Hi all, Rosie is back!

It seems hard to believe but it's been the best part of a year since I last wrote a post on my blog.  It's been busy in my little world, sure, but in reality I haven't been feeling inspired lately.  I've been feeling stifled and that all of my big ideas are too hard to reach.  It's easy to blame all sorts of things for feeling stifled and uninspired, my work, people I care for, my responsibilities, lack of time but in truth I have allowed myself to be stifled, have created these feelings all by myself (with more than a little help from an active and healthy imagination ) and I now know the only person who can make my ideas and projects happen is me.

The things that I love, the projects I choose to spend my time on will never appeal to everyone, that's the whole point really.  If most of us felt as I do about old things, recycled furniture and fabric and saving other people's junk, reusing what we have, then the world would be a different place than it is today.  It's easy to say that it's up to me to follow my ideas and dreams but the reality of marching to a slightly different beat and trusting yourself and your ideas and aesthetics is a constant tightrope walk.  Confidence is a fragile thing.

A few days away negotiating the streets of a different city have relit the fire in me, got my mind working and made it clearer than ever to me that the more I try to stifle my creativity and independence (whether consciously or unconsciously) the more it refuses to be silent, the more attention it craves.  The need to create and reuse is a huge part of me and something I want to be proud of, even if it makes me different so here are my new mission statements:

• I actively prefer to buy my clothing and accessories second hand wherever possible and the thrill of finding a classic vintage bargain is second to none, I'm ok with this.
• I believe most people are genuinely good and with kindness you get back more than you give most of the time.
• Shape, form and style fascinate me, old furnishings, homewares, caravans and cars, you name it, they have a history, a living story and they deserve to be rescued.
• My blog and projects are my way of sharing what I love.

So welcome back, to readers and to myself.  Recycled Rosie is now a place for expression as well as my projects and I can't wait to see where it goes.