I have never really understood the science behind the concept of mood boarding until earlier this year when I listened to Gudy Herder speak at the Colour for Creatives course in London. The emotion, focus and clarity a mood board can give you is quite astounding.

I'd hadn't given much thought to balance, layering or placement before, assuming that my random collection of things that captured my attention at that moment gave me what I was looking for. But mood boarding effectively is a real skill. And over the last few months I have really tried to think about what it can convey, how you want mood boards to make you reach out and feel the different elements, how you need to translate a message.

Mood boards flood my Instagram feed with designers I follow preparing them for new client projects and as a way to inspire. I have definitely got a long way to go with my own skills but I love the learning.

At first, back in March I found it quite difficult. I piled everything on my board and forgot that what I want from this blog is powerful imagery that doesn't get lost. Less conflicting elements fighting for your attention! Ever since the course, I have been trying to prepare a brief for a new look branding and logo design for this blog. And it's been difficult! Much harder than I ever imagined. Trying to visual with colours and textures and materials what is me and what is the blog and whether they are right to be the same thing or not.

I finally sent off my waffly ideas and rambly thoughts to a very talented designer who I am thrilled to say will be joining me for the Friday Define your Design sessions at BritMums Live 2015.

How lucky are we?!!! Teri from The Lovely Drawer is an incredibly creative, gifted illustrator and designer and we can't wait to share our thoughts on taking your blog design and branding to the next level. There will be two sessions a beginners and intermediate workshop so hopefully something for everyone!

And of course there will be lots of lovely props for you to play with to create your own mood board! Feel free to bring any little bits you think represent you if you are planning on coming to the session, any fabric you love, your favourite postcard, scrap paper or blog business card.

I loved playing around with the different things around my office for my #capturingcolour week of mood boards. I change the bits and pieces on our sideboard in the lounge each week, moving photos from one ledge to another, swapping vases and each week I look back and think how much that totally captivated my feelings. So this week was a muddle!

And wow just look at these beauties from the #capturingcolour gallery.

But this image from Gathering Spriggs just had to be my absolute favourite this week. I so admire those who home school their children, their energy and imaginative ideas. Check our Heather's feed it is like a shot of creative dynamism!

This week is a brand new theme of BRIGHTS! I have decided at last on a new layout for my blog and have taken a series of photos which I hope capture in one image everything I feel. Colour, fun and inspiration! 

I can't wait to see the branding images Teri comes up with and I'll be sharing them at the BritMums Live sessions!

#capturingcolour is a weekly theme on Instagram. Tag your BRIGHTS photos this week. Favourites will be featured next Monday :)

I was walking or rather hobbling around the garden earlier, on account of almost 11 hours of driving in 24 hours this week, and a back which has said quite loudly and clearly, ENOUGH! And I tutted to myself that a few of the beautiful plants which have come into flower have started to wilt and I forgot to snap a photo. I had this vision of taking a set of photos, of the garden through the seasons and framing them as a Christmas present. I stood there, feeling a little cross with myself and it suddenly hit me how these floppy poppies and wilted peonies, with their petals strewn across the garden path, embodied everything I was feeling at that exact moment.

The 3 or 4 peonies still vibrant with their bursting heads of layer upon layer of petals can't be snipped. They are so fragile that just one gust of wind will force the deep pink petals to tumble to the ground. On the surface they stand proudly, amongst the greenery, but at any point they could crumble.

They've kept going, stood strong against the strong south westerly breezes we have had over the weekend, but they won't last forever. We trundle out every morning from the back door, which drives me crazy because I like using the front door, and the boys run their fingers through the delicate Iris' gently nodding in the wind. As soon as they come into bloom they look almost tragic, crinkly petals that last for weeks, despite their meek exterior.

I had my week planned out almost to the minute. The after school club finally opened with just two boys booked in for the sessions until 6. Our boys. I felt dreadful at the thought that they would be on their own, but they weren't on their own they had each other! And the leaders couldn't speak highly enough of them at pick up time, at how they'd played so nicely together, been polite, well mannered, engaging. It was a relief because at home, those moments are out of balance with the attitude, the back chat, the playful wrestling that always end up in tears. You know when you have a "I've turned into my mother moment" and it stops you in your tracks. Not in a bad way, but you've been instantly transported back to your childhood and you can hear her words. "It'll all end in tears" and then "I told you it would all end in tears!"

At 12 hours or so notice I made an emergency call to my mum and sister and drafted in reinforcements to help with the boys, which meant a sweet overnight guest came with mum and she had all three grandchildren until we got back from a trade show in Cheltenham. 

Unexpectedly I had to help Rich at a trade show for our tea company, and it completely threw my week right off course! 2 days child free until 6 I had planned for editing, calls for my development consultancy job and sharing a blog post or two (Thanks if you are still reading, all work and no play makes this blog a very quiet place.) all went out of the window. I'm dying to share the party photos from Sammy's birthday, our new offices, my online blog shop and my branding developments for this blog, but it's all had to wait. 

People often say wow you are like superwoman, how do you fit it all in or you must have an extra few hours in the day we don't, but the truth is I have well and truly burnt the candle at both ends and they have met head on in the middle. I almost felt I shouldn't post this, that keeping up the perception of being able to do it all was an achievement, but actually I feel that achieves nothing at all.

It's good to offload sometimes, share your secrets and fears. To admit you have carried around presents that need to be posted for over a week because you've arrived the post office at closing time. Normal life for us often includes dinner at 10pm, no tv and both being buried behind a laptop of an evening. 

We have worked from home for almost 5 years, Rich doing a couple of years before that too, and the novelty has definitely worn off. It's a discipline to work from home, to have boundaries and stick to them. I have a post to share with my advice for anyone starting to work from home so I won't go into too much here, but the biggest misconception is the concept of the "working week". We simply don't have one. Weekdays blur into weekends and as busy as our calendar is, the work just gets squeezed into evenings, Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. Emails come in, messages come in and we try and juggle the responsibility we have to our boys and each other and the wonderful clients we are lucky to work with. 

I am not in the least complaining. I love my hectic life, it's who we are and I thrive on it. I race around and I feel a buzz, that feeling of being alive, flying by the seat of your pants, it's what makes me tick. It was the same when I started my working career. Being a land buyer was an exhilarating but nervous ride. And that balance between the two was what made me fly as high as a kite.

I just need a bit of help around the house. I'm still smiling but my eyes are tired. Becoming a tea merchant this week meant I was managing 4 jobs and that's impossible with boys who finish school at 3.15pm. I had been beating myself up, convincing myself that I was failing at everything and then I read this post by Emily and I felt relieved. I subscribe to Emily's posts (Forgive me if you subscribe to my newsletter, I am sure you can't remember the last time you got one!) and she has been sort of a mentor figure to me over the last couple of years.

Since we moved we've had a temporary state. There's parts of the house we've renovated, and parts that are so unloved I could cry. You could write your name in the dust on our bedside tables, our blinds constantly go out of kilter and hang at precarious angles, and more often than not there's a new toilet roll delicately balanced on the empty old one! It's not really us, it's a reflection of us at this moment in time.

I'd so much rather enjoy an afternoon with our very bestest friends and family, sat on hay bales we've borrowed from our neighbours (Yes I turned up to our lovely friend's small holding across the road in a summer dress and flip flops. They were in wellies and just rolled their eyes and laughed!) and worry about the dusting another time.

I joke at preschool that my achievement each day is getting them to school with a healthy packed lunch, clean and ironed clothes (We iron to order... unless my lovely mum or equally lovely mother in law has been to visit.) Trying to chase all your dreams can sometimes feel like an impossible task but I'm not ready to give up on that dream.

I just need a reboot. A chance to get on top of everything. Be more disciplined at home. I love that Rich and I are from the same mould, that we have this shared determination to create something. He always says, what do you want to do? Do you want to work or do you want to make something? Something special. But that sometimes can feel like it's taken hold of your soul. That's there's no minute left in a day to stop and actually enjoy what you are creating. Last year I forced myself to stop taking my big camera out with us every where we went. You need sometimes that are just for you. In the blogging world it's kind of gone full circle, that now the ordinary events of our daily lives are more applauded than the more traditional exciting ones. That there's more to congratulate that we document all the little things our children do as opposed to the big moments, even though they have absolutely no say in whether they want all their milestone moments and the moments in between written in internet history forever. That every day they have a camera in their face, that their lunch, their outfits, their sleep times, their down time or intimate moments gets shared to hundreds if not thousands. My childhood photo albums are bursting with birthday parties, holidays with my cousins at Southbourne and yet some of my favourite photos I've taken of the boys are of the times my parents just enjoyed, the ones they took a mental picture of because there was no need to share it with the masses. 

So tonight, I feel a little fragile, my body is giving me a warning sign and I know I need to make changes. Not necessarily to do less, but to manage it better. Get some help around the house, prioritise. Instead of thinking what do I need to do this week, think about what do I need to do today. 

I pinch myself everyday that this is the life we have worked hard to create. That our children are confident, dynamic, thriving young boys, that my niece feels almost as comfortable at our house as she does at home, that Rich and I will have a chance to reconnect on our child free trips away throughout the year. That it's ok to struggle sometimes. To feel out of control. It's normal! Every day is adventure. 

And if there are days I feel like a lonely foxglove, battling the winds that's ok too. Because tomorrow the sun will shine. 

Ordinary can be extraordinary every single day. 

Linking up with Mummy Daddy Me and The Ordinary Moments

The wonderful world of blogging leads you to many different people. And every day I meet someone new who inspires me. The creativity I see every day on my Instagram or Pinterest feed just blows me away and no more so than the talented artist I want to introduce you to today.

When we moved to our house back in September we knew no one and nothing! Nothing about the area at all really, and set about exploring, finding little spots for lunches, nice shops for pretty things for the house and local people with incredible skills. I've found a cake maker, a wine merchant, a furniture maker, an antiques emporium I could visit week on week if I could squeeze in the time, and on a visit to Frome we discovered a stunning interior boutique. In the window was the most gorgeous fabric I have ever seen. Like a painting bursting out of the curtains. 

I dived in and asked about the designer and that was when I discovered Jessica Zoob.

Rich and I have quite similar taste when it comes to our interior style. There are a few odd bits which he could live without (Do we need a pair of wooden shoe moulds on the fireplace? Oh yes darling of course we do!) but generally we both agree on our mis match, modern heritage style. Contemporary pieces next to painted vintage furniture, clean lines and a muted backdrop with pops of colour. 

But when it came to my love of Jessica, he had also fallen hook line and sinker! The first thing we bought for the house was one of her gorgeous linen cushions. Wrapped in tissue in a sleek box, it felt like we had purchased a new family heirloom! We didn't have flooring or curtains or even sofas, but we had the perfect cushion!

Jessica's designs are pieces of art to get lost in. It's no surprise that her Big Smile collection won the Elle Decoration Best British Pattern award last year. I see something different every time I look at one of her paintings. I love her creative process, how she uses everything around her, her travels, her home to inspire her. And best of all, she shares lots of behind the scenes photos on her Instagram feed! Her feet splattered with all the colours of the rainbow, these gigantic canvasses sprawled from end to end of her studio. 

It is a riot of colour and imagination and I was so thrilled when she agreed to let me share a little more about herself on the blog.

1. Hello Jessica! Do you wake up in the morning wanting to paint or do you have a habitual routine when it comes to your work?

I do wake up every morning wanting to paint but it's not always possible! However, I am lucky enough to have an amazing studio not far from my home. It is a wonderful, peaceful space with stunning views of the Sussex countryside and once there I forget everything else and immerse myself in my paintings.

2. How do you decide which colours to paint with? 

The choice of colours just seem to come instinctively with each piece I work on. I adore working with oils as the colours are so rich and vivid. In my latest collection Playtime I became obsessed with wild crazy colour!

3. How long does each piece usually take to finish? 

It varies but some pieces can take years. The layers of thick, lavish oils are built up and scraped back over weeks and months and the paintings  change and transform until I am happy with the final piece which can be very different to how it started. Almost like building up layers of history and then revealing hidden secrets.

4. Have you got plans to expand your product line? Could you see a clothing range in the future? 

I have already collaborated with Romo who translated a selection of my paintings beautifully onto fabrics, wallcoverings and cushions. We are currently discussing possible additions to the Desire range. To celebrate my Playtime solo show in Belgravia which started on the 20th May, I have created a collection of iPad cases, iPhone cases and travel mugs They will only be available for a limited period, until my Playtime exhibition at the Loughran Gallery finishes on June 14th I would love to create a couture clothing collection with a fashion designer and I am started to look for the right collaboration. Art and fashion is such a fabulous combination!

5. How do you feel when you see someone Tweet, Instagram or Facebook a photo of one of your pieces in their home? 

It's wonderful when I see one of my pieces on a social media network. I especially love seeing what interior designers have created with the Jessica Zoob Desire collection for Romo and how it has transformed a room or piece of furniture. You can see many of these on my Pinterest board.

6. Do you have your work in your home?

I have lots of my paintings on the walls of my home. Big Smile, the winner of Elle Decoration's Best British Design Award is one of my favourites and probably my most treasured piece. I open up my house for the last two weekends of August and the first weekend in September for the Lewes Artwave festival when people can pop in, see old and new works and buy directly from me.

I loved seeing Jessica's home in the festive 25 Beautiful Homes magazine edition. It made me realise just how intertwined her work and interior style is and the lights and bunting hanging from the ceilings, oh what a joy!

Jessica has very kindly offered to GIVEAWAY one of her iPhone cases as a special gift to one of my followers so leave a comment on this post or this Instagram photo to enter.  

There are 9 to choose from so which one is your favourite?! 

Thank you so much for sharing a little more about your stunning work! 

You can find Jessica:
Twitter @jessicazoobart
Facebook JessicaZoobArtist
Instagram @jessicazoobart
Pinterest JessicaZoobArt

Her Playtime Solo Show runs until the 14th June at the Loughran Gallery in Belgravia, London.