Babble + Yak

Emma   If you know me well, or not, and were asked to describe me in a few words, one of those words might be overthinker.  For the last year I have over thought a lot of things and really spectacularly failed at getting that work life balance.  We have all had to adapt during and after lockdown.  One way I did was to take on full time work.  While I enjoyed working with some of the people I did, I did not like the role.  It made me ill, and tired, so tired that it became all consuming.  Making art was far from my mind, well not entirely, I felt guilty that I wasn't making, I felt that I was letting myself down, that I would be de-skilling myself by not practising, giving myself a creative block.  I didn't pick up a pencil for months. While I joked with some friends about this, and perhaps it was a time to give up on it all, there was a serious thought process going on.  What if I did stop? what would I do? What wasn't working before that I c...

  Its that time of year again!  Its always good if and when you can, to support small or independent business' and as Christmas 2020 fast approaches its seems even more important to champion this market.  Gifting something from a small business comes with love and gives the recipient something really a bit unique.  Below we have listed some shops you may want to visit.  These are people we love, know through our business community, or have bought from.  We have tried to group them but grab a brew, put your feet up and have a scroll through!  were not in the habit of promoting ourselves but if you would like to visit Jess or Emma's shop then just click our names-Happy Shopping! Prints-cards-calendars  Sketch book designs -Sunderland lad, Manchester based, music, football and city typography art. Emma has bought t-shirts and cards in the past-good gifts for the men in your life that are typically hard to buy for....Free UK delivery-Sign up to news...

April has been a busy month indeed; it seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye and we (I) missed the the blog post this month but perhaps I can explain.  At the end of our last blog post, Emma mentioned that I had some exciting news to share; I now have a studio space! The past month saw me leave the classroom for the second time and physically move all of my things into a new workspace, twenty minutes up the road, in the picturesque village of Horsley.  It may sound like my feet didn't touch the ground but one of the nice things about being self employed, amongst all of the scary and overwhelming things, is that you can set the pace.  I moved with the help of family and friends in a few trips then spent the second week of the Easter holidays working in my new space, by myself, for a few hours at a time, just settling in.  I am really looking forward to developing my work further.  After years of teaching and working to commissions or trends, it's t...