Organizing the Bookcase

psst, hello! I'm back... the hiatus was a little longer than I'd anticipated; I was recovering from an op pre Christmas and had promised myself a decent recovery period... but February came & went (mostly visiting family who I was unable to see over Christmas) and oops, now it's March!

Sometimes life goes like that and you just have to ride the wave. I have had plenty of time for reflection (one of the positive outcomes of illness I believe) and begun implementing certain changes both in my lifestyle and for my fledgling business - more on that another time!

One thing I've learned of late is to listen to my intuition more - our inner voice (our real inner voice, not the sometimes snidey one that pops up to crtiticise us, but the one that is deep within us and knows our greatest desires and dreams) speaks to us often and we are not attuned to heeding its wisdom. I have decided to be kinder to myself and listen more often to this inner voice - afterall this is where our authenticity & truth resides. If I feel tired, I allow myself a nap. If I don't get a blog post written for almost 3 months, I don't beat myself up over it.

And so my return to blogging is marked with this wonderful animation called 'Organizing the Bookshelf' as I feel I have being doing something along the same lines with my life of late. I love the beauty and simplicity of this video and those who know me will attest to my near obsession in having things organised by colour! Enjoy!

Lisa xx

video by Lisa Blonder Ohlenkamp & Sean Ohlenkamp

*Tutorial* - Christmas Tree Ribbons

A couple of weeks ago I promised you a tutorial on how to make the printed ribbons that I made for the recent Livingetc shoot. Ironically the giant Christmas tree that we decorated was barely featured in the printed article itself but you can see it in the background of one of the shots!

These are very simple to make and you can get creative with your choice of ribbon colours and of course the text that you print onto them. I chose hot pink, bright turquoise & lilac satin ribbons and the wording, "mon beau sapin" (which means my beautiful Christmas tree in French)

You will need:

6 metres of satin ribbon ( I used 2m per colour)
1 sheet of t-shirt transfer paper for your printer
a computer, a printer, an iron & a pair of scissors

Step 1

Using your computer, type out a page of your chosen wording in your preferred font type. I used font Desyrel in size 22 (to fit the width of the ribbon) and filled the whole page

Step 2

Print onto t-shirt transfer paper (make sure you select this in your printer settings so that the text prints out in mirror image). Then cut each set of words out

Step 3

Cut the ribbon into 40cm lengths (cut on the diagonal so it makes a point - this stops the ribbon from fraying) and, following the instructions for the transfer paper, carefully iron a set of words at each end, placing them about 2.5cm from the pointed end.

 Step 4

Once the text is in place, peel away the paper & tie the ribbons on the branches of your Christmas tree!

et voila! Quelle beau sapin!

Enjoy,

Lisa x

{Livingetc photos by Jeremy Wilson, tutorial photos by Lisa Pocklington}

*Magpie* - Winter Wonderland

It seems everywhere is in the midst of snowy mayhem; airports closed, roads blocked, people stranded...
The monochrome, muffled greyness of snowstorm days - when it feels like the whole world is hunkering down under a big, off-white blanket - remind me of these wonderful vintage photos I picked up at a local vide grenier last year... It doesn't say where they were taken but the date is 10th January 1937. Wish I'd bought more of them now!

Stay safe & warm wherever you are

Lisa x

Giving Thanks - Gratitude is the New Black

The internet is awash with tidings of Thanksgiving right now. On the other side of the pond, we Brits don't quite get it... we kind of see it as the event that our American friends confuse with Christmas - well it involves turkey, presents & gathering the family together doesn't it?
 
Having made some big changes in my life this past year, and actually begun appreciating the value of gratitude, I finally GET the real meaning of Thanksgiving and am quite blown away that an entire country holds a National holiday in the honour of gratitude. That's a powerful thing!

 I have been keeping a gratitude journal since March; each night before I turn out the light I list five things that happened during my day for which I am thankful for. Some days it's hard to stick to just five, others it's near impossible to even think of five - either way, it has trained my brain to look out for the good things that happen to me each day. It has become something I look forward to doing each night and you know what?... falling asleep with the thoughts of those five good things has given me such restful sleep. How nice to drift off into the land of nod with positive thoughts rather than feeling stressed about something that might not have gone well or some niggling anxiety about an upcoming situation over which I have no control.

Now don't get me wrong - I know that a gratitude journal is not going to solve all your problems in life, but I do believe it will inject a juicy dose of positivity and make you feel a whole lot nicer about yourself. We can be pretty tough on ourselves most of the time; our own worst critic. Why not take time to acknowledge those little moments of happiness each day, those goals you reached & those challenges you overcame? - no matter how small they may be.

"The great thing about gratitude is that there is no thing too small and no thing too big to receive it!"

You should give it a go... grab a pretty notebook & your favourite pen. Place them by your bedside - if you don't put them right there, you're pretty much guaranteed to forget to do it! (speaking from experience here!) - and tonight, just before you turn out the light, jot down those five experiences from the day that you can feel grateful for. They really can be anything; don't be shy! When I began this, I was very unsure of what to write... after all I'm a Brit; we're used to complaining & apologising rather than showing appreciation & gratitude! Within 2 weeks I had totally found my gratitude mojo & was appreciating so much more in my day to day life... hey, whilst we're on the subject; I am grateful to Christine Kane for showing me the benefits of keeping a gratitude journal. Thanks lady!

So whatever you find yourself doing this Thanksgiving weekend - remember to be thankful!

 Gratitude rocks!

Let me know how you get on

Lisa x

*Stylist* - in December's Livingetc

 As a stylist I am no stranger to seeing my work published or my name in print but rarely do I feature on the 'other' side of the camera; I'm usually behind it & behind the scenes. So it's a little strange to flick through the current issue of Livingetc and see a photo of me smiling shyly back atcha from the featured contributors section! (page 12 in case you're passing a newsstand!)

Now, I'm not one for tooting my own trumpet but I must say I'm quite pleased... and honoured to be featured. I had to answer a series of Christmas related questions which I sent in along with the copy I wrote for the article on a gorgeous home here in Chamonix, France. You can see more of the images of this home on the Livingetc website

With this being a Christmas issue story I had the fun task of sourcing and decorating a 5m tall tree!... in February! It was quite a feat to get it into the house and took the best part of a day to decorate. Florence and her family were amazingly accommodating and the kids were super excited to have all the decorations up again (merci mille fois Flo!). Simon was a star and wrote out a lovely letter to Pere Noel about wanting a Labrador puppy and little Charlie was adorable reaching up for the bright pink pompom that I suspended from the Moose painting in the lounge

I'll be posting a tutorial in the coming weeks on how to make the printed ribbons to decorate your Christmas tree as well as the mistletoe ball from the bedroom shot (my favourite!), so watch out for those. In the meantime though, one of the questions I was asked was, "This year my tree will be... (in 5 words or less)"  You'll see in the copy above that my answer was...

"Baubles suspended from the ceiling"

I'm lucky enough to have a beautiful vaulted ceiling in my lounge and I plan to suspend antiqued silver baubles of differing sizes from the light fitting with bright ribbons - and maybe the odd tiny disco ball too!

What plans do you have for your Christmas tree this year?

Lisa x

{photography by Jeremy Wilson}

Skeletons in the (sewing) Cupboard

Booo! Happy Halloween! At first I was simply looking for a textile or vintage image I could use as a Halloween graphic for this blog post but then this incredible knitted skeleton by artist Ben Cuevas got me thinking about the phrase 'skeletons in the cupboard'... and the sewing cupboard in particular

If you are anything like me, you'll have a cupboard full of half finished items that are wondering what they did wrong to have been abandoned for so long. Or a pile of projects waiting to be started.. a pile that grows larger by the day as my mind comes up with new ideas, clothes to be altered, gifts to be made

Projects like this not only take up room in your home but also in your mind.. cluttering up your brain (albeit subconsciously) with the nagging thought of "oh, I really should get that finished". This is such a drain on your energy; doesn't it feel great when you eventually do get that project finished? Don't you love that sense of satisfaction? That feeling of completion? And of course, once a project is finished you have a space in your cupboard for something new... after all, space invariably has a habit of being filled!

The same applies to your mind... removing items from your mental to-do list allows your subconscious to stop worrying about it. It creates a space in your thoughts and allows room for something new. And we all know how good and exciting it feels when we have something new to think about. Keeping the flow going is energising, experiencing a sense of achievement is motivating; it allows you to feel good about yourself. And that is always a good thing, right?

So, time to 'fess up. What's on your should-do list right now? What projects lie lurking in your cupboard that would free up both physical and mental space? I've decided to list mine below; more as a name-it-and-reclaim-it than a name-it-and-shame-it exercise.

I began this patchwork quilt about 6 years ago. I got as far as completing the central log cabin with flying geese section, and then..... patchwork tumbleweed.
 

I bought this fabulous Isabell Kristensen brocade skirt in the sales - it is about 3 sizes too large for me, which involves delicately unpicking pretty much everything, hence it has sat in the to-alter pile for several seasons

My log basket project is only about 9 months old - it was supposed to be finished well before we needed logs again up in the lounge. hmmmm 'nough said

And finally, my new (vintage 80's mega high waisted) leather trousers need a new button and the jodhpur shaped hips taking in to be skinny fitting

 So how do you tackle this without feeling overwhelmed?

The key is to firstly identify everything that needs tackling - make a list. Then set yourself some time aside regularly - weekly (or daily of you wish) and no more than a couple of hours (so that you don't get burned out) - and simply take action. Start with the easiest first - that way you experience a sense of completion as soon as possible. If you need to, break each project into step by step tasks - it really doesn't mater how long it takes you to get through your list; the key is that you are making progress. Keep at it. Showing up at your scheduled time and doing something is a step in the direction of accomplishment. Team up with a friend if it helps motivate you both - accountability is a great way to get things done.

So tell me, what skeletons do YOU have in your sewing cupboard?

Lisa x x

{Knitted skeleton by Ben Cuevas in Trancending Materials, all other photos by Lisa Pocklington for Smitten With It All}

*Designer* - Get Smitten Autumn Winter 2010 Palette

I collect yarns throughout the year from all manner of sources to use in my Autumn/Winter collection. When it comes to starting production of the knitwear range (yep it's well under way already!) I have to make the choice of which of the colours to work with

I do like to keep my beady eye on colour trends - in fact it's a huge part of what I do both in terms of my styling work as well as designing for Get Smitten. However, based on the fact that the majority of my yarns are sourced at car boot sales or are reclaimed from previously owned knitwear, I am always surprisingly chuffed with myself when my colour palettes are in keeping with the current trends for the High Street

{For those of you who are unaware, I do actually unravel suitable sweaters/jumpers/blankets in order to re-use the yarn. I am consciously trying to reduce the hideous quantity of textile waste the fashion industry creates!}

Having made my selection of yarns for this coming chilly season, I was delighted to receive a newsletter by UK's Monsoon showcasing a pretty good match of colours & textures. Yippeeee!

And, of course, there is always Livingetc on hand to confirm that I am on the right track

The Get Smitten beanies will be available as of early December... there are a few new patterns I have created for you too - a bit more fancy stitchery pokery this year! You'll get a sneak preview in November & the opportunity for some touchy-feely action if you come along to the exclusive private sale in late November (dates & venue to be announced soon!)

Now, if you don't mind, I have a little bit of crochet to attend to!


{images by Lisa Pocklington & Monsoon UK}