Where Have You Been?

Goodness me it feels good to be writing.

Do you like the new look to the place? I felt it was time for a fresh start and with that came a new name.

(Thanks to Laura over at Dream Literature for helping me with the design!)

In case you have forgotten, my name is Mollie and I used to write here a few weeks (months? eek) ago.

The reason for my temporary absence was that I got to a stage where I felt my blog was becoming a bottleneck to my creativity rather than an opportunity to express it. As a self-confessed perfectionist, I tend to sweat the small stuff rather than focus on the achievements of the bigger picture and so through my many efforts to improve my blog, I began to loose sight of why I started blogging in the first place - to enjoy it!

So a break for some fresh inspiration and clarity was in order and as a result I feel excited and ready to return to my little corner of the internet where my main focus now is sharing my passions and thoughts with the world; everything else can simply grow and blossom naturally.

I am very excited to get started.

If you would like to see what I have been up to during my absence then watch the video below from my YouTube Channel.

New Hair. New Beginning.

Hello everyone.

So this is kind of a strange time. Things are changing, people are growing up and it's all a bit weird to be honest. For the past two weeks, there have been pictures of packed cars and nervous/excited statuses popping up on my Facebook feed from friends who are heading off to university or college. My best friend Kirsty (chummy) has already began her college course and I'm glad to say she is really enjoying it and this time next week, my other bestfriend called Kirsty will be leaving for university. And here's little old me with my whole free year ahead of me and I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, I still feel that holding off university this year is a good decision and I'm excited about my year and what it has instore, but at the same time I'm going to miss my friends whilst they're away and I'm a little nervous about making sure it's not a wasted year.

Anyway, since there are so many changes happening and it's a new beginning for me with my gap year, I decided I'd embrace change a little more by dying my hair after it being red for over 2 years now.

                       Before

                                                                                                            After

What do you think? It's a lot darker than intended and it's a big adjustment from what I'm used to but I think I like it. I've been wavering with the idea of dying my hair brown for almost a year now but always chickened out and stuck to red because it was what I'd grown to know. My red hair was almost my identity, it was what my nicknames were based on from my friends and to be honest it had become a sort of comfort blanket. Whenever I was meeting new people or feeling particularly anxious I'd just hide behind my bold red hair and hope that  that alone would make me stand out. This is one of the reasons I decided to dye it. I want this to be a year where I begin to think outside the box a little and push myself out of my comfort zone so that I can really grow and mature. I want to embrace the unknown and make bold choices that will help get me to where I'd like to be and become the person I want to be. This all may seem quite dreamy and optimistic for something as simple as changing my hair colour but it's all about frame of mind and dying my hair has began the process for me. This brunette is on a mission.
Until next time,


Mollie ♥

Exciting Things Ahead

Hello everyone.

It's been a while since I last uploaded (a week) because I didn't upload my usual "Mollie'sThoughts" post on Monday. Sorry for deserting you for so long *cuddle*. Well, I say I didn't upload a Mollie'sThoughts post but in truth I did, I just didn't keep it up. It was written very quickly and my heart wasn't in it and so it was only up for a night and a morning before I decided to take it down. I think quality rather than quantity is what I'd prefer to advertise on my blog (though I will of course upload at least once a week for you lovely people) which is why I didn't want to just post it for the sake of it if I wasn't happy with the quality. Anyway, now that I've finished nattering.
I'd like to start off by saying I was so pleased to get some really nice comments on my last post-link. It's so lovely to hear from you guys! There's a massive difference between seeing the number of page views on a blog and seeing the number of comments. Of course I appreciate everyone who reads my posts but seeing that someone has taken the time to leave a comment is really nice. As is putting a face to a reader as it helps me to find your blogs so that I can visit your page too!

Now in my last post, I talked about everything that I wanted to achieve in 5 years times so in this post I thought I write about the steps I'm taking in order to achieve these goals and it's all very exciting. So here's a list of what I've been doing/planning so far.

1. Travelling goal: Rome

That's right, I'm going to Rome! I'm actually going to be doing a little travelling and it's very soon. You see my dad works in IT and so he has to travel a lot to help out with programs and systems all around the world (though I'm convinced he's secretly a spy and that's why he travels so much) and this time he's going to Rome. As a joke I said "Oh, can I come too?" and we kind of chatted about it a bit, and then said nothing of it. A few days later and he says "You're going to Rome.". Yay! So in less than a months time I'll be heading over to Rome for 3 days with my dad. He'll be working some of the time and for safety reasons I'll be staying in the hotel during the hours he's away but we will still have the afternoon of the first day,  late afternoon of the second day and most of the 3rd day to explore Rome! I'm so excited!

2.Travelling/ Volunteering/Growing in Faith Goal: ABBAS Rest

Now this one is a work in progress and may not work out however there are other opportunities that are similar that I will look into if this doesn't work out. ABBAS Rest is a Christian charity that helps orphans in Africa in places that other charities have not yet reached. This charity is owned by people that my parents and the churches on Arran know as it is a Scottish charity and they visit Arran sometimes and so I am going to e-mail them about possibly going with them to Africa to volunteer for a few week some time next year depending on their schedules. It would be an amazing opportunity however it is hanging in the balance as we don't know their plans for next year so all I can do is ask. And if it doesn't work at least I've began to aim for my volunteering goal in a big way!

3. Becoming a film-maker: Camera and Laptop

Despite my inability to walk into a shop and leave without having purchased at least one item, I have somehow over the summer earned enough money to buy myself a decent camcorder (as I've mentioned) and now a laptop of my own! (I use my parents' usually) And so now I have the resources necessary to begin making more videos more easily. Hooray.

4. Becoming a film-maker: University

Of course, in order to become a qualified film-maker I shall have to study it and the place I'd love to study film would be at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. They have an amazing course which doesn't just involve talking about film, it involves making them! It's very exclusive however so I will of course have back-up universities. The reason I'm mentioning this now is because the application process is fast approaching (ahh, slow down!) as are the open days so I have them to work towards.

5. Creating my own business: Bags, cushions, cards

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my goals is to one day have my own successful business where I sell lots of different products with my floral artwork on them. So far my dad has kindly helped me look into it and has found a website which could print my artwork onto canvas bags. Just now we are in the process of sending a photo to this company in order to get a quote for how much the printing will cost.

Also relating to this goal, today was the first day of the exhibition of mine and my two classmates' artwork from our Advanced Higher course. Each year at the cafe/shop where I now work, artwork from the highschool students is exhibited for a few days. Usually there is art shown from different year groups but as the cafe has been re-designed there is now less room and so there is only enough room for the Advanced Higher work. This is good news for me and my friends who took Advanced Higher though as we have at least 7 of our A1 sheets on show each and so we are able to get our artwork promoted for selling! Hopefully this will begin to attract attention for my bags and cards aswell once I get them printed. If you would be interested in purchasing some of my artwork (you can find some examples of my work here) then feel free to contact me at molliesart@hotmail.co.uk.

So there we are. My first baby steps towards reaching my goals. I know some aren't finalised and are only beginnings but I thought I'd share them with you anyway so you can follow their progress. I can't wait to see how/whether things come together. I will of course keep you informed of progress.
Much love,

Mollie

♥

What steps are you taking to achieve your goals? What advice do you have for making your dreams a reality?

Ink and Paint

Hello everyone.

I feel like I need a new opening to my posts rather than “Hello everyone”..hmm. Any suggestions?

So this week I have finally managed to focus my attention (for at least 30 minutes every 3 hours…) on admin revision.  There’s been quite a lot even though I've only this year got one exam (my other subjects don’t have an exam). I've been through 2+ pens. And now it’s all finished as I sat my exam today and I think it went okay.

I always surprise myself when I’m revising at my ability to find so many new interesting hobbies and interests in order to distract myself in any way possible from the revision I’m trying to do. In one of my many breaks I even developed a whole business that I’d like to run complete with product lists and some price ideas. Yes it really went there.

Something I've been enjoying about revision is that I've had time to just sit out in the sun all day. It’s almost made revision fun. Almost.

A beautiful view from where I was revising

 My bedroom floor right now. So many pieces of paper and books.

As well as revising however I've had my Advanced Higher Art folio to complete and stick down and it had almost slipped my mind with the thought of Admin being at the top of my list. However after a little panic moment on Tuesday evening thinking I’d never get it done in time I decided to risk losing a day of revision on Wednesday and make-up for it one Thursday so that I could do my art. It seemed to work and things are back in control. Phew.

Here's a sneak peak of some of my artwork:

I will hopefully be selling some of my art/prints of my artwork once it is returned from the SQA. I also have lots of other plans for it too...exciting.

Now I have my new job to think about. I can't wait. My first day/training day is this Sunday so I’m preparing myself and hoping that my waitressing experience from my last job will help me out. It’s great to know that my best friend is starting work there with me and my other best friends already work there. I’ll always have someone to answer my questions and spend my lunch breaks with.

I think that’s it for this update as I haven’t really anything more to tell you as I've been mostly sat revising all week. *sigh*. I hope you've had a lovely week and been able to enjoy some beautiful weather.

Mollie

♥

A Lovely Day

Hello everyone.

I know I usually try to post on a Wednesday but I feel there can be a cheeky bonus post today.

As I mentioned in my previous post, today was the day of Fiona Doubleday’s Studio Opening/tea party in aid of The Butterfly Tree Charity which I was asked to attend and film. (You can read her post about the day HERE.) And what a wonderful day it has been!

It began with painting a butterfly for the tea party’s raffle before me and my mum headed up to Fiona’s at one o’clock so that I could begin filming before everyone arrived.  As we entered her house the hard-work put into the event became evident as we looked around the beautiful arrangements of butterfly goodies, gifts from local shops and crafters that were attractively organised in Fiona’s living room, an array of cakes and scones and of course the wonderfully decorated studio.

 My painting for the raffle

                                                       Fiona's display of butterfly products

Products from crafters and local shops

As Fiona, her husband and two of her sons finished preparations I began by filming some scenes in and around the studio before the ribbon was tied across the doors to be later cut.

Two o’clock arrived and people soon began to flutter in and were all very impressed with the studio and transformed living room. Around 31 people arrived and with tea and cakes in our tummies, pennies spent on butterfly merchandise (all proceeds going to The Butterfly Tree Charity) and crafters’ products, we settled down for Fiona’s inspiring introduction to the event as she talked about all the work put into the day and her exciting future plans to help The Butterfly Tree. We all then went out to the studio for the grand opening where Fiona’s husband Peter read a touching story of the origin of their studio followed by a speech and cutting of the studio’s ribbon by a friend of Fiona and her family, Lynn Ross.

Yummy cakes made by Fiona's son

People beginning to arrive

 The studio with its ribbon

With the sun beginning to shine on the much loved studio everyone had a peek inside before returning to the living room for a raffle and another look around some of the merchandise.

Before long, Fiona’s hand-made butterflies had all found new loving homes along with many of the other items available and the profit of these sales combined with the selling of the raffle tickets totaled up to an amazing £200 meaning that this one day will provide the money for 40 mosquito nets for the people in Zambia meaning 40 lives have potentially been saved in a few hours of fun, laughter and donation. 40 mosquito nets. 40 lives. This is truly amazing.

 Fiona's mum sorting raffle tickets

Fiona's handmade butterflies

As people began home with high spirits and some lovely purchases, I recorded 

some of the final footage for the film of the day. I can’t wait to begin editing and hope it captures the enthusiasm and joy of all who attended this lovely day. It will be featured on Fiona's blog once it is finished and I'll upload a link when it's there.

A child dies every 40 seconds from malaria. But today, thanks to Fiona, her family and everyone who attended her event, 40 lives have been potentially saved by the money raised for mosquito nets.

If you have been as inspired as I have by Fiona’s event please visit The Butterfly Tree website and if you can please make a donation.

I hope you too had a lovely day.

Mollie

♥