Feeling really tired. Lola is pushing my arm and preventing me from typing because she wants to be scratched. It was a terrible cold week with lots of rain which turned to ice overnight and for two days I was not able to unlock our gate and had to use car entrance to go out. Thankfully that did not freeze. I think it’s time for this winter to end, because now I feel I really had enough. Tired.

I am also tired of Instagram and constantly trying to keep up with every day posting, so this week I wasn’t posting or engaging in any way and I have to say that it felt good. I had to ask myself why do I keep trying to win likes and followers and to tailor my posts and accounts to what people like. It makes me frustrated and feels fake and I don’t achieve anything. So, I made a conclusion that it does not really matter and that I should really focus on what makes me happy and stop thinking about how to please the people.

In that context, I was mostly drawing on iPad and concentrating on Spoonflower challenges. My Ox pattern ended up on 82 place which is by far the best placement ever and it makes me really happy. To celebrate that, I created a coloring page based on the design, which I give for free and you can download it here.

Here are the two pattern that I submitted for the next two Spoonflower challenges. The first one I already mentioned last week, it’s challenge called patchwork and my entry is this one:

I think it will make a great cover from my sofa, so I am planning to order it very soon, just waiting for a couple more designs to order samples at the same time.

The second design I just submitted today is for the talisman challenge and I really spent a lot of time on it, choosing colors and making all the little details work together. I am still not completely happy with it but I think it looks bold and interesting:

And, as I said, I really enjoy drawing on iPad and exploring what can be done. Getting an iPad was the best purchase I made lately. This one was just a quick play, but possibilities are almost endless.

And finally, today I managed to squeeze in a little carve and print time:

That’s it. I listened to a good instructional presentation in Flourish hosted by Bonnie Christine, about web site design and message you need to convey and how to structure pages and links. I did learn quite a bit and will be working on implementing some of it soon. Still struggling with my page but I am working on it whenever I have time. A page a week will do and I will get there eventually.