Hello Soul and a walk in the woods

photo by Sarah Mason

   I went for a lovely walk with my friend Sarah this afternoon. We walked to Jack Bridge and it was     sooooo beautiful. Sarah is a photographer who loves being in the woods like me, so we took our cameras        out to see what we could see and on the way chatted about life and business and everything.

You see these past couple of weeks have been very very interesting indeed as I have been doing the inaugural Hello Soul Hello Business e course. It is brilliant and as we are in the 'dreaming' phase of the course I have been staring into space a lot and sitting in my armchair with my notebook scribbling. 

So it was nice to get out in the fresh air, get some perspective and talk a few things through with another creative business person. As Sarah put it so well, our businesses are precious to us and it's important to look after them.

photo by Sarah Mason

Beth Nicholls and Kelly Rae Roberts who put the whole thing together are truly inspirational and have delved into the bottom of their hearts and souls to bring together some wonderfully rich content to help us get underneath the why's, who's, how's, and what's of our businesses.

  

There has been lots of dreaming about where my path might take me...

photo by Sarah Mason

There has been lots of looking very very closely, even though it's a bit uncomfortable...

photo by Sarah Mason

there's been lots of untangling....

lots of beauty...

new friends... (This little guy came galloping to meet us on the top ridge below Heptonstall.) 

...and through the trees is a sunny blue blue sky!

I know this is all a bit poetic but that's all I can say for now. I'm deep in the process. xxx

On a cold and frosty morning

Rachel Hazell my lovely bookbinding friend (who I went to Skye with) has been to stay for a long weekend while she did a book binding workshop here in Hebden Bridge at Fionas house. And didn't she pick the perfect weekend? Clear crispy blue skies the whole time and thick thick frost.

We went out for an early morning walk each and everyday (as only you can when you have a friend nudging you to get up and ready early) and we have seen such beauty! We have seen the sunrise each morning and enjoyed the frost accentuating every little, plant, leaf, wall, tree, stem...even cabbage on the allotment..

I love the sunrise reflected in the windows in this picture and the frozen Rosebay Willow Herb stems.

We were very excitable with something or other taking our breath away at every turn. How lucky we are!

Please will you vote for my boy?

Now if you're on Twitter you might have already heard me chirping on about Euans 'String of Angels' tune which has been entered into the finals of a competition on Soundware. Now the voting closes today and he is so close to winning. His tune is really lovely and (I think) he deserves to win. Would you take a second to vote for him today?

I admit to being a little obsessed about this. I wouldn't do this much shouting about a competition I was in but it's worth one last shout here on the blog as, at this moment in time he only needs another 7 votes to win. More importantly (honest) I hope you enjoy his beautiful track.

The Book Of Leaves

Carrying on from my current book obsession I just bought 'The Book Of Leaves' by Allen J Coombs which is a gorgeous and very chunky guide to 600 of the worlds greatest trees. It was a lucky find. I saw a book review whilst flicking through a gardening magazine at Birmingham New Street station whilst on the way to meet Rachel and Bobs new baby (gorgeous little guy) and the cover jumped out at me instantly.

It has life size pictures of all the leaves. There are about 75 different types of oak in there! I didn't even know there were that many.

I'm looking at leaves at the moment for my new work. You may think it's not the right time of year to start looking at leaves as the trees are bare but there are actually so many still about. I keep noticing crispy frozen ones on the forest floor and lone leaves still clinging on to bare branches despite the recent high winds.

 I've been playing with engraved beech leaves...

and oak leaves (English Oak to be precise).

Anyway, I recommend the Book of Leaves. It's a really lovely reference to have on the book shelf.

Jenny Wren

Little Jenny Wren is coming along. It's going to be quite a simple design with her swaying on a piece of grass. I love how little birds can do that. I have to simplify the birds down as much as possible, just to one or two shapes that the laser can cut out.

Was just wondering why she is called Jenny? Anybody know?

I'm in the Etsy Lookbook

Open publication - Free publishing - More 2012

Every season Etsy put together a beautiful Lookbook to showcase products and shops. My personalised fairy lights are in here...page one hundred and forty something....but have a flick through because it is beautifully done and there are many gorgeous products to enjoy.

And listen to this, straight from the mouth of Etsy. 'Etsy is the world's handmade marketplace. Our mission in to empower people to change the way the global economy works. We see a world in which very very small businesses have much much more sway in shaping the economy, local living economies are thriving everywhere, and people value authorship and provenance as much as price and convenience. We are bringing heart to commerce and making the world more fair, more sustainable and more fun!'

Inspiring! Glad to be a part of it!

Bird brain

My new years resolution to get absorbed in doing some new work has got off to a good start and I have been doing some birds. They have got in my head. I even see bird shapes when I close my eyes at night! I've been doing lots of drawing and cutting and tweaking and this is the first one to take flight. A little Coal Tit. He hasn't got any feet at the moment because I don't know where I want him to sit just yet. You see the beech leaves? Well I have been experimenting with laser engraving. It is pricey as it takes the machine a long time, but it's such a nice effect that I have to use it somehow. The laser takes just the top layer of the paper away allowing the light to shine through just a little bit. Tomorrow morning the next batch of samples arrives. More beech leaves and coal tits to play with, oak leaves and a teeny tiny Jenny Wren. Can't wait to see....

Waking up!

Snowdrop lamp

I've had a lovely Christmas break. I could have done with a little longer to be honest...a bit more time off but without a head full of cold or without it raining constantly, but still, there has been time for chilling out with the family, getting lost in my pile of books and generally going slow. Now it's time to wake up again. I have spent the afternoon rousing my websites from their hibernation and having a little spring clean of my Etsy shop.  I have also just made a Hannah Nunn page on Facebook so if you like me come and like me!!

Happy New Year!

Looking Back Looking Forward

This last year has been awesome. I've never worked so hard in my life I must say but so much happened alongside. I wrote a book! A whole one! I never thought I'd be able to say that but now I can. It was the possibly the hardest thing I've ever done but as I read on Pinterest yesterday  'It always seems impossible until it's done'! (image from the love shop on Etsy)....and it is done. I've seen the front cover and everything!

The book took me places. To studios and workshops across the country listening to the inspiring stories of artists and makers. I took myself to a writing retreat in Llansteffan which was wonderful. I got to grips with stress and productivity. Honestly I learned so much this year about that.

And in between me writing and researching, life happened. My best friends did some seriously exciting stuff...one married her 'one true love' (they really do call each other that and it is very funny), and another had her first baby and asked me to be there with them. Robert left his day job and bravely set out into self employment. The kids did another year of growing up into fine human beings.

Then there was the Do What You Love Retreat which was an amazing experience and I made friends there and met many inspiring people. Me and Robert made a super new website for Radiance. Matthew did his first year in the shop which has been fab and has allowed me all this travelling about...

And next year?

Well I'm excited already.  I'm excited about is getting back in the studio and doing some new work. This year I have filled up so much on inspiration without having time to play with new ideas and I'm ready to pop. I'd love to schedule in studio time in the same way as I did book time. TUESDAYS are going to be for just that. Every week. Not writing, or fulfilling orders, or wrapping parcels....no Tuesdays are development days.  Play days, days to absorb myself in the flow of creativity....Studio Tuesdays! :)

And I'm excited about....

I've never done an ecourse before but I have my notebook and coloured pens at the ready because I think this one with Kelly Rae Roberts at Beth Nicholls will have me excitable! :) It starts in January. The perfect time for reflecting and beginning new things.

And we're moving house! We have been planning this for a while but it's only since this Christmas break that it's sinking in. We are finally leaving this cosy flat that we have well and truly outgrown and going to live above the shop. And 'above the shop' sits a large three storey townhouse. A proper family sized house with hallways and stairs (something we've been without for 9 years) and big bedrooms and large windows. It's nice. And we can't wait. We'll all be able to expand ourselves a bit. Euan said he already felt bigger just going to look round it. Know what he means.

Then later in the year there will be the BOOK LAUNCH. Hooray! I have lots of things up my sleeve and all will be revealed later in the year.

And we have two big birthdays on the horizon. Ffion will be 18 and I will be 40! I'm not counting the days though. I was only 39 yesterday! :) And perhaps there will be more travelling...., shall I go to Japan whilst Beth is there to find new outlets for my work, shall we go and visit Monique in Holland (we miss her so), shall I go back to Llansteffan for another retreat, shall I go to India for my 40th to do some yoga? I'm definitely going to the Summer Isles on Rachels bookbinding course in March. The rest at present is still being pondered upon.

Anyway thanks for listening to me reflect and ramble. I'm sure 2012 is going to be another great year. Whatever your hopes and dreams are may I wish you a very very Happy New Year! xxx

Get any good books for Christmas?

I am very much enjoying my Christmas reading pile. This time of year is the best. The mellow week between Christmas day and New Year. Time to slow down, reflect, read, think, eat nice things and be with the family. This stack of books is a pile of pure inspiration. Just opening any of them, anywhere gets the creative juices flowing...actually just having the pile sitting there is enough! :)

I'll start from the bottom up. Botany for the Artist by Sarah Simblett has pages full of beautiful drawings and photographs and tips on drawing plants.

I might just be able to tell my compound umbels apart from my dicasiums by the end of the holidays!

The New Artisans by Oliver Dupon is soooo lovely. A chunky hardback book featuring 75 designer makers from all over the world, full of stunning work. I found out about it through Cecilia Levy's blog, a paper artist I discovered this year, who is one of the featured artists. I'm so glad to own it....and makes me proud be an 'artisan' too. It's such a lovely word.

Then there's Lotta Jansdotters Open Studios Book. This features 24 artists studios from New York, Stockholm and Tokyo, and Lotta and  photographer Jenny Hellengren have obviously had a whale of a time visiting these fascinating creative spaces and taking wonderful pictures. I visited loads of studios whilst doing the interviews for Illuminate this year and I loved every minute. Seeing the creative mess, the little things that inspire, the tools ready and waiting, pots of pencils, glass rods, piles of books....It's all in here. It's made me want to expand my studio though...but I guess I've been wanting to do that for ages anyway!

Then there's Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts, a very pretty book about nurturing your creativity and daring to honour your creative whisperings. I am going to be taking her ecourse next month HELLO SOUL HELLO BUSINESS which is a brand new collaboration with Beth from Do What You Love and I'm really excited about it. It's a business course about looking after the soul of your business. I have been in business for quite some time now and things are really flying but I think it's really important to look after the very thing that inspired you to do it in the first place and keep things fresh! Kelly Rae and Beth sent all the participants these beautiful notebooks for Christmas which is sitting on the top of my pile ready to catch any creative musings while things are peaceful!

My friend Rachel lent me this When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman and I can't tell you anything about it yet because I haven't started it. All I know is that she saved it for me because she thought I'd like the cover. She was absolutely right. That blue moon is metallic and very pretty.

I've been wanting to bring birds into my work for a long time so this Bedside Book of Birds by Graeme Gibson is good inspiration.

Full of illustrations and strange tales and folklore. I just read a tale about a girl whose mother bakes her in a pie because she broke her milk jug but she comes back to see her family as a bird and kills her mother with a stone down the chimney. Nice!

Just think. This time next year somebody might have my very own book on their Christmas reading pile. How exciting is that!!! Right, time for another cup of tea and some reading. Did you get any good books for Christmas?