It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Time flies! It's December and  It has been a month since I last blogged! To be honest I was lacking inspiration to write in this little corner; I've been feeling tired lately but the reason for my absence really was lack of inspiration. It's Christmas time though and it's impossible not to feel inspired and motivated! It doesn't matter how old I get, I will always love Christmas. I love the decorations, the lights and even the cold and grey weather that makes everything looks cozy inside the house and, pleasantly, forces us to wear fluffy, big jumpers - also, tea tastes better!  I just love the atmosphere this time of the year. 

It's a funny thing this enthusiasm of mine for Christmas because my parents never paid too much attention to the holidays, with some good motifs, perhaps. My family lives in different parts of the country, far away from each other so we never got the opportunity to gather around for Christmas and, besides this, some of the family members have to work both 24th and 25th of December, including my parents. However, they always did their best to manage a nice family dinner with presents being open by the fireplace on the 24th by midnight, just me, my sister, my son and parents and... cats (they count!). It's a very familiar and cozy environment, actually. As I grew older, my mother lost some of the energy for that frenetic Christmas shopping so I took the lead and now I'm the one who does present lists for everyone and decorates the entire house. I don't mind at all: to think about something that a loved one would appreciate and to buy (or do) that, makes me content and fulfilled.     

As such, I'm a busy elf this time of the year and I love being busy... this kind of busy, anyway (thumbs up for online shopping, by the way, huge help!).

I'll leave you with some sneak peeks from the last few days and some illustrations :) 

See you very, very soon! I'm positive I'll have more christmassy photos to share briefly!

Lots of Love, Helena

A new family member and new illustrations

It's been a while, isn't it? Days are just too short for me but finally I've found some time to dedicate to the blog and share some sneak peeks of the last few days. 

Rain took some days off, apparently and that has affected everybody's mood, me included, despite the fact that I do love some rainy days. It has been the typical golden, short and chilly days of Autumn and that makes me happy and makes me want do to more during the day. As such, this week I've, finally, concluded some illustrations and started two new ones. One of them inspired in my new kitten! 

This little ball of golden fur, named Molly, has just arrived to our home this last Sunday night and I melt every time I look at her. In fact, I spend too much time looking at her and playing when I know I have so much to do! Oops... The kitten on the paper, however, is slightly different from Molly, because, at the time, I've been told that one of the females were white with some golden spots and it turns out that that kitten was actually a male. I wanted a baby girl this time, so I choose that kitten's sister instead. Of course, by the time I started painting, I didn't know this and the painted kitty is not like Molly. She was the inspiration, nevertheless and that is what it counts! 

The other illustration I've started is inspired by Alice in the Wonderland! I couldn't help it when I saw the Disney's trailer of Alice Through The Looking Glass, which is fantastic and I can't wait for the film to come out in next May! 

Besides these illustrations, I really want to do much more until the end of this year as I want to, finally, open my Etsy Shop (that's why the little button on your right is not functional yet!) in next January and see if I can get more fun products to offer.

When I  was not painting or drawing, I was enjoying those pleasant days of Autumn preparing and eating lots of roasted chestnuts - and I'm still not sick of them! - with my family, almost every evening, after work... Ah!...I love Autumn... Did I ever mention that? I think so. 

Chestnuts apart, I found some precious time to meet a special friend and see quirky, fun stationary from Happy Jackson, London that now I'm obsessed with. Those are definitely on my wishlist! The whole collection is fresh, colorful and humorous: perfect for quirky and childish artists like me! 

That's it for this post. I'll continue to paint and enjoy the sunny, crisp weather while I can. See you on a next post!    

Lots of Love, Helena 

An ear infection, art and books

As the title suggests, last week I had a nasty ear infection that lasted me 5 days to heal so, my life hasn't been that interesting lately. Being an entire week sick means a lot of things to organize afterwards. However, I had some time to paint - Halloween themed paintings - to drink lots of hot chocolate and catch up with some of my favorite series like Once Upon a Time and Reign. Books have been a frequent company also and I'm loving Quiet, The Power of Introverts In a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain; I'm still half way through but it's so enlightening by breaking many concepts in our society, an extrovert society, that sometimes judges too much, and mistakenly, those who are quiet and soft spoken, among other things. Overall, those we call, introverts. The book exposes, essentially, interviews and lots of psychological studies and tests made in the 20th century showing how introversion seems to be a fundamental feature for creativity despite the requirement for extroversion in many fields. But, I'll talk more about the book, once I finish it. I think it will provide some good discussion for a blog post.

Recalling more good things:

- It's been raining cats and dogs lately and I'm loving it! 

- Ordering vegan pizza and garlic bread for dinner in a self-indulgent moment;

- Going out with lovely ladies to the cinema. We watched Crimson Peek! I was expecting something different but I loved it anyway! The scenery was classy, decadent, dark and, of course, creepy! Perfect for Halloween! 

- Running out of foundation - not one, but two! - and loose powder, meaning shopping soon! (Love the feeling of getting through products til the very last drop! Is it just me?)  

This is it for now. I'll see you soon on a next post! 

Happy weekend and Happy Halloween!! 

Lots of Love, Helena

Happy things lately and ending procrastination

It's Sunday! Blessed happy Sunday, the last day of the week, the sacred day. I love Sundays, they have become my favorite day of the week. Sundays mean silence or soft music, resting, baking, candles, pajamas, a nice book and, when I'm inspired, some drawing and painting. 

It's no lie I'm a homebody and not because I've got loneliness issues or something, as many may think, but because I really appreciate spending time alone and need to isolate myself from the world, from time to time. Well...very often, to be honest. For me, crowded places, loud sounds, people running or even listening people's futile conversations on the train or the bus, can drive me mad and easily give me headaches. Adding to that, there's work, cooking, laundry and people wanting my help and attention. It can be truly chaotic, sometimes and you find yourself needing an extra strength to not loose your peace and your good temper. So, that being said, I love the moment when I open my front door and put my tiny tired feet inside the house, where comfy food, fluffy pajamas and two nosy cats await me. Oh...and a sweet boy - my son - full of energy (how does he manage that??) demanding kisses and hugs. It's not until Sunday that I really have the chance to recharge batteries and remind myself of the blissful things of life. When everything is peaceful again, I can look back to my week and still find,  in spite of the pressure and of work, some good moments and little goals that I have achieved.

Goals achievements... this is a subject that made me happy this week. They were small but made all the difference; my driver's license for instance. I've been avoiding to go to my classes for months but, this week I finally did so and I just want to finish it quickly and I don't want any more delays or excuses on my behalf. And this is what I mean by the title of this post. Another small thing: this blog. Finding the time to take some pictures during the week and being able to sit down and write this post.

On top of all this, something else makes me really happy: Autumn in all its glory! Finally it's chilly enough to return to layers and cute jumpers and to drink epic amounts of tea, read a nice book for endless hours with a cat on your lap and enjoy the pleasant aroma of a scented candle! It doesn't look like an original scenery but, what's not to love about it? Autumn is a favorite season for many and I'm no exception: it's just magical with its crunchy, flying golden leaves and golden light, and it almost forces you to slow down a bit and pay attention to what really counts.

Everyday, on my way to work, I pass by a beautiful old garden, and that's where I took the pictures below. Hope you like them!

So...this is it; enough of ramblings. I wish you all a happy Sunday night (it's getting late here, it's almost Monday!)  and may this upcoming week be full of happy moments. Well...forget about it...it is already Monday! 

Lots of Love, Helena

Finally a blog and a First post!

I really don't know what to say in this first post but I think the best way to start is to be spontaneous. 

I can't believe I'm actually writing my first post! 

It's been so long since I wanted to start a blog but never got the courage (the web and the exposure to it can be frightening, sometimes), never got the time or found the will to do it. About three years ago I discovered a few lovely blogs that were my comfort at the end of a tiring day and that I still stick with until this day. I was in college by then and was going through some emotional healing and even self-discovery and reading those blogs really helped me to become more me; finding out that there's real simple and beautiful humans with flaws and quirky tastes out there without being afraid of showing who they are to the world led me to a path where I started to love myself and to be more open to the fact that it's OK not being OK and it's OK to make mistakes: it can be rather lovely just being human. You don't have to be extraordinaire at something to count, to matter. When you go easy on yourself and more conscious of your actions you end up being more generous and less judging towards others and above all...that makes you happier and you wish to share that happiness, even if it is something small, with those similar to you. After all, you do find happiness in the smallest things. So...this is what this blog will be all about, the simple things, the simple me and what I love to do and, hopefully, I will find lovely readers! 

Oh...P.s.: I'll  try to post at least two times a week so let's see if I'm a good girl and if I can accomplish this rule of mine ;)

Lots of Love, Helena