I've been blogging a long time. Since 2003. Lots of things have changed since then.
I changed. Change is what I do.
I shapeshifted and I'm still doing it.
I've been re-visiting my Lotta Jansdotter printing and sewing books and remembering why I love her work and style so much. Now I find she just started blogging. This makes me very happy.
Also, as my very short crop begins to grow out and every day is a struggle not to look like Rhys Ifans, I'm loving what she does with her hair. See? All round inspiration.
JAJ Pyrex, 1960s Chelsea design, 3 dinner plates, gravy boat & saucer, 6 cereal bowls £3.00.
I heart bargain shopping.
I'm finding so much inspiration online. Thanks to lovely links posted by friends and of course, Pinterest, I'm adding fresh faces to my Google Reader and so enjoying what they share.
Here are just four:
The extraordinarily creative Jennlui at A Trinket Treasury.
Margaret's beautiful creations at Resurrection Fern.
Jude makes true magic at Spirit Cloth. I am mesmerised in the very best way.
Everything Melissa touches turns lovely at Tiny Happy.
Have you found any new places to enjoy lately?
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Kodak Brownie Cresta ll 1964. With its original bag. I may never use it but I do love looking at it.
Sacred Natural (c) Jo Hanlon-Moores
When I first got my copy of Style Statement by Carrie McCarthy and Danielle LaPorte, I'll be honest with you, it wasn't love at first sight. If it hadn't been recommended to me I wouldn't have bought it because yes, sometimes I do judge a book by its cover and to me this one yelled How To Dress Like It's 1985.
Shame on me. Or not. Whatever. I'm pearl-averse, sue me.
I'm so glad I looked past the front cover because this book is not only enjoyable to work through, it's genuinely inspiring and helpful if you're at all motivated to discover your style statement. That's a statement that can apply to the clothes you wear but also - and more importantly for me - to other areas of your life. It's discovering more about yourself, your taste, your passion and your values.
Remember I'm no artist, I have no history of defining my artistic mission statement. No one cares what I look like so I've never had to define myself by my look - not to say I didn't, but it wasn't essential that I got it right. As an adult, my creativity has been so small scale that I could dress it up how I liked. But since I started to look at it as a more important part of my life and who I am, I've been trying to track my way back to some kind of defining structure. A style.
It's not easy working through Style Statement. You have to work hard not to be swayed by current favourites or crushes but instead be honest and true to what really feels like you. I'm not going to go into how it works but ultimately a process of elimination leaves you with a pile of words that really mean something to you. From there you narrow them down to a two word statement. Those two words may be singular statements of their own, or represent a group of others. That's pretty much how I got one of mine.
Style Statement claims to work on the 80/20 measure. One word will be 80% of you - your foundation. The other will be 20% - your creative edge. As you'll have gathered from the photos above, my style statement is Sacred Natural. It took me two goes to get this right; my first attempt was done in a hurry, for the last bit anyway, with a small child 'helping' and it showed in the result. I hadn't read the instructions properly or indeed my pile o'words. As ever with me...second time lucky and when I got it right I KNEW I'd got it right.
The definitions I use for Sacred and Natural are the ones given in Style Statement, not necessarily your handy thesaurus. Both are quite lengthy but here's some highlights if you're interested...
Sacred: Spiritually and theosophically curious...perpetually searching for or creating meaning...habitually reflective, looking for divine synchronicity and lessons in everything (need I go on?). Often the one to initiate change, be that a promising beginning or a necessary end. Sacred walks a fine line between ruthless discrimination and tremendous tolerance...loves to mark moments of progress and insight with celebrations small and quiet or grand...feel and promote interconnectedness...nourishes itself by retreating...takes great solace in privacy and solitude, ritual and unbounded time...spiritual communion as their core inspiration...etc etc
Natural: Genuine and free from artificiality, affectation and inhibitions...hates to be fenced in...riles against conformity and unreasonable rules although they are rooted in moral certainty and a strong sense of justice. At ease with their essential selves...often very instinctive, sensuous...aren't strangers to hedonism or pleasure-seeking...love to get down to basics and can be graceful and direct communicators...down to earth literally and figuratively, Natural has a deep reverence and respect for nature and ecological systems, which delights and replenishes them, and an appreciation of supernatural forces.
There's obviously way more to this. A whole book's worth. A whole book worth reading.
Where you take your style statement is up to you. So far I've found it to be wonderful company.
I just bought this:
And then I bought this:
And one of these,
and a roller and some lino blocks and some fabric paints. Guess what I'm going to be doing?
Oh and just for fun, I bought one of these each for me and Alisa:
There goes my disposable income until next month. But who knows, maybe I'll make some more. Hmmm.
