Summer time in London

Hello!

Friday last, George and I were up bright and early, to catch the 10.15am train from Leeds to London.

During the week, Paul (my partner and super-semi-step* dad to George) works down in Farnborough. So when the holidays allow us, we occasionally travel down to meet him in the big smoke, to have a fun weekend exploring...and also to save him the arduous commute back home to North Yorkshire.

We try and stay in different areas each time, and this weekend we were based in the Waterloo district (at another Premiere Inn, because we do get the best night's sleep in their beds), as I had a real desire to visit the South Bank area.

It didn't disappoint!

We saw the hilarious Scotch and Soda show in the London Wonderground Festival Spiegeltent, next to the South Bank Centre - acrobats, bike tricks, strange men in wooden clogs, all to incredible music by the Crusty Suitcase Band.

We had another hilarious outing, quite by accident, thanks to a member of the boat crew giving us a free guided tour, on the river cruise we took down to Greenwich.

Over the course of the weekend, we walked miles; the sun shone; we laughed; we ate amazing steaks and watched George desperately try to climb the lions in Trafalgar Square; we wandered South Bank and took in all the sights, sounds and smells; stumbled on a cool little exhibition about youth culture throughout the ages and the world; and generally remembered how good it is, to be of our happy little trio.

Here are some photos of our visit...

oh how I would LOVE this funny little structure as a Ditsy den at the bottom of my garden - I'd also need a garden ;)

discussing external lifts - P explaining, and G equal halves horror and awe struck

this dress ♡

epic photo bombing

urban jungle

queuing for the Spiegeltent

welcome to the Wonderground

my lovely little family ♥︎

 

 

my photo taking compadre

 Gloriana, the royal barge

 

 

 

who doesn't want a column growing out of their head?

amen

 

spectral being encountered at Central St. Martin's

Sarah
x




*semi because we're not married and super because he is

Product Photography

Hello from a seriously soggy North Yorkshire - perfect weather for making headway on To Do lists!

Taking priority on the list for me, was setting up a place where I can do my product photography, without having to take down all the equipment after every session.

my new product photography set up is as near to the roof window as possible

We recently had most of our loft boarded out for storage - oh my word, how much do I love that loft?!?! Complete tangent here - but knowing that we now have somewhere to store...Winter clothes and coats in Summer & vice versa; Ditsy Bird materials and supplies that I don't use regularly; bags; spare bedding; all the stuff that is currently under all the beds due lack of storage; sentimental keepsakes - what a difference this is going to make!

Okay, back to it - I decided that, as there won't be a lot of traffic up there (it will basically just be me, moving things from house to loft and back again), it is the perfect place to set up my lighting, tripod and backdrops.

With this setup, as and when I finish a product, I can whizz up the ladder and take the pics I need, and get straight on to editing and listing - rather than continuing with my current method, of waiting until I've got loads to photo, in order to justify the time spent setting up all the equipment.

Lots of trips up the ladder, lugging gear upstairs; lots of crawling on knees to get things into place (W trusses..ugh!); lots of getting hot and bothered (so warm up there!) later, and it's all set up. Hurrah!

I feel hugely satisfied for having actually got off my bum and done it - plus the exercise I've had climbing those ladders, and lifting kit up there - and for trimming down my current 'to photograph' pile.

Oh yes, very satisfying indeed.

Have you tackled something that's been nattering away at the back of your head for a while, or is there something that you could do, right now, to get a big fat tick on your to do list?

Right then, what's next on that there list...

Sarah

x

UPDATE:
Just in case anyone is interested, THIS is the lighting set I bought in 2014, after taking THIS course by Alisa Burke. I can highly recommend both the lights, and the course! Best of all, there is currently $10 off the course, in Alisa's Summer sale. 

Weekend round up

Good morning, and a happy new week to you all!

So what did you get up to over the weekend? Did you have sunshine?

Ha, that is such a British thing to ask, isn't it?

It was a bit patchy round our neck of the woods, with lots of rain and some sunshine...our plants are very happy about it though.

colour me happy

I lost myself in painting on Saturday - it was utter bliss!

This week is my last in my current job, as I am being made redundant on Thursday, and it's my first time. Hey ho, I'm not the first, and I certainly won't be the last...and frankly, I think I've done well lasting 18 years in a company where I've seen so many people go over the course of that time.

beautiful church and churchyard in Kirkby Lonsdale

I'm quite alright with the no longer working there part, it's just the actual leaving bit - this last week - it's all a bit toe curlingly cringy. I just want to be gone. I hate being the focus of attention, and actively avoid awkward situations, so it's going to be two days that will be spent firmly outside of my comfort zone.

My plan is to act bright and breezy, and eliminate any potential uncomfortable moments...cunning plan, huh?!?!

how's about that for a messy desk...fun times!

So back to the painting - I just slapped colour on various wooden objects, and continued on, for some very happy hours. Colour happy!

Most are nearly finished, and will soon be ready for the wonderful inking process. Hurrah, my favourite part.

And the cherry on the cake? A damned tasty, takeaway curry in the evening. Perfect.

how fab is this building, with all those windows & a roof like a bushy monobrow?

Sunday involved a lie-in, late breakfast, and a lovely mooch around Kirkby Lonsdale - it is such a pretty town, with little boutique style gift shops, loads of pubs and cafes, and a fabulous gallery. There are some gorgeous riverside walks to be had too, but we were in mooching mode yesterday.

odd place to put a clock, don't you think?

I finally got my hands on some gorgeous oil cloth for our kitchen table...it's still packed away until work has finished in the house, and we're straight again, with everything back where it should be, and lots of stuff hidden away in the soon-to-be boarded loft.

Ooh storage, how I've missed you!

feeling the house love with this beauty, and that completely lush garden

Sunday evening consisted of a Paul cooked chilli prawn linguini; a mini manicure & pedicure, from me to me; and catching up on a couple of episodes of Penny Dreadful. I love it, but it creeps me out big time, so I won't watch it alone. 

And now it's on with a new week, full of potential, and a little more rain for good measure.

Have a good one,
Sarah
x

Shop update Sunday...more new products listed

hot pink butterfly magnet here

Hello there!

We've had a lovely weekend here - nothing majorly exciting occurring, just a bit of clothes shopping for George, over in Harrogate; a trip to the local farm shop yesterday, which has been too busy to venture into until now, and more than exceeded our hopes and expectations; a good spot of gardening this morning in the sunshine; and now a sneaky hour or so on Ditsy Bird, before we have a barbecue. Though looking at the weather, it may end up being an oven!

I've still got boxes in my room, of products requiring photographing, or listing...or even both! And that's me ignoring the 'please finish me', and 'please correct me' boxes. Poor neglected little loves.

I'm tackling this in bite-sized chunks, so that I don't throw my laptop out of the window in frustration.

I'd forgotten just how long it takes to get products listed in the shop - though [ahem] I'm quite sure, that if I did it more regularly (as opposed to leaving pretties languishing in a 'to list' box, for months on end...shame on me) I'd become super, speedy Sarah at the process!
(perhaps I could then don a cape, and be extra-motivated to keep up the good work?!?! though it might get caught in the wheels on the bottom of my chair...wouldn't want to throttle myself in a flurry of listing)

As it is, I'm a little rusty, so bite-sized chunks it is ;)

There are more Ditsy delights in there now - a pretty quartet of magnets, and another of brooches, aswell the beauty of a butterfly at the top of this post.

pretty brooches here

gorgeous magnets here

Happy Sunday folks, and I hope you've enjoyed your weekend!

Sarah
x

2015 thus far...

The year isn't going quite as expected. And that's an understatement.

First up - major health scare starting on 18th Feb, and ending on 3rd June.

Very long and convoluted story short:

I had a weird hot flushing reaction to something eaten - the second episode involved not being able to breath properly. Yep, really really scary.
Diagnosed with anaphylaxis with an unknown trigger - epipens prescribed.

Had to show George how to administer the epipens.
He became worried and quite stressed about leaving me alone during the day.

The episodes became more frequent with no real correlation, culminating in 3 within 25 hours, and the last two within an hour - epipen used, and then taken to A&E due to administering adrenalin.

Kept in overnight, loads of tests done, anaphylaxis ruled out, epipens taken away,
no explanation given for the numerous symptoms, and specfically (and importantly) for the downright terrifying breathless episodes.
Advised not to drive alone to work - a 70 mile round trip, with most of it through open countryside.
Given a 24 hour urine test to do, to check for a very rare form of cancer.

A kind of agoraphobia set in, as basically I was scared witless of being at the wheel of the car, with George as a passenger, and me not being able to breath.

lost confidence
retreated into myself
no desire to see anyone as they'd see I wasn't myself, and I really didn't want to discuss things with anyone
became quite down
filled with dread at having this cancer, and having to leave George without his mum, and Paul without his love

Also went down the haematology route, checking for various viruses, and having a CT scan to check that there were no hidden nasties inside my body.

The urine text results took five weeks to come back. Five weeks is a long time to hold your metaphoric breath. And "don't worry".

By then I had fully researched the cancer, and was sure I didn't have it.
Knowing something in your gut, and seeing it on paper, are two very different things.

I then researched my symptoms, and struck gold when I happened upon a site about anxiety attacks. Bingo!

I visited the doctor for help - basically to get out of the house - explained about the (what I thought were) panic attacks, and thankfully he agreed and prescribed beta blockers.
Immediate relief from the debilitating anxiety I'd been feeling. I can not tell you the difference this made.

Thanks to the tablets, I got on the plane for our holiday in Greece. Without them, there would have been no chance of me even getting in the car to go.

Had a wonderful week, forgetting everything at home, until the last day or so.

In the week we got back, over two consecutive days:
I had a bone scan to check for osteoporosis due to having coeliac disease - all fine
I got my CT scan results - no nasties hiding in me
I got my urine test results - no cancer
heck of a week

Thanks to a new ("thank duck for that!") view on life, and the epic pills, I refound my love for Ditsy Bird Designs, and set about showing it that love.

Second up - just two days after I blogged about my new branding, I got a 9:15am phone call from my boss, telling me I'm going to be made redundant. After 18 years.
really? really!

Gulp.

Today...I'm trying really very hard to see this as a positive, and if I take away the mortifying fear of having to go to an interview after EIGHTEEN  years, I genuinely believe it is.

I wasn't particularly happy in my job
I gleaned no real satisfaction from it
there was no challenge in it
it was dull, uninteresting and uninspiring
[but it was safe
it was flexible
it fit in perfectly with basically being a single mum Mon to Fri
I worked autonomously
I'd developed 18 years of trust from my managers]

This morning I read this post, and found it incredibly useful - but that last line, now then...that climbed out of the screen and poked me in the chest, it gave me a cheeky wink, a knowing smile, and went back to it's place.

"Your time is now. So introduce your art to the world." Melody Nieves

I will be working very hard on doing just that.

Sarah
x

A hearty Friday...new items in the shop

Six hanging hearts have just been listed in the webshop!

And about time too - these poor things have been sitting in my workroom for a while now, awaiting their listing turn. There are yet more products to be photographed, and popped into the shop, so I shall keep you updated as and when the listings happen.

Happy Friday folks!

Sarah
x

I DID!

My last post "What if I did?" struck a chord with a few of other ladies, in a similar position - it seems there is a hidden army of People Pleasers out there, all secretly harbouring desires to take some time, and do something just for themselves. Something they've been pondering, or hankering after, for a while now.

Well, "I did". And it was incredibly rewarding.

You may have noticed the bright shiny new look to Ditsy Bird Designs today - this is the result of working very hard over the past few weeks, updating my branding to bring the style and quality of my online presence, in line with that of the products I make.

I'd been trying to work out why I found it so easy to design and make my products, come up with ideas, and never run out of inspiration and love for what I do. But, at the same time, why I was SO averse to listing these products on my website; or updating my blog with recent endeavours...why I hid in Instagram and ignored my Etsy shop. Why I never pointed friends to my sites when enquiring about designs, but would email photos to them. Why I NEVER carried business cards with me.

Why? Simply - and vitally - because, my online style in no way reflected my design style...or the quality of it.

I realised that I didn't want to list items on my site, because it looked clunky and clumsy. Amateur. Because I felt it devalued the work and effort that had gone into creating the products on there.

I also knew that I did not have the funds to pay someone to design me a logo, or a website, and I wouldn't know what to ask for if I did.

Then I stumbled upon the answer.

After seeing lots of buzz and excitement about it on Instagram, and that people I respect had been singing it's praises, I bought myself a copy of Fiona Humberstone's book How to Style Your Brand.

Best twenty quid I've spent in a long while!

click on the pic to go to Fiona's Pinterest feed

Certainly the best value for money - it is a truly beautiful book (coffee-table-worthy styling and photographs), and is bursting with knowledge, advice, encouragement and information...to enable anyone with the desire to restyle or redesign their brand, to do just that.

So I did.

I worked my way through the book, front to back, reading and rereading each section in turn, and working through the action points that Fiona lays out for you.

With each chapter, it was made very clear what was required of me, so I just knuckled down and got on with them...one at a time.

Now I have to admit that I really did struggle with some areas - the idea of seasonal personalities, for instance - and I confess that the concept of colour psychology blew my mind to begin with!

My little piece of advice? Lay your preconceptions about who YOU are to one side, and concentrate on who YOUR BUSINESS is. Whilst it may be an extension of yourself, it is a separate entity...and has it's own personality traits just as you do. Or, at least mine does. It is not a complete reflection of me as a person.

Once I'd managed to leave any prejudgement behind, and continued on with an unbiased view of my business (and myself to some degree), I found following the process more intuitive and much easier. 

Things started to click. There were a couple of light bulb moments. A 'who knew?" or two.

Some bits I had to leave, and come back to with fresh eyes, after a bout of inking to clear my head and my body of tension.

There was a moment there, that I thought I wasn't going to 'get' the season and colour philosophies, but I dug deep, was really honest with myself, and it did fall into place eventually...satisfyingly so!

So...it turns out that Ditsy Bird Designs is a Spring business! I didn't see that coming AT ALL. Though when I was talking it through with my mum, explaining the Spring attributes and colours, she very much in the "well, obviously" camp. It never fails to surprise me, the disparity between how WE see ourselves, and how OTHERS do. Never fails.

click on the picture to go to Fiona's Pinterest feed

It shocked me, just how blinkered I'd become to my own business. To it's look and feel. It's purpose. 

How my longing for a certain look to my blog and website, had blinded me to what my business is actually about, how it is perceived by others, and ultimately, what I want it to give to others.

• take off those blinkers
• set aside any specific design lusts you already harbour
• open yourself up to the knowledge contained in the book - this is what Fiona does for a living, she is the expert, and you are reading her book - so listen to what she has to say
• ask a close friend how they see your business/your products - what these mean to them, how they look, how they make them feel.
  (I kept going back to comments from friends on my Instagram photos - a cracking source of feedback if you put your business owner head on, instead of friend head (Worzel Gummidge anyone?). It's too easy to brush compliments aside with a "ohh give over" and a blush. But if someone has taken the time to tell you something, then chances are, they mean it. And if a few folk are saying the same thing...it's time to listen up!)

I made a brand board. I know! :)

Bright, light and fun - not the chic, black and white, stark Scandinavian look that makes me veritably purr when I see it.

In fact, no black at all. My fall back ink choice every time.

And this was the biggest light bulb moment of all!

As soon as I changed my logo from black and white, to colour...everything fell into place. Oh happy, happy day!

And then I paused, looked over at my messy desk (I type at my neat desk - no ink allowed), and looked at the work I had on there, and realised that I use colour a lot. And bright colour too! Our house may be painted in muted shades, and our furniture may be subtly coloured, but my work is brimming with it.

I'd been so short-sighted. I'd been thinking about me, Sarah, not me Ditsy Bird. Face palm. No wonder I had hated my online look for so long...it and the message I was trying to convey, were completely at odds.

So there you have it - a brand new look to Ditsy Bird Designs!

Well nearly. After spending hours (days?) trying to come up with a new logo, I went back to my original design that I love, and which feels right. I simply redrew it and utilised Photoshop and Illustrator, to get a sleeker, more polished look to it. And to add the all important colour.

The new look feels like a much more natural fit - a branding reflection of the business, it's products, designs, and it's intentions.

I'd love to know what you think? (Please be gentle)

Right, I'm off to get on with designing business cards, and product packaging...

Cheers,

Sarah

x