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happiness, productivity

Learning to Slow Down

One of the big reasons that I write this blog is to clear my head of all the fluffy nonsense in it, and keep focused on the stuff I need to focus on (rather than ‘100 cutest winter coats‘, and that episode of ‘Lost’ that I watched last night). When I don’t blog for a …

2013, art and design, education, family, montessori, multitasking, parenting, small business, work ethic, working from home

Preschool Genius

“Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future.” – Maria Montessori Over the past few weeks I have been running summer camps for 1st and 2nd graders; I love working with these children, and they constantly surprise and …

Uncategorized

Lazy Days Ahead

This will be a short post. I promise, really. I would like to proudly announce to the world, nay, the universe, that I have finally written all the lesson plans for all of my summer camps! Every single day has been planned into gorgeous little nuggets of learning, with outdoor play and nature walks in …

art and design, crafter, creativity, design, family, inspiration, kids, motivation, multitasking, obstacles, operate by interruption, parenting, planning, schedule, small business, Uncategorized, work ethic, working from home

A Big Cheer for Small Businesses

This post is dedicated to all you individuals slavishly hand writing prices on stickers, and loading cars with grid walls and EZ Up tents, or whatever it is you do to keep the dream alive. I’m here for you.   The great rush is on to get things ready for the Spring fairs, and things …

2013, art and design, crafter, creativity, design, education, family, inspiration, kids, letting go, motivation, multitasking, obstacles, operate by interruption, parenting, planning, schedule, small business, spontaneity, textile design, Uncategorized, work ethic, working from home

My New Workmate

You might have noticed that I have not been blogging much lately, (I’m not sure whom I’m referring to when I write ‘you’ – in all probability, my regular followers have dropped like flies by now!). Anyway, my circumstances have changed a bit recently. I now have an almost-three-year old sharing my workspace with me all …

2013, art and design, British Indian, crafter, creativity, design, family, inspiration, kids, lists, motivation, multitasking, obstacles, operate by interruption, parenting, planning, schedule, small business, textile design, Uncategorized, work ethic, working from home

Toast, Monkeys and Neon Shirts

It has been a week for toasting monkeys (see the definition for ‘monkey-toasting’ here). In between all the chores, administrative work, and carting kids around to various appointments, I did actually manage to get a large chunk of printing done (giving myself a virtual pat on the back as I type this). I have started …

art and design, book art, crafter, creativity, education, family, illustration and books, inspiration, kids, letting go, parenting, planning, small business, spontaneity, Uncategorized

Montessori, and the Art of Loosening Up

I’ll be honest with you, I was a tiny bit scared yesterday. On my way to the Boyd Montessori I kept up a stream of thoughts that went a little bit like this – “Yes, I’m a teacher by profession, but Montessori? That’s a whole new ball game. I wonder what the class will be …

2013, art and design, crafter, creativity, design, education, family, inspiration, kids, motivation, small business, working from home

Summer Camp Love Story

I’m going to run a summer camp this year. Scratch that, I’m going to run TWO summer camps this year. The responses to this statement have ranged from the anxious “won’t that be a bit messy?’ to the slightly surreal “do you have enough tents?” to the cryptic “what about bears?” First of all, to all …

art and design, crafter, illustration and books, inspiration, small business, textile design, working from home

The doodles

So I continued my drawing experiments throughout the tail end of last week. I squeezed them into my day between school drop offs, soccer practices, doctor appointments, Halloween parades, and of course, the power cut bought on by ‘Superstorm’ Sandy. Note to self: drawing by candle light sounds lovely and romantic, but is actually rather …

art and design, British Indian, crafter, small business, textile design, Uncategorized, working from home

The Learning Curve

“Oh! I love these shirts, they are so vintage looking!! Said the young woman before scooping up a couple and buying them. Vintage looking? I guess she was referring to the low-tech printing process that I employ. Or maybe I really am aesthetically stuck in a different era. You really learn a lot at fairs. …