Day 15 of Creativity...

Day 15: Do you like to try new things?  What about trying something new do you like or dislike?

When it comes to crafty things, I like to try new techniques, but I do get discouraged easily. I definitely have my comfort zone of things I feel I'm good at - and I have to be in the right frame of mind to push outside that zone.

My most recent "new technique" is one I learned about from Splitcoaststampers - a beyond-fabulous resource for anything stamping related. Last week's Wednesday tutorial was on Delft Tile, and it looked simple enough for me to give it a shot...and I liked it so much I did two.

Supplies: white cardstock, scored at 1" with Martha Stewart scoring board;
floral & butterfly stamps by Inkadinkado;
sentiment by Studio G; silver eyelets from stash;
Dusty Concord distress ink; sponge; oval Nestabilities;
earrings by Cheryl Mosher

Supplies: white cardstock, scored with Martha Stewart Scoring board at 1";
floral & butterfly stamps from Inkadinkado;
sentiment from Wordsworth;
Tumbled Glass Distress ink; sponge; 1 1/8" circle punch

I really like how these turned out - I think I'd like to try it again using coloured cardstock.
xoxo,
Jessi

Rainbow cards!

I haven't posted anything for the 30 Days of Creativity in a while...I haven't forgotten, just keep getting sidetracked with life piling up around me. But today I have a two-fer!

Day 12: Look at a child.  See how connected they are to their creative self?  Pretend you are a child and make something.

Day 14: Make something to give away.  Send a card to a friend or make a little gift for someone you care about.

Anyone who knows Connor, knows his love of rainbows. He colours nearly every picture with rainbow stripes - or at least uses the entire rainbow in each picture. One wall of his bedroom is painted with vertical rainbow stripes, just like he colours. He wears a rainbow striped scarf, and a matching hat until he outgrew it. He LOVES rainbows. One of the aides at his school calls him Mr. Rainbow. His fifth grade teacher was at the school to cover a maternity leave, and today is her last day. This is very sad, as she's excellent - I really wish there were some way to at least let her finish out the year so that there wouldn't be such a disruption for the students.

At any rate, of course we had to make her something! So, since the gift is from Connor, it may as well be inspired by him as well. He picked butterflies for the theme, and so armed with the idea of rainbows & butterflies here's what I came up with:

A rainbow of notecards...





...tucked inside a handmade box

My favourite.

Supplies: Good grief, I'm not listing them all! The flowers are from Recollections;
the butterfly die-cuts are Spellbinders;
the paper is from Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, K & Co, and Making Memories.

Connor brought this up to her this morning, and she took a picture with him & thanked him. I don't imagine her class is going to get an awful lot done today...and boy, are we ever going to miss Miss Lewis.

As an aside, I was thinking I might do up some similar themed packs for the market...I know I like to give packages of thank you cards when I go to a shower, and maybe I'm not the only one who thinks it makes a nice gift. As with most things, it might have to wait until I have the time. Hah! I'm almost done with 4 crafty kits, and that took me probably 4 hours yesterday with all the cutting & folding & sorting. Good thing I had several episodes of House, Grey's Anatomy, Glee, and Private Practice to catch up on. Now I'm down to one each of the last three.

Batten down the hatches - it's supposed to be pretty messy out there tonight. Hopefully by tomorrow morning everyone will be cleaned up & ready to come out to the market. The winter months get pretty lonely there!

xoxo,
Jessi

Back to the regular grind...

Love, schmove! {lol!}

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...hopefully I can keep on this semi-regular posting schedule. We'll see!

So, how about another 30 Days of Creativity post? It's been a while. I got stuck on the one that asks us to create a self-portait by drawing or photographing...so I'm going to skip it & maybe come back to it later.

Day 10: Create something today inspired by nature!

I think a lot of what I create is inspired by nature. It's hard not to be inspired by nature, with its riot of colours and creatures.



Supplies: paper from Basic Grey "Curio;"
Yellow/grey bird die-cut from K&Co;
lace trim from Hero Arts




Supplies: paper from Mariposa Mat Stack, DCWV;
Happy Birthday stamp from Kaisercraft, stamped with Memories Art Print Brown
& glittered with Sakura Stardust pen;
bird die-cut from K & Co; cream lace "leaves" from Hero Arts;
button from Basic Grey; red flower crocheted by me

 Birds are one of my favourite natural inspirations. Realistic birds, cartoon birds, stylized birds...all gorgeous, and can be elegant or fun.
xoxo,
Jessi

Creative people that make me happy...

Day 9: Make a list of creative people you are grateful for today.
Well, it's kind of a long list...so I think I am going to narrow it down to maybe 10 people? And say something about each one, maybe? Each one has a blog that I follow, something I do nearly as religiously as I drink my coffee in the morning. Usually I do it at the same time. These aren't meant to be in any particular order...so try not to read too much into it!

Allie of Hyperbole and a Half. She never fails to make me laugh. I get giddy when I see the bold text that means she has a new blog post...and seriously, a lot of the time I wonder if she secretly knows me. Case in point, This is why I'll never be an adult. Go. Read. Love. If you don't think she's hilarious, then I can't talk to you any more.

Stephanie Severin of Ingenious Inkling. From her Thursday Link Love posts, which feature all sorts of fun things from her own trips around the internet, to her inspirational Quotes of the Week, to her fabulous art collection and photographs from all sorts of trips and vacations...and last but not least, her own card creations. One of my very favourite things about Stephanie's blog is that she posts cards she's not happy with, and explains why...most of us shy away from embracing those creations.

Jill Foster of Inspired By. I think I already covered this last week when I used a card of hers as inpiration myself...but not only is she a talented and creative stamper herself, she features new artists each week, showcasing their creations and those of her own that have been Inspired By the guest artist. In a sense, she teaches me how to be influenced and inspired by other artists while still making my own creations.

Lydia Fiedler of Understand Blue. She makes beautiful things - and tucks them inside the funniest stories. The other day she talked about raccoons and vegetables...and then shared a gorgeous simple card. And, she commented on my post the other day, and had me all unable to post anything for a few days...so she's gracious too :)

Susan Liles of Susiestampalot. She's a designer for two of my favourite companies to drool over (My Favourite Things and The Cat's Pajamas), she loves bright colours, and she has such funny tips, called Susie Q-tips. They range from the truly useful hint to the totally hilarious mishaps that, as she puts it, "Don't ask me. I don't want to talk about it."

Allison of Stampin' When I Can and the newly created Share the Mojo. I don't think I've seen a crafter who does more to share what's out there. Allison has two regular features on her blog - Sketch Links sorted by day, and Newly Discovered, which shares blogs as she comes across them. Allison also blogs regularly about her crazy funny kids, and includes a "positive note of the day," something that all of us might do well to think about as it applies to our own lives.

Susan from Simplicity by Lateblossom...now, I will never be a "clean and simple" stamper. I love it, I love to drool over it, but it's not my own style. The grand thing about Susan's blog is that she discusses design principles - not just as they apply to her beautiful CAS cards, but ones even messy cardmakers like me can use. And, not particularly related to crafting, but she also has a son with autism, and a blog called  Questioning Autism that I find very thought-provoking.

Mel from Mel Stampz...she doesn't post as frequently as she once did, but her blog is unbelievably full of ideas, links, more ideas...and loads of how-tos. Mel shares TONS of free things - templates, digital images, etc - and has an incredible ability to breathe new life into paper projects. Mel is also thrifty - and I must say, finding cheap ideas is always fun. I may love spending money, but getting more for less is always better :)

Carole from Mother's Little Helper...cracks me up. We share the same quirky sense of humour, and there's many a card of hers that I've sneaked a sentiment from. She loves bright colours, as I do, she works with some really fun stamp companies, and she just comes across as a truly fun & generous person. I love reading every new post.

Beate from Fresh & Fun...her creations are amazing! She puts so much effort into providing step-by-step instructions for what she's made, and the list of tutorials she's done for Splitcoaststampers is unparalleled, and as long as my arm. At least.

There you have it!
xoxo,
Jessi

How I relax...

Day 7: Relax!  Do you relax to create or create to relax?
I definitely create to relax. Sometimes I find myself puttering around my desk but not actually sitting down to create, and those times I nearly push myself to sit down & begin to work on something. Even if it's just folding blank cards or cutting out the little labels to go on the back of cards, or, heaven forbid, putting things away...listening to music and sitting at my desk calms me down & lets me relax. Speaking of music...currently the four CDs in rotation are Paolo Nutini, Sarah McLachlan, Carrie Underwood, and Amy Winehouse. For some reason, that combination gives me the giggles.

My favourite craft for relaxation is quilling, crochet being a close second. Both produce an intricate and lovely design, but take shape fast enough to satisfy my need for instant gratification :)



Supplies: Patterned paper by Fancy Pants;
'love' letter stickers from Bo Bunny "Crazy Love;"
quilling paper from Lake City, all flowers quilled by me

  One of the best things about quilling & crochet both is that they can be done while watching TV - and thus, you aren't wasting time, you're working!

Supplies: all papers & bird sticker from Basic Grey "Olivia;"
flower crocheted by me; green "leaf" flower by Recollections;
buttons from Dress It Up (heart) and Basic Grey;
"baby girl love" rub-on from Daisy D's; doily pieces from Wilton

xoxo,
Jessi

Try not to judge too harshly...

Well, if any crafty people make their way here, this will probably look pretty familiar. If you are a neat and tidy kind of person, if clutter bothers you, if messiness gives you heartburn....please just skip this post. And don't say I didn't warn you.

Day 6: How does your living space reflect your creative nature?  Share a picture if you can!

Please don't be too harsh :)
It's a tiny house. This is my itty bitty oasis, crowded on all sides by toys, computer, furniture... See that tiny 8.5 x 11 piece of paper? That's my creative space. I let it go until the clutter encroaches onto that space, and then it's time to tidy up.

Now, the prompt actually asks how my creative nature impacts my living space...and I don't think it does, other than in the nook where I create. The rest of the house is just crammed full of the detritus of family life and children and three cats. Speaking of cats, the white cat, Sophie, sleeps in my desk chair about 90% of the time that I'm not in it. I can't even get the fur off! You might notice the shelf above the desk - well, the right-hand side is apparently fair game for any papers that someone wants to keep visible, but the rest is one of two places where I can safely put breakables.

Supplies: Tulip stamp from PSX, embossed in white EP;
coloured in with Prismacolor pencils.
Paper is from DCWV Mariposa Mat Stack;
Thank You stamp is from Inkadinkado, stamped with Palette Noir.

Thanks for sticking with me :) Forgive the big shadow - still fiddling with the camera, but despite the shadow I still like how the card turned out in this photo!
xoxo,
Jessi

Inpiration

Inspiration comes from everywhere - I find it in nearly everything. I read so many books - sometimes it's the cover art, sometimes the words of the author, sometimes the characters themselves. I follow loads of blogs, and although I am inspired by everyone I follow, it's rare that I actually try to imitate someone. Today's prompt, Day 5, is this:

What artists do you seek out for inspiration?  Create a small something based on your source.
There are many people I look to for inspiration, but the one I chose to be influenced by for this creation is Jill Foster of "Inspired By." Every week she chooses a different artist to be inspired by, and shows the original artwork and her interpretation, and discusses how she was influenced in her own creation. The amount of dedication and effort that goes into her blog is astounding, let alone the variety of her talents and creations. I encourage you to go over and have a peek. The cards that I was inspired by are within this post.



Supplies: flower image stamp from Fifth Avenue Floral, Stampin' Up!;
embossed with white EP, coloured with Prismacolor pencils, fussy-cut and adhered to the white panel;
papers all from My Mind's Eye Fine & Dandy, True Blue;
"Birthday Wishes" stamp from Inkadinkado, doodles added for border.

I received a wonderful set of Prismacolor pencils for Christmas, and I'm still learning how best to shade with them. The flowers each use 3 different colours, blended by dipping the pencil lead directly into the blending solution before colouring. I was originally planning to use the same three colours as in Jill's card (purple, teal, yellow) and coloured enough flowers in those colours, but when it came time to assemble the card the purple flowers just didn't want to join in. They're still waiting for their own card. Because I'm still practicing with the pencils, I didn't want to mask the flowers as Jill did, in case I messed up, so I fussy-cut them and layered them. 

I am really pleased with how this turned out - and I can completely see how the inspiration piece influenced the final design. Sometimes it's not so obvious!

xoxo,
Jessi

Four all over the place!

First of all, here comes day 4 in the 30 Days of Creativity prompt...

Do some doodling... share it and write about it!

It took forever! I carried around my black fine tip marker and a red Sharpie for a few days, and never figured out how I wanted to start. Finally I just decided to write the word "Doodle" and go from there. As all the best doodles do, it then took on a life of its own. I've always loved putting eyes into double "o" words, and then the rest of the face took shape. I think my two favourite details are the spiderwebs in the Ds, and the "shaded" black areas around the face - I did that by drawing hundreds of teeny hearts in two directions, on top of one another. The final touch was added this afternoon, after staring at the remaining white space for a couple of days...and now, it is filled with the words WHITE SPACE. Sometimes you just have to go with it.

I have no idea if this will give me the desire to doodle more often, but next time I hope I don't find myself thinking about it so much! It's just a doodle!!!

The next part having to do with fours...one fantastic blog I follow, Understand Blue, had a great post on Sunday (as usual...I want to be her when I grow up) with a fun little "four things" post...and given that I knew I was working up to Day 4, I made a mental note to do this too. Here goes:

1. Four shows that you watch:
-Grey's Anatomy
-House
-Bones
-Private Practice

2. Four things you are passionate about:
-my kids!
-education
-reading & books!
-creating

3. Four words/phrases you say a lot:
-um, four-letter words {blush}
-I love you
-OMG!
-Come ON.

4. Four things you've learned from the past:
-Seriously, try not to sweat the small stuff.
-Walk away before you lose it!
-Mistakes are just opportunities for creative embellishment...for cards, anyway!
-Life is too short to bother dealing with mean people.

5. Four places you would like to go:
-Vancouver. It'll always be "home," even though I won't live there again.
-Newfoundland & Labrador, so I can see our tenth province.
-All 3 territories, for the same reason as above.
-Hawaii, because it was -35 degrees Celsius this morning with the windchill.

6. Four things you did yesterday: Ugh, Sunday is never a fun day...
-laundry
-dishes
-a long bath
-talked to my sis for 2 hours or so...so the day actually got pretty good :)

7. Four things you are looking forward to:
-when Sarah and Andrew come to visit
-Spring...it's freaking cold today!
-Saturday...market day is my favourite day of the week
-bedtime. Someone is having a rough day, and it's not me.

8. Four things you love about winter:
-No mosquitoes. That's a no-brainer.
-Snuggling up with blankets and the heat going, and feeling cozy and warm inside.
-Going for a walk on the crisp but not freezing days (down to -15 or so...)
-That it does finally end!

xoxo,
Jessi

Day 3: Inspiring Words

ETA: This was lost in Drafts...so much for thinking I'd mastered the 'art' of scheduling posts! lol

From 30 days of Creativity, Day 3:

What words or phrases do you find inspiring and why?
Sometimes when creating a card for a particular occasion, I look up quotations on the subject to find cues for a visual image. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Emily Dickinson are favourites. One that I may have used as an encouragement card more than any other is the following:

Hope is that thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops... at all. 
~Emily Dickinson




Supplies: This card is from long ago...but I'll try!
Bird silhouette from Inkadinkado, poem from Wordsworth...
and that's all I can remember for sure!

Other words that I tend to create with are what I call "trendy" words, those commands that one often finds in card stores (gasp! what are you doing in THOSE!!) and home decorating, like DREAM-BELIEVE-CREATE-LOVE and so on.



Supplies: Papers from Basic Grey "Capella;"
doily & flowers from dollarama.
The copper flowers were "made" by heat-embossing with copper EP;
miscellaneous ribbon, stick pin & eyelets from Making Memories;
"With Love" rub-on from Kaisercraft

I've finally been able to capture some photos of the earring cards! My dear friend Cheryl Mosher makes the loveliest earrings, and I get to be inspired by them all the time. I have a little row hanging on my desk, and as the random disaster shifts around I find all sorts of neat ways to include them on cards. Hopefully now that I'm learning how to use the camera I'll be able to share more of her beautiful jewelry on the blog.
xoxo
Jessi

OMG, Day 2 on Day 2!

Day 2 in the 30 Days of Creativity...

What colors are meaningful to you and why?

My favourite colour is green, nearly any colour of green. I am not even sure how to express why it's meaningful to me! All colours are meaningful to me, in that I love them all, and create with them all. I do remember hating brown, and orange, and I use them both all the time now. This is a much harder question than I anticipated... How about this? I find that, during the winter months, I am drawn to bright colours, probably in an effort to counter the darker days.

Here's a bright & shiny card to hopefully bring some brightness to your day:



Supplies: all papers from Basic Grey "Lemonade;"
vase punch by Marvy Uchida; leaf frond punch by Martha Stewart;
Happy Birthday sentiment from My Favourite Things, stamped in Regal Rose ink;
tag die from Provo Craft; ribbon from Offray
All the quilling paper is from Lake City, and the quilling all done by me

 Sarah, if you could let me know what you think about these photos the next few days - I'm learning how to use the camera, slowly, and the editing software. I got about 10 usable photos out of 2 hours' work today. Yay me!
xoxo,
Jessi

30 days of Creativity!

Blogging appears to be much harder work than I thought - not so much that I don't have anything to share, just that it's hard to type messages with no clear audience. I tend to imagine myself just talking to my sister Sarah, but of course I highly doubt I will ever share as much on the blog as I do with her! That would likely upset a few people :)

I follow a large number of blogs in my Google reader - I have no idea how to sync that with my blog so that it appears as a 'blogroll' other than to edit them one by one, so I haven't done so yet. One of the best in terms of craft research is Craft Critique, which as you might expect, provides user reviews of different products. 30 Days of Creativity is a little different. It's a list of prompts to help shove crafters into crafting, and maybe even blogging about it. I have no idea how well I'll do at keeping up with it, but I'm intrigued by the idea, and I'd like to give it a shot. Some of the prompts are for writing, as for Day One.

Day 1: When you were a child, how did you express your creativity?

Well, like every child does - I drew, I coloured, I pasted. I remember quite vaguely learning how to sew at about age 7 or 8, and I can't say as how I've improved that much at it since then, at least not with fabric! Sewing on paper is so much easier for me. As a teenager, I adored collage. My room was nearly papered with different collages - movie stars, black & white photos, quotes written and twirled in amongst the magazine clippings. I loved making them, and hanging them. I doodled - you know, what's now that ultra-trendy zentangling? Loads of it. I made enormous birthday cards for my friends, decorating the envelopes with their names writ large. By my late teens I moved on to cross-stitch, and I even made a doll. By the time my kids were born, I learned to crochet, and moved back into paper-crafting, and now I couldn't imagine lasting long without that creative outlet.

Well, I'm not the only person home today, and apparently my time on the computer has come to an end! One quick card before I go, and maybe I'll see you soon for Day 2. In honour of my improved PAPER stitching...

Supplies: Bird stitching pattern from Andrea Zuill;
all papers Basic Grey; leaves cut freehand;
"happy birthday" stamp from Hero Arts

xoxo,
Jessi