Where I Work : Cybher

Where I Work

Working from home has it's ups and downs. Top of the up's has to be the flexible hours and top of the downs has to be the inability to leave work behind.

I'm not actually sure when I turned into a total and utter workaholic but I do know that it's related to the point that I moved my office into the house.

My Space

I love my office. It's jammed full of all the things I love to collect. Blythe dolls, kitsch, vintage deer, Ladybird books, Sonny Angel dolls and lots and lots of vintage Big Eye art. My walls are packed.

My cats and dog congregate here too...

My favourite part of my space has to be my desk area. Yan made the desk, to fit the space and I painted it grey following the paint workshop I went to at Home Barn.

Below pic, My Blythe screen print was made by a friend. I love it. CYBHER letters bought at Copenhagen airport, Woodland Dolls from Lapin & Me, everything else is a vintage buy.

Where do you work?

Coombe Mill, Green : The Gallery

The pretty woodland at Coombe Mill is the stuff of fairytales. Lush, green and inviting...

Thank you to +Jay Mountford Photography for inspiring me to ditch my iPhone for the weekend and get the batteries in my Canon charged. I struggled for a few hours before I found my mojo but I have some lovely photos from our weekend at Coombe Mill, Cornwall. 

More pics to follow, as we've just booked to stay for a full week in the summer.

For The Gallery over on The Sticky Fingers Blog.

Cybher 2013

My personal blogging has taken a bit of a back burner over the last few months. It's not a surprise really when you consider how full on the preparation for Cybher has been after losing my mum.

I'm not afraid to say that I struggled with faith in my ability and it's only now, on reflection, that I can totally appreciate the scale of the mountain I had to climb to make Cybher happen this year.

But I did make it happen and Cybher 2013 was epic. For the first time, I'm hand on heart, 100% proud of the event I pulled together. This year, Cybher was everything I wanted it to be and much more.

Inspirational, kick ass women, that I aspire to be like. Passionate, driven souls, new friendships, fresh ideas, simmering collaborations, excitement, words and laughter. Lots and lots of laughter.

A very big thank you to each and everyone who spent last Saturday at Cybher and for ALL of the kind words and messages over the last week. It's amazing to see so many people tinkering with their blogs and writing with a newly found passion. That's exactly what Cybher is about.

We are working towards getting all of the presentations, or at the very least, take away notes, up on the Cybher Blog, but please bear with us - it's quite a job. 

If you've written a post about the day, please do shout on Twitter and don't forget to take a look at the official pics over on the +Cybher™ page. Feel free to use them in your posts with a link back to the page. 

Thank you again. xxx

Keep A Woman On English Banknotes Campaign

At Cybher this weekend we spoke about The Womens Room campaign to Keep a Woman on English Banknotes and we need your help and support to reach the target of 35,000 signatures on the #Banknotes petition. Here's why.

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has announced that social reformer Elizabeth Fry  is to be replaced by Winston Churchill as the face of the £5 note. This means that, apart from the Queen (who isn't there by merit), there will be no women featuring on English banknotes.

The Bank of England first introduced British personalities on the back of its banknotes in 1970 and since then only two have ever been women. Florence Nightingale (£10, 1975 to 1994) and Elizabeth Fry (£5, 2002 to current). 

What message does this all-male line-up on banknotes send out? That no woman has done anything worthy enough to appear? Now we know that's not the case. Not only have numerous women remerged as leading figures in their fields, they have got there by fighting against the historic odds stacked against their gender.

It's shocking that the establishment continues to overlook and undervalue the achievements of women. This is 2013!

#Banknotes

So, I'm getting behind the #Banknotes campaign. I've signed the petition and I'm helping the cause by getting as many bloggers and people 'with voice' to join in as possible by writing a post like this and sharing it out to their audience.

Who would my #Banknotes choice be? I'm actually struggling to keep it down to just one. Emmeline Pankhurst, Mary Quant, Enid Blyton, Amy Johnson, or the amazing P.D. James, who I met at the Woman of the Year Awards last year.

My #Banknotes Face

Modern inspirations or women we have to thank for how we are able to live as free citizens today? For me it has to be Emily Davison, Suffragette who was jailed on nine occasions and force-fed 49 times.

The powers that be were big on force-feeding the Suffragettes. Emily is perhaps best known for the way that she died. On 4th June 1913 (100 years ago yesterday), she stepped out in front of the King's horse at the Epsom Derby, sustaining injuries that led to her death four days later.

A hundred years on, the actions and lasting legacy of Davison, Pankhurst et al have allowed us women in the UK to have control over our own lives and future. That is to be celebrated and remembered. 

Find your voice and use it.

I'm tagging a few bloggers (Emma aka Me, the man and the baby, my new friend Clare aka Eeethree, Jess aka JessicaMiln, Tolly aka TollyDollyPosh, Joanne Mallon, Nickie aka Nickie72 and Fi aka Childcare is Fun) to set the ball rolling but anyone can take part.

To join the #Banknotes campaign please do sign the petition and if you have a blog, use it to tell others who you would like the Bank of England to feature on the next banknotes and why. There's a post link up over on Nixdminx blog and a Cybher, #Banknotes Pinterest board where all campaign faces will be featured. If you can't blog, tweet your suggestions using the #Banknotes hashtag, or leave a comment on this post and they will be added to the board.
Together we can make a change.