Black++

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Fashionistas, designers and decorators have always loved the elegance and style of something in black. They always say if you don’t know what to wear, wear black…..you will always be in style and you will always feel good.

So, I for one are sold on black. In my younger days I always loved darker furniture in my house, and then we moved into a very old, cold, dark house. I hated it, it was always cold, you can never do anything in the house without switching on the lights. When we were ready to build our new home, I just wanted everything to be white. I wanted nature and all the sunshine to just come into my house….I never wanted to switch on a light again. You can see my new white house in A Tour of My House. 

Now, after three years I’m ready for some black again. After doing some research, and seeing all the different types of black I can honestly say I can’t wait for my next ‘black’ project.

Get some inspiration, do your homework and take the plunge.  Black is back!!

Being less busy

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When you live in the city (any city) you tend to forget how it feels to do less. Your every being is aching to do less, have more time, enjoy more, have more fun, but due to obligations it just never happens.

So……here is my story and the wonderful affect it had on our lives when we started doing less, being less busy, and just be…..I always needed more hours in the day of what is available, I was always late, I was always speeding (I had a file for all my speeding tickets), and I constantly had a feeling of being rushed. All the things that give you lots and lots of stress, headaches and unhappiness. I never had time to spend quality time with my children, because by the time I see them it was late and we still had to make and eat dinner, bath and be in bed on time in order to start early the next day and just do it all over again.  We lived for weekends, when we can just have a little bit of less rushing around, however there were still the grocery shopping (which in itself is one big torture). Just imagine your Saturday morning start with searching for parking for an hour, shuffling in a grocery store because there are so many people, and then again standing in a queue to pay all your groceries for another hour.  That is not a live!!

Luckily we are in the position to relocate anywhere in the world. I can’t really work anymore, but have lots and lots more time to do the things that really make me happy. (like writing, painting, gardening) We have lots of open space around us, about 5 hectare, no traffic and I can do my groceries anytime of the day. Even though our income has decreased by half, our well-being, happiness and quality time with the kids has increased 3 times. It’s nothing to just sit on the patio and just BE – the only rushed thing that I must do is breathe – other than that I can just enjoy the peace and quite and beautiful views.

When we have friends visiting I can immediately see who are the ones that come from the city, and who are those who know the magic of doing less, enjoying live more, and appreciate being unbusy. The friends from the city can’t sit still for more than 10 min, then they must get up and do something. Don’t misunderstand me, I also love doing stuff and hate it to not have something to do, but doing nothing sometimes is also doing something.

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Go into this week with the attitude that your peace, your health of mind and your heart mean more than getting everything else done. That your smile matters. That feeling rested matters. That holding the hand of your loved ones matter. So pause lots, function at a pace that doesn’t pull you apart. Honour the things that make your feel good inside, the things that make you feel alive. Give time to those things this week. Make time the fit it is, by giving it to what really matters to you. – S.C.Lourie from Butterflies and Pebbles

Please follow BecomingUnbusy. It gives my inspiration everyday.

My newly found passion – Skinny LaMinx

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I’ve reasontly decided to start move over to the ‘sales’ industry and after various considerations I decided to try do something with one of my favorite brands – Skinny LaMinx – I contacted them and they were more than willing to accommodate me with my new adventure.

Watch this space for more information in the new year. In the meantime, feed your soul and start plannning your next make-over.

 

Images: Skinny LaMinx

Hand-lettering (and Calligraphy)

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It is sometimes so exciting when starting a new hobby. I’ve recently started with hand-lettering and calligraphy (please note that these two are not the same…more about that later) and I cannot tell you how I love it. I love the way the words just flow out of the pen, and I even love it more when I know I can do this. After all, practice makes perfect….my mother use to say.  I love the feeling I get in my brain, it’s almost as if the serotonin just flows freely and accumulate with each and every letter I make. The reason for all of this is that you actually use a different part of the magical grey matter, called your brain (something else that really fascinates me). According to The Wall Street Journal forming letters is a key component to learning, memory and ideas.

After starting with my very satisfying hobby, the researcher in me also got curious, and I started reading up on calligraphy and hand-lettering and where it actually comes from.

According to our online encyclopedia Wikipedia it is the “art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner.” – Wikipedia

Or, as per the Chinese, the art of writing. In traditional China this visual art form was prized above all others.

So, after all the facts I read I realized I’m even more drawn to it, and cannot wait to start with my next worksheet to even train my brain further.

If you ask me “How do you start”, I will answer the following:

  • Pick up a pen, any pen
  • Print out a worksheet (there’s thousands available online, but the best you will find at The Postman’s Knock)
  • Start writing

It is not an expensive hobby and anybody can do it at any age. I started with a normal ball point pen. Once I have it completely mastered I will move on to all the different nibs and ink.

Through writing I’ve discovered a whole new part of me….and I’m loving it.

Please note that all art work displayed in this post are not yet mine, as I’m still a student learning the art. So, a big, fat thank you to all the artist, and Pinterest, for providing the inspiration.