Hi everyone,
Learning to live in Lockdown
Lockdown 2020 has thrown up a lot of challenges for
pretty much everyone across the globe. For me, this has meant adjusting to
working from home which has taken a bit of time to get used to, and to get into
a workable work/life balance.
I very quickly realised that I missed my daily commute.
I’ve always said that this is my “thinking time”. On the way to work it’s my
time to think about what my plan for work is, what else I need to do during the
day, it’s also the time where I can call doctor/school/dentist etc to make
appointments or whatever. On the way home it’s my time to process my workday,
think about what I have to do in the evening as well as whatever else is going
on in the life of my family. It’s the time where I speak to people only if I
choose to, and I don’t hear “mum, where’s …” , “mum, can you….” “mummmmmmm”.
I also came to the realisation that this is also my
winding down time, where I can switch off working Deb, and turn on home Mum, so
without this commute, I found it very hard to switch off from work, it would
carry on into the evenings and weekends so that I didn’t feel like I was doing
anything else but work.
But once I did realise this, I made a conscious effort to
“leave work” one Friday night and spent the whole weekend relaxing, just chilling
out without looking at work email or checking the work social media channels or
messages. And I think I needed it, the creative juices started flowing again
and I got back into the greenhouse, pottering around with seeds and tiny
plants.
So I started managing my weeks a bit better, setting
aside set working hours and then remembering to walk away from it when my work
day was done. Sometimes it’s still a wee bit of a struggle, I was answering
social media enquiries at 11.30pm the other night, but on the whole I think
I’ve got it more or less sussed.
Rediscovering my craft
As most of you know, I love to colour, but because I have
a creative job that’s pretty all-consuming it’s been a long time since I’ve had
the time or motivation to do any colouring. I rarely make cards, not even for
fun, if I have to make a card for any reason it’s usually last minute and very
quick ‘n’ easy.
So when Krista Smith announced she would be having a Colouring
Challenge from the 1st to 5th June, it really ignited
something – I know how corny that sounds but it’s true. I was excited about it!
So I printed off some of Krista’s Digi stamps and after
such a long time sat down to colour again.
I’m surprised no bats or moths flew out when I opened my case of
promarkers and flexmarkers. But it was like I’d never been away from them, it
really is like riding a bike!
Sadly though, the more I coloured, the more of my markers
I found to have dried out and I had to admit to myself that their days were
numbered.
Some of you may know that I used to be Product Coach for
Scotland for Letraset – the company that created and made Promarkers,
Flexmarkers and Tria Markers. The directors of Letraset sold the company to a
company called ColArt who also own brands like Winsor & Newton, Elephant
Art and Snazaroo. Unfortunately, they decided to integrate the Promarkers into
the Winsor & Newton brand and completely ditched the Tria and Flexmarker
ranges, rebranding the Promarkers and launching their own Brushmarkers.
Letraset worked closely and took on board feedback from
the craft community as well as the more traditional art community.
ColArt/Winsor & Newton don’t seem to have the same interest (in my opinion)
and don’t seem to put any effort into the craft market.
So because of this, I decided that I need to find
a replacement range of markers….. thanks for visiting,
it's always nice to hear what you think so feel free to leave me a comment
Debz
P.S.
image; "Smokin' Hot" from Krista Smith
papers: My Minds Eye
media: promarkers
