Knitting content

The last few days here on Gabriola the rain has been bucketing down - hardly suprising considering we live in a rain forest - but we've been spoilt this year. Since early Spring we've had magnificent weather. So all this rain is taking a little getting used to... again.

For me, it's been the perfect opportunity to spend more time indoors, snug and warm with candles lit, pots of homemade soup simmering on the stove, baking in the oven, hot chocolate and... my knitting!

I've been a knitter on and off most of my life, oft times neurotic, sometimes sporadic but it is something I've always come back to. It's one of those things I begin to look forward to as Summer comes to a close. My thoughts turn to unfinished projects from the previous year, and new yarns or patterns I have somehow accummulated since. As the Fall colours begin to show, I pull out my knitting basket and plan my projects. By the time the leaves have fallen and my body begins to slow down for the winter months, my fingers start to itch to have something to do in the evenings.

And this year I realised that knitting is a barometer for how I am weathering. I only knit when I am relaxed and my life is in balance. When I finally pick up the bamboo needles and feel the yarn running through my fingers as I begin to knit through another winter, I know that I am, quite simply, content.

So that's what I have been up to...

On the previous post I inserted information about launching a line of SoulSpeak greeting cards as a gift set - so now you know what those lines of cards were all about in my previous studio photos!
Busy working on more sets of SoulSpeak cards~ I'm happy to say I can't work fast enough! How very luck I am to be looking forward to each new day to work some more at what I love ~

SoulSpeak Cards

Gentle, supportive and inspirational insights come to me while working as an Intuitive. I create SoulSpeak greeting cards from recycled, discarded, or handmade scraps of paper to reflect my interpretation of the meaning of the words.

This set of four original designs are printed on cards stick, individually hand enhanced with painting, collage and embossing, so that each card becomes an original in its own right.

The cards are left blank inside for you to add your own personal message... or simply sign the cards and let the words speak for you. SoulSpeak cards are designed to be kept and cherished, framed individually, or as a set of insights to reflect upon or live by.

Once we have held in our hearts

what we know to be our truth

it is impossible to let go

of who we are

In the mirror of lmy mind

I catch a glimpse

of who I choose

to become

We could all see

what's within

if we let go long enough to become it

Who you are

is what you know in your heart

to be true

Details
5" x 7" (approx. 12.5 x 18 cm)
Printed on white heavy weight card stock
Blank inside
Whilte mailing envelope
Packaged in individual cellophane sleeve
Suitable for framing

Payment and Shipping Information

Cdn $ 25.00/per set of four includes shipping and handling to Canada and the U.S. Overseas orders will include an additional shipping charge. Please inquire.

TO ORDER

Email me at byshena@shaw.ca the number of sets you want, your mailing address, and your choice of payment:

Paypal: Use the button on this site or I will invoice you through paypal directly
Cdn Money Order: I will invoice you directly

Please note:
Both the words and images are the original work of Shena Meadowcroft and subject to copyright protection. Thank you for respecting that neither my words or images can be reproduced, saved, altered or used in any way.

On being perfect...

For years I've fought the urge to have everything "perfect" before starting anything, and while I have won most of the battles, most of the time, against that particular monster, occasionally it rears its ugly head just to see if it still has a chance.

And so it's been the last little while. Admittedly after months of packing, unpacking, moving, settling, then moving again, I was getting a little jaded, and with it being a particularly busy summer with shows and sales I hadn't been able to get my house unpacked and a lot of things out of storage. I can only operate in a state of chaos for so long and then I draw the line, and it is usually at that point that the perfection monster sees his chance and grabs it.

I had spent the last month focussing entirely on getting my house and then my studio "in order" and the time invested has certainly paid of. But I was aware that I was running out of things to "organise" and sort. Today when I woke up the plan (again) was to tame the studio once and for all! I went to the loft, moving stuff up the stairs as I went, and spent about an hour sorting and tidying. Suddenly I realised that even though there was still a lot to do I was well past that point where you know it's only a matter of time till it all pulls together. And that what I really wanted to do in this space that I had worked so hard to create was... create!

So I spent a wonderful afternoon up in my new studio working. And what a day it was... The sun was breaking through the rain clouds, glistening on the water the studio overlooks, "Prayer for Peace" was playing softly on the CD player, a mug of yarrow tea waited nearby. In no time I found myself in the wonderful meditative space that seems to find me whenever I take up my brush or needle. I chose to begin by touching up by hand a set of four greeting cards in my line of "SoulSpeak" cards, each one slightly different, no two ever the same. The messages written on them will touch each recipient in different ways.

Was my house perfect? Not by a long shot! Is my studio exactly as I want it yet? Not in many ways. I don't have the right storage yet for everything, there is too much stuff on the floor and, well... still too much "stuff." Yet it felt great being up there in my tiny loft, sun streaming in through the windows, paintbrush in hand, the lines of cards growing without me even noticing, glancing probably way too often out the window, supper cooking in the kitchen below. As the shadows lengthened, I put the tops on the paint pots, planned my work for tomorrow and went for a walk along the beach in the setting sun, returning home to spend an evening with my love.

So the house isn't perfect yet, nor the studio, but you know what? Today was...