"Keep Growing" Plant Gif For a Bit of Inspiration

"Keep Growing"  Money Plant Gif, by Clare Walker
Click, tap or right click here to download
and use this free gif if you wish

Hello there, and I hope that all is safe and well for you in your part of the world as you're reading this.

Am just popping in to share this fun gif (feel free to download and share it if you wish-please keep the attribution if you do...Many thanks :-) .) and the story behind it.

You know how everyone's supposed to feel mega-inspired by New Year? Well, in the cold and grey of UK winter, you do rather have to work at that a bit.

So, in that spirit, the Computer Man and I bought a new plant for the household this week, and the gif you see above is an illustration of it  (or part of it, actually). (The real thing is below, for comparison).

Our money plant/jade plant.
 (As you see, perfectly-arranged "lifestyle photos"
don't come naturally to me... :-) )

I've always been drawn to the round, fleshy  leaves and general cuteness of money plants (jade plants, crassula ovata, call them what you will), but have never actually owned the real thing before.

Now though,  I can now finally tick this off my list of, "Small things I've always meant to do but haven't got around to yet".

And that tiny action, in its low-key way, has been surprisingly uplifting and inspiring. Inspiration which I'm now passing on to you (should you need or want it,) with the gif at the top of this post.

On that note, will leave you to your week. But thanks so much for being here, and for reading down this far. Hope it was fun, whether or not you're into plants.

More soon.
___________________________

Like this post? Tap or click here to subscribe to BoundingSquirrel

Echinacea Art Journaling, And Daring to Be Imperfect...

 Hello there, and hope you're feeling well and thriving.

In social media land, everyone always seems to be thriving, after all. There they are, tirelessly churning out *amazing* artwork day after day, or so it seems. Good for them, if that's how it really happens (and by the way, if that person is you, wow, and can you please get in touch and let me know how you do it? Thanks!).

One thing I keep meaning to get into is the habit of planning these posts in advance. "Keep meaning to," as in, "haven't done yet". So, what you see is what you get. Which is a problem, if it's Friday, and the feeling assails me that I haven't done enough that's bloggable, this week.

(Don't get me wrong, plenty has been done, but more of the sketching ideas, walking in the sunshine, and re-connecting with people variety).

And then I remembered...    

And then I remembered this Echinacea art journaling:

Echinacea art journaling. You're welcome to
share this on social media, but please keep the
watermark intact. Many thanks!

Which put me in a spin, because it was art journaling just to clear my own head... I hadn't really meant to share this at all. For one thing, a traditional watercolour (and as a mostly digital gal still, I do get nervous about sharing those. The lettering is digital, but still hand-lettered, another rarity for me).

But now that I see it, and am about to hit, "post," it' dawning on me that this is the perfect, "imperfect" post to share. 

"Perfect Imperfect," is Probably Where We're All Mostly At, Right Now...

For am guessing that I might not be the only one feeling a little wind-blown by the last couple of years. If you can relate, then I hope the idea of seeds having been sown gives you as much of a boost as it did for me.

In any event though, if we all keep posting just the shiny, sanitised, "perfect" versions of ourselves and our work, then we're creating an exhausting and ultimately, unsatisfying,  rat-race of comparison for ourselves and others.

On the other hand, if we do our best to be as real as possible, and  to acknowledge that life happens in ways not always easily sliced into blog posts, then am guessing there'll be less stress, and a lot more fun  for everyone.

In any event, thanks for  being here and reading this (I really appreciate it), and have a lovely weekend.

Update and PS. It turns out that this image is striking a chord for some people, so I've also popped it on a sticker here:

Buy this sticker at Redbubble

Not the outcome I expected, but thank you.

More soon.

New "Happy August" Challenge: Day One

I'm challenging myself to create some kind of  inspiring, fun or otherwise uplifting image each day in August. Here's the first:

This challenge is entirely self-imposed. But if you'd like to join in, feel free to #happyaugust any of your own images too. Let's have some fun this month!

So as not to overwhelm anyone who prefers this blog for other reasons, subsequent posts in this project will be on Instagram (details below).

More soon!

P.S. Update: this rabbit is now available on a printable craft sheet...

Like this post? Please follow me on social media to get updates: