September review

We have reached the end of the month and the first week of my school holidays and I am thrilled that I can share a newly completed handmade book project. I began the month with my studio still in a mess, my head knowing I should tidy and do some art, but my heart just wasn't in it. And then I had an epiphany. I've been overwhelmed by choices and all the possibilities of what I could do. I needed to tidy away everything in the studio and pick just one thing to work on. In my previous post I shared school holiday inspirations, including beginning to tidy my studio and a decision to focus on one creative project this past week.  

You know how much I 💜 Fodder School. July was the Free Fodder Challenge to introduce us to all our teachers for FS3. These lessons were only open until August 4, 2023 but Fodder School 3 students receive continued access to all Fodder Challenge 2023 lessons. Register HERE. I've been involved since the beginning and highly recommend this collaborative course. My project this week was inspired by Megan Quinlan's Free Fodder Challenge tag book project. You can see hers HERE and a variation using her new art stamps HERE. I knew that to make progress I needed to go back to micro-movements = a little but often. I discuss micro-movements here but the essential point is that you use every 5-15 minutes you have to do just one step - gather your materials, arrange your work space, thread your machine, add a layer of paint, add a layer of collage, find the mask/stencil, add another layer of paint, cut out found words....The effect of the micro-movements idea is 2-fold. Firstly, 5 minutes here and there can quickly build to 1/2-1 hour in a day, which is 7 hours in a week....Secondly, if I feel in a bit of a creative slump, I can trick myself by saying "I'll only do this for 5 minutes" - often after that 5 minutes, I'm sucked in :-) Once you light the flame, it's going. 

This process worked with this project. You also should walk away and do something else if the next thing to do isn't suggesting itself. You just need a break. Above is the project in process a few days ago (you will see some elements didn't make the final project), and yesterday I finished.

So I've started from the end of the month, but my September also included

a play day where 4 of us shared some of our favourite art makings. I shared these handmade books created from Fodder School lessons over the last couple of years.

If you are stuck, looking back at your own work is a really good way to remind yourself what YOU love to create. Then I had a play with lessons from August's fodder school with Ricki Midbrod

and while the collage papers and glue stick were out I also altered some dress tags

I just got in the zone and enjoyed the process so much.

Last monthly review post I shared some of the cards I'd made from this set of mixed media bases 

I've completed a couple more although I can only share this one until the other is delivered next week.

I've got another week of holidays, but I'll be having a few days away so will have to make sure I keep using micro-movements to make the most of any time I have out in my studio. I'm very hopeful that now we are back to daylight savings and longer days, you'll see more art from me. I post more regularly on my Instagram and Facebook Artist's page. Hope we can all get creative in October 💜

April review

April has been a lot of time at home with school holidays. I am very lucky to work at a school so get good breaks and no longer have small children so I can be more flexible with my time. After a week of holidays, I was feeling a bit torn about my lack of finished creative projects and thought I would share some of an email I sent to a friend about this: 

I am still being creative but it seems to be a slow process and I'm not posting much completed stuff at the moment. I seem to be able to keep going with my stitched roll project - lovely to have something small and achievable each fortnight - and recently there was a special deal so I joined Wendy Solganik's Love your imperfect letters class which I am enjoying but there is a lot of ground work to do before it ends up in my journal. I am currently on school holidays so have been socialising with extended family and friends and getting some housework catch ups done (cleaning the oven, deadheading roses for final autumn flush), as well as some time for reading. All good stuff but there are only so many hours and we have to make choices. I sometimes feel despondent when I scroll on Instagram or FB and see others creating a lot. It's a tricky balance to be inspired rather than tipping the other way.

A top tip from me is to take photos of your creativity every day so that you notice that you ARE doing something and save them electronically to look back at. I have a folder on my computer where I keep a record of what I'm creating, reading and watching each month. Creating this monthly review on my blog also helps. We can be so hard on ourselves and some of the stories we tell ourselves - "I'm not being very creative" - are just not true. I've addressed this topic a few times on my blog in the past. There's a good summary of my philosophy here and I even have a link to all my posts on this topic if you want to explore more:  Finding time to create. Recently I've been re-inspired by Gretchen Rubin

Scheduling blocks of time in your day means you can make time for what matters to you. I hope you understand the dance of creative seasons and can give yourself some grace if you are not creating or finishing as much as you would like. 

I decided to use some of my holiday time to work on the altered photo project with Jane Chipp from March. See my full post about this project here. These are a couple of sneak peeks.

And I was also very lucky to have a play day with a couple of friends where we revisited some techniques from the lessons with Liz Constable in January. Still a lot to explore from her book too. 

You can still join us in Fodder School (that link will take you to both 1 and 2) plus there is going to be a Fodder School 3 and you can already register for the Free Fodder challenge 2023 event which introduces us to all the teachers in July. 

Progress on my stitched "Down the garden path" roll. This is a free youtube fortnightly prompt and demonstration. See the entire playlist HERE. One of the early prompts in January was Garden Gate. I did mine and then had to wait until I was inspired for something to go behind it. Inspired yet again by Jane Chipp's lessons, I decided to do a fabric transfer of my mum in her garden. I used a laser copy (reversed the photo) glued face down to a fabric serviette.

Left overnight so completely dry and then sprayed with a little water and gently rubbed off the paper layer leaving the image.

You need to keep letting it dry and then removing the rest of the paper gently. It will show up white once dry.  Inktense pencils, beads and stitching to finish.

April's prompts have been A Garden Seat or Bench and a Pond. I'll have to share the Pond next time since I've had a headcold for the last few days. I am very happy with my Garden bench and the extra visitor ♥ 

I hope there's lots more creative joy for all of us in May. 

Spring Reset and Free class links

In my part of New Zealand we are down to Alert Level 2. That means continued mask wearing in public spaces but the ability to see family and friends again. After a stormy end to the week, we have been blessed with sunshine again and yesterday was a trip to the Kapiti coast with a beach walk

Today we've been celebrating my nephew's 14th birthday. I am very grateful for having my immediate family so close.

With Spring in the air it's a time of new beginnings and I've been spending the rest of my weekend thinking about what's making me happy creatively. More and more I'm feeling like I'm doing some of the lessons in my art journals just because I bought the course for the year and I’m determined to finish. While I enjoy working in them once I start, I procrastinate about which lesson I want to try and I think it’s because I would rather stitch. I have no problem doing my weekly tag challenge. I've had the intention to include more stitch for the last few years, but it keeps getting lost. So what am I waiting for? 

I hereby give myself permission to not finish my current art journals. I can still watch the lessons for learning, but I will not work in my art journal unless I'm truly inspired and excited. My time to create is precious and I really want it to be time that is making me feel fulfilled and is heart led. From now on I hope to be sharing art projects that include more stitch and book making. With that in mind, I've made some new purchases that I'm very excited about : 

Wendy Solganik's Wonky Bits Class. I'm waiting for some supplies to arrive but I've watched all the lessons and have been inspired in all sorts of ways to include stitched bits in my work, although this is not what she demonstrates! 💜

I love Klimt and am so inspired by his art. When I saw these 10 stencils for sale as a bundle through Joggles I just had to have them. Even though I had to pay postage and convert to NZ dollars it makes the stencils only about NZ$12 each. 

Again, I have to wait a while for these to arrive but I have school holidays in 3 more weeks so should be perfect timing - fingers crossed. 

If you're seeking some new inspiration, I've found out about a couple of new Free offerings this month. Rae Missigman announced 5 videos across 5 days with 5 Superstars through StencilGirl beginning 13th September.

Videos coming from Carolyn Dube, Seth Apter, Rae Missigman, Lucie Duclos, and Traci Bautista only available to watch for a limited time. Sign up to the Stencil Girl newsletter The Scoop! - the link's on the blog HERE. Or if, like me, you're already a subscriber, go to your Stencil Girl Studio dashboard and click on All Courses to find the link to this Free offering. 

Coming later this month - 2 weeks of Free taster sessions for Life Book 2022! Sign up for them HERE. 

I hope that the sun is shining wherever you are and that you have time to create with joy.

Sharing free classes - I'm back!

So I've reassessed what I'm doing and how I'm doing it as per my last blog post and I've decided I want to keep blogging. Instagram and FB have been great to get me to focus on sharing a photo of the finished piece without a lot of time taken on process photos, but I miss writing out my inner dialogue about projects so I can remember my thoughts at a later date, I miss having a place to look back on free online art class opportunities, I miss the way this blog can bring a whole project together with one click like my 52 Tags, and I really miss links - to artists, to classes, to bringing strands of my thoughts together for a project or sharing where I got inspiration. The beauty of blogging is that it's an online journal that captures my creative journey and also connects me with a global community. I really value the friendships that have evolved through that. Because of my labels, I can always find my way back to how I did something and I can investigate my past patterns of creating. I started my blog in July 2010 so this month is my 11th bloggiversary! But in 2014 I said Farewell in May and then returned in July. Four Years later in July 2018 I almost stopped again, but realised  it was because I hadn't been as productive....here we are three years later and some of the same issues have come up. Now I've captured this information it will hopefully support me next time - probably mid-winter - in realising that we have seasons of creativity and blogging is something that helps my process. 

I have a few projects to catch you up on. The photo above is my art created in June - some you've seen here, some I've only shared on my Instagram and FB. I will remedy that next week. I am nearing the end of my first week of school holidays and my husband and I are off for a long weekend to Napier leaving tomorrow. Before I go, I want to share a couple of free online art opportunities you might want to get in on. This first one needs quick action!

The Painted Paper Project is available again HERE. 

This Kindness Project, with the simple message of SPREAD JOY, has thousands of creatives making “heart bundles” to share with others. Featuring a number of artists, the doors are open to new sign-ups for only a couple more days. Rae Missigman announced 7 days open on Insta HERE - that was 5 days ago....you have anytime access once you've joined. 

You might remember I've previously shared that I was inspired by the Collage Fodder 100 day project - especially the work of Megan Whisner Quinlan and Willa Wanders. Willa then announced a FREE Fodder Challenge collaborative classroom.

Free access to the classroom June 7 - August 8. Lessons available right now from 9 different artists. You can still sign up HERE with time to play. 

I've been thinking a lot during my blog break about what I create and I've been missing creating little books. I really love what I've been seeing on both Megan and Willa's accounts linked above. Willa has recently announced a new class which has evolved from the above challenge - and while it's not free, I'm sharing as something that I'm doing next. It's good value for a year-long collaborative experience with 12 teachers that make me excited. 

You can sign up HERE. Currently US$147 until August when price goes to US$187. Registrations close August 31 and class start 1st October. I was gifted money for my birthday last month so I'm in. Might see you there. Talk soon - it's good to be back!

#arteveryday OR Finding time to create

Many people comment on how much I create. Sometimes I am surprised by that because I don't feel like I spend enough time and I don't have as many completed things to share as I would like! Keeping the blog going helps to motivate so I have something to post about and my monthly reviews remind me that I do more than I realise. Really my art practice is a combination of being able to leave things out in my studio (so blessed to have this space), of doing a little often...and I'm not much concerned with housework ;-) I work 25-30 hours a week and have school holidays off so that all helps, but I really believe that if you want to be creative you have to make that a priority. Read my original blog post about finding time to create HERE. I talk in quite a bit of detail about micro-movements = doing 15 minutes a day soon adds up. In this post in March, I shared how I went from background

to completed spread

in 7 days. Must try that again! 
The other thing that helps my art practice is taking a photo as a record to make sure I  #arteveryday. This gives me an incentive to have something to photograph and sometimes I pop some paint down on a background in the evening just to have done something - and that's a start for a new project. I began this practice back in November last year  and I am now Week 42! If you go to that November link you'll see micro-movements in action. My practice has evolved as I've got busier taking on more work hours and I recognise there are many different ways to be creative - Creating blogposts count, as does shopping for supplies, watching lessons, preparing for school quilt club, and sometimes it just doesn't happen....I thought I'd share a few examples of weeks here to hopefully inspire you. Not sharing holidays cos they're not a reflection of my usual busy. And if you want to see all my posts on this topic click on the label below this post. Click on any photo to see it larger.
Week 17 :

Week 35 :

Week 40 :

How can you fit more creativity into your week or into this weekend? Happy FriYAY

My 9th Bloggiversary!

I think blogging for 9 years is a pretty amazing achievement💖 At my first bloggiversary I had done 120 posts and had 34 followers.

My Original Blog Header

This is post 1110 and I now get many more visits per post than that number of followers. I know many people have given up blogging for Facebook and Instagram which are a much quicker hit of art (and you can find me there too if you click on those links), but I've kept up my blog because it's more than just sharing a finished piece of art for me.

Blog Header 2016

I want to tell my story in the hope that I inspire others to be creative and find time for art in their lives; I want to share the inspiration I find in the form of excellent teachers, special workshops, and FREE online offerings; I want to help you discover fun new supplies and then where to purchase them; I want to engage with you via comments or emails; I want to share my love of all sorts of different kinds of creativity in my life.

I also want to capture my process so that I can look back and remember how I did something; to celebrate completing projects; 

to set myself challenges; to capture my journey both artistically and for self-growth; 

to be able to set goals and see how I'm making progress; to have a record of achievement when I feel like I'm not doing anything....

I've learned that we all have seasons of creativity, and sometimes you need a break, but sometimes what's needed is a look at what was happening last year to recognise how far you've come, or that this feeling of not wanting to do much is a regular response to this time of year. In short (which this isn't!) I am grateful to be here, in full colour, sharing my process and my thoughts about my creative life, and I'm especially grateful for your presence here as well. 

I am currently coming out of a time of low creativity for a variety of reasons. I love my monthly reviews as a chance to reflect and to plan ahead. I am now in the middle of school holidays and have been very grateful for the time to recover properly, and to have a chance to have a bit of tidy up as we look forward to the second half of the year. Here's a before and after photo from the beginning of the week

I am so lucky to have the space. Mine is very practical - I would rather art and organise my supplies than make it all really pretty. So while I do have pretty things around

my main focus this last few days has been to organise a few things. I've been very interested and inspired by Laly Mille's free 5-day email workshop of videos covering her favourite supplies. Find out more and sign up HERE.

Of course there was lots in there that I already knew, but she has such a lovely way of explaining things and as a result of watching her I've re-sorted all my pens/ pencils/ markers

as well as organised all my brushes by size and shape for paints

vs gesso and glues

and I feel like I can put my hands on things more practically than before

Today I've basted the quilt that's on my list for completion for the coming week 

and I'm planning my next move on this art journal page....

and after that - you just never know! For now, I am happy to be here, sharing my creativity with you and looking forward to seeing what the rest of July looks like. I hope you are inspired to continue on with me. I can't wait to see what's going to happen in the next 12 months.

 Talk soon 😊