Category — Wellbeing

We’ve been in France all last week for a Church mission trip! It’s been very exciting since this was my first time abroad and I’ve always wanted to go to France.  A dream come true!

I took plenty of pics so I could show you where we were and what we did.

This is Chateau Blanc in Thumeries, France. It’s a mission prayer house that is involved with various works and last week a team of us went to help maintain the building and grounds.

This is the view from our bedroom, which you can see in the first pic, it’s the turret at the top

This is the bed we were clearing on the first day, it was pretty overgrown so we got to work weeding and chopping and re-potting.

This is the view looking from the grounds towards the Chateau.

There was much work to do including re-pointing, painting, gardening and more. We all shared out the work and enjoyed the fellowship with each other. In the evenings we went for walks and chatted (there was no tv which was really nice actually!) I really enjoyed the slower pace of life and even though we were working hard every day I felt so much more peaceful than at home trying to do so many different things.

This trip has been great for me in so many ways but especially it’s made me realise even more how I need to get my life in balance – which I’m finding very hard to do! More creativity and less busyness + a slower pace!

How do you create balance? I’d love to hear your tips.

Join me tomorrow when I’ll be posting more info about our trip and more photos.

xxx

P.S Like the new look?

First there was Art Club at ours on Saturday, we made ATC’s which was great fun and great therapy for me.

Then after a great service at Church on Sunday we enjoyed the gorgeous weather and planted these beauties…

I love these large bellis (I call them puffs lol) and my mini daffs and pink primroses.

Our front garden is starting to look lovely again at last!

While Hubby planted those beauties for me, I baked some more apple sauce muffins and Ellie happily chomped on her bone.

The weather was so gorgeous Sunday we enjoyed a lovely long walk by the river and then came home for dinner before rushing out to our Churches evening healing service.

Today it was back to work, which I am very happy about! I got right back into painting and created another cutie for you to enjoy which I’ll be listing on ebay tomorrow, so look out for a blog post on that.

This short break has really helped me to see life differently (even more than usual), I’m always pondering but I felt like God has been really teaching me that I can completely rest in Him, have peace and enjoy everything He has given us…I fully intend to!

Live life to the full guys…

Love

xxx

P.S Today I added a cool page of Q&A’s to help you with your paintings. I also updated my About Me page with some fun facts. xx

Hi Everyone,

I didn’t really want to post this to the blog but wanted to let you know that I’m taking a little break because on Tuesday morning my Nan died.

I’m still doing some painting and popping online from time to time but I’m taking a little step back to just rest.

Thanks for understanding,

xxx

We had a great weekend, Saturday was spent enjoying a relaxing free day, no plans, nothing to rush to, lovely! We walked Ellie to the local yarn shop in the morning and I picked up some gorgeous yarns to work on our ripple blanket for our bedroom and then we headed to the park and Ellie and Hubby had great fun running around for a while.

Then we headed back for some lunch and I helped Hubby make some lovely fresh baguettes which we shared with Mum and Dad. Homemade bread makes a great gift!

I got working on the ripple blanket for a while and then started thinking about the beautiful fabric I recently got to make a little curtain for our kitchen cubby. We actually call it Ellie’s cubby, because ever since we’ve had her she’s loved to hide in there.

So that’s what I did, I got all my stuff out and had a go. It was way harder than I thought it would be. All the measuring, marking and cutting went really well and that’s surprising because that is the part I like the least! When it came to sewing the hems, I had real trouble. The fabric kept slipping and so my stitch lines were a little wavy lol Still, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out considering I haven’t sown for ages. What do you think?

Sunday was spent at Church in the Morning and then I dashed off to grab a lift with Mum and Dad down to Dagenham to visit our family for Mother’s Day. Lot’s of gifts, cards and food

After a great weekend, I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunny day and decided that some baking and homemaking was in order. I made some more Apple Sauce muffins and have just got this yummy loaf out of the oven. It’s Alicia’s Oat & Honey loaf. It doesn’t look much like hers but I’m hoping it will taste great!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, let me know what you did…

xxx

The last couple of days it’s really felt like Spring! Beautiful clear blue sky’s and sunshine, it makes me so happy.

Hubby got back from work early today so we could go walking in the park and enjoy the sunshine. Ellie loves to pose for the camera lol.

All this sunshine is so inspiring, I’m sure there will be lot’s more ‘Blue Sky’ paintings to come. The one above is my latest called ‘Wild Flowers’ isn’t it pretty.

I adore flowers, remember me posting about these sweet peas I grew last year? Well I’m going to grow more this year, I just got a new packet of seeds yay I went for a different variety this year called ‘Big Tops’ funny name but they are meant to have a lot more colours in them so I’ll be soaking them tonight and sow tomorrow. I always find the growing process so exciting, seeing them come to life and bloom.

Do you grow anything for your garden? I’d love to hear all about it, leave me a comment.

‘Wild Flowers’ is now available on ebay.

xxx

I’ve been working on this little cutie over the weekend ‘Love Me Always’. It’s the first in my ‘Sweet Heart’ series and I am so excited to be working on these adorable little lovebirds.

I’ve always loved everything cute and it just seems to come naturally that I paint in this way. I do love to experiment now and then with ‘grown up’ paintings but I always come back to ‘cute’. I guess that’s just ‘me’.

It’s fun getting to know yourself and what you love to do, it’s been a long journey to finally be free with my style and really listen to what it is I love. Now I’ve found my style I feel freer to express myself (sounds an odd thing to say) but it’s true. I feel like I can sit and draw without judging myself and let out what it really is I want to express. I guess that’s a good tip for all of us – when we allow ourselves to be truly ourselves and stop judging ourselves, it’s then that we can be free and our true expression comes out. Not only that but when we are truly being ourselves, then we feel happiness.

We all need to express ourselves and share how we see the world and how we would like others to see it too, in whatever form that comes in for you; art, ceramics, photography, gardening, baking etc etc.

So remember, we want to see your view, embrace it and be happy!

‘Love me Always’ is now available as an original on ebay and also as a print at Etsy.

When it comes down to it, all that really matters is Love!

Love never fails.

xxx

Love is in the air! I am really enjoying this ‘Blue Sky’ series of paintings. This one looks way better in real life than I could capture in the photo. It’s so cheerful and pretty.

Hope you are having a wonderful day and if you need a little lift, I hope this painting brings you a smile

‘Love Song’ now available on ebay.

Blessings,

xxx

Art has always been part of my life one way or another. I’ve always wondered what impact art has on people and have always wondered how I could make a difference in the world to help people.

Today my desire to help others is bigger and stronger than ever and I’m thinking about how I can do that.

What ways has art impacted your life either in creating it, learning about it or buying it (from anyone)?

What ways do you think art could be used in a more productive way to help others in need emotionally or physically?

If you have a story to tell about how art has saved you in anyway I would love to hear about it, either here in the comments or via email: niki@thevintageartist.com

I know we can all make a difference in this world, touching peoples lives is the most wonderful gift you can give.

Looking forward to hearing from you…

xxx

Helen Bates, Niki Jackson, Mark Jackson.

I’ve been trying to get this up all week lol, on Saturday 21st November, Mark (Hubby) and I, along with our dear friend Helen, got Baptised at St Andrews Church in Ipswich, UK.

It was an amazing day and I just wanted to share part of it with you. We have had an amazing 1st year as Christians and am very excited for the future.

Hope you enjoy watching this, I’ll be back later with an exciting art update for you too.

xxx