January.

January does one of two things to people in my opinion. They either set themselves targets for the year new resolutions etc and pledge to be a better person  or they retreat into the depths of January blues.
I don't find it surprising that many people find January hard, its dark, its cold and for some after the joys of a festive season with merriment and people around, its a big fat dose of reality.
I'm usually in the non motivated camp, new years have often become something I fear, I don't like the unknown of the year ahead it scares me. I felt the same as always starting this year, I didn't have any plans or resolutions, only that I knew financially I needed to have a quiet month. Back in October I participated in a 'no spend October ' spurred on by some other Instagram users. I didn't quite stick to it ( my birthday is in October making it even harder !) and I found it pretty challenging. Looking at finances afterwards I felt pretty crap about failing, I knew something needed to change. My spending habits were impulsive , frequent and often bought on by boredom or sadness. I love fashion and colour and fabric but was definitely buying more than I need particularly when half my life is spent walking the dog or taking my daughter to forest school ! So I decided I needed to do something definite to put a stop to it. That is how 'Nothing new 2018 came about. I created the Instagram account to hold myself accountable, and also to learn and share my findings, inspiration and even just my outfits ! Its become clear very quickly how important and far reaching the need for change in the way we consume is. I've already been to an event at Wolverhampton universities fashion and textiles department  ( which I will be doing a more detailed post on ) focusing on action for sustainable fashion which was majorly inspiring and eye opening and am hoping to take part in their ongoing project.

Some of the topics and ideas I'm looking into can be quite complex and I want to be able to go into more depth than I am perhaps able to in an Instagram post, therefore I've set up this blog to share more , learn more and hopefully to give some people an interesting read every now and then ( don't worry i'm also a very keen photographer so posts will be accompanied by some aesthetically pleasing goodness too )

Please do get in touch with any questions, anything you'd like covered or if you would like to be featured on the blog , and mostly, enjoy !

Emma x.