When I Grow Up - Page 8

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setting up Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury Festival site, panoramic photo 1, 2019

Glastonbury Festival was sorely missed last year, and we’re well and truly ready for another one. There’s already a buzz around Pilton and the local area – lots of caravans are being towed past the house; and Shepton Mallet Tescos usually has more than its share of interesting vans in the carpark lately. If you’re new here; hello! Welcome! Hopefully you’ll find some other posts on my blog that interest you as well. If you don’t know me, I moved to Pilton eleven years ago, but have been going to Glastonbury Festival since 1995, and absolutely love it….

British blogger over 40 plowing out birthday candles

Monthly Memoir – April 2019

I hope you don’t mind if this post is rather photo-heavy and word-light – I’m just absolutely knackered! My sewing machine is away for repair, so I’m finding myself doing all the household tasks that have been piling up over a long time, and now I’m too tired to form many sentences that make sense. So here’s a mainly picture account of what I got up to in April!….

Styling a lagenlook outfit

It’s cardigan season! Styling a khaki linen dress with a waterfall cardigan

This black waterfall cardigan was a charity shop find, and I love it! Not all waterfall cardigans are made equal – I like the shape of them, but some have too much fabric around the back of the neck, and some don’t have enough fabric at the front (do you balance the waterfall bit on top of your boobs, or let it fall to the side of your boobs?), but this one, originally from Marks and Spencer is perfect!….

Hashtag Authentic by Sara Tasker book review

Hashtag Authentic by Sara Tasker – a book review

I absorb all of Sara Tasker’s content – her blog, her Instagram and her podcasts – maybe in the hope that some of her talent, style and confidence will rub off on me. So I thought I would have already heard most of what she has to say on the subject of photography and Instagram, but bought the book, Hashtag Authentic anyway to support my favourite blogger….

Hurricane Ophelia orange sky

Why ego is the thief of joy

Do you remember the day when Hurricae Ophelia hit the October before last and the sky turned orange and the sun turned red? Well I’m writing this on that day (though no doubt I’ll edit it and make it a bit more coherent in a few days time! (edit: a year and a half later!)). It was the most bizarre kind of day – the clouds were a dark steely grey, yet there was not a drop of rain. The sun was red and the sky was pink like sunset, yet it was noon, and the wind brought down any leaves or branches that were dead or dying. It was no wonder many people had thoughts of the apocalypse occurring. As I reached the top of the hill on our dog walk, I had a bit of an epiphany……

Styling a black smock dress

A plain black smock dress

This time last year Chris and I had our first campervan trip of the season to Cornwall, and it turned out to be a lot warmer than we expected! I feel that at the moment we’re in that hit or miss time – completely unpredictable – often looking warm and sunny, but then you find there’s a freezing cold wind, which stops at 2pm and then it becomes quite hot! Anyway, the black dress I’m styling for this blog post is ideal for now – as long as you have a cardigan handy!…

Confidence & Self-doubt ~ Art Studio chats ~ Mixed media art process & timelapse.

February 25, 2025

One minute I'm feeling confident with my art process, and the next I'm full of self doubt. A typical journey in the mind of an artist! Here's a mixed media landscape painting and all my thoughts along the way now that I've finished the Mastery Program. As always, thank you so much for watching and spending your time with me! Please support this channel for free by subscribing, clicking the thumbs up and the bell notification button. If you enjoyed this one, please share the link with your friends. Thank you! :) For extra free content, videos and behind-the-scenes updates, sign up to my newsletter here: https://helenhobden.substack.com/ To bring an enchanted world into your life with beautiful art on your walls, browse my paintings here: https://www.helenhobden.com/ If you would like to watch an extra 60 or so sewing and art videos, please go to https://www.patreon.com/HelenHobden Handmade by me: Browse for your unique bohemian clothing purchases here: https://threadsofafairytale.com/ If you'd like to know more about the online art course I took for a year and a half - the Mastery Program by the Milan Art Institute, please follow this (affiliate) link: https://milanart.samcart.com/referral... Tip jar! If you would like to contribute to my hard-drive fund to help keep this channel going, it would be gratefully appreciated. :) https://paypal.me/Oshun

Hidden stories of the stones! A mixed media stone circle painting & Avalon Archeology

February 18, 2025

Hi! This week I have the process of a mixed media painting of an ancient stone circle. It took me a while to finish this one and I tried lots of different art supplies! And there are clips of our visit to the Avalon Archeology Centre in Somerset. As always, thank you so much for watching and spending your time with me! Please support this channel for free by subscribing, clicking the thumbs up and the bell notification button. If you enjoyed this one, please share the link with your friends. Thank you! :) For extra free content, videos and behind-the-scenes updates, sign up to my newsletter here: https://helenhobden.substack.com/ To bring an enchanted world into your life with beautiful art on your walls, browse my paintings here: https://www.helenhobden.com/ If you would like to watch an extra 60 or so sewing and art videos, please go to https://www.patreon.com/HelenHobden Handmade by me: Browse for your unique bohemian clothing purchases here: https://threadsofafairytale.com/ Tip jar! If you would like to contribute to my hard-drive fund to help keep this channel going, it would be gratefully appreciated. :) https://paypal.me/Oshun

Graduating in Italy!! Also visiting Foligno, Fabriano, Gubbio & Marmore Falls.

February 11, 2025

Join me for a few days in Italy! I explored the beautiful towns of Foligno, Fabriano and Gubbio in the Umbria region, and also visited Marmore Falls. Plus of course it was the graduation evening of The Mastery Program! This is the online art course by The Milan Art Institute I've been talking about for a while! I have photos and a few words about it on my blog: https://open.substack.com/pub/helenhobden/p/graduating-in-italy?r=1lbf4t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true As always, thank you so much for watching and spending your time with me! Please support this channel for free by subscribing, clicking the thumbs up and the bell notification button. If you enjoyed this one, please share the link with your friends. Thank you! :) For extra free content, videos and behind-the-scenes updates, sign up to my newsletter here: https://helenhobden.substack.com/ To bring an enchanted world into your life with beautiful art on your walls, browse my paintings here: https://www.helenhobden.com/ If you would like to watch an extra 60 or so sewing and art videos, please go to https://www.patreon.com/HelenHobden Handmade by me: Browse for your unique bohemian clothing purchases here: https://threadsofafairytale.com/ If you'd like to know more about the online art course I took for a year and a half - the Mastery Program by the Milan Art Institute, please follow this (affiliate) link: https://milanart.samcart.com/referral/SnsmCxWa/7Vqa9f6vKfq3WYcs Tip jar! If you would like to contribute to my hard-drive fund to help keep this channel going, it would be gratefully appreciated. :) https://paypal.me/Oshun

Red goddess dress

Hunting for fairies in a hippy floaty red dress

Chris and I had discovered the location online and seen from photos how green the place was going to be with all the moss clinging to hibernating ancient oak branches. So, as it was also likely to be fairly shaded, the colour red was the obvious choice of clothing to showcase for this photo shoot. This is a gorgeous long-sleeved red floaty dress from the brand Romacci.

A poem for Stephen

Our good friend Stephen is getting married on Saturday! (Photo above from Glastonbury Festival 2002 – Steve on the left with his best man, Mark.)

Mothers day balloons

Monthly Memoir – March 2019 (Notes on self therapy and journalling)

Hello folks! This post is going to be a little short on photography, particularly compared to my last Monthly Memoir; I’ve just realised I’ve taken hardly any photos to share with you. March has been a fairly quiet month for us really…

Styling a floral smock dress

Styling a ditsy floral smock dress at Naugatuck State Forest

There’s something about the shape of smock dresses that I love. Probably, just how damn comfortable they are! And I was very happy to find this one at H&M as it fits well, but also has a few design details that means it doesn’t look plain and frumpy…

Bathroom renovation

Bathroom Renovation Diary – Stage one

We moved to this house eleven years ago, so for the first couple of years I shared the renovations (that we did mainly ourselves) on this blog back then. Then our mortgage deal ended and our kids needed car insurance, and we decided any spare money we had we’d spend on holidays together. So work on the house has been minimal for the last few years. However, it really is time we got the bathrooms done….

Dorset photography trip - sunset

A photography trip to Dorset – Shaftesbury, Portland Bill & Lyme Regis

The problem with working from home in a small village in central Somerset, is that we are in danger of going a bit stir crazy! Over the last couple of years Chris and I have made more of an effort to use our weekends to go exploring nearby. So far this year, we’ve cranked it up a notch and have gone further afield to Dartmoor in Devon a couple of times, and our last day-trip was to Dorset…

Complete & Honest Mastery Program Review ~ The Milan Art Institute online art course

February 1, 2025

CLICK THIS TO FIND OUT MORE about The Mastery Program: https://milanart.samcart.com/referral/SnsmCxWa/7Vqa9f6vKfq3WYcs This is a thorough and completely honest review! Hopefully in this video I answer any questions you may have about The Mastery Program by The Milan Art Institute - their online art course. If you're interested in something in particular, please click SHOW MORE as just below I will list topics I cover and the time you need to jump to. Beginning - What is The Mastery Program? 6:07 Is The Mastery Program right for me? 7:59 Is it worth the money? 9:25 How long is the course? 9:51 How much does The Mastery Program cost? 11:55 What are the teachers like? 12:52 Customer Service. 13:49 How to make the most of the course & whether to pay monthly or outright. 17:44 Notes if you're a beginner at art - a beginner's course included. 18:29 Bonus content included 19:19 Materials. Do I buy kits from The Milan Art Institute? 21:24 Can you use water mixable oil paint? 23:24 How to find affordable art supplies. 25:42 How much space do you need? 26:57 Positives and negatives of The Mastery Program & overall thoughts. 33:55 How much time each day to I need? 34:25 How has the course affected my life? 37:05 Do you learn to paint in the same style as Dimitra? Will you find your own art style? Any questions, please leave them in the comments, and here's that link you need again: https://milanart.samcart.com/referral/SnsmCxWa/7Vqa9f6vKfq3WYcs UPDATE: As of 31st January 2026 and throughout the year, The Mastery Program is being updated. New lessons have been recorded and the order is changing (eg. Acrylics are now introduced in the first section.) This will mean some of the information in this video is out of date. I will be watching the new lessons and I expect will be recording a new video with an updated review in due course. As always, thank you so much for watching and spending your time with me! Please support this channel for free by subscribing, clicking the thumbs up and the bell notification button. If you enjoyed this one, please share the link with your friends. Thank you! :) For extra free content, videos and behind-the-scenes updates, sign up to my newsletter here: https://helenhobden.substack.com/ To bring an enchanted world into your life with beautiful art on your walls, browse my paintings here: https://www.helenhobden.com/ If you would like to watch an extra 60 or so sewing and art videos, please go to https://www.patreon.com/HelenHobden Handmade by me: Browse for your unique bohemian clothing purchases here: https://threadsofafairytale.com/ Tip jar! If you would like to contribute to my hard-drive fund to help keep this channel going, it would be gratefully appreciated. :) https://paypal.me/Oshun

Preparation for announcing my art website & a trip to Italy. Mixed media painting process.

January 28, 2025

It was a busy week! I had more paintings to finish ready to list on my art website, which I was about to announce! I photographed my art and prepared a painting to take to Italy for an exhibition as part of my graduation from The Mastery Program by the Milan Art Institute. I also share the mixed media art process of the magical landscape painting that I chose to take. As always, thank you so much for watching and spending your time with me! Please support this channel for free by subscribing, clicking the thumbs up and the bell notification button. If you enjoyed this one, please share the link with your friends. Thank you! :) For extra free content, videos and behind-the-scenes updates, sign up to my newsletter here: https://helenhobden.substack.com/ To bring an enchanted world into your life with beautiful art on your walls, browse my paintings here: https://www.helenhobden.com/ If you would like to watch an extra 60 or so sewing and art videos, please go to https://www.patreon.com/HelenHobden Handmade by me: Browse for your unique bohemian clothing purchases here: https://threadsofafairytale.com/ Tip jar! If you would like to contribute to my hard-drive fund to help keep this channel going, it would be gratefully appreciated. :) https://paypal.me/Oshun

Sewing my Graduation dress! ~ Mixed media painting process of a seascape

January 21, 2025

Hello! This week I'm in my sewing room making the dress I wore for the Mastery Program art course graduation event in Italy. I upcycle unwanted luxury fabric to sew a new dress. Let me know if you'd like me to make your special occasion dress! (Or have a look at custom options at Threads of a Fairytale.) I also show the mixed media process of a seascape painting, and include a couple of family vlog clips. As always, thank you so much for watching and spending your time with me! Please support this channel for free by subscribing, clicking the thumbs up and the bell notification button. If you enjoyed this one, please share the link with your friends. Thank you! :) For extra free content, videos and behind-the-scenes updates, sign up to my newsletter here: https://helenhobden.substack.com/ To bring an enchanted world into your life with beautiful art on your walls, browse my paintings here: https://www.helenhobden.com/ If you would like to watch an extra 60 or so sewing and art videos, please go to https://www.patreon.com/HelenHobden Handmade by me: Browse for your unique bohemian clothing purchases here: https://threadsofafairytale.com/ Tip jar! If you would like to contribute to my hard-drive fund to help keep this channel going, it would be gratefully appreciated. :) https://paypal.me/Oshun