Tea, cake and collage

Four of my fabulous friends just headed home after the first ever Be Creative Daily workshop with Life Collages to be proud of.

I can think of few better ways to spend an evening than drinking tea, eating cake and making art with friends. With little more than a piece of card, a pile of magazines, a pair of scissors and some glue, wonderful, inspiring and possibly life-changing art was created here at BCD HQ tonight!

The process is simple, the result powerful. Life Collage is way of exploring your likes, loves, dreams and desires, in an intuitive, feeling way… discovering images that resonate, words that inspire and putting them together to create a visual expression of the good things you would like in your life. This evening’s Life Collagers all left with a smile, having met new friends, shared lively conversation and interesting ideas whilst making very personal works of art.

I have spoken with lots of people about the creation of Life Collages. For many, they have acted as a powerful tool for change, bringing into focus what is important in their lives. I look forward to hearing what positive changes come about following the creation of these veritable dream boards here tonight.

Pass that good feeling on


A productive day at home today. All action and progress. It feels good.

As a mother of two young boys, life is sometimes hectic, often challenging, usually fun. Time away from the boys comes with a variety of emotions: relief at not being woken in the very early morning, blind opened by a little hand to reveal daylight to the cries of small boy announcing “It’s wake up time Mum!”; I feel guilt (for a whole host of reasons, try finding a Mum who doesn’t); a feeling of urgency to get a million and one things done in a relatively small window of time; then confusion about what is important, what is not and whether I should be doing chores, chilling out or having fun (probably all of the above, each in moderation, but the confusion combined with the urgency regularly leads an overdoing of one and neglecting another); and excitement at what can be achieved on my own when I put my mind to it. But really, when all is quiet here, without the little fellas running riot, I do miss them and usually have the radio on, talking in the background, keeping me company.

My intention today was to do some domestics (tick), complete a plan for a workshop to happen here at home (tick) and do a little bit of art (tick). I woke naturally at 8am and worked in my pjs until the postman knocked. I reached an arm around the door, popped my head out, thanked him, then dashed upstairs to get dressed. I cooked up a deliciously simple stir fry (broccoli, asparagus, carrots) for breakfast, put the washing on and engaged in some online chat and cheering on of fellow 30 Day Challengers. Planning the workshop was a pleasure and the feedback from the 30DC community helped enormously with the little question marks in my mind and spurred me on to commit to the first date. So, my firstĀ Life Collage workshop will be held on Wednesday May 30, 8-10pm.

The prospect of hosting an evening workshop here at home, sharing with other people an activity which I find both relaxing and deeply rewarding, is most exciting. Now, all that is needed is participants, so if this is something that may interest you too, please come and join me.

Today’s creation is a simple Life Collage, an example of what can be done with everyday materials and a little inspiration, and to map my feelings at this point in time, almost two thirds of the way through the 30DC. What began as an experiment, a challenge, a blog, is becoming a path, a journey, a way forward. I am becoming clearer and more focused on the things I enjoy, ways of applying these to my daily life and ideas for sharing them with others in a practical, accessible way. I am finding the things that make me feel good and I want to pass that good feeling on.