My Month In Photos - February 2018.
My Month In Photos - February 2018.
February has bloody flown by hasn't it? After the years that was January 2018, the few less days we have this month makes me feel like we're a whole week down. It seems like everything is rushed, there's no time to do anything and before you know it it's March and whoa what just happened. Combine that with the fact I am going to Venice tomorrow and suddenly the weeks have disappeared in a blur of getting shit done before I go away and here we are.
I have to admit I am writing this on the Saturday just passed - I am desperately trying to schedule blogs for when I'm away and currently as you read this I'm probably driving down the M25 toward Essex to stay with my pals before we fly tomorrow.
So bear with me and let's just pretend I wrote this last night shall we?
What I Did;
Appaz from my camera roll I took a lot of selfies this month. I've been thoroughly enjoying everyone's #freelanceootd and have been snapping my own and it's resulted in a heck of a lot of photos of ma face. Aside from that I've had a pretty busy month but it's been full of fun things as well as the normal day to day chores so I haven't felt too overwhelmed. I have also been sleeping way better (up until the last few days anyway) and have found myself waking up naturally around the same time every day so I have felt much more ready to take on the world.
At the beginning of the month I popped into Cardiff on a lil solo date and did some shopping for cards and a new coat and other boring things and I haven't made it into town since! I have taken my 'year of intention' resolution and embraced it this month and have been throwing caution to the wind and just saying yes to things and it resulted in the best 24 hours this month. Sarah invited me to join her at the press launch for Handmade Fair in Wiltshire back at the start of Feb and within a few hours I'd agreed and also invited myself to stay with one of my pals in Bristol for the night. I drove up to her house on the Thursday morning, had dinner there and did some work done in her house when she went to work. I hopped into Brizzle city centre for our lovely crafty evening with Sarah and then Jen picked me back up to stay the night when it was pissing it down with rain. We didn't have plans to see each other till March (Sarah) and April (Jenny) so to see them both and have an unexpected day out was the dream.
We've watched a lot of rugby this month since the 6 nations started and we've tried to make a celebration of it with lots of yummy food and spent all day chilling out on the sofas with snacks. I had pancake day at my Nan's and then on Valentine's Day we had a Dominos bought by Joss' Mum which was divine. My cousin came down from Derbyshire at the beginning of half term to spend time with my niece which was a really fun day, my Mum had a birthday and we had a big takeaway, we've had a Sunday roast all together every week and me and my Dad had a Grand Tour binge watching sesh last week too so we've spent a lot of time with our families. Last Friday I also hosted my Mum and her friends for a belated birthday afternoon tea at our house which was super cute and super yummy and she had a great time (and I got a plant as a thank you).
Of course there's also been a lot of the day to day stuff that has stayed much the same during February like several trips to the post office to ship orders, far too much time spent in supermarkets for my liking and lots of cleaning and laundry done in preparation for me going away and Joss' family coming home from America. Last week I was my Mum's chauffeur when her car was having it's MOT and I took her to and from work and took her shopping and I did the best parallel park of my life so there's that too.
I have of course also been with my niece who I have two days a week every week and we have had some fun this month. We have been to soft play in my local town a few times which is the soft play me and my brother used to go when we were her age which has been a blast from the past. She saw some slightly older kids come after school with their childminder and they had lunch in compartment lunchboxes so she mentioned she might like one and the first day we handed it to her and she realised what it was was too cute. We also went to our local National Trust property on my Mum's birthday for a run around and when my cousin was down we all helped my Mum in the garden which my niece loves. But changes are afoot as my little pal has started nursery this week and she loves it and it means we have less time with her but it's all the most precious.
What I Watched;
I have nailed my Sunday morning routine at the moment when I wake up an hour or two before Joss. I have a cuppa in my fav kitten Asda mug and a big bowl of fruit and yoghurt and snuggle up with the windows open to let the fresh air in and watch KUWTK. And it's like my fav hour of the week all to myself. Aside from that there's very little I have managed to stay caught up with but I have managed RHOC, the Last Leg, the Mash Report and of course - plenty of rugby. We have however managed to get a shit load off our TV box; one of my resolutions was to clear our schedule and we're about halfway there. Our internet was down for about 5 days at the beginning of the month and I didn't have data on my phone so it gave us the chance to just sit in front of the TV (normally I do work) so we watched full series of McMafia and Hard Sun, both of which I recommend and both of which are on iPlayer. This week particularly I have also been getting stuck into my fav true life crime and docs on the BBC which I've really enjoyed - namely anything with Stacey Dooley in it, Love & Hate Crime, Killing For Love and Life & Death Row.
What I Worked On;
I said last month that these few months are the worst for my business when everyone is skint but I've actually had the best January & February of my freelance career which has been a nice boost into the new year. I was commissioned for a series of illustrations for some prompts for a talk which I finished in February which was really successful and I have done some work on a wedding invitation portrait I have been commissioned for for April. I also had a last minute wedding print illustration which was framed as a gift which I looooved doing and actually off the back of that I immediately had one for mother's day which I posted just this week.
Etsy wise my Valentine's Day cards had solid sales and I had some really great reviews which was wonderful. I have now produced a series of Mother's Day cards for your momma, Gran and Nanny which you can buy here and I'll have posted to you in time for March 11th.
What I Journaled;
My bullet journal has taken a hammering this month because whilst I haven't felt overwhelmed living my life, it would appear that I had a million and one tiny jobs and thoughts and things to remember. It's only natural when you're going away that there's a few extra spreads in your bullet journal but I seem to have booked 6 days away at the most inconvenient time. As soon as I come back we have family staying for a week, it's Joss' birthday, Mother's Day (which means presents and cards for my Mum, his, the gradmother's and reminding my brother of his obligations) and 5 family birthdays including Joss' Dad within a week of my return home. Combine that with dog walking, work deadlines, babysitting and actual life and my bujo is pretty list happy at the moment.
My master to do list for February was massive and then I created a second one for my week before Venice which was crammed as well. My weekly spreads have been full to the brim and I have also included - shock horror - colour into my journal. I have created my daily headers in colour and I actually am loving it and probably won't turn back for a the foreseeable. Of course there have been some things that come back month on month like my blog schedule and my chores lists but I have also included a lot of new stuff too.
I had a blog redesign (hey did you notice?) and also an illustration website one too which I hashed out the design of in my bujo which was fun. I have of course got a fair few packing lists in this month too, for when I spent the night in Bristol and also for Venice. And I have alsooooo created my Spring photo challenge which you should see on your feeds very very soon!
What I Blogged;
I have actually managed to stick to a reasonable blogging schedule this month with one post generally every other day. I had a cracking weekend where I scheduled a whole bunch of blogs and it's meant I've been able to stick to the one every other day and also get way ahead of myself which hasn't happened in like a year.
Of course with it being V Day and Mother's Day coming up there's been a few seasonal wishlists (you can get your Mother's Day gift inspo here btw). I think my fav post visually this month has been my report on the Handmade Fair press launch with Sarah because it really was the most Instagrammable event ever but my fav post to write was on how my bujo reflects my personality.
What I Bought;
I have been skint this month. Flat out skint. I feel like everyone else feels like this in the first few months of the year and I am just about getting control of my bank balance as we head into March and I've been paid for jobs I've done.
Whilst I didn't spend much in February (although I did buy an easter egg when I went to Tesco whilst hungry) I went mental when payday came around. I filled my car up, I bought Mother's Day presents and birthday presents akimbo for when I get home from Venice and my bank balance has taken a beating in the last few days. I have booked so many excited things to keep me occupied in the next few months including our blog squad accommodation for Effi's wedding at the end of March, a hotel stay for me and my bestie and my godson back at uni in April and tickets to the rugby at the end of April so lots of v exciting things planned.
So here we are, I'm flying to Venice tomorrow and what a way to kick off a new month no? Soz and chips to the boyfriend and the dog I have left at home and soz to all of you who are going to have an Instagram VERY full of canals and cute houses soon. See you on the flip side (unless I decide to live there).
