Museum of Me

Wait, I Can Do That!

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I’m not sure about you but I am holding on to summer.

Cutting flowers from the garden. Munching on cucumbers, green beans and cherry tomatoes. I have no desire to see fall quite yet and I am happy wandering around in my flowing skirts and slip on shoes.

My working schedule, as a result, has been a bit off kilter lately. We have been enjoying lots of social time with friends and I have been getting more and more involved in our church sharing creative projects with the kids and helping out as best I can. It didn’t occur to me until yesterday, after I was once again beating myself up for missing my upload dates that, “wait, I can change them!”

For some reason, the arbitrary schedule I created when first launching my channels seemed to be etched in stone-a deadline that must be met at all cost. I started feeling myself dragging my heels uninspired to create. I am so grateful for the little voice that pointed out simply, “you could just adjust things.”

Huh, wait, I can do that!

So I did. I let go of some content that was just not inspiring me. I focused on the ones that still are and, I moved around when I will be sharing my content and as a result of feel amazing! I am inspired once again with the content I am creating and looking forward to my studio time which has freed up immensely giving me lots of play time.

And really, as creatives that’s what we need.

We need play time. We need fun. We need to be able to just mess around with our materials without worrying about the end result. Play time is essential to creativity.

So now I find myself, sitting here relaxing with lots of free time to just putter around the studio, have a cuppa and connect with you all. I hope you are finding yourself with some free creative time.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Staying on Path

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A beautiful desk-but not mine 🙂

I am sitting in the studio, in my cozy chair with a cup of decaf french vanilla. Dinner was delicious-albeit a bit decadent with all it’s cheesy yumminess-and I am taking time to just sit and visit with you all a bit.

The ideas have been swirling and for what feels like the first time I am able to keep up with them. In the past I have had ideas flood in that often took me in various different directions. Lately however, I feel more grounded, my plans and ideas have a direction and I am able to move along at what feels like a grounded steady pace. Sometimes I just don’t have the energy or if I am being honest, the inclination or dedication to stick to the plans I set out. If I were to offer a guess, it’s because in the past I let anything that peaked my interest take center stage rather than vetting it for cohesiveness and longevity.

So often I was lead off of my path to be taken down one that, while interesting, isn’t for me.  My husband and I will joke that we get distracted by “something shiny” and off we go. I am working very diligently at appreciating the shiny but letting it float on its merry way to it’s real home.

My focus lately has been on my first in-person art journaling class. Launching my new digikits as well as my dollhouse channel. I want creativity to be my focus and I want to focus on sharing it in an inspiring way to others but I also want to be spending time each day living my creativity not just creating content. I was guided today to take a good look at my creative corner at home. If you aren’t familiar it’s a little corner in our bedroom where I have a desk and lots of creative goodies to play with. The desk was covered with laundry and bags and various things that needed putting away. Most days if I am working at home I am at the kitchen table with my laptop but it was being suggested that maybe, I need to clear off my creative space so I can practice what I preach a bit more.

It’s hard to do little bits of creativity through the day when you need to dig through laundry to find your journal. And while I love creating content my creative practice is first and foremost what sustains me through the day to day of life. It’s what supports me when I am feeling frazzled-giving me an outlet for the struggles-and it’s also what grounds me in the good days-helping to savor the little moments.

So today I cleared the desk, I uncovered the 10 journals I have started prepping and made a plan to sit there each day-if only for 5 minutes-and have a play.

Our world makes distractions so easy and focus-especially on the truth of what matters to us-hard to come by. I want to be deliberate with my time and how I spend my energy and paint covered hands and collage pages always bring me joy.

Thursdays are also the days where I give my book club update. This week I am still working on the same 3 books I mentioned last week. I have been listening to the audiobook during studio time and have been trying to read my Scottish Bookshop book during the day but haven’t been very successful. With any luck come next Thursday I will have completed these 3 books and have some new ones to share with you.

I hope this post finds you well. Are you reading anything good? I would love to hear!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

Gardening, Books & Dollhouses

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(Please note this post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links you don’t pay anything more but I earn a small commission)

Happy Thursday!

I am sitting in my studio after having spent some time today in the garden! Oh it feels so good to be out in the sunshine! I planted my lettuce seeds and cleared out 2 beds and had a nice long sit, petting the dogs, and thinking about what my plans are for the garden this year.

I am really excited that after 20+ years of wanting we are finally purchasing privacy trees for the back border of our yard. This is something I have always wanted to do but at first our yard was already full of trees that cast it in full shade so growing anything like evergreens wasn’t going to work. Sadly most of those trees died, the upside is that our backyard is now full sun-yay! I have also been able to replace almost all of the trees we have lost and just put them in more appropriate spots.

The other thing I did was had a good swing on the swing set. Last year my husband built one for the kids and I had requested that he build it sturdy enough so that I could also use it as swings were my favorite as a child. I have to ask the last time you were on a swing set? Can I just say that I forgot how amazing it feels! I told my husband that from now on whenever we are grumbly we should just come out and swing for 5 minutes and suddenly all is right with the world. Really it was pretty awesome.

In other, more blog-focused news I will be hosting my first in-person class this June! I am so excited and really can’t wait to get everything pulled together. I already have lists and ideas and I am planning a goody bag-including a brand new art journal-for each participant. It’s going to be so much fun! I will be sure to keep you updated and I do plan on offering an online version of the class so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

With the gorgeous weather today my husband was kind enough to help me transport my dollhouse to the studio. Originally I was excited to work on it at home but other than the very first steps I just haven’t been able to find the time. I spent this past week designing a digital planner so I could plot out my studio time with my current projects. I was able to use it to carve out time each week to work on the dollhouse and the content creation that goes along with it.

If you read this post you know I am dipping my toe into the world of miniatures and I have begun my first project-renovating my childhood dollhouse. I have quite a bit of footage filmed and wanted to see how I was going to do with it before deciding if it was content I was prepared to create and share on a regular basis. I feel ready now and I am going to spend the rest of April filming some videos and then launch a separate YouTube channel just for the dollhouse.

I will keep the same format here which is writing a blog post and sharing the YouTube video. I’ll create a separate link that takes your right to the dollhouse content and all the appropriate videos but I didn’t want the videos on YouTube to be under my art journaling channel. I really thought it would be confusing for subscribers and probably make some algorithm somewhere cranky. I have designated Sundays as my dollhouse day to share all things miniature. Currently I post content here on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so I thought adding Sundays would help you know what to expect and when here on the blog.

That brings me to another thought-my podcast. I have loved making podcasts in the past but lately I have been struggling to find topics to share about. I have some ideas and things I might do-including taking a step back all-together but I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you listen to the podcasts? If so what would you like me to talk about? For now, I am going to take the rest of April off and see what comes up for May.

Lastly I did want to give you a Book Club update. I finished 1 mini book this week-“A Christmas Tartan” by Paige Shelton (affiliate link). It was really good-her Scottish Bookshop Mysteries (affiliate link) are one of my favorites. I am currently reading the next book, “Lost Books and Old Bones” (affiliate link) along with “Emerald Isle” (affiliate link) Stacy Justice Mysteries Book #5 by Barbara Annino. I started this book last year and then just stopped reading on my kindle for a bit. I am hoping to finish both of these books this week along with the audio book I am currently listening to which is “The Secret Adversary” by Agatha Christie.  I mentioned in the last book club update that I am working on The Agatha Christie Mystery Challenge and I really enjoy listening to them in my studio. They are so well produced. If you are interested in the version I am listening to it’s on Audible here (affiliate link).

So that is the news for me! It’s funny I didn’t know how much I would have to share with you this week but it turns out it’s been quite a bit! I would love to hear what you are up to so please do share a comment below. If you share about your reading adventures on your own blog you can join my link part (see below) and we can all come and see what you have been reading. One day I hope to host a virtual book club-does that sound fun? Let me know!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

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My First Magazine Article is HERE! (Strawberry Moon Magazine Issue #5)

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I am so excited for this week’s Museum of Me share!

If I were to pick a theme for this installment of Museum of Me it would be “Dreams Realized.”  It’s easy to think that if something hasn’t happened in a pre-imagined time frame that it will never happen. To think that we need to realize a goal by a certain age or a certain life phase can in some cases cause us to give up. It is my deepest hope that I will keep dreaming and keeping working towards new goals until the last breath leaves me.

I was 8 years old when I decided I wanted to be a writer. As a child I was so committed to this that I felt I was a writer. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I started to believe I wasn’t a writer because I hadn’t checked certain boxes that I had for myself.  It’s taken me a few decades to realize that we don’t need anything external of us to define us. For me, having my words published is a dream come true and I hope, if you have a long-held dream, you won’t give up hope or stop working towards your goal.

You may remember I mentioned that I have an article coming out-it’s my first published work and I am just so over the moon! I wrote a bit about my journey as a writer in this post but to say that this is the realization of a life-long dream is no exaggeration.

If you aren’t familiar with Strawberry Moon it’s a wonderful new, independent publication. Each issue is jammed full of creative inspiration and beautiful photos from talented artists from all over. If you are an art journaler or mixed media artist I really think you will enjoy it.

Issue #5 is all about Self-care, a subject I am passionate (and always learning) about. I was so honored to be included among other talented artists and writers to offer our take on Self-Care as a creative practice. I hope you enjoy my contribution as much as I enjoyed creating it.

If you are interested in pre-ordering this issue you can do that here.

I will have lots more to share in the upcoming month-including a new class launch that will be available over on Teachable in April. (If you are a newsletter subscriber you will also receive a special discount code for the class). It’s going to be lots of mixed-media, textured filled, paint covered hands fun and I do hope you will join me!

Another announcement is that I am back on Instagram. If you remember I left social media about 3 years ago and while I don’t miss it I thought that Instagram would be a nice way to connect with other creatives and to share some of the projects I’m working on. I don’t plan to dedicate tons of time to each but if you would like to follow me you can find me here.

Well that’s it for today’s installment of Museum of Me. I have been so excited to share this with you all and I will be sure to let you know when I have the issue in my hands. I think a special Vlog on Dilettante TV will be in order 🙂

Wishing you a lovely day!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Sharing this post as part of Kym’s Museum of Me Blog Series.
You can read Kym’s blog here.

Slow Moving Projects & Dollhouse Renovations

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Happy Thursday everyone!

 

 

If you listened to my podcast this week you know that I have been working out the content I want to share here on the blog. I love sharing my videos but I have been thinking how I really want to keep true to the blogging part of the blog and share the written stories with you.

Kym, at Dancing at the Edge has a series called “Museum of Me” where she shares bits each week about herself and her life. I reached out to join in the fun and I think it will be a really nice addition here on the blog. A way to share, in written form, a bit about myself and what’s going on behind the videos and creativity. So here goes!

February was a very slow moving month for me. We had a few colds run through the house so for about 2 weeks someone wasn’t feeling great. I also was feeling really tired so I decided to really and truly rest. I curled up in my favorite chair, usually with a kiddo in my lap and would doze a bit and delve into videos over on Patreon.

I have mentioned before how creativity helps me with anxiety. When I was watching videos I remembered how working on little detailed projects bring me a sense of calm and peace. Hand stitching, or slow stitching, is one activity that really restores my sense of peace and calm. One of my favorite content creators and artists is Julie Warren. She creates the most beautiful dollhouse pieces, from scratch. Right now on her Patreon she is building a 1940’s dolls house and it is just so much fun to watch!

I have been following Julie for years and I have been thinking recently how I would love to completely restore and furnish my childhood doll house. While curled up in my chair I decided to re-watch a series she did where she renovated an old dollhouse and turned it into a shop. I am brand new to the world of miniature making and really had no idea where to begin with my old doll house.

Julie has thoroughly inspired me and my mind has been running around with ways to renovate this little bit of my childhood. My husband was working in our attic doing some de-cluttering and brought the old dollhouse downstairs for me. It’s windows are broken, wood from the roof broke off years ago and my children, who also played with the dollhouse when it was at my mother’s house, have added their own additions in the form of stickers on the roof.

It definitely needs some love and restoration.

I normally tend to be a dig in and get messy whip the paint around type of creator. Often times, alright most times, I’m impatient when making something and I just can’t wait to see it all done. It’s the rush to get something done that leads to so much of the anxiousness that can swirl through me at times. Our world moves so quickly and we are all used to everything happening now, right now! Trying to keep up feels exhausting and even if I am not trying to keep up I still feel that energy of needing to move quickly. My mind feverishly trying to work out how it’s all going to work out. Small, handmade projects slow my brain down as I focus on the details that are right in front of me. One little stitch here, another there and eventually they work together to complete a projects. Slowly, gently without the need to rush through anything or know how it’s all going to come together. The beautiful part is that the more I practice this with my little slow projects, the more it starts to flow over into how I approach and perceive everything else in my life. It’s a practice, it’s work, but the peace and calm of living in the moments is worth it.

I am excited to begin my slow dollhouse project.

I started by staring at it quite a lot. I look at it this way and that way. I tilt my head in here and there. I peak over there and over here. I took lots of photos, some you see here, and I chatted with my husband about ideas. One of the things that always bothered me, even as a child, was my dollhouse had no stairs so I have decided to try to add and build a set of stairs. As this is a new skill-set for me I am going to be doing lots of research and my very handy husband offered some ideas on how to best achieve this.

I was also trying to come up with a theme and decided to just decorate it as my dream cottage. The place I would decorate if I didn’t share a home with another person who might object to everything being white and pink. So yes, the outside of the house is going to be a soft pink with white trim and the inside is going to be, I think, a shabby chic combinations of pinks, whites and lavender.

There will also be a craft room in the attic which needs stairs as well. I have decided to try and build a pull down type attic stair so that should be fun to figure out.

I am also going to be changing the facade of the house. It has a very Dutch feeling to it right now and I am going to revamp the dollhouse to look a bit more like a Cape Cod style house. I hope to add shingles to the roof and maybe windows that open out. All details that will come together.

I have mentioned in my podcast that I am just over 1 month into a 6-month “no spend” challenge. Beyond food and necessities I am personally not spending any money. I want to live more simply, slowly and I want to need less things, less stuff. We have been working to clean out our home and buying more things to manage and to fill up our space feels really counter-intuitive.

I can talk more about my no spend challenge in a future post but for now, I had to think about how I could start on a project without buying anything.

Turns out it was really fun to do!

I am going to start out by removing things. Taking off the pieces I don’t want to keep, removing carpeting and wallpaper. Taking out the broken plastic windows. We have primer already that I can use to prep the outside. I have some wood that might be enough to get me started on building stairs.

There is lots that I can do with what I have.

I am also planning on documenting the journey of my dollhouse. I do hope this is going to be the start of a lifelong love of miniature making but if not, it will be so much fun to have a record of all I have done.

I am planning on sharing the journey as well. I think I would give it it’s own home here on the blog, a page you can click over to if you are also interested in miniatures and dollhouses. It would definitely be a separate video channel so as not to confuse things. Let me know your thoughts I would love to hear.

So that is my share for the Museum of Me. It feels so nice to slow down and connect with you all in this slow, written format. Something you need to seek out to read, not just delivered to you by an algorithm. I hope you know how much it means to me that you have sought out my little blog to read along and I hope you have enjoyed your stay and come back to visit me again.

Until next time!

-Michele, aka The Dreaming (Dollhouse) Dilettante

Sharing this post as part of Kym’s Museum of Me Blog Series.
You can read Kym’s blog here.