Interview: Julia Denes of Woodfolk
By Andrea McArthur
For my final interview of 2013, I am delighted to reveal the story behind a creative new accessories label, Woodfolk.
I discovered Woodfolk at the Finders Keepers Market held recently in Sydney, but it was not long before this that Woodfolk was officially launched at Life Instyle Melbourne. Despite its infancy, word of this stylish label is certainly spreading fast.
Julia Denes is the founder and jewellery designer behind Woodfolk. Julia created the label as a break from the fast moving modern world in which we live, with the aim to bring you down to earth. Woodfolk achieves this through simple design, a gentle colour palette and by using only natural materials and fabric.
All Woodfolk products are Australian designed and proudly made by Nepali artisans, throughout local and remote areas of Nepal. The Nepali artisans use their master skills to create beautiful and quality accessories through traditional carving, natural dying, knitting and weaving techniques.
What led you down your current path?
I originally studied a Bachelor of Fine Arts at COFA majoring in Photography, before taking off around the world on a two-year travel adventure that took me to 21 different countries. After spending the last six months of my trip in Central America stringing seeds and shells on banana tree vines, I knew jewellery was my calling.
When I got home I straight away enrolled at Enmore Design Centre, got myself an apprenticeship and began learning to hand-make fine jewellery. Over the years I worked for some of Sydney’s most prominent jewellers both designing and making. In 2009 I started my first business Julia Denes Jewellery that specialised in custom one-off pieces.
Starting Woodfolk felt like a very natural progression. The idea was born after feeling the need to work with more earthy materials and all things natural, combined with my love of travel. I worked on the business for about a year before I launched it at Life Instyle Melbourne a few months ago. It’s got such heart to it, I absolutely love working on it and love the response I’ve been getting from stores and customers.
Who do you admire in Australian accessories design?
I have a lot of admiration for natural, authentic, down to earth businesses like Elk, Nancybird and Ink and Spindle, just to name a few. I find it very inspiring the way they run their businesses. I also love and appreciate all the (much needed) real life, motivational work Clare Bowditch is doing.
What has been your greatest career achievement to-date?
Starting my new business Woodfolk has been my greatest and proudest achievement so far. One of the obstacles I faced in the earlier stages was finding the right people to work with overseas to make the wooden components of my jewellery. I knew I could have gone somewhere like China or India and work with a factory, however that seemed to defeat the purpose of my business. So after lots of research and time spent in Nepal, I found the most lovely, talented family to work with and I’m so happy to be supporting them. I already have my eyes set on a couple of other countries for new product ranges as well.
Describe a typical day at work…
I don’t really have a typical day as I’m running two businesses at the moment and wearing many hats. However, mornings generally start with emails and lots of cups of tea. Days can be filled with stringing and finishing all the wood jewellery; making the ceramic jewellery; getting Woodfolk orders ready and sent; preparing for different design markets and trade shows; liaising with stockists and contacting new stores; creating custom jewellery pieces; developing new ideas to build on the Woodfolk range; all the usual business stuff; and the list goes on. I do like to finish my day with some yoga, pilates or a walk to clear my head – otherwise I start to become a crazy person!
What future plans do you have for Woodfolk?
I have a lot of plans for Woodfolk and see a lot of potential. I’m planning to expand the jewellery line to include more ceramic pieces which have had a great response. A new line of natural style market bags and hand-dyed cotton scarves are already in progress, and I’m considering including some homewares to the range for next year. I’m in no rush though, so I’ll let the nature of this business take its course rather than try and do everything at once.
5 Questions in 5 minutes – Getting Personal:
Studio Sounds, what's playing?
Always something chilled like Ray LaMontagne or Birdy.
What are you currently reading?
Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.
What are you looking forward to?
My upcoming (and much needed) holiday to Vietnam with my husband.
Can you share your go to resource for inspiration?
Blogs like The Design Files, Design Sponge, Books Kinokuniya on George St in Sydney (such a great book store) and I’m a total Pinterest addict (find my page at pinterest.com/woodfolknatural)
What is your local area's best kept secret?
There aren't many secrets left unfortunately in Sydney but I can share some favourite spots: Bondi Beach Farmer’s Markets every Saturday; Breakfast at Bread and Circus in Alexandria; and afternoon/evening walks in Centennial Park.
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If you've fallen in love with Woodfolk like I have, enquiries can be directed via Julia's website, Facebook or follow her on her blog.
Andrea McArthur has a passion for all things visual and works as a freelance Graphic Designer. Type is her true love and goes weak at the knees over beautiful design. You'll find her sharing design related musings via @andyjane_mc
Interview: Anna Lonsdale & Meghan Fletcher of Good Grace and Humour
Good Grace and Humour were the creative force behind the design and installation of beautiful hanging bouquets at our recent book launch. A relatively new business, their story is unique and a testament to the idea that two heads are often better than one! Please welcome Meghan Fletcher and Anna Lonsdale...
Tell us about your backgrounds, how you met and what spurred you to launch GG&H?
Meghan: I’ve spent most of my working life in various editorial positions at different book publishing companies in Melbourne. I really enjoyed creating beautiful books and being a part of the creative industry, but was disheartened by the publishing industry becoming depressed because of flagging book sales. I met Anna during my last editorial job. We both lived in the inner-west and drove to the outer-east, so we carpooled to work. We’d spend around two hours a day driving together – chatting and dreaming and drinking coffee. We soon realised that if we had each gone down a different career path, we’d probably be working with flowers. So we threw caution to the wind, and gave it a go.
Anna: I'd spent all of my professional career in the publishing industry – my most recent role as Executive Assistant supporting the dynamic CEO at the company where Megs and I met. I had this strong drive to be a corporate babe, but deep down I knew that I had more creative and wholesome aspirations! The irony is that although we had worked together for over two years before we started carpooling, I had very little to do with Megs and we didn't really know each other. I think she was a little surprised to discover I was actually this funk-loving hippie masquerading as a ‘girl friday’. I had always mucked around with flowers – experimenting andplaying – and I was looking at ways I could get into the industry and lead a more balanced life outside of an office. Once I learned Megs not only had the same passion but the same design aesthetic it was like,‘Well, the stars have aligned for a reason! We’d better give this a go!’. We launched the business at a backyard ‘Beer and Bouquets’ party which was kind of setting the tone forGG&H – eliminating the wank and breaking the traditional rules of floristry.
Did you juggle full-time work and the business in the beginning, and at what stage did you decide to give GG&H your full attention?
Meghan: I juggled full-time work and GG&H for three months before giving GG&H my full attention. I left publishing sooner than originally planned because I wanted to fully immerse myself in the new floral industry. I knew there was a lot to learn but, equally, I knew many of my skills were transferable. I’d spent nearly 10 years critiquing narrative, themes, design, colour and space, so I couldn’t wait to start working with this new, flexible and variable design element.
A: I still work part-time managing a Physiotherapy and Pilates clinic. This is a challenge because I am so conscious that Megs is handling a lot of the operational day-to-day business functions, while I'm there for the hands-on, creative aspects. I have a habit of going hard till I keel over and so Megs is very good at saying ‘Take a break, and don't feel guilty’. I guess that's my juggling act –not juggling the two jobs as such,but remembering to schedule in my own time. My team at the clinic are also incredibly supportive and understanding, so I am very lucky.
What are your favourite floral design projects to work on?
Meghan:I love a good wedding! Each wedding is unique with its own story, which makes each floral design interesting to work on. I really enjoy meeting the brides and collaborating with them to create a killer event. I absolutely love it when a bride is willing to take a risk and choose something extraordinary over the ordinary.
Anna: I get a real kick out of styling projects –trusting our instincts and being led by the colourful and seasonable bounty at the markets.
I do love working with wedding clients –developing and fine tuning a concept and then seeing it come to fruition on the big day.Somehow our weird and wonderful ideas pay off as envisaged!
I also enjoy the ongoing supply to cafes, probably because I love the idea of feeling part of the rhythm of the city. I like the banter and I do appreciate a good cup of Joe!
What skills do each of you bring to your business and what do you think is a key ingredient of going into business with someone?
Meghan: I’m steady and precise and Anna is quick and systemic. We work best when we work together because our skills and personalities complement each other.
Our balanced approach is entirely an accident, of course. When we threw caution to the wind earlier this year, we barely knew each other. Therefore, I think the key ingredient of going into business with someone is being able to laugh until you snort while you’re trapped in peak-hour traffic for a couple of hours together. It’s also about having supportive friends and family (particularly an amazing husband whois the Good, if Anna and I are the Grace and Humour!), who can laugh with you when you drag them along for the floral ride. As long as everyone is still laughing at the end of the day/week/month/year, GG&H will be fine.
Anna: We are an incredibly complementary duo! I move fast but I need to be tidy and organised in my set-up and routine. Megs is meticulous and focussed on the detail –she's definitely quality control.She could have chaos going on around her and her attention will be 100% on that bouquet she's working on! I'm more, ‘I need to change the music, the vibe’s not right for my method today’ ...Megs is,‘Do we have music playing?’
In terms of a ‘secret’ to going into business together, I would have to say we have learnt to be very intuitive. When things aren't gelling there is always a reason and we'll go, ‘Hang on, why are struggling? Oh, we haven't eaten or we haven't had a break!’. It has been a real blessing to be in a situation where we can support each other and be empathetic as friends as well as business partners. The unique thing is that we weren't twofriends who went into business –the friendship has developed from living in each other's pockets as we've grown the business! I also need to mention the incredible support from Megs’ husband, Paul, who has been a champion of GG&H since day one and has graciously let us work from their home, despite being woken up by my cackle in the early hours of the morning! I guess another secret would be that we are both pretty chipper in the morning –Paul might say annoyingly so –but we think we're pretty hilarious.
What are your goals for Good Grace and Humour in 2014?
Meghan: My goals for 2014 are to steadily increase the number of weddings and interesting events we’re involvedin, to meet and partner with motivated and talented people (partnering with the Creative Women’s Circle for a couple of events this year was so much fun!), to move into a new workspace and decorate it in a fabulous way (I’m a massive fan of interior design so I’m itching to get into a new blank space), and to juggle the demands of GG&H with those of becoming a new mum (the newest member of the GG&H team will obviously be a flower baby – girl or boy!).
Anna: We are so itching to move into a new workspace and that's got to happen in the first half of the year.
Following sustainable practices is very important to us, and I am interested in learning more about the process before we get our cut flowers from our suppliers and ensuring that those we buy from have a similar ethos. There are some incredible growers in Victoria and I want to connect with more of them. That collaborative aspect and feeling part of a community is very important to me –it's why we have found the Creative Women's Circle so incredible and why we choose to do things like support a radio show on PBS. For me that's what being in a creative industry is about. It's about supporting and giving high-fives to other creative cats out there who have at some point chosen to follow a less conventional path –that's where new ideas are born, and it's a lovely place to be!
Thanks for the insights, Anna and Megs! You can see more of their stunning floral work at their website or follow on Instagram @goodgraceandhumour.
All photos by Martina Gemmola
Organise Me: 7 Fun Ways to Get Organised for 2014
Can you believe that this year is nearly over? Where did it go?! It might still feel like you’re rushing towards the finishing line for 2013, but I wanted to give you some ideas on ways that you can start 2014 off with a bang!
Here are my fun ways for getting organised to make 2014 your best year yet:
- Write down the crazy big goals you’d like to achieve in the next year. They can be business or personal. Use coloured pens and make it look fun to look at. You could draw little pictures next to them too.
- Buy a big desk calendar and add some monthly goals to it that will get you closer to your big goals. Make deadlines for the big goals you identified. Having goals on a calendar helps to make you accountable and can keep you on track. You could colour code your goals and deadlines for personal, business, skills or travel. Pick the colours that make you happy to look at.
- Sketch up how you would like your workspace to look and think about what you could add (or remove) to make it flow better and help you be more efficient. Whether it's a whole room or just your desk, it is so much nicer to work with when everything has a place and you don’t constantly feel buried under mess or can’t find anything.
- Make a mood board or a Pinterest board for your workspace or desk and treat yourself to something that will help make it a happier place to be. It might adding artwork, or some new in-trays, or hoisting up a peg board or some shelves so you have somewhere to hang all your equipment leaving your desk top free.
- Read a book on a topic you’re interested in. It might not seem like an organisational tool, but it might just uncover another goal for the year, or help you learn something that relates to one of your goals. If your goal is to hike in South America, then a book on how to prepare for hiking in those climates could be perfect!
- Get outdoors and have some fun. What does this have to do with getting organised? It helps you to relax and have time to think about what you do and don’t want for the year ahead. It’s hard to get organised and be excited when you’re feeling frazzled, so allow yourself some downtime before you jump on in to the next year.
- If you’re feeling particularly crafty, you can make a vision board with images that represent your goals for 2014 and put it up somewhere to remind you what you’re working towards. Grab some cardboard and some old magazines and have fun organising and gluing your vision for 2014.
The beginning of a new year (and the end of a busy one) is the perfect time to work out what we’d like our future to look like and make some baby steps that will set us on the path towards it. Some goals will be longer term, but it can be fun to think of the things we can start now to get us there.
Have a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year!
Dannielle is a blogger, serial organiser and passionate traveller. She has a secret love of ’90s teen movies and can often be found on Twitter. In 2013, Dannielle packed up her life in Melbourne into one suitcase and moved to Canada to make her crazy dream of a more adventurous life happen. But she quickly found the inspiration she was searching for was in Melbourne and has returned home. She’s started a new project on creating a happy (organised) home which you can see here.
Meet the Makers featuring me, Tess McCabe!
Since the release of the book, a couple of people have (jokingly, I hope) suggested that I should interview myself for the Conversations with Creative Women series. To which I reply, "Um, how weird and awkward would that be!?", teehee. But if you are curious as to how I ended up in this small-time publishing game, or would like to know more about CWC and my career to date, you're in luck - Shelley Panton (one of the book's retail stockists) has invited me as her guest at her next Meet the Makers event!
Image from Shelley's Instagram
Meet the Makers is a monthly series of talks and evening soiree. At these events, Shelley interviews the artisans behind the products she stocks in front of a 'live shop audience', to learn about their motivations, process and background.
My interview with Shelley will be the first Meet the Makers at her gorgeous new store front on Malvern Road, Prahran. There will be wine, nibbles, and a chance for you to spend time in a beautiful space with like minded folk and/or get all your Christmas shopping done in one hit!
Event details as follows:
Wednesday 27 November 6.30-8.30pm 440 Malvern Road, Prahran
Tickets are available here.
Scenes From Sydney: When Creative Worlds Collide
By Jaclyn Carlson A few months back I wrote about a strange phenomenon I had witnessed about the creative scenes between Melbourne & Sydney. Much like the cities themselves, the creative scenes seemed competitive. Sydney it appeared, was a tad bit jealous of Melbourne’s creative status and resented the cool persona that just oozed from every lane way. Sydney rallied and slowly picked up creative momentum with events and exhibitions popping up throughout the year and artists, crafters and business owners banding together to make their mark – which they have. I have personally witnessed a growing, vibrant and talented group of creative women (many of whom I’ve featured here!) coming into their own here in Sydney and I think 2014 will only see that movement grow stronger – don’t you agree?
But despite the rivalry at the surface I was relieved and humbled to see these two creative worlds collide on a recent weekend when I went to co-host not one but two events in Melbourne. Yes, Sydney and Melbourne co-hosts worked together as a team and brought together a variety of creative ladies to eat, drink and craft to our hearts content. The first event was a Kinfolk dinner, where I dined with some Melbourne folks from all backgrounds, drinking wine and sharing our own creative stories.
From there it only got better, on Sunday I was lucky enough to team up with two incredible ladies (both CWC members!) - Kylie Lewis (Of Kin) and craft queen Laura Blythman for a creative collaboration that was dreamed up months ago. All three of us wanted to do something fun, to spend an afternoon just playing and creating. The result was Paper Platdate, an afternoon of making with our own hands and escaping with other people who valued and found the fun in piles of paper, scissors, glue and paint.
As I flew back to Sydney after such a whirlwind weekend I couldn't help but feel that maybe more interstate events would help ease the sibling rivalry and get us back on track to being one happy, creative family. I for one found that my Melbourne CWC sisters where just as open to interstate collaboration, so let's make it happen more often ladies!
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Jaclyn Carlson is the founder of Blog Society, a community for bloggers & creatives as well as the author behind the Sydney-based blog, Little Paper Trees. When not documenting her expat adventures, she can be found working for one of Australia’s top design & homewares trade shows. Passionate and prone to wasting hours on Pinterest, she has years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR and aims to put Sydney’s creative women in the spotlight with her monthly column.
Interview: Carla Hackett
By Andrea McArthur
Carla Hackett has taken her love of type and turned it into a blossoming boutique lettering and design studio called Foxglove Lettering. Foxglove is based in Melbourne at Little Gold Studios, a shared creative space where Carla hand-crafts lettering for a range of clients in creative industries, including fashion, music, food, branding, retail, hospitality, magazines, books, weddings and conferences. Carla established Foxglove Lettering with the aim of bringing a warm, unique, human element to a world dominated by digital fonts and design.
What led you down your current path?
After studying graphic design at university and six years’ working at some of Sydney’s top agencies, I escaped to Berlin to soak up some international inspiration. It was a fantastic city to be based in as the living expenses are a lot lower than Australia and there is lots going on there creatively. Not to mention being on the doorstep of Europe for travel fun times!
I went along to a two-day hand lettering workshop with Ken Barber from House Industries. From that moment I was completely hooked! It was the perfect mix of illustration and typography that really appealed to me. After the workshop, I began feverishly lettering a bunch of personal work. I had a side project called Deutsch Doodles where I illustrated funny German words and it lead to a commission where I illustrated Berlin Bingo, a hipster guide to Berlin.
Once I’d had my ‘Bowie years,’ I decided to move to lovely Melbourne at the end of 2012. I’d always wanted to live here and it really was the best decision as I’ve found there is a great supportive community of creative business owners here. I decided to focus on my lettering and move into Little Gold Studios and start Foxglove Lettering in March this year. It’s been a journey to really take a step back and hit a reset button before finding what I am really passionate about.
Since then it’s been gaining momentum. I had a little boost of inspiration in March, winning a scholarship to go to Clare Bowditch’s Big Hearted Business Conference. Clare saw my chalkboard in my video and asked me to be the first BHB Inspiration Bomb artist. It was that fantastic exposure and going to the conference that really solidified in my mind that I was on the right path to doing what I love and making a living.
Who do you admire in the industry?
There are some amazing letterers who inspire me greatly. They’ve managed to carve a niche career with this specialty skill. Jessica Hische, Erik Marinovich, Mary Kate McDevitt, Jon Contino and Dana Tanamachi. And locally Gemma O’Brien, Dave Foster and Luke Lucas are producing phenomenal work. My studio buddies at Little Gold inspire me everyday with their energy and passion for their creative businesses. It’s amazing to be around.
Do you think hand-lettering is having a resurgence? Why?
Definitely! I think there is a real yearning for hand-crafted things in this digital age. The nostalgia and ephemeral nature of chalk has its own appeal nowadays. My mentor is a former ‘Ticket Writer’. She made a career out of hand lettering signage for department stores in the 1950s and 1960’s. The sign writing courses have cut most of the hand painting part of the course - it’s all done on the computer. I want to learn this skill so that it can live on!
Can you talk about the difference between hand-lettering and other type-related terms?
By definition, lettering is drawing. Lettering is closer friends with illustration than typography. Let’s also just clear up that calligraphy is writing and typography is a predictable and repeatable system of letters - a typeface.
What has been your most favourite project in recent years?
Earlier this year I got to work with my great friend Irena Macri from Eat Drink Paleo who runs Australia’s most popular paleo recipe site. Irena commissioned me to art direct, letter and illustrate the book's cover, chapter introductions and feature pages. All images were chalked by hand and photographed alongside the ingredients and prepared dishes. The best part was getting to eat all of the healthy delicious food once it was photographed!
What does a typical day at work involve for you?
I ride my bike to my studio in Brunswick where I’ll make my Aeropress coffee. Just this short bike ride and sitting down at my desk is a trigger to switch into creative mode. I try to do most of my creative work first up when I have energy and do some business/admin stuff later in the day. My days could be quite varied, some days I could be out on an on-site chalk job, some days I could be lettering on paper or lettering on my chalkboard, or lettering with paint and a brush! It depends on the project. But as long as I have picked up a drawing instrument everyday, I have practiced my craft so I can get better and learn. There’s also emails and business stuff to stay on top of and posting behind the scenes pictures to Instagram and Facebook!
What future plans do you have for your lettering business?
I really want to keep honing my craft and practicing lettering in all forms. This will mean making time for personal work amongst client work. I feel some great momentum happening, and I’m super excited for more great opportunities for collaborating with interesting brands and Creative Directors on some super fun projects. I’m also learning the ways of combining creativity and business so that I can continue to make a living doing what I love.
I’m working on producing a small range of hand lettered greeting cards as a side-product with my soon to be letterpress printing skills. I eventually would like to run workshops to teach people the process of lettering. I’ve had a few enquiries already!
5 Questions in 5 minutes – Getting Personal:
Studio Sounds, what's playing?
We have rdio set up on a mini iPad in the studio so everyone can control the music from their computer so we always listening to our collection on random rotation. But in particular we’ve been loving the new Snakadaktal - Sleep in the Water. We also love 60’s girl band ditties!
What are you currently reading?
Manage Your Day-to-Day by 99U. It has some fantastic interviews with people like Seth Godin and Stephan Sagmeister on how they manage to do great creative work in these times of many distractions.
What are you looking forward to?
I am super excited to be doing a letterpress workshop with Amy from St Gertrude Design. Amy is going to teach a few designers how to use her 100 year-old press ‘Gordon’ (who moved in Little Gold Studios two months ago) so that eventually we can print our own designs. This is an inaugural workshop and will be open to other designers in the future.
I’m also looking forward to getting back to nature in late December down in Tasmania. We’ll be camping at Freycinet National Park with some hiking, relaxing, sampling the local wine and food, and also get over to the amazing Mona for some art inspiration.
Can you share your go to resource for inspiration?
I have some fantastic lettering books from Louise Fili - ‘Scripts’ and ‘Vintage Type and Graphics’ full of her personal collection of vintage lettering and my 1959 Photo Lettering Catalogue full of original hand-lettered typefaces that Don Draper would have used!
I love seeing behind the scenes work of other letterers and artists on Instagram. On the web, I follow Friends of Type and Type Everything blog amongst others. But there is lettering and type all around us everyday that I find really inspiring.
What is your local areas best kept secret?
It’s probably not so secret with the Brunswick hipsters, but when I found Dejour Jeans I was so excited! $50 jeans in lots of colours with free tailoring? Yes please! I must also mention Los Hermanos for great Mexican food and the cute little Save Yourself designer boutique in Sparta Place that sells my favourite Lime Crime lipsticks.
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After reading all of this type and lettering goodness I'm inspired to pull out the brush pens and chalk! If you would like to contact Carla please see all her details below.
Carla Hackett / Foxglove Lettering Website: carlahackett.com Email: carla@carlahackett.com Instagram: @carlahackett Twitter: @canarycarla Facebook: /carla.hackett.lettering
Andrea McArthur has a passion for all things visual. Type is her true love and goes weak at the knees over beautiful design. Andrea works as a freelance graphic designer in Brisbane by day and lectures in graphic design by night. You will find her sharing design related goodness via @andyjane_mc
Organise Me: 5 Tips for Avoiding Burn Out in the Lead Up to the Silly Season
It still might feel like there’s plenty of time before Christmas and the deadlines - both self-imposed and actual! - that come with the end of the year are upon us. But it never hurts to have a game plan going in to this crazy time, to avoid burn out and end 2013 on a high note.
Here are my tips for avoiding burn out:
- Get a to-do list note pad and a printed calendar Take 10 minutes to write down all the things you know you have to get ready before the end of the year, both for home and work. Mark them in different colours if you like, and then schedule them into your calendar. Put a reminder in your phone if it helps. It may seem overwhelming now, but better the devil you know.
- Schedule some down time As things get busier the time for fun seems to disappear. So block out time in your calendar to go do something fun that’s just for you. After a long winter it's the perfect time to get out in the sunshine and it does wonders for your health.
- Keep hydrated and well fed Try to eat properly and make sure to drink water as the weather heats up - nothing is more exhausting than feeling dehydrated in a meeting you should be paying attention to.
- Be willing to say no Around this time of year, requests may come in thick and fast for little things that aren’t really what you should be focusing on. Be ready to say no to those that aren’t the right fit, or see if you can reschedule for the new year. It won’t always work, but being ready to offer an alternative to ‘right now’ can be really helpful.
- Be kind to yourself Don’t forget to take care of you. Buy presents online if you can't fathom the crowds (even if you want to support local and handmade this year, there are many online stores that will deliver to your home or workplace!). And keep in mind that couch time is an essential part of recharging and not just wasted time.
Remembering that last step is definitely key for me. Hopefully these tips will help you to not feel so stressed as the busy season approaches and lets us all avoid that burn out that comes when we feel overwhelmed. May the warmer weather bring some time to get out and enjoy it.
Dannielle is a blogger, serial organiser and passionate traveller. She has a secret love of ’90s teen movies and can often be found on Twitter. In 2013, Dannielle packed up her life in Melbourne into one suitcase and moved to Canada to make her crazy dream of a more adventurous life happen. But she quickly found the inspiration she was searching for was in Melbourne and has returned home. She’s recently started a new project on creating a happy (organised) home which you can see here.