Three Years!!

It feels very strange that it's already three years since I took a tentative step through the door into blogging. Unlike many people, I hadn't been around, reading other blogs, for ages beforehand. Their existence hadn't even registered with me, until a few weeks before, when I first came across Mizz Worthy's and Illamasqua's Blogs.

Looking back, I was in need of a challenge, an outlet from the all encompassing 'Mummyness' of my life. Somewhere totally separate. Sparklz and Shine has always been a statement of intent, and the opportunities  and challenges that Blogging has provided over the last 3 years have helped me grow into that. There are many moments in my life now, that I know reflect the confidence that 'Sparklz and Shine' has given me.

Sadly, the time I have available right now for experimenting, as I did in the early days, is rather limited. Along the way, I realized that to be the kind of Makeup Artist I'd like to be, would take me further outside the 'Mummyness' of my life than I was prepared to step. So long I'd been living with the feeling that my art had been shut down by well meaning, 'well you'll never get a job out of it' type comments when I was at school. I wanted to fight that off, do something about it, until it became obvious that to do that really well, and to the standard I'd want, would mean not being there when my kids needed me most. Their growing needs for my help with their homework....sometimes teaching what hasn't been understood at school....confirmed that Make-up isn't something I can put all my energies into right now. Not necessarily forever, but not right now. When it comes to a show down, the part of me that needs to burst out of the 'Mummyness' isn't actually as fierce....and actually in realising that, I may have found something that I can be creative in, and has driven me to confront 20 year old demons about going back into studying.

So the blog posts have become more sporadic, whilst I force myself into coursework. Sporadic too have become my make up purchases. The last three years have seen my budget spread thinner and thinner with the escalating cost of keeping a family. Each small purchase here and there has to be justified to myself a few more times over with every month that passes. Whilst it becomes increasingly easier to stick with skincare you know and trust, rather than risking experimental purchases.

I definitely have enough lovely things to keep me blogging for quite some while though, so here's to 2013!! Thank you for sticking around. xx