March Field Notes
Woodwork in the boot of a car, a cottage and leaving our spot.
A New Product
I mentioned in February Field Notes that one of the ways I managed downtime with my online shop was to test out new products, and at the beginning of March I spontaneously bought a batch of natural arenga fibres and tried my hand at brush making. Weirdly, I’ve always been a fan of brushes. In my house I’d have big straw brooms hanging from the wall, I even had an oversized workshop dustpan that was 100% decorative and never got used. Honestly, living tiny now makes me realise that that is actually insane (everything has to be useful in a tiny home) so my brushes now are small, functional, and always good looking as they’ll always be on show.
I love these crumb brushes…. I think they’ll become a shop regular.
Also, if you’d like to play a good game of ‘spot the decorative brush and dustpan’, you can browse my film gallery of my old homes here - 7 & 19.
Maida’s Cottage
When Steven and I had Cabin Coffee (we closed it in July just gone) we’d promised ourselves that we’d take a month off during winter and just properly relax. Have some genuine time away from work. Obviously everything went 100% chaotic and quite literally the opposite of that happened (a long story for another time and another post) but we’ve been trying to make up for it by having little trips away here and there. I’m lucky, I have a life these days that I don’t feel the need to escape from, but I still love the novelty of waking up somewhere new.
I always find that people tend to assume that because of the way I live I’m ‘anti-house’ but I’m really not, I’m just anti-bills and hate how expensive it is to live conventionally these days. It’s not worth the grind for me. But, I can’t deny, a little cottage with grass up to the walls, hills behind it and a smoky chimney could properly tempt me to go back to that life.
I shot a few rolls of film here, which I’ll be sharing soon over on my analog journal, Little Tin Houses.
Cutting Down Screen Time
Ohhhhh I have had a rollercoaster of feelings towards social media recently. I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram, and I’ve been desperately trying to cut down the amount of screen time I spend on that particular app, as well as my phone in general. It’s hard as about 80-90% of my online shop visitors and sales find me through it. To be honest, overall, I don’t hate using it, I actually enjoy the creative side to it, I just need to manage my time better. ‘Post and ghost’, as someone very knowledgeable about such worldly matters once said (Kim Kardashian). There is a fine balance though, to using social media apps to create connections with folk, but to also allow yourself room to breathe. I’m a huge introvert, and even too many online interactions can tire me out sometimes.
One thing I have done is delete TikTok. After checking where my screen time is spent, I realised that those short burst videos are the main culprit stealing my time and turning me into a horizontal zombie. I found myself being able to sing full verses of Bhad Bhabie’s latest diss track and I wondered why on earth I actually gave a shit about any of it. Delete.
Those newfound hours have been spent working on batches of bookmarks and other woven pieces to sell wholesale to cute little independent businesses, which also got my brain ticking about ways to advertise what I do without social media. One of the ideas I’ve come up with is to create sample bookmarks and send them off to some of my favourite bookshops in Scotland and beyond. It’s on my to-do list.
How to Start the Day
The days are starting to brighten, the weather is getting calmer, and we’re seeing more of the sun. At least, we were back in Findhorn. It’s a bit of a different story now that I’m on the Isle of Skye but good things come to those who wait.
I’ve been aiming to get more morning bike rides in, as they’ve proven to be the best way to start my days positively. I get everything ready the night before, coffee pot set up, flask ready, backpack packed, clothes laid out, so I can roll out of bed and hop on my bike.
Volvo Workshop
Another thing I mentioned in my last monthly round-up was the end of my time in my workshop. I had a few weeks still in Findhorn after I’d cleared it out though, and wanted to be able to still make wooden signs if I got any orders. Luckily, past-Amy was pretty smart and made sure all the power tools were cordless, so I can work from anywhere as long as I have some kind of flat surface, and nobody around me to be upset by the noise.
So, tools packed up into the boot of the Volvo…. I may as well use it as a workbench too.
I really love the idea of my entire set-up being portable again, work and all, so I might even keep the Volvo workshop as a permanent set-up, maybe just fine tune it a little. I don’t really like the idea of paying rent for another workspace when this does the trick. For now, at least.
The Woven Shop
It was a busy little month for my woven shop… A few new stockists for my bookmarks, and a shop update which went well. I’m currently working on another batch of hand spun, hand woven pieces which will be coming to my online shop on the 13th April. Until then, it’s looking a little empty on there, but not for long.
Leaving Findhorn
The biggest March event has absolutely been leaving our winter spot in Findhorn. We’d been on that pitch since November, and I’d fallen into a good routine but alas, all good things come to an end and the time to move on came around faster than I expected.
I’m not going to write too much about this as I’m drafting out a post all about the move so I can go into a bit more detail. Obviously, it didn’t go smoothly, it never does, but it’s all good. It’s type 2 fun*. I’m writing this post from our new spot, where we’re feeling a lot more settled and the bumpy road to get here was most certainly worth it.
That story is coming soon, but I’ll leave you with a view from our drive to Skye.
* ‘Type 2 fun occurs when a task is difficult at the time, but feels rewarding afterward, often because it challenges the practitioner to test their limits and grow’
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Loved reading this, thank you! We've just bought a van conversion and plan to tour around Scotland and the islands in September...can't wait 🙂
Oh wow! Managing to make physical products in a tiny space on the road is amazing and a revelation! They all look gorgeous