sjsmith

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Beautiful watercolour prints from Australia

Unique Beautiful Fun

What I Learned Last Year

A warm welcome to all of you who've taken the time to stop by. This is the first blog I've ever written so be gentle. Hopefully, as time goes by it will become more informative, more targeted to what you want and, more fun. Read More

Australia Day

It's not that long since Australia Day and I love a nice Monday off as much as the next person. But I always think back on Australia Day because it's the anniversary of my citizenship ceremony. Read More

Love is in the air

I hope you've all remembered that February 14 is Valentines Day.  I know traditionally its a time for lovers (which is great) but I think we need to expand our celebration. Read More

Happy New Year - Again!

I grew up in Hong Kong and Chinese New Year was always a really fun time of year (not least because it was a four day public holiday). Lots of the local population would head to mainland China to visit relatives. Read More

Autumn

One thing I know for sure is that time won't slow just because you need it to. It's already March, (two months past already - whew) and autumn is on its way.  Autumn (or Fall as our American friends call it). Read More

New Tricks for Old Dogs

It's already been a big year for me with the launch of the new website and the fledgling blog but I really want this year to be one of learning. I was a little scared about this as I got my interior qualification long after leaving school and wasn't sure how I'd take to learning new stuff. Read More

Finding Your Way Forward

I'm pretty new to all of this online business. Selling online, having a blog, even Pinterest and Instagram are all pretty new.  The more I learn, the more I realise there is to learn and that's okay. Read More


Happy Birthday To Me

I love birthday's, especially mine. Yes I love the presents but more than that I love that all the people you love come around, or call, or get in touch. This year is a big one for me - Fifty. Wow. The time when fifty seemed liked nearly ready to retire are still pretty fresh in my mind. Read More


The Power Of Positivity

There's a lot to be said for faking it till you make it. When you're the one running the show it's not always easy to be filled with positivity all the time.  There are times of doubt, "will it sell?", "is it good enough?", and, there are times of self-doubt. Read More


An Easter Message

I have vague memories of Easter from my childhood lasting the four basic days of Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. With hot cross buns and Easter eggs filling the shelves not long after Christmas, these days I think it's easy to be over it before it's really happened. Read More


Creative Breaks

There are times when you wake up and feel totally in a rut. Doing the things that once made your heart sing instead makes your heart sink. We've all had these days. Sometimes it's temporary and sometimes it's longer lasting. So what do you do? Read More


My Inspirations

One of the questions I get asked a lot is,  "Where you do you find your inspiration?"  Like most creative people it comes from all sorts of sources. Going for a walk on a sunny day and seeing a fabulous bloom in someone's garden makes me want to run home and paint. Read More


Anzac Day

It's almost Anzac Day and it's very hard not to be a little over it with the overkill by the press for the 100th anniversary. It makes me a little angry that they often use these solemn occasions in such an exploitative way (yes Woolworths we are looking at you!) Read More


Journalling

When you work for yourself you can find yourself struggling with the never-ending decision making that's required.  When you're not just the creator but the manager, office staff, and maybe also chief cook and bottle washer there's not always someone handy to bounce ideas off. Read More


Eliminate Negativity

When you take the decision to make your own way in the world you can find yourself surrounded by more than your fair share of critics and naysayers.  There's many reasons for this. Some of it is genuine concern for you. "How will you support yourself? So many new businesses fail in their first year!  Some of it is fear. Read More


You Have the Power

I love old movies.  One of my favourites is The Wizard of Oz. Not only is it a cracking story, full of symbolism with good triumphing over evil but there are so many little moral tales within it.  There's no place like home, be brave, have a heart but by far the best one for me is that you have the power within you. Read More


Keep Learning

I've long held a theory that you can learn anything from a book.  From accounting to cookery to rocket science there is a book somewhere to teach you how.  I'm not necessarily saying that just because you learn something you'll be any good at it. To get good at anything you need to practice and perfect it and hone your skills. Read More


Crafting an Imperfect Life

It's been a very odd few weeks.  On the surface it looks like the wheels have come off. I've got virtually nothing done beyond the barest of essentials. I've not managed any creative time, my house looks like the digs of some drunk college students and I haven't done any exercise in nearly a week and a half. That being said its been a wonderful time in many ways. Read More


Declutter your way to Freedom

I have a confession to make. My name is Sarah-Jane and I am a hoarder. Not quite a reality TV hoarder but I have some pretty impressive collections (or piles really) of all sorts of stuff. Books, magazines, craft supplies, yarn, clothes, costume jewellery, shoes, bags, even videos and DVDs (though I can't remember how to use the video or dvd player it's been so long!).  Read More


Glorious Mid-year

Can you believe we're nearly half way through the year? I am always amazed how quickly time passes. But pass it does whether you're ready or not. And that's one of the things on my mind at the moment- being ready. Believe it or not, art and craft manufacturers are getting in the swing of Christmas already.   Read More


End of Financial Year

I've always found it slightly bizarre that in Australia we don't run the financial year in line with the calendar year.  Instead, we finish slap bang in the middle on 30 June.  I have come to like this odd break and, it's actually wonderful to deal with wrapping up all things monetary mid-year and not on top of the Christmas chaos.   Read More


Low Tech, High Speed

I've talked before about how low tech things were when I started out in business (Blog 16) and lately I've got to thinking about whether any of the early systems I had in place still had any relevance. Aside from my little manual typewriter  and a landline the only other things I used where three notebooks. One for financial accounts, one for tenders we submitted and one with details of the jobs we had.   Read More


Independence Day

Tomorrow is The Fourth of July, Independence Day to North Americans, and it's got me thinking about the origin of this event. The beginning of Independence from the old shackles of England (after a hard fought battle). A shiny, bright beginning with a clean slate and the opportunity to set things up as you want them.    Read More


Breaking Bad Habits

I used to be a size 20 (at the moment I'm a 10 to 12).  Although this was about 8 years ago people still ask me how I did it.  How I did it is no secret.  I did what all of the current experts tell you to do.  Eat better food, eat regularly, do more exercise! Amazing right! Not really. The key to losing the weight and keeping it off is in making small changes that you do everyday - forever!   Read More


Archive Old Stuff

Last week I talked about creating good habits to get rid of bad ones. This week I have a similar theme on my mind but from a slightly different angle. We've just seen the end of the financial year and it's about this time I start getting ready to archive last years documents.  Some are boxed up ready for the accountant to do his thing and some are boxed up ready for storage.   Read More


Dealing with Change

After you've been in business for a few years the one certainty you can have is that things change.  You may have started your business for one reason only to find that it's taken you on a completely different path.  You've possibly had some disappointments or someone has let you down.  No business, no matter how successful, is without its struggles.  Read More