Hi everyone Julie here, catching my breath after what has been an extraordinarily busy life in recent months.
So what have I been up to? Well I've been to Singapore on a holiday celebrating the 90th birthday of my amazing Mother in law. Actually she is not yet my Mother in law but she will be soon as my lovely partner of eight years, Steve, proposed whilst we were in Singapore. It was all very exciting. He got down on one knee and all but I did have to help him up again :-)
Now to plan a wedding!
Since then I have also spent time in Perth with one of my sisters. She is a very bad influence on me as she is a creative person who always introduces me to new techniques for papercrafts, another of my addictions. Of course this is complementary to my passion for colour and all things creative.
She encouraged me recently, before I went over there, to try the concept of junk journaling. This is a perfect thing for her and she has the patience for “fussy cutting” - painfully detailed cutting out of teeny tiny images and other fiddly bits and pieces using recycled card and paper etc...
This is not for me but, whilst there, I discovered the fun of “Art journaling”. Now I am not an artist by any means but I do love collage so this has started me on a new path. I can lose myself for hours. As a “Crafty” person, card maker, etc., I have an abundance of beautiful papers, stickers, images of all kinds which I can now make more use of, even scraps of material etc.. Oh what fun…oh what joy!!
Out come the acrylic paints, the inks, the water colours, the colouring pencils, the stains, the dyes, the distress oxides, the eco dyed papers and all manner of rubber stamps, rice papers, dried flowers and many other treasures that I have tucked away…my home looks like a bomb has hit it, but much less organised. Absolute bliss for me!
As a result of all this holidaying and creative time, I haven't done much else although we did go to see “Come from away” a brilliant musical set in a small town, Gander, on the day of September 11th 2001 and the ensuing days thereafter.
If you have the opportunity to see it I’m sure you will love it. We did.
In between times I have been very creative here at Uluna too. New blends galore. You will probably know a lot of them by the time you are reading this. Creating a new blend is quite a lengthy process as a great deal of research goes into the preparation and selection of oils to be used. I always cleanse the crystals and give some Reiki love to them before putting them into a blend. It is always a labour of love for me and I hope those of you who use my blends can feel that also.
In my own self growth, aside from my new art journals I have been working hard on balancing my Chakras and beginning each day mindfully.
My garden is a refuge for me, a place that is always filled with colour too. I am lucky enough to have a beautiful water feature in the back garden, a giant gum tree, a flower bed and some cool green grass. It is lovely to spend a little time there each day, feet buried in the grass, simply breathing, feeling gratitude for all I have and enjoying my life.
I do also have a large firepit so, on a cool evening, I can warm my feet by the fire and burn things I need to rid myself of. Lovely way to scribble down some worries and let them go.
I do have a wonderful life. I feel blessed.
From now until Christmas it will be all systems go here at Uluna and in my private life as family birthdays and celebrations fill the calendar.
I have a little bucket list in the making, of things I’d like to leave in 2022 and new things to set up for 2023. Christmas and the New Year will be here before we know it.
