, your space, your opinion – remember, when reading and commenting, that you don’t have to agree with someone in order to still be constructive and supportive. Judgement-free zone, okay? Just expression.

Here’s some prompts to get you thinking:

1. Tell me about a time where your beliefs affected a decision.

2. How have your belief systems changed through your lifetime? How do they compare to when you were a child? What new beliefs have you discovered? What old ones have you let go of, and why?

3. Write a simple statement laying out the beliefs you hold to be important, your own personal creed.

4. How do your beliefs compare to other significant people in your life? Have they ever caused conflict, or brought unity? What affect do they have on your relationship?

5. Beliefs don’t have to be limited to just a life-view. Pick something more specific. Write about your beliefs on parenting, or writing, or art, or nature, or cooking, or something else! (However, anyone writing another ‘beliefs about blogging’ post will get a sharp kick to the ankles… )

For any newcomers to our Workshop, here’s how it works: each workshop I’ll give you a bunch of writing/blogging prompts, something to get you thinking. How you respond to them is entirely up to – there are absolutely no rules and it is open to anyone who’d like to take part. The aim is to provide you with a touch of inspiration and an opportunity for expression, to help you make some connections you might otherwise not have discovered and create something unique and personal. You can write about real-life experiences or try your hand at some fiction, express yourself through stream-of-concious writing, or have a go at at writing in some form of poetry. Be creative, be brave, be honest. Those are the only provisos.

And remember! We’re not looking for perfection here! Just have a go! The best way to get better at writing is PRACTISE. All the best writers aren’t afraid to write badly. So turn your inner-critic off for a while and just see what words come out.

Now here’s what you have to do. Decide how you’d like to respond, write your post and publish it on your blog between now and THURSDAY. On Thursday come back and use the widget that will be up to paste in the URL of your post to share. Then take some time to read some of the other entries and leave some comment love! We’re not here to critique – just to have fun and support each other in our writing experiments. So be kind please. Anyone who would like to submit something via email, or even anonymously will be more than welcome to do so. I’ll post them on the site here and include the link in Thursday’s round-up.

Enjoy x

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