Christmas Festivites

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Originally uploaded by amandajaynecarmichael

Oh I have been so busy eating mince pies, drinking mulled wine and enjoying the boy and I hosting Christmas for our London family plus the boy's parents. It has been super lovely though I wish a few of my special people were added to the mix. Now I am enjoying the nowhere days rolling into each other not doing much and not even knowing what day of the week it is.

moving commuting off the hobby list

for the last 20 months I have been travelling from my home in North London to Bromley in Kent for work. On average this takes about 1hr 25mins. With less than a week to go at my current workplace I am smelling the closeness of the end of an era. Commuting is something you become used to though I never quite got over the amount time in my life that it takes up. The hardest thing is finishing late at night and then not arriving home until after 9 at night and the isolation of not really being able to do much during the week because of the time it takes to get places.

there have been good times commuting I have watched movies, tv series, TED talks, listened to podcasts, read books, sketched, slept, zoned out, photographed, drank alot of coffee and listened to music. And many bad times, where I am stuck tunnels on trains, cold, hungry, late and just wishing I could beat work or at home rather than in train or waiting on a platform. This is especially the case if you are a little unwell or tired it feels like you are climbing a mountain just to get to work.


i am happy to be saying goodbye to the commute and scratching it of my hobby list and gaining back 2 hours a day (new job 30mins travel time). Respect too all those who continue to commute and it is more than 20months of their life, may the travel gods be with you. For me it is farewell commuting and hello time!

i wanna be like Nathalie

thanks to Mati Rose who has a lovely diary that I follow i discovered Nathalie Lete and her magical creations and video.

check out the little video of her painting in Japan.

for some fun and check out Nathalie's fab website. I wanna be like Nathalie a french lady living in Paris and making wonderful creations!

Who said clowns were happy?

Sad Clown
Originally uploaded by ::big daddy k::

This lovely photo deserves some blog space. Discovered on my new little habit of Flickr i had to share. Most of my weekend that is what my insides were saying. x

Photo taken by Daddy K

sewing my way out of the blues

saturday i got hit by the blues truck, I felt it coming for a little while but yesterday I was smack bang in the blues. It was the sadness that hits you for no particular reason in a way that takes your breath away. It was one of those wrenching moments where I feel my most lonely in London where I want my peeps, Sydney feels the furthest place in the globe (well it is almost). So I went into my creative den to paint but actually found myself sewing. Taking some old clothing and doing some cutting and stitching which has led to a revamped cardigan and an old t-shirt getting stitched. The tee is still a work in progress and for the first time ever the splendidly imperfect girl is being stitched. A little bit of needle magic a lovely Sunday with the boy eating cheesecake and visiting my dream business and I am climbing my way out of the blues.

A unicorn in London

Originally uploaded by amandajaynecarmichael

i discovered a unicorn in london, in a place filled with snow. It always adds to the magic of Regent St to find this sort of magic.

new beginnings, being so brand new

what i love about new jobs, new years and new things is that you have an opportunity to be so brand new. The opportunity to be conscious to make decisions with a little less sureness with an extra moment of space to do it differently or in a new way. Yesterday I did the first day at my fab new place of work and I want to embrace this opportunity. I am making more space for breathing and in those breathes I am hoping to be able to reach for those new spaces. A few moments during the day I did go into some mild panic as I felt the over riding responsibility to sort it all out straight away, my over responsibility kicks in which is super ridiculous as it is before I even officially start. This is a old habit, a deep wiring in my brain and I am going to create some new paths.

i have a deeply held and treasured belief that we all have the opportunity to change, not that it is easy. I do believe we can have a big impact on our life and the way in grows and changes if we keep conscious. Some habits will be a lifetime challenge, life might throw us million of reasons not to be different, or fortune may fall far from our path and yet we still have the power to enjoy and the great life we do have.

i love reading the research about brain stuff where studies are done and how we can change and grow new paths, it is great evidence for me. Reflecting of newness and and opportunity I guess that is why I love change. Somehow I was given the most incredible gift the voice that says I will be OK no matter what happens and if I try I can make a difference. It far from means that I haven't seen horrible things or had a perfect life because that is far from my experience but somehow I have come out with a precious gift.

my love for Battersea power station

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Originally uploaded by amandajaynecarmichael

this building has a big place in my heart. I don't know why or how but it is there. I have many photos, at many angles with many cameras. A gift and a joy of London. Maybe one day when they build the flats inside or around if that is what they will do it will be different I hope it doesn't become to perfect. I love it's semi ruin state something so imperfectly beautiful.

Oh i must get back to my sketchbook

Geneva sketch 1
Originally uploaded by amandajaynecarmichael

with discipline comes habit, with habit comes creative reward. Frequent sketchbook practice brings reward I just need to remember. Back to discipline I guess. xx