Why September + Students = No Blogging

Well hello there!

It's been quite a while, I know. I mean it's been weeks since I've put a proper and robust blogging schedule together and part of me hates that I'm writing this post to apologise or explain my absence from the blogging world, but it's simply because at this time of year (mid August to late September) my 'bread and butter' job goes into mayhem mode. 

By day, I work with students in halls of residence and given that thousands of them have just descended onto Manchester once more, you can't even begin to imagine the workload it creates for my team and I. It can be tough mentally and physically but you feed off the energy from the excited first years and their anxious parents and go from there. 

Before you know it, it's late September, the workload decreases and you realise you've neglected your little corner of the interweb, you've a trillion - million blog posts to read and you've missed interacting with all your blogger buddies from near and far! So apologies folks if you've been wondering why it's been nothing but tumbleweed  and cobwebs here. Someone, somewhere needs to help me source additional hours in the month of September!

So, whats coming up now that Autumn is here? Lots and lots! I've been to a few, awesome Manchester blogging events recently, so pics and posts to follow. I've had the opportunity to meet some lovely new bloggers that I've admired from afar and get to know better and I'm still enjoying the perks of eating clean. 

In the coming months, I will be increasing the blog post output. I recently made it to the finalist list for best blogger in the category of 'Disapora Bloggers' in the Irish Blog Awards and it's really inspired me to write more and write better. While I didn't win the overall award, it was an honor to be nominated, shortlisted and placed on the finalist list. It's more than nice to know there are readers and fellow bloggers out there enjoying your output and going to the trouble of completing a nomination form just so you can receive a little recognition. I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

So, increasing some lovely blog posts, sharing some more fabulous blogging events and more than a few more ideas up my sleeve, The Lucky Rainbow is back in action once more. Queue happy dance, I've missed you all.

Lucky Rainbow Designs

Way back in 2009, I originally started this little blog as a space to document and share lots of crafty things that I was creating under the umbrella name of Lucky Rainbow Designs. Accompanying the blog was a Facebook page, an Etsy shop and a big and full craft room in my little bungalow in Ireland.

I did well and made lots and lots of bespoke cards, created a range of wedding invites and was approached on several occasions to create custom orders. I was also involved in two pop up shops in Limerick and loved creating and selling my mini works. 

Over the years, the blog evolved and I found that I was interested in writing on a range of topics and enjoyed reaching out to other bloggers and reading their brilliant blogs too. I became interested in sharing more of what I did in my daily life and found that those reading the blog did too and slowly, the blogging gates opened a little wider. 

With my move to the UK, the craft room was packed up and I had to make the decision of what to chuck, what to donate and what to keep. I had invested alot of money into my craft space and I had every gadget, punch and piece of paper you could think of, so I was little heart broken packing everything into boxes. However, I found a little solace donating items to my friend Ruth of Nice Day Designs. I knew she'd give them a good home.

With that, I shipped over items to our new Manchester home and at present, many of those supplies are still stored in those boxes waiting to see the light of day and begging to be created into something new. I don't have a big empty craft space to decorate this time round, however I'm not letting it stop me from creating a mini, more organised space in our box room. The only irritating aspect to this is that I have to pack everything up when we have visitors stay.

With this, I'm bringing back the feature of sharing my crafty pieces on the blog, however my Facebook page Lucky Rainbow Designs will be space the where the majority of images will be stored and of course, my Etsy shop will reopen once I've enough lovely stock. The great thing about being in Manchester is that I have more time to concentrate on this area of my life and so I can create and experiment with all those wacky ideas I once dreamed about and jotted down. I'm hoping Lucky Rainbow Designs can evolve under the banner of 'The Lucky Rainbow' and that you will enjoy these future posts. For further information and links, check out the following links and I hope to see you along the new Lucky Rainbow Design journey.

Lucky Rainbow Designs Facebook page
Twitter
Etsy

MEGAMarch

Holy crap it's March. Lets make it Mega!! 

Two months ago I started my year full of plans and of course some have slipped, but only a little mind you! Only a little. I'm still eating better and working out more than ever but I  need to get the eating less / working out more balance just right so that more results can be seen in the form of smaller clothes. I'm getting there. Baby steps folks, baby steps.

One of many goals was to blog more and blog better. I think and hope I'm writing better content and I hope those reading all my posts are feeling that too. Perhaps it's radiating off the screen? Maybe you're discovering content more relevant to you and hopefully posts in which you can relate to and also learn from. 

With that in mind, I'm introducing to you MegaMarch - a month long Lucky Rainbow event full of blogging activity. A post a day for 31 days. Something I haven't tried before and a little challenge for me to tackle. I'll be sharing every post across the usual social media platforms using the tag #MegaMarch. Feel free to join in and share some of your #MegaMarch posts too. As usual you'll find me tweeting away on Twitter, sharing my posts and discovering the posts you have lined up for March.

So, lovely friends, I hope to see more of you swing by here in March and of course don't be afraid to share your posts also whether you're a new or old blogging friend. Now, time for me to get out of PJ's and transform myself into only of those organised humans.

Jammy and Jelly Illustrations

A lovely thing happened via Twitter recently. While having a conversation with some lovely Manchester twitter folk about New year resolutions, it was suggested that we ask the talented illustrator Emily from Jammy and Jelly if she would illustrate our resolutions. To give you some context, she had recently put a tweet out asking people to send her their resolutions and in return she would share an illustration of same. A lovely idea, don't you think? I follow a number of illustrators via Bloglovin and I'm always amazed by their talent to produce beautiful and often quirky imagery. I tried my hand at illustration before, but I'm pretty hopeless at it. I guess it takes years of practice to find your particular 'style' of illustration.

I wasn't sure if Jammy and Jelly  had seen the tweet or if she had accepted our resolutions offer so I was excited (and may have squealed a little) when it appeared via her facebook page. As evident by my recent blog posts, you're well aware that my resolutions are centered around health, fitness and career and the beautiful illustration produced by Emily mirrors this perfectly. I laughed out loud looking at myself wearing a headband. Maybe I'll buy one and show it off at my next gym session, however I reckon I'm not quite 'down with the kids' to get away with it. As for the brief case full of 'very important work things' - that resolution is very much ongoing! However, the lovely thing about having this personal illustration is that it really is me and I'm hoping to print it out, frame it and use it as a useful reminder! Thanks to Emily for taking the time to illustrate so many inspiring resolutions and if you fancy seeing some more, you can find her here.

The Grateful List #2

 image - via here

Towards the end of 2013, I decided to dwell in the happy moments and spend less time pondering about the less than happy moments. As a result, I introduced to my blog 'The Grateful List'. A sporadical post, popping up every now and again outlining the moments, things or events that have made me grateful or happy as Larry in some small, shape or form.

- A lovely Christmas with an amazing amount of time off work. A whole 17 days. I have friends who work in retail, finish on Christmas Eve and are often back in work on the 26th or 27th of December, so I'm aware of how lucky I am to have wonderful breaks from the 9-5 grind during the festive season.

- Connecting on Twitter. I have loved connecting with new Twitter folk. I might never meet some of these lovely people, but I sure do enjoy the random tweets and chats.

- A low key New Years Eve, spent drinking some cheap cava, eating cheese, chutney and crackers.

- Our apartment has a bath tub! Yay for hot bubble baths!

- Brisk morning walks to work. There has been minimal rain in Manchester since returning after the Christmas break, and brisk, dry walks are a treat.

- Wholesome meals - I've enjoyed cooking healthy colourful meals for myself and the boy and seeing as he's currently commuting to work, getting up at 5:30am, I know he appreciates a hot meal at the end of the day.

- Finding new and brilliant blogs to read. Recently its been Bangsandabun, Gin Fulled BlueStocking  and Mancunian Vintage.

- Planning - I have five groups of friends and family travelling to Manchester between February and May and so I'm scoping things out for them to enjoy.

What are you guys grateful for? Are you enjoying and savoring the little things?