We all have those days that aren't so good. The ones where we feel low.
It is okay girl. Things will get better. You may not see the light right this minute but trust me - you will see the sunshine again. It may take time and it will take some effort on your behalf. But when you turn that corner, it will feel even better than before because you know what the darkness was like.
We may or may not know the reasons. If it is fleeting, the Why may not matter.
If it is not so fleeting, talk to someone. Reach out. I'll bet that at the core it has something to do with not being who you really are. Dig down darling, the answers are all there. Ask yourself questions. Work out what truly makes you happy. Your joy is no one else's responsibility but yours. You owe it to yourself to explore what makes you tick. It is a journey, a process, a never-ending one. But it is a path that is so rewarding. The start is the hardest. It does get easier but takes effort nonetheless. I'm travelling down that road and am so grateful to be on my way rather than how I was before I started. I am happier, healthier, more real, more in love, more appreciated...more me.
Don't forget to enjoy the journey along the way. Your life is made up of days. Make everyday something real. Something wonderful. Make a memory. Turn a corner. Laugh at yourself. Call that friend. Give yourself permission. Help that guy. Get to you know more about you. Take a photo. Wear that dress. Ask for that raise. Resign. Read that book. Send that email. Forgive yourself. Forgive your mum. Forgive him. Go to that yoga class. Love yourself. Say thank you. Go after that goal. Say yes. Say no. Listen to that song. Put on your red lipstick and dancing shoes. Live.
I sat down with the intention to write a completely different post. This is what came out instead. Did one of you need it? Maybe I did...
What are you going to do today girlfriend?
Make it as you wish, Arienne
This morning, I kicked the day off with a dose of inspiration and connecting with like minds. Every month, Vibewire and the Powerhouse Museum put on FastBreak, a pre-work morning event and breakfast with 5 presenters speaking for 5 minutes on the month's topic.
Today was on the topic of Craft (close to my heart because of Life is Crafted!). It was five entrepreneurs discussing their take on Craft and Crafting. I always take something away from these sorts of events. Whether a re-determination to take action, a specific thing to do or inspiration to fuel my work and my being.
The pic above was of the first speaker, Rupal Ismin of Andable. Andable is a wonderful online marketplace with a difference - you can buy 'products directly from indie sellers in Australia and around the world. 10% of every sale goes to fund a micro loan (or 'small business loan') to a person in need in a developing country.'
I've had my Andable account created for a while now, I just need to start stocking my shop there. This morning reminded me to get my Life is Crafted diaries and products organised so I can list them! Meeting Rupal after the presentation was also a treat. I am always interested in the people and personalities behind the scenes of businesses I'm drawn to.
Then I rounded it off with a coffee meeting with my weekly mastermind posse - two kickass women doing wonderful things in the world with their social enterprises. As one of them said - it was 40 minutes of Goosebump goodness going around. It is such an honour to have my path growing alongside theirs and to be along for the journey!
Sprinkling inspiration into your everyday is super important to keep you heading in the direction you want. The good news is that it is not hard to do. Here are 5 ideas:
Find and attend events in your area that have inspiring speakers and attendees.
Find a blog to read that inspires you to be or do more.
Make a regular date with people in your world that uplift you.
Take a walk and find the awe and wonder in the everyday things that surround you.
Connect to your dreams and goals. Have a daily reminder of the why behind what you are doing to push you forward.
Having a direction in life is very important to me. It
gives purpose to my everyday. It gathers my thoughts, gives me a reason to get
up each morning and puts a skip in my step!
Part of this overall picture is having goals. Little
goals. Big goals. Goals that will help me make a difference. Goals that will
help me live a better life for myself and those around me.
Writing them down is a big part of the steps towards achieving them. So go and write!
At the end of the day, it is about having a focus and
steadily working towards, enjoying the process along the way, making my life
'bigger' and bringing me personal satisfaction!
This great infographic was sent to me via someone at OnlineEducation.net and I just had to
share.
What do you think? Do you have goals? Are they helpful?
What are you working towards?
Make it as you wish SSSs!
Arienne xo
Dearest Savvies,
Well, I've turned a corner. I've found a really tangible avenue to channel my passion and energy into. You may have noticed I've not posted a lot here recently. The reason is I've started Life is Crafted. I believe diaries, organisers and planners (or whatever you'd like to call them!) is the basis of lifestyle design.
What you make time for and schedule into your days becomes your life. The pages I've created for Life is Crafted help with inspiration, creativity, productivity and lists for reflection and planning.
Savvy Sassy She is the bigger picture of making life what you want it to be while the products of Life is Crafted is an implementation of it. I've also co-launched LifeTyped which is a manifestation of celebrating your life's moments in gorgeous typographic art.
Anyways, I just wanted to explain what has been going on behind the scenes!
I've done a lot in the last few months, but to draw a line in the sand here are my February Dreams...
Personal
Plan trip to Perth - work and social
Celebrate little sister's 18th birthday! She's not my daughter but she makes me feel old!
Celebrate the wonderful other sister's return to Oz from a few years in the UK
Celebrate the Valentine's sentiment on a different day with The Man (we won't be together on the 14th!)
Start Healthy Habits Project - deets to come
Workout plan to reach health goal on the 1st March 2013
Discuss Family Food Blog with youngest sister
Look at Christmas Flights to have a snowy European Christmas
Professional
Plan personal and professional projects for 2013
Create personal branding document
Work on Business routines
Organise office workflows
Release FamilyTyped and RomanceTyped for LifeTyped
LifeTyped Etsy Listings
Life is Crafted Etsy Listings
Create and implement blog plans
Create business plan for Life is Crafted
List product sections for sale
Work on product and production development
Do full computer backup
Enjoy the business!
What are one or two of your February 2013 plans SSSs?
My goodness me, it was a labour of love putting this post together! I didn’t realise I knew so many fabulous people and their wares! If you like it, please share with others :)
Well it is coming to that time of year again where we are gifting our loved ones with festive presents. I really wanted to support brands and products I've had experience with first hand and those that have some social conscience or supporting business owners that do!
Finding the perfect gift for someone can be a difficult task. What I ask of you is not to give crappy presents! There are some fabulous things out there.
You could make something yourself or give them something thoughtful that will enhance their lives, entertain their faculties or brighten up their everyday.
Recycle, reuse or repurpose items and packaging. There is enough waste out there!
Without further ado, here are my top picks :)
GIFT IDEAS
Candles For Community
CANDLES - CANDLES FOR COMMUNITY
www.zulucommunications.com.au/candles/
Sue has created a special Christmas fundraiser and is selling a beautiful range of 100% soy candles. She is doing this as a fundraiser for Sunrise Children’s Villages. I helped to pour some of the wonderful candles – they smell divine and come is such a wonderful range.
The Sunset to Sunrise range has been created EXCLUSIVELY for Sunrise and Sue is donating 50% of profits from the sale of candles will be donated to Sunrise.
CHRISTMAS ORDERING DEADLINE IS 5 DECEMBER.
Sweet Pins
HOSIERY – SWEET PINS
www.sweetpins.com.au
One of the most gorgeous women I know is the entrepreneurial woman behind Sweet Pins. Lidia is an Italian in Sydney. I’m looking forward to buying my wedding ‘things’ here!
Sweet Pins is the one-stop-shop for discerning ladies and gentlemen, glamorous brides, pin ups and burlesque queens looking for luxurious stockings and vintage inspired lingerie. At Sweet Pins you will find a fabulous selection of fashion tights and hold ups, seamed stockings as well as garter belts, girdles, suspender dresses and lingerie sets from exclusive brands like Kiss me Deadly, What Katie Did, Dottie's Delights, Gerbe Paris, Playful Promises and more.
Baby Teresa
BABY – BABY TERESA
www.baby-teresa.com
I bought a gorgeous romper, hat and blanket set from this Tasmania based organic cotton range. They were gorgeous and came in lovely wrapping. What I love the most about Baby Teresa is that when you buy a product from their range they give another to a baby in need. Awesome huh?! Buy once – give twice!
MICROFINANCE LOANS – OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL
www.opportunity.org.au
Does someone you know have everything they need but you still want to give them a thoughtful gift? Make a microfinance loan on their behalf. Microfinance is a system of providing small loans to those (generally women) who wouldn’t be able to get finance using traditional methods. They then use these funds to create income generating businesses to help their families and their communities out of the cycle of poverty. You can choose who you want to give your loan to. The amazing thing is that these loans have a much higher repayment success rate than loans given by banks. 97%!
KeepCup
COFFEE – KEEPCUP
www.keepcup.com.au
“Hot Coffee. Cool Earth.” Is their catch phrase. This Melbourne based business create awesome reusable coffee cups that stop you from putting all those one-use cardboard ones into landfills. You can even design your own. How cool earth is that?!
Leonie Dawson is a magic maker! She is a fabulous self-proclaimed ‘hippie’ turned creative business goddess that has a range of e-course and a uber supportive online community – The Goddess Circle. I’ve used her great products and they are truly useful, actionable and inspiring. Sign up to her newsletter too – its part of my authentic business mindfood regime.
I met Courtney when she was part of our 10thousandgirl Steering Committee. She is one fire-cracker of a writer with a heart of gold and is also a social entrepreneur support system with her previous work at the School of Social Entrepreneurs. The Burial is a majestic and poetic novel set in the outback and inspired by Australia's last bushranger, young woman Jessie Hickman. A very unusual narrator tells the story. Perfect holiday reading!
Nothing to do with drug rehab guys! Denise was one of the absolutely inspiring women I met at Kimberly Wilson’s Paris and Provence retreat this year. She is one amazing, sparkly person – lawyer, Phd, writer, furmama, wife and all round inspirer, her book, Rock The World Rehab, is a four step program to detox your body, heart, mind and soul.
GAME - ALTARS
Altars Game This game for your iPhone is by The Man. It's awesome, it's fun. It's challenging and addictive! Check it Out!
I have been a long term Kimberly Wilson fan, falling in love with her doses of inspiration and musings on bringing tranquillity into your everyday. Her book Tranquilista: Mastering the Art of Enlightened Work and Mindful Play provides valuable tips and tools for embracing your many sides. Plus I love the way she writes – it’s a fun and enlightening read!
Half Beast
PRINTS – HALFBEAST
www.etsy.com/shop/halfbeast
Sarah Gleeson is one talented gal! Graphic designer, illustrator and dog lover extraordinaire, she created Half-Beast to provide customised prints that is one half is your favourite animal and the other half is you. Fun, yes? YES! She is also the designer that helped me with the Life is Crafted templates :)
I couldn’t do this post without including my own lil’ ventures now could I?!
LifeTyped
PRINTS – LIFETYPED
www.lifetyped.com/products-2
LifeTyped are made-to-order typographic prints that help you celebrate life’s moments or inspire you in the now. We do Birth Prints, Wedding & Engagement Prints, Pet Prints and Life Manifestos for you to frame on your wall, nursery or shelf.
Imagine your life’s moments captured in words, honoured as art!
Life is Crafted
DIARY ORGANISER PLANNER – LIFE IS CRAFTED
www.lifeiscrafted.com
The printable planner range is definitely more than just a boring scheduler! It is colourful, inspiring and has a really useful layout perfect for planning and organising what you need to do. Plus there is a big collection of life-enhancing lists and info-collection pages.
Life is crafted. Craft yours!
PLANNER FOLDER – PHILOFAXY ADS
http://philofaxy.blogspot.com/p/adspot.html
If you are looking for a planner folder to put your diary inserts into check out the Filofaxes on the Philofaxy site! My favourite size is A5.
OTHER GREAT IDEAS…
While these are not so much gift ideas, they are GREAT ideas that you can either get gifts through or keep in mind for yourself and others in the future.
HONEYMOON REGISTRY
Are you or someone you know getting hitched? Here’s a great Honeymoon registry! I’ve started setting my own up. It is thoughtful and easy to navigate!
http://ourhoneymoonregistry.co
DOGGIE RESCUES
So many pets are bought as thoughtless Christmas gifts and abandoned as soon as people realise what a responsibility it actually is (BOO on them). For those who make an educated decision about having a pet, consider getting one that really needs a home, rather than paying with an arm and a leg through pet shops which can source through unreputable means.
We got Zander from Companions For Life based in Portland, NSW. Two Sydney organisations rescuing dogs in need are Monica’s Rescue and J & J Rescue. If you’re looking for a cat or kitten check out the Cat Protection Society who have a no-kill policy. . Google for an equivalent near you.
OPEN SHED
www.openshed.com.au
Ever tried a new hobby, fell in love, bought everything you needed and then never used the equipment again? Or splurged on a drill and only used it for 12 minutes (which I have now learned is the average time a drill is used in a year). Why not rent what you need from your local community instead of buying things you might not get a lot of use out of? Fabulous co-founders Lisa and Duncan are some of the biggest voices around collaborative consumption in Australia.
ANDABLE
www.andable.com
A fabulous online market place for awesome products. The ‘sugar-on-the-top’ benefit? If you buy an item through their system, 10% of what you spend is given towards a microfinance loan! Winners all round :)
BEAUTIFUL MINDS
www.beautifulminds.com.au
Teenage years can be tough (gosh, sometimes even when you’re older times can be tough too!). My friend Marina Passalaris runs courses for teen girls to help them navigate their inner and outer world. She works magic and the impact it has on the young ladies is transformational giving them tools and skills to handle a lot of what is around them.
THE 10THOUSANDGIRL CAMPAIGN
www.10thousandgirl.com
You probably all have heard about 10thousandgirl from me! I've been deeply involved for a long time, but have taken a small step back in recent months to focus on my projects. Here, we’re all about making finance fun for young women around Australia and inspiring a global ripple effect. Events are on year round!
Please note that three of these are affiliate links – most of them aren't! Most of you who know me, know that I give a lot to help make good things happen so I really hope you don’t mind!
