Friday 19 October 2018

Stepping Out Challenge - Day 19 - Clearing the Clutter





Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

Listen to the Podcast



Today I am going to be talking about a series called Clearing the Clutter challenge 


Some of my dads tools that came in Handy in the Art Studio


I am a Collector.  I have a range of different things that I like to collect, which can vary.  I used to like collecting stationary, art journals, art supplies, stones, shells and many other things depending on how I related to the object.  When I looked back over my childhood, my dad and my grandma were the same, so I guess it has passed down the family. 

My dad collected power tools, DIY supplies and anything electrical.  I understood just how much he had after he passed and we were sorting out his lock up. I had never seen so many tools and supplies, and felt a warm fuzzy glow come over me as I looked at his things.  I wanted to hold on to everything, I guess I wasn’t ready to let go, there were some items I now regret letting go, like his Singer Sewing Machine, as I now sew in my mixed media work.  Over the years looking through his things there were many of his tools that crossed over to my mixed media world and I treasure a lot of these things now.

But the title of this post you say is ‘Clearing the Clutter’ not amassing more what’s that about?  OK we all have things cluttering up our home, (apart from those people who are ultra-organised or who live very minimalist).  For most of us one day your saying to yourself I must move those things and before you know it if your not careful, you’ll be invited to take part in shows like ‘Hoarders’ – anyone there yet?

How many of you have clothes you brought over 5 years ago, 10 years? 20 years, are you wearing them? (fashions come and go round all the time).  Are they serving a purpose?  I will admit I have dresses I brought 20 years ago, but when I brought them they didn’t fit me (who has done that) I’ll slim into it you say’ but does it fit you now?  Thankfully I lost quite a bit of weight over the past couple of years and it is like I have a new wardrobe full of clothes.  Mentally I still see myself as bigger and have held on to a few of the larger sizes.  But the post is not about clothes and what fits me, it is about the mentality and the emotional attachment that convinces us to hold onto things with the saying that - ‘you never know when you’re going to need it’!

I have watched all the hoarding programs in the past and heard all the arguments about letting things go and I know, but I have proved to myself time and time again where the very thing I’ve got rid of is the very thing I end up needing - so where does that lead you?  It leaves you wishing you never gave the item away in the first place, like my dad’s sewing machine!  Maybe it was because it was his that there was such an attachment after it had been given away, but I have to let go of the attachment thinking about the sewing machine has for me.

Anyway that said, I identified items that I wanted to deal with as part of a challenge and gain some order with ‘a place for everything and everything in its place’ and made a list
Here are the areas that I decided to sort out:

Products to sort
1.    Sort the contents of my hand bag/s

2.    Clothes that don’t fit
3.    Tatty un-wearable clothes
4.    Old makeup/products - 
5.    Old jewellery – broken pieces 
6.    Recycled Paper/Shredding
7.    Old paints/art supplies not used
8.    Shoes
9.    Fabric – vintage and new
10. Paper/card
11. Filing cabinet
12. Ephemera - Art studio
13. News paper/ Magazine cuttings
14. Computer photos - how many can you realistically use
15. Emails on computer - unsubscribe from lists
16. Books on shelves
17. Recycled painted materials
18. Old hand bags not used
19. Poetry to sort – and decide what to do with it them
20. Podcasts recorded - edited
21. Rubber Stamps in draws – art supplies
22. Pencils/graphite/charcoals – art supplies
23. Stored frames and unused art material
24. Magazine subscriptions
25. Typing to be done – notes in books on paper
26. Freezer - 
27. Garden – weeding/cutting back and pruning
28. My sons room!!!!
29. Garden picking up leaves from palm trees – recycling
30. Photography – art work


Some things on the list were to do with the household and others to do with my art supplies, and general items, but was such a big and jumbled list just looking at it now makes wonder what I was thinking.

What about the out of date stuff?

I knew I needed to have a clutter purge every month and see if I could find a home for some of the things that I amassed.  The aim by the end of the month is to have lots of areas  streamlined with items finding a good home, and so the Clearing the Clutter Challenge was born.  I definitely learn a lot by doing the challenge, come back tomorrow to see I I got on, a big mistake I made and how I overcame the challenges I set myself.

Tomorrow I will share the second part from my Clearing the Clutter Series.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

    Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

    I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

    Stay blessed and be a blessing.
    Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some supplies/books at a discounted price - (buy it cause you need it, not because it is on sale), check out one of the links below:
    Posted by Amanda Trought at 16:53 0 comments
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    Thursday 18 October 2018

    Stepping Out Challenge - Day 18 - Writing Pt 2





    Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

    Listen to the Podcast


    Today I am going to be talking about Part 2 of my writing challenge  

    Part 2 – Welcome back to the Blog post


    Yesterday I shared about having an idea to do a writing challenge, it was a way to take a step without having to commit to writing say a book without having done one before and I looked for ways that I could start small making the outcome something that was achievable for a newbie like me.  Even before I started I realized that if I was going to make it a more pleasant ride I would have to have a few things in place that would keep me going when the 'going got tough'! 

    Journal in the Making

    I actually do write all the time, for my journal and blog - but that is different, I make loads of lists, things that I want to try out or create, but that doesn't make you a 'real writer' does it!  I looked though my journal supplies to find something that I would like to write in as that makes a big difference and I came across a list that I had done in a notebook and had just left for the ‘One day I will get to it pile’.

    What had happened was many years ago I had toyed with the idea of illustrating my own children’s stories but as I say just toyed with the idea. I hadn’t written any stories but I thought that if I came up with the titles then I could write the stories when I had the time. On each page of the notebook I had written the title of potential story, I had about 30 in total come to mind that I would later try and work on.  I then put the book away and thought nothing of it for a good while (years).

    So further down the line when I was looking for a note book to do my challenge in I stumbled across the book with all the titles, and they then became my spring board for the 100 word challenge. I could write a story or a poem from the title, just write one of the hardest parts had been done.  There were some days were I found it painful, I couldn’t think of what to write but I had a routine, before I was going to do anything else I had to do the 100 word challenge, so I sat there and remembered just how little 100 words was and willed myself to squeeze them out, they came and I breathed a sigh as the challenge for that day had been completed. 

    What really surprised me was that there were other days where I wrote and didn’t want to stop, it was like there was an imaginary word fountain coming out of the pen and it just moved effortlessly across the page, I ended up some days with 2000 words and more. I was amazed and appreciated that I had shown myself another thing that I could do if I set my mind to it.

    I felt relieved!

    In all I wrote 14 short stories and several poems with a total of 17,177 words, I thought of what I could do if I upped my minimum word count. Three of the stories I really love and have been planning to revisit the illustration idea when I have some more time. In the past I felt insecure about my writing but I there are so many different and unique styles of writing and someone out there will find my words inspiring, and the words will speak to them as if it is written with them in mind, unique. 

    I don’t have to be an acclaimed writer to take out my pen and write or have a best seller to publish a book. We all have something in us that will inspire another person. There is room for us all and so I write, I paint, photograph, share - I create. 

    I didn’t know that I had it in me and the proof for me was in the word count.  Think about the amazing things you do when put your mind to it. I think I need to create a new challenge for myself and get each of the stories complete – who is for maybe trying to get a book self-published by the end of the year?

    What about you, what are you thinking of trying that will take you to another level an out of your comfort zone, I would love to hear about it.


    Tomorrow I will share the Yet another spontaneous challenge called - Clearing the Clutter Challenge.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.  Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

    I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.



    Stay blessed and be a blessing.
    Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some  supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:


    Adorn it - bit.ly/AdorAT18 
    Dollar Tree - bit.ly/DolAT18 
    Blick - bit.ly/Blick18 
    Book Outlet - bit.ly/BOOKAT18 
    Stampington - bit.ly/STAAT18 
    C& T Publishing - bit.ly/CNTPAT18 
    Dover - bit.ly/DOVPAT18 
    Craftsy Kits - bit.ly/CrafAT18 
    Amazon Store - 

    Posted by Amanda Trought at 14:44 0 comments
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    Wednesday 17 October 2018

    Stepping Out Challenge - Day 17 - Writing Challenge





    Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

    Listen to the Podcast



    Today I am going to be talking about a Writing Challenge that I gave myself.




    Try something new for 30 days - Writing Challenge

    I believe if you want to try something new to see if you really like it or to learn a new skill you can’t just do it once or twice and really know if it is for you but you have to give it a real go step outside your comfort zone and put effort into it, then you can look back and make better informed decisions.

    We usually want to make changes at the New Year, feeling that we get a chance to do things over. We make promises of change and determination – it is going to be different this time we tell ourselves and for the first few days we are giddy with the excitement of change. How many resolutions have you made in the past that you actually kept? How many things fell by the wayside?



    One year I signed up for a 2 year gym membership – signed the dotted line, and for what ever reason, didn’t look back – I mean literally, I went 4 times and then had to experience a very expensive non-commitment, I don't know what I was thinking as the direct debits came out of my bank account – I could have gone on several holidays!

    That was me at the time, I was good at making resolutions, I would make 5 grand resolutions and at the very far side of the back of my mind I knew I wouldn’t keep them, only to feel bad about myself for giving up on myself. I would then go through the rest of the year with the ‘Self-Critic’ saying ‘see, I knew you couldn’t do it’ and laughing it off in the ‘critic corner’ - some of you know the one down Despondent Street at the junction of Loathsome Lane and Apathy Avenue. 


    One year I heard about the writing challenge the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) that happens every year from the 1st to the 30th November.  You end up write a book in the month of November. I began to wonder what I could produce by writing every day. At that period in my life I wasn’t necessarily eager to write a book, I wasn’t sure what I would even say. I decided to come to a compromise, I would write, yes, but I would tailor the challenge to fit my needs and meet me where I was while allowing me to push past the minimum requirement. I reckoned that if I was able to do more it would be a bonus. 

    I set about ‘thinking about writing’ I would commit to writing 100 words each day. The Self Critic came on board in the corner and started ridiculing me for ‘only’ writing 100 words each day, but I told her I wasn’t a writer or trying to be one, I would just see where it led to, and then I stalled. The November came and went and I still thought about it doing the writing challenge and as I got to the end of November I wondered if just starting would be the right thing for me. 

    I wasn’t looking to produce anything fancy in the end like a 50,000 word manuscript. I wanted to write, with no other constraints, just to get the practice in. I didn’t want to make it like my Journal that I do every day but I wanted to have a loose theme and see if I could discipline myself to do something that wasn’t a habit for me. 

    Art Journal - Amanda Trought

    Whilst I was willing to step out of my comfort zone, be flexible and try and enjoy the journey and I began to understand that there were a few things that needed to put in place to make it a productive time. I wanted to have something start me off something to guide me, and not just have the blank page taunting me, this was quite daunting and I thought that if I felt this way before the challenge then how was it going to be for the next 31 days - it was going to be a rough ride.

    As I say, the first few days would have been quite hard, the novelty of doing a writing challenge, and thinking about writing anything other than a journal had worn off, but I managed to come up with an idea that worked for me
    Check back tomorrow to see how I overcame the initial block stage
    How do you push yourself past your point of comfort and what are the things that you have learnt about your journey?


    Tomorrow I will share the second part from my Writing Challenge.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.  Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 



    I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.



    Stay blessed and be a blessing.
    Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:
    Posted by Amanda Trought at 13:54 0 comments
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    Tuesday 16 October 2018

    Stepping Out Challenge - Day 16 - 365 Days of Color Pt 2





    Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

    Listen to the Podcast


    Today I am going to concluding on the topic of 365 Days of Colour 

    The 365 Days of Colour was born as I realized that I had been photographing flowers over a long period of time and they were sitting on my desktop lost in the digital atmosphere and not being a blessing either to me or anyone else for that matter. 

    I decided to create a yet another challenge, and for me I guess the challenges are more like projects, where I am able to get them completed because there is something driving me to get it done somehow.  I had decided not only to post an image but would couple it with an inspiring quote a scripture and a reflection for each post.  

     My main aim was to bring colour and beauty to people all around the world regardless to whether they had a garden or not.  They could still enjoy the beauty of nature and perhaps seeing the image would cheer them up.

    I did the challenge for a year bringing elements together and sharing and it taught me about discipline in sticking through the journey as simple as the task was it was also about showing up if not for myself then for someone else.  There are hundreds of thousands of beautiful flowers around the world, so many varieties and colours and each county has flowers that only grow in that particular climate.  When was the last time you stopped and looked at your own environment and really took it in.

    We can also look at what we call weeds, that we hastily pull out of the ground  and see the beauty in the flowers that they produce.  If they grew in the right places we wouldn't have a problem.  We can see even with the weeds how the colours also find themselves in our everyday lives.

    I now have a tropical garden, that I can grow things in and they do seem to grow really quickly because of the climate.  I am amazed at the number of different plants that I have managed to grow in the space and over the year with the list getting bigger.  My aim eventually is to document each with their medicinal and nutritional benefits.  There are some growing (among them some pretty weeds) that I have not yet been able to identify and so will keep on learning and sharing as I go.  Please come and visit my Gardening channel, and see the updates that I will be posting about the growth.

    Tomorrow I will share my writing challenge with you. I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

      Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

      I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

      Stay blessed and be a blessing.
      Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some gardening supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:

      Adorn it - bit.ly/AdorAT18 
      Dollar Tree - bit.ly/DolAT18 
      Blick - bit.ly/Blick18 
      Book Outlet - bit.ly/BOOKAT18 
      Stampington - bit.ly/STAAT18 
      C& T Publishing - bit.ly/CNTPAT18 
      Dover - bit.ly/DOVPAT18 
      Craftsy Kits - bit.ly/CrafAT18 
      Amazon Store - 

      Posted by Amanda Trought at 15:23 0 comments
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      Monday 15 October 2018

      Stepping Out Challenge - Day 15 - 365 Days of Color





      Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

      Listen to the Podcast



      Today I am going to be talking about a series on my 365 Days of Colour




      I have always loved flowers, my mum started me off on my green finger journey when I was little and I saw how she took care of the house plants we had.  She brought the tropics into our home despite us living in a cold climate.  I saw her lovingly tend to these plants deadheading and taking off the leaves that were shriveled checking that the plants had enough water and nutrients, she loved her plants.  As I grew up I started to get plants of my own.  I carried on initially with house plants and as my spaces got bigger I carried the love to the out doors and in the garden.


      Living in a colder climate you won't always see the rich and vibrant colours in the middle of the winter and so where ever I went I just started to take photographs.  It started out when I would go for my walks, the walks would take extra time cause I would be caught by the colours I passed on my route.  After exhausting my local community I would keep a look out for flowers in other gardens.  Some of my favorite places were parks and botanical gardens like Kew Gardens.  I was in my element, among the grounds, lost in the beauty and the scents.  I had never thought of doing something with the images.  Like most of my other challenges I created for myself they are not initially planned in advance.  I get up with an idea and then I am driven to put it in place.



      There are many plants that I was able to grow in my Wembley garden and that was 13 years of physical, and financial investment over the years.  When I think about the garden I think about having another room that you can spend time in.  




      When you are dealing with colder climates you might not get to enjoy sitting out there but the differences with a garden filled with the sun’s rays compared to a garden filled with snow is definitely a sight to see and has beauty to be seen and the first buds that come up in the spring and the autumn falling leaves all bring beauty in their own way.

      Check out my Tropical Garden Series.  I will be sharing part two of the 365 Days of Colour tomorrow and I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.


        Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

        I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

        Stay blessed and be a blessing.
        Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:



         Adorn it - bit.ly/AdorAT18 
        Dollar Tree - bit.ly/DolAT18 
        Blick - bit.ly/Blick18 
        Book Outlet - bit.ly/BOOKAT18 
        Stampington - bit.ly/STAAT18 
        C& T Publishing - bit.ly/CNTPAT18 
        Dover - bit.ly/DOVPAT18 
        Craftsy Kits - bit.ly/CrafAT18 
        Amazon Store - 

        Posted by Amanda Trought at 17:30 0 comments
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