Mid-year reflections and intentions

Checking in with my intentions for 2024 and some creative project inspiration!

This week we saw dolphins swimming in the sea off Blyth beach and it was magical!

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Hi friends! I’m Clare Albans, a hand embroidery artist who loves craft and colour. I’m here to encourage you to take time out to be creative! Sign up for free project inspiration, honest chats about the ups and downs of the creative process, and tips and tricks to help you find your creative joy. Join my paid space for my hand embroidery patterns and to be part of our growing stitching community (find out more here).

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As I was stitching a Christmas project in the summer heat that arrived in the UK this week (yes, really - on both counts!), I realised that we’re now half way through 2024 already. Is it me, or does it only feel like five minutes since the start of the year?! Anyway, I thought it would be a good time to check in on my intentions that I set earlier in the year and to think about how they’re going so far. To be honest, they’ve not all been at the forefront of my mind and I had definitely forgotten about a couple of them 😂 So here are the goals I set and a mini update:

GOALS (for my business)

1. Launch my new embroidery subscription here on Substack - Yes! I did this!

2. Work on more collaborative projects - Yes, I’ve done this collaboration with the brilliant

   Lucy Werner
   but need to apply myself more actively on this goal as I’d love to do more.

3. Get into better monthly habits with accounting - NOPE 🤦🏼‍♀️ Definitely room for improvement on this one…

INTENTIONS

1. Make space for more personal creative projects - Yes, but not loads so this is something I still need to work on. I also need to remind myself that it’s okay to make time for something just for me.

2. Learn how to measure myself properly and create a handful of me-made garments - Yes, I’ve made myself a blouse and managed to fix my overlocker (serger) so I’ll take that as a win! I also have a pair of shorts cut out and waiting to be sewn.

3. Remember to prioritise rest - This is the one I’ve been working most hard at, and I’m pleased to say that I’m getting better at this! Still a work in progress but I’m heading in the right direction.

I’ve been trying to live in the present much more this year, and that has actually really helped with trying to remember to prioritise rest. I’ve been so bad at this for the last few years, and I haven’t been listening to my body telling me that I need to rest. I’ve dropped a few balls along the way in order to do it, so my socials have been somewhat neglected and I’ve not posted here on Substack as much as I’d have liked, but it was important to actually make myself prioritise rest. Instead of doomscrolling on an evening, I’ve consciously been leaving my phone in another room and enjoyed reading more books to counteract screen time. This is a long term goal to work on and I need to make sure that I don’t completely neglect socials, but incorporate them more into work time rather than my time for switching off.

I’m not planning to set any other intentions at this point in the year, so I’ll stick with these and see if I can make progress with the ones I forgot about 😂 Have you looked back at your intentions for the year? How are you getting on?

WIP

This is part WIP and part finish, but I’m so happy with my first me-made garment of the year! I chose the Billie top and Finn shorts by Atelier Jupe and I’m so happy with how the blouse turned out! I made it with a cotton from my stash which I’ve had for years now. I love it so much and didn’t want to cut into it, but it will make the most beautiful co-ord set. Big love to my friend Louise for helping me and giving me the confidence to actually give this a go!

I have the shorts cut out in the same fabric, which I can make now that Orla my overlocker (serger) is fixed - yay! I’m going to make a plain pink set too so that I can mix and match the sets. A big shout out to Dave from Sewing Machines Direct for excellent customer service, after he sent me a series of WhatsApp videos to help me troubleshoot at home. It’s so brilliant, and meant that I didn’t need to send Orla back! Amazing 😍 If you need a new machine at any point, then I’d highly recommend them. I’m not being paid to say this, it’s just the best customer service I’ve ever received

Project inspo

I’m thrilled to have one of my projects featured in Simply Sewing magazine this month! My Love Yourself Tee is a really easy project to stitch, you just need a plain t-shirt and a few colours of embroidery thread to make something that will be an excellent addition to your wardrobe.

Find the project in issue 122 of Simply Sewing - out now! Or you’ll find it in The Modern Embroidery Handbook which is available to purchase on my website.

Stitch of the month

This month in my Embroidery Membership, we are stitching the most gorgeous florals onto our hand painted fabric panels. The flowers are made from beautiful, textured stitches, and the ring knot hydrangeas are probably my favourite from this project!

Find the stitch tutorial here on YouTube.

And if you’d like to join us to stitch this and support my work with a paid subscription, you can find out more details here. Join monthly, yearly or as a Founding Member - Founding Members get access to all previous project plus my back catalogue of patterns worth over £130!

Currently reading

I’ve devoured a few books recently, and particular favourites have been Weyward by Emilia Hart* (which I read in one day!) and This is Fine by Poorna Bell*. If you love stories about witches then you’ll love Weyward - it reminded me of the Juno Dawson books that I’ve previously recommended in my newsletter, and I was hooked on the story of the three women from different generations of the same family. It dots about between their stories and I love how it all came together at the end!

Last summer I read In Case of Emergency by Poorna Bell* and couldn’t put it down, so I had high hopes for her second fiction book and it didn’t disappoint. There’s so much to relate to in the characters and I loved it so much - highly recommend! (*Affiliate links.)

Home ed

This month has been a big month for us, and I’ll need to change the name of this section moving forwards! Our kids started school at the beginning of this month, which was a huge decision and one which they took the lead on. We’ve always wanted them to have a big say in their education, and for various reasons it became clear that this was the next step for them.

It has been a tiring month getting used to new routines and learning so many new names! But they have taken it all in their stride and I’m just so unbelievably proud of them 💖 I’m so glad that they’ve settled in for the last half term, as it means that September won’t feel quite so daunting and we can enjoy pottering about together during the summer holidays without it feeling like such scary thing. I’m really looking forward to visiting Happy Rooms in Middlesbrough, and exploring some of our favourite local places too.

From the archives

My daughter said this week that we haven’t made ice cream at home for ages, and that she can’t wait to make blackberry ice cream! We always forage for blackberries later in the summer, and it made me so happy that she loves this tradition. I definitely have a craving for it now, so in the meantime we might make this lemon curd ice cream instead.

I also spotted this recipe on my blog when I was looking through the archives too - ginger crunch is the perfect addition to a picnic and we’ve not made it for ages. Might have to make this soon! The fudge topping is just perfection 👌🏻

Wishing you a creative month ahead

Thanks so much for reading this month’s roundup! I hope that the coming month brings you lots of opportunities for creativity. Let me know what you’re working on in the comments!

Clare 😊