We are in the peak of busy season for my job, so it has been difficult to write creatively in my free time. However, I am excited to share that a personal narrative I wrote in the spring and submitted to a podcast was accepted and just aired this week! The Habit Podcast (Conversations with [...]
Tag: art
The Impracticalities of Living in a Shoe
As part of The Habit Membership this month, we've been participating in an online class, reading The Magician's Nephew, discussing writing techniques, and practicing with writing exercises. Last week, the writing exercise was to focus on the subjective experience of characters in a story about which the readers would already know the objective "facts". Enjoy [...]
I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry: The Book Arrived!
This past week brought the end product of an anthology that was dreamed up years ago by Bandersnatch Books. I entered in on the project two years ago when they put out a call for submissions of new children's poems. It was eight or nine months before I found out that a poem I submitted [...]
I’m Not Creative: Analyzing Myself as a Writer
A few years ago, my workplace gave me a comprehensive assessment (the Pro-D assessment) based on nine key career values. The assessment ranks the career values against themselves in three areas, mission, competency, and style. I found it extremely accurate and insightful! Recently, I revisited the assessment results, but with my writing work in mind. [...]
What Is This Blog About?
Honestly, I think the answer to that question keeps shifting. When I started this blog almost six years ago, its main purpose was to share my home renovation projects. Then as the renovation work settled, it became more of an outlet for my writing, occasionally fiction or poetry, but most often non-fiction essay or personal [...]
Playful Freehand Embroidery
As I've mentioned, this summer was probably the busiest summer season I've ever had. Because of this, I was not able to work on as many creative projects as I usually would. However, there was one little project I had been thinking about for a while. A year or so ago, my brother gave me [...]
The Lake District: Possibly My Favorite Part of England?
It rained today and is still a bit overcast here. Time to get a cup of tea and enjoy a bit of England! Last year, on my dream trip to England, I had initially tried to get to the Lake District. After calculating the travel time, I realized it made more sense to stay in [...]
Continuing Back in Time: 3 Dresses from the 1910s
We're going even further back in history today! In the Greatest Haul of All, these three dresses, which I estimate to be made between 1910 and 1920, all fit me and I'm excited to show you all of their beautiful craftmanship and details! From the silhouette, I believe this yellow dress was made in the [...]
Kelmscott Manor: The Home of William Morris
One surprise that hadn't been on the original itinerary for the retreat was the opportunity to go to Kelmscott Manor, William Morris' house. Most of you have probably seen William Morris' work, even if you don't recognize his name. He was a pre-Raphaelite artist, at the head of the Arts and Crafts movement in the [...]
Ready, Set,…Wait a Minute
I am great at finishing things, not always so great at starting things. I know a lot of people have the opposite problem, but I'm sure there are others like me. I have perfectionist tendencies, a strong desire for efficiency and productivity. I treat beginning a project as a commitment to finish it. There are [...]
Welcome To The Carriage House 