The Drums are not Beaten

My return to and finding new uses for the small drum lampshades have sparked fresh creativity and renewed interest.

Currently the empire and coolie (more correctly conical) style of lampshade is all the rage. This created my dilemma, as fewer people were buying the drum shades, especially in the small sizes that I make. And I had made a lot to experiment and sharpen my practice of adding more decorative elements to them like the metal upholstery studs as I’ve always loved that classic look.

But, this week I set on a spree to rediscover what the styling options were for the plethora of small 15cm drum lampshades that I have in store (not all are in the online shop).

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Ability to follow engaging Style is

What makes a good leader?

This bloganuary prompt (what makes a good leader?) made me chip in mid week and roll over to Sunday. We are seeing more reports on successful leaders being able to follow a variety of elements within the organisation. Some of the elements include what their followers say is of concern. Leaders today also must follow guidance and advice from a range of stakeholders. Later you will read how important it is that leaders get the very soft and aesthetic elements right too.

Following rules for shelf styling. Clumping elements in threes, fives or sevens, Maximising the layers, using lighting, botanicals, colour and painting tactically to get an inspired feminine industrious vibe.

Zone into wellbeing elements like designer iconic candles and image on a brochure i liked.

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Celebrating Unique Bookshelves

This new year allowed me to reflect on how important our home office decor is. I was encouraged about its importance from recently watching the Jay Shetty conversation with Kelly Wearstler (famous interior designer) on You Tube 2nd October 2023. The messages about decor from their talk (Your space can affect your Mood) that I took away were:

  • The decor of your home needs to stand out and be distinctive to everyone else’s as so much of our interiors looks the same these days
  • Beautiful interior decor and careful styling can help to uplift your spirit as well as bring peace and calm
  • Everyone is looking at our backgrounds in online meetings and trying to make sense of who we are
Picture is of my backdrop in the midst of a shelfie makeover. I was trying to get the books and outline aligned to the obligatory smile shape. Lighting of the bookshelf is also vital several reasons which I shall explain in other postings

Some of the other reading I have done say more. Since doing my interior styling course and reading more about shelfies and office decor, I note they all tend to stress the connections that people make about your decor and your identity. Our office decor then is an important piece of personal branding.

I even stumbled across a couple of old organisation behaviour papers that I shall share later in other blogs with you. These research papers point to the important role of artefacts like office decor on shaping and sending messages about organisation culture.

So this year some of my content will provide helpful hints and tips about home office styling that converts your online meeting attendees into people that start icebreaking conversations that are more meaningful.

Drop me a line. If there is anything particular you would like me to cover in my future posts about home office styling, shelfies, backdrops, cultural artefacts in organisations, then please let me know.

Clarifying three stories of the bookish hedonistic professional

I’ve been enhancing my photography. The aim is to tell a story in small vignettes. I’ve been learning from iconic professional photographers who specialise in products, lifestyle and jewelry photographs. I’ve learned my photography from various courses online and in classroom settings in London.

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Mixed Three Mixed Media Techniques

Short one this week as blogging from my phone as my laptop died and I cannot decide whether to buy an I pad or laptop.

Meanwhile I’m back in the swing of painting and making as I settle into my new 9 to 5 role. It’s amazing what a rested mind will do for art and creativity.

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Moss Art

I started painting and using Moss. There seems to be a trend with moss and using it in those IKEA box frames.

But I wanted to do something different. I integrated paintings with moss art. It is a bit of a continuance of the work I do with herbs dried flowers and things like lavender in art.

I know I’m not the first person to do it because I’ve seen recently how some of the top website artists and creative people have been integrating dried flowers to make their hair look big. And this picture shows me using moss simply by adding some texture to enhance the grass.

The other thing in this picture that stands out is the texture on the top of the frame. I found a new way of integrating my love of decorative nail trim.

15cm acrylic painting with gemstones & moss and decorative nail trim on a round canvas.

15cm acrylic painting with gemstones & moss and decorative nail trim on a round canvas.