An interview & Giveaway

Oh, how neglectful i have been towards friends in the blogosphere. How swiftly time slips by! I hope everyone is well.... i may have been out of sight, but you definitely have not been out of mind. I've just felt a bit 'computered-up'!

I heard myself telling someone I hadn't spoken to for ages that "I haven't really been doing much" and realised that it wasn't strictly true. In terms of quantifiable output.... no.... but I have read an awful lot.... i've scribbled notes by hand rather than sat at the computer... my etsy shop has had a few sales, but i've found myself drawn in.... getting involved with etsy teams, fiddling with descriptions & listings and stuff like that... and i have been interviewed by the lovely Carrie at CherryBlossomTattoo blog.

There is also chance to win yourself a Christmas prezzie.... part of the fun of the interview is a give-away.... a photograph from my etsy shop. The only snag is it ends tomorrow (Thursday). I promised myself i'd get a post written straight away to tell you all, but.... hmmm, no viable excuses really, sorry about that.

I've often looked at photographs by other people that have been obviously 'photoshopped' with textures & layers applied.... i've always thought that it was a bit beyond me, at least without a great deal of time & effort to work it out (& actually having photoshop would be a help too, lol). But I came across this~ pixlr-o-matic~ which gives free photo effects totally for free! Its sooooo easy & has plenty of wonderful vintage, retro, sparkly etc etc effects.... i cant remember whether there was 2 or 3 layers of texture on the crow above. The main page for pixlr is here... there is free photo-editing software there aswell as the effects.

As you can see, i've been playing a fair bit trying things out!

Yesterday's moon was a lovely waning crescent.... too rainy this morning, but i'm hoping it isn't too thin a sliver to catch tomorrow on the Winter Solstice morn, and of course it depends on the clouds first thing.

Something else i've been playing with is creating effects in camera. I'm loving using long exposures & altering the focal length as i shoot to create surreal, dreamy scenes. I've got loads of these, but haven't got them into the shop yet... it's on my list!!

I've been journeying a bit in those dreamworlds, melting into the trees & flying with crow, so perhaps that is why these appeal to me.... so many layers & shadows.... so many thoughts that seem to hang on the periphery of my mind, one minute so clear, another i'm left wondering what it was i was so clear about....

Perhaps as the year turns and the days begin to draw out, i will be ready to return & write 'out loud' again.... i feel the time is coming. It's funny, there are a couple of others that i have been closer to in the blog world, who also have been silent of late...

Any way.... If you have time & are so inclined do pop over to see carrie's blog. She promotes other etsy sellers with such enthusiasm and her own photography is lovely. Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to enter the draw to win a photo, here, but be quick!

With love... suzi xx

Moon Treasures

As we move around so much, it is not always easy for me to find work straight away, (at least not the paying kind), and so I have decided to put some serious effort into making something from what I do. My calligraphy has been on the back-burner for a while, and plans are underfoot to revamp how I approach that. But as I am nearly always camera in hand these days, this seemed the easiest place to start, and so I recently opened a little shop on etsy... 

Lone Crow Photo

I underestimated the amount of time I take to edit pictures and create descriptions, but progress has been steady and will become easier as time goes on. There is still much to add, but some of my photo's have attracted attention already.

This one is in a treasury called "red as a rose... black as the moon"

If you don't know about etsy treasuries... they are collections of items that someone puts together along a theme of their choosing. It's quite a good way of browsing shops, when someone else has done the work of bringing things together for you!

Next came "Moonstruck".... some lovely artwork in this treasury. So far, I've concentrated on my moon photographs in the shop and it's rewarding to have other people choose them for treasuries and direct people towards my shop already. 

This morning brought news of another treasury inclusion... "New Moon". That's three in a week... I feel honoured and thankful. I'm awaiting that first sale, but I've been preparing the ground & sowing the seeds over new moon... I've offered up my prayers... so now I wait and continue the work on various ideas to add to my shop.

Why Lone Crow? Well, the name came a few years ago... I was wandering the woods near an old quarry in Derbyshire where we were staying... a crescent moon was low in the sky and I'd been musing on druids & things shamanistic... a crow cawed above me & seemed to say 'lone crow'... a lone crow appeared regularly over the next couple of weeks shouting the same thing. When I started planning my shop a crow appeared again shouting 'Lone Crow'... it seemed appropriate to use that name now & so Lone Crow Photo was born.

New Horizons...

On Friday we venture south towards the big city... London bound are we, as Steve starts working on the "2012 Olympic Village". We've resisted attempts to send us that way for a long time... more people, busier roads... we're just not city folk. So we've both had more than the usual pre-headingoffinto the unknown nerves. But, the project he was due to start on has been delayed until after Easter and work is work! I wonder what my new horizon will be like next week?

Finding a suitable caravan site has been a problem... there are fewer options, often extortionately (in my opinion) priced, & i've experienced attitudes I've not had to deal with before. We travel with a caravan & a little trailer... which is our garden shed, aswell as housing motorcycle & where the dog sleeps. Apparently this makes us, I quote, "pikeys" (gypsys) and "we have to think of our other caravanners". I know some elements of the Gypsy/Travelling community do cause problems and some of them don't help their own cause, but it's the first time I've encountered such blatant hostility based on what I might or might not be. I suppose I'm lucky compared to many who are subject to various prejudices on a regular basis. Some sites haven't wanted us before, but they haven't been nasty. The tin lid on it all was when he asked what I do... I said I'd look for a job, & thinking he was actually interested I told him I walk, write, paint, read blah blah... the result? "Well, I'll definitely have to say no then"!!! His loss! We have got somewhere though.... just north of the Dartford tunnel if that means anything to anyone!

The pictures are all of recent sun-rises.... even though most days lately have been a bit insipid, cloudy, drizzly affairs... I love them all in their own way & I guess I will soon find the charms of the place we are going to. I think being a country girl I have mis-conceptions about "london"... i've visited a couple of times & it's been fine so i'm sure all will be well when we get there ... yesterdays nerves have given way to anticipation & I'm intrigued to see what happens & where we will be... new horizons are around the corner, I wonder what they'll bring?

Look Into My Eyes....

When I first started blogging, i never considered posting a picture of myself... i felt like the shy newcomer dipping a toe in the water... i thought i'd just hang around & observe a while before I said much.

Ha! that didn't last long did it? From the start, I felt included... the welcome I received, the comments & responses... they all invite interaction, reciprocation, but in a way that doesn't feel there are expectations or strings attached. And because of that freedom relationships have grown.

We weave our connections on the strands of the web, often with no visual image of the people we resonate with... connecting with hearts & minds rather than the physical body. In many ways I think this makes it easier... we say what we feel, have conversations we probably wouldn't get around to with someone we meet face to face... at least not straight away.

I've thought a few times about putting my picture on my profile, but never got around to it.... needed to take one for a start, and usually I'd rather spend my time here either writing or visiting other people. Then, the other day someone suggested it would be good to see a picture of me over at suzi's scribbles; so I started playing with the camera program on my computer....

I don't know... does a photograph make a difference? I don't particularly look for a picture of anyone... but it is nice to satisfy a curiosity now n again, but it wouldn't make a difference to me buying anything from someone whose work I liked, or whose words resonated with me.

Some would say that showing a picture is part of being authentic... others would say no, keep the mystery... from a marketing point of view a photograph is good.... it implies you have nothing to hide... but people who are less than honest know this & will use an image to give an impression of trustworthiness...

So for now I tease...

Look into my eyes, what do you see?

Have i the power to hypnotize,

Coerce you into buying from me?

Lol, I couldn't hard-sell if i tried... I wouldn't want to. I just do what I do & reckon if people like what they see they will buy... but I also know that I have the responsibility of getting my work 'out there' for people to see, so they have the option; the website is just one step towards that, things will unfold as they are meant to... & yeah, it will most likely include photographs for no reason other than i want to!

My New Calligraphy Site!!

Well... I have been more focussed on generating an income from my calligraphy & lettering art recently... one step being somewhere to showcase my work. Can I ask you a favour? Take a peek at

suziscribbles.com

and let me know what you think? I've still got a zillion photos to go on & a couple of information pages to add, but at the moment I just want to check if it reads ok before I get too far... I know white on black can get a bit hard on the eyes, so i've tried a couple of different text sizes here n there... would appreciate a bit of feedback if anyone wants to... i will be adding a link bar to canvasses, books, workshops etc & the glaring empty spaces will get sorted! Thanks... x (she says nervously!)

ps... just keep it between us for now.... i'm not ready to roll it out to the whole world til i'm happy with it!
(yeah i know, technically the whole world can see it... but I trust this corner)

paint beneath my nails

Paint beneath my nails…

… & it feels goooood! It’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to get down & dirty, mixing & splodging (that’s a technical term, honest) with colour. Living in a small space (a caravan) with a house-proud fella is not a conducive environment for my style of artiness. When I’m creating I’m haphazard & random, he’s methodical & meticulous; I need to leave things out, he needs them put away; I lose sense of time, he is constantly aware of it. But we work well together, like contrasting colours, we sit comfortably on the canvas of our life together.


He says ‘well just be careful with the paints’, I know that however carefully I set out, careful + suzi + paints just don’t work…. I’ve lost count of the new jeans with paint on because I ‘wasn’t doing anything messy’ or I ‘was just gonna add one line’. Don’t get me wrong, I can be very meticulous & work methodically…. But… for the last couple of years my creativity has been channelled in other directions, & to be honest I haven’t wanted to apply myself to lettering or canvasses. Until now.

I’ve needed this time ‘off’ after 20 years of running a business (or 3) whilst raising my kids, studying & teaching. I didn’t plan time off, but family & financial crisis led to selling up & traveling with my man, who took a job working around the country. I’ve learned to take the time to enjoy cooking, cleaning, baking etc without the pressure of fitting it in amongst other self-imposed demands. I’ve been able to read, write, meditate… or just be… going with the flow instead of trying to ‘make’ things happen.

Another advantage has been the amount of time I have been able to spend walking or just sitting with nature. I’ve always considered myself a country girl, but I have seen so much more, maybe being more relaxed allows me to notice in a different way… and the connection to Nature, Elements, Energy… has deepened & grown. It’s all been very necessary for me.

Since December we’ve been back in North Yorkshire, close to where we set out from, and it looks like we will be here for some time. Mr Whispers was out of work for 6 months, but 6 weeks ago landed a job that is nearby & long-term! The thing is, even though I’ve been close to Sue (Creative Spirit) & been going in to the studio with her every week, I’ve only piddled about with things.

It’s not that I’ve been short of ideas… just no real desire until now. It started with “Dance The Old Ways”(a bit further down the page if you missed it) inspired by Cari Ferraro (I reckon the energy gave me a kick start, thanks cari) & Blog Candy for Mel (which I can post about soon, now that she’s received it!) … it seems the energy is indeed flowing, rather than having ideas to do ‘sometime’ I’m ready to act on them now… it is just natural to act now, instead of being something I maybe ‘ought’ to do… there have been big energy shifts for us both.

So… I’m back to having paint beneath my nails & I love it!

I have been tagged! - 7 facts about myself

Hayley from Iridescent Dark has been tagged, and in turn, has tagged me! I know I enjoy reading about other people, but I’m sat here wonderin’ what the heck to put about myself!

Here are the rules if I tag you!

1. Link to your original tagger and list these rules in your post.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

Ok, here goes…

1. My blood group is B-‘ve, which is shared by approx 2% of the human population. The ‘Rhesus (Rh) factor’ was first discovered in blood of the Rhesus monkey & I don’t have it! (Now… if we are descended from apes, where does the Rh- gene come from? It is absent in about 15% of humans- is it a genetic quirk, or does it come from unknown ancestors?? (curious? Look at this)

2. I live in a caravan- we sold up a couple of years ago & live wherever my partner works. I think it fulfils my childhood dream of being a gypsy, except not the horse-drawn type of caravan- ours is a big American 5th wheel type. Apparently several generations back on my maternal side were gypsies (complete with the Lee surname)- allegedly they were herbalists who eventually settled on the Northumbrian/Scottish borders. Our motivation was money (or lack of it) & getting ‘out of the system’…maybe sometime we will settle back into a house, & if we do it will be called “Llamedos” (think about it, see if you can work it out)

3. I hate hearing the word drawing pronounced ‘drawring’. There’s no R in drawing- even if you’re drawing drawers!

4. I’ve got a fat leg- well actually I’ve got 2, but one is fatter than the other. I had a Deep Vein Thrombosis when I was 32, which damaged the valves in the veins of my leg. Consequently the circulation in my left leg isn’t so good & it gets fatter as the day goes on, especially if I’m on my feet a lot!

5. I raced a stock car once. I used to go to watch a couple of mates who raced & on the last meeting of the season there’s a ladies race (unknown to me at the time). Suddenly I was lifted into the car & told I was racing! Loved it… & didn’t do too badly considering I couldn’t reach to depress the clutch without sliding right down in the seat so had to start & race in 3rd gear! Ooo the power of a V8 engine…

6. I doodle incessantly. All my school books were covered, every bit of paper in reach of the phone, corners of journals, note-books & rough-work (while I ‘think’)….

7. Once I ‘un-shoplifted’ In my teens I took some eyeliner from the chemists with a friend, but felt so guilty I sneaked it back the next day- I’ve got a built in honesty streak & hate lying. Having said that I can keep a straight face be very convincing if it’s just for fun as a wind-up (& I always confess)!

Phew, that took some thinking about… hope it entertained everyone!
Now for who to tag.... hopefully you won't mind if you are & won't complain if you're not! It's actually quite fascinating reading what people put.

In no particular order of favouritism or sadism...

Rose @ Living Creatively
Mel @ Creative Clutter
Sian @ Welsh Witch's Witterings
Rose @ Weaving Amongst the Stars
Jules @ The Old Word Tin
Debbie @ Hippy Hipster Diary
Jean @ A Joyful Spirit