Approaching ‘negative time’

During a particularly busy period at work last week, I realised that I was nearly in negative time. My grandma’s birthday was fast approaching and I still hadn’t sorted out a card or a birthday present. I had planned to make her a card, but there was a real temptation now to go for a home-delivery-type option so that I didn’t disappoint. 

I’ve tried to get into a rhythm of making cards for family and friends and while my fingers were hovering over the URL for a well-known online card manufacturer, the guilt was building a little – would she be expecting a handmade card??? I eventually decided it just had to be done. I worked it out. I needed to start it on Monday, complete it on Tuesday and post it on Wednesday. That was the only way it would arrive by Friday. Luckily, I’d already been inspired by something that I could work into the design – the beautiful blossom on the trees… 

I’m definitely a spring/summer person. I crave the longer days and the new life starting to emerge. I can’t wait for the trees to bud and for the bulbs to spring to life. I’m lucky enough to have a cherry tree in the garden and I can’t wait to see that blossom in the coming months. And as for spring bulbs, I’ve tried my hand at nurturing some of them to life… more on that later!

So the starting point for the card was the idea of a blossoming tree. But I fancied trying to make it ‘un-lifelike’. At the moment, the blossom I’ve seen on the trees has been white in colour. I was using a card made out of watercolour paper. I have yet to master white when it comes to watercolours – that’s a ‘plaster for another day’*. Instead, I thought about the colours that might look vibrant and bold together. I went for yellow and orange for the ‘wash’ and painted the skeleton of the tree in pale brown. I then added purple for the blossom, followed by pinks, reds and yellows on top. I finished it off with some grey to add definition to the trunk. I had pencil crayons at the ready just in case I needed to patch anything up but for the first time EVER I thought it looked good enough without some pencil-style enhancement.

Turning this around so quickly reminded me of how enjoyable and straightforward making cards can be. I’d had a go at this over the Christmas period last year. My thinking was that I wanted to send cards but didn’t see the point if they were just going to be thrown straight in the bin. I thought that if I made a card then maybe, perhaps, potentially the recipient would keep it. Whether that happened, I have literally no idea but it’s the thought that counts right?! Plus, one of the designs made it onto my wall!

And what present did I get my grandma I hear you ask? Well, I went with the online option for that. I bought her a lovely bunch of flowers. And this brings us back to the plants. Another half-hearted hobby of mine is trying to try to grow things. My track record is appalling. Admittedly, I was a little lazy when it came to planting the spring bulbs (I definitely didn’t plant them at the right depth) and I’m a little too loving with my indoor plants (I overwatered an orchid… who does that!?) Having said that, I was over the moon when a primrose emerged in the garden and I’m hopeful about some kitchen herbs now. I need all the help I can get though. Pray for me.

*Refers to a saying I have with a colleague at work relating to ‘ripping the plaster off’. If there’s a task we don’t want to do immediately (even though it would ‘rip the plaster off’), we’ll say that it’s a ‘plaster for another day’