Inspire me Thursday

Notebook

I love my Moleskins, I love them soooooo much! This entry was from 01.09.08 but I just tried my date stamp for the first time and got the digits mixed up, so it says the 10th!

I am always inspired by flowers, their smells, shapes and colours. Most of my doodles are of flowers and I must have near 5000 pics on my computer too. It was only when I completed this page I realised I could be using my own images not ones found in magazines. But it was a great starting point and as always an inspiring page to go back to.

During my mamouth clear out I decided that I was going to get rid of all the threads I have accumulated over the years. I filled a bag and sought out a new home for them. Then the next morning I realised that I wasn't quite ready to pass them on and decided to use them for something fun, and bird related, of course. So here is a very amature piece of embroidery. I have had so much fun with this so far, who knows how long it will take me to finish!

I have been doing a great selection of things today, bits of graphic work, making some jewellery and some photography. Some days I like having a mixture of things to work on, and today was one of those days. I took some new photos of some of my current etsy stock, just to give them a lift. And I worked on some new pieces which I'll be listing in the shop tomorrow, so check by for a peek.

I think something is brewing

Meet marie, she was born yesterday while I was taking a break from the commission I am working on this week. I am really enjoying doing tis, so much so I ordered some felt to make up little accessories for them! Maybe when I have refined my designs they will make their way to the shop?

I am also pleased to report that I am filling my journal pages with little bits and pieces and am nurturing lots of new ideas but I am not sure quite where they are leading me yet, but the journey is exciting! I found this site the other day called 43things, where you can list your lifes goals and people can join you and share your goals. I have opted to keep mine private but have printed off a list, yes another one of some of my goals for 2008. It is quite fun to look and see what other people are aiming for, there are another 4381 people wanting to become financially independent! Happy weekend to you all x

A sigh of relief

I have been absent from blog land for some time now and feel I owe you my kind and faithful readers an explanation. For the last while I have felt stuck, not know where I was going, where I wanted to go or how I was going to get there. I was making housework and chores my priority and then saying I didn't have time to create, but really I was avoiding it! I didn't know where to start, and had become so removed from the play and pleasure in making for those reasons and focusing totally on a need to make things to sell. I think my birthday had a lot to do with it too, reaching a kind of milestone and thinking what have I really achieved so far?

I got 2 new moleskin journals from my bo and they have been sitting untouched because I just didn't know where to start. So I decided to take a step back and start at the beginning, reaserch. I spent days looking through books, magazines, blogs, flickr and websites for inspiration and started a few folders on my computer of stuff that gets me excited. And this time I decided to print some of them off and have them at my desk. I stumbled upon so many talented people/ artists but one of the real motivators for me has been keri smith. She is an author, illustartor and gurilla artists amongst other things. I have found so many things on her site which are so right for me just now, two of them being "100 ideas" and "10 ways to infuse your work with your personality". Both of these 2 things are what I have been seriously lacking in lately.

"Paper" my journal

Another artist I found on flickr is kirstin vinter, she has been blogging pages of her journal and it was so uplifting and inspiring to me to see someone working in a way that spoke to me.

"Dresses series" my journal

So here I am, I still don't know what direction I am going in or what I am going to make, but that is ok now and I am going to have some fun exploring what I love, and for the moment that is paper. I have been making jewellery and enjoy it, but it is not making my heart sing. So I have decided I am gong to have a shop shake up and move some of my jewellery on and clear it out ready for new creations when they arrive. I'll keep you posted on this, but in the mean time I just want to say thank you to you all for still stopping by although my post have been thin on the ground and for all your kind and supportive words. x

I'm Back

My extended holiday was brilliant and thank you so much for all your kind birthday wishes. I had a great few days eating, reading and walking, and I even got balloons and banners! I have lots of new flower photos but I am still working through them and will be creating from them this weekend. These are a beautiful bunch of Poenies I got and love them so much I decided to use them for my new banner!

On Tuesday I was over at my aunt's house and she showed me this amazing book, "The Young Ladies Journal" an illustrated and bound selections of magazines from 1864. She was given it by a friend who found it in a skip!!!! Who in their right mind would part with a book like this?

This page is a fold out for embroidery patterns. I took photos of 100's of the pages so I'll share them with you over my next few posts.

I can't resist sharing this photo of Pablo with you. I am becoming one of those people who I used to laugh at who took endless photos of their pets. Now I know why they do it. He is such an amazing little creature and I have become so soft.

Well as I have been away for so long I have a lot of catching up in all your blogs to do and need to go and have a good sleep for all the making I plan for this weekend. Happy weekend to you all :)

Chillin'

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend. I have done a whole lot of lovely things;

1.brunch at Mums with Mum and L, Granny, Aunty, Uncle and Little cuz no 14

2.sat in my herb garden and read my book

3.caught up with some neighbours in their garden and ate bean salad

4.went on lovely trip to the park and Pablo made some new friends and I found the beautiful piece of bark pictured above.

5.was featured on FDL blog

6.sat some more in the sunshine reading

7.made tastey carrot onion and celery soup mmmmmm

8. tried to work out how del.icio.us works kind of!

So it's back to work tomorrow for me and I have some ideas I have been mulling over in my journal and I'm quite excited to make a start on.

Day 7 - How I got my groove back

My creativity seems to come in waves, some days I can come up with 100's of new ideas and others it is just the same idea over and over again. Over the last few days that has been the Yibbles, but everytime I try the computer shuts down. Now as you have read over the last few posts this has become a pattern. Yesterday, I just sat, and looked at the screen for about an hour and it came to me. I love doing Yibble doodles in my journal, I really love making the fabric ones and I have made quite a few now for family and friends and they are happily in new homes. So, I have decided that their adventures will continue as doodles in my journal and the fabric dolls will be liberated. I am having a Yibble Liberation! So I'm going to set them up in the shop and find them new homes and adventures aroung the world. I have a few to finish today, so later I'll let you see who's who and set a date for a shop update.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours making up birthday cards and pulled out the beautiful fabric remnants I got from starlitnest and decided to work on my birdie collection, and I had such fun. I am going to work on a little range and I'll let you see them finished. Happy Friday :)

10 things to do today - Day 2

"Someday" by yellena


It seems I am not alone in my list mania, it is such a comfort to know there are others out there who get a buzz from scoring things off! Thanks to the focus I found by writing my list here too, I had a very productive evening, very tired but things got done. So now I can share with you the fruits of my labour and much needed kick up the ...

The new blog of interest I found is in honour of my listy love. todolist is collection of hand written lists by various people and the stories behind them. The blog is by writer and editor Sasha Cagen.

"Candy" by Yellena

The new artist of ineterest I found is Yellena, an artist and graphic designer from Central Oregon. "Obsessed with markers, pens, inks, paper, patterns, good design, wallpaper, cacti, vintage fabric, empty journals and anything little." She uses pens, inks and markers to creat these stunning prints. She also has a blog which is well worth a visit.

The new card I made last night which I was meant to list on etsy is made, and quite cute, but I am still in two minds about adding it to my main etsy shop which has all my jewellery on it. I opened another shop a few months ago which was meant to be for cards and prints ect, but it was getting pretty hectic and costly listing in both. What do you think, should I add them to my main shop?

The journaling/ inspirational word for this week is:

glamour (US also glamor), n. an attractive and exciting quality. ORIGIN first meaning 'magic': from GRAMMER, with reference to the magical practices associated with learning in medevil times.

Hmmm, a lot to think about here, as usual my choosing technique is a favorite of mine, flick book open at random page, shut eyes and drop finger! It works for me :)

I found a new tutorial to share with you this week, so I'll work on making it up and letting you know how I got on. This will also tie in with my up and comming competition so that covers a few bases.

I did my etsy and flickr stuff too, and will try and list some new goodies today as well. Head over and check out my sale and let me know what you think, it would be much appreciated feedback.

And now for the sad tale of the Yibbles from last night. I drew, scanned and played, but half way through and at 12.27am my laptop went fizz and shut down :( It seems to struggle when I have lots of layers open in Photoshop, which makes me so sad, it is only 6 months old and I told the guy that I needed it to be able to process at high speed to allow me to work between packages. But alas things don't alays turn out as you would like. Anyway I'll carry on with them today and will hopefully have something finished very soon.

Well I'm off now to walk my daft pup and start on my list for today and I'll pop back later with a list for the rest of the week. Happy Tuesday :)

10 things to do today - Day 1

I have decided that since I have made nothing over the last week that I am going to publish my first blog list and see if that gets me in the mood for some making. As you seasoned visitors here will know by now I love a list and it seems to be a great way for me to stay orginised, motivated and focused. So here goes:

1. Tidy desk, (an absolute must, and need space for all these creations to take place!) DONE

2. Do at least one image in Photoshop with Yibbles KIND OF

3. Find a new blog of interest/ inspiration DONE

4. Find a new artist of interest/ inspiration DONE

5. Make a card to list on Etsy DONE

6. Pick a word to journal about this week DONE

7. List a new item on in the shop DONE

8. Decide on idea for a new competition and prizes KIND OF

9. Hunt down a new crafty tutorial to make this week and share with you all DONE

10. Add some new jewellery photos to Flickr and add tags to some old ones DONE

Do you write lists? What do you write them on? What kinds of things do you have on your lists?

Wish me luck, I'm going to have a busy night!