Last week Carmen asked me to take part in a virtual blog tour - I felt very privileged to be asked by her and involves giving a peak behind the scenes as it were, however, similar to Carmen there isn't much goes on behind the scenes that I don't share - my weekly Rocking Your World round up usually touches on the things in my general life as well as sharing the crafting I do.
- What am I working on?
- How does my work differ from others of its genre?
- Why do I write/create what I do?
- How does your writing/creating process work?
What am I working on?
Well currently I'm working on a stay at home journal entry which is due near the end of the month. The theme of the entry is rust, costs and wheels - I'm enjoying working on this as well as the other entries that I've done previously.
I'm also in the midst of scrapbooking again - on a massive scale I think yesterday's layout was number 157 of the year! This take off in scrapping has occurred since joining the Wear Crafts design team and then happening across the counterfeit kit blog which I'm currently obsessed with as well as being part of a point collecting team on UK Scrappers.
On the home front, we are currently undertaking a revamp of our bedroom and given that we have no intention of getting rid of our gothic bed means we are introducing more gothic elements into the room as we go. This means hubby is currently learning to construct gothic arches and quatrefoils - the air has been blue on occasions! It also means that there is a chance that we will be reintroduing the Celtic Knots into our home decor - how I miss them. Our last home was a veritable feast of knotwork in every single room, the obsession grew - knotwork off scaffolding was a norm! Laying down to paint next to the skirting board was a typical end of the day task - it took over our lives, we got accused of tattooing our house - and if I'm honest I suppose that is what we did. Having to paint over those hours and hours of work was one of the hardest things we had to do when we left that house and we didn't have the heart to recommence that in our current home. Given that we've really no intention of moving, however, it seems sensible now to reconsider the personalisation of the same.
Other than that I have my needle felter, my new current obsession, bought on the basis that said 13 year old will be doing art textile and therefore it would be a useful tool for him too, it was something of an indulgent purchase if I'm brutally honest, but we've had fun up to now. This zombie cushion was done using a design created by my brother!
Then there is the gelli plate - I love working on this, it's enormous fun, creates unique prints every time and makes me happy. I haven't gelliplated for a while - I may have to remedy this! I also love sending out mail art, another positive that makes me happy - it also brightens other people's day - so it's a definitive win win.
How Does my Work Differ From others of Its Genre?
Wow my work doesn't have a genre - it's whatever creativity I can fit into my spare time. However, having bought a small tablet recently I'm hoping to make You Tube How to... videos my new best friend.
I don't consider myself an artist as such, I like to dabble and create and it makes me happy. I have a few pieces that I'm happy with but my process is never about the finished items it is always about the process.
Why Do I Write/Create What I do?
This one is easy - when it comes to scrapbooking I do it to preserve memories. My Dad died when I was 16 years of age, I'm sure at that point I had lots and lots of memories of time with him but as time passes I find my memories lessen each year, I can no longer 'hear' his voice and with no actually recording of the same it's gone forever.
He also worked too hard, spent too many hours working and not enough soaking up the positives and enjoying life. He passed away at the age of 40 - I'm older than he was when he died and I have so many things I want to do yet. So scrapping is my way of preserving fun family time as well as making sure I go out and do something, without scrapping I'm sure we wouldn't do half the things we do. I clocked recently that I had very few 'scrapping' photos for this year up to now - it pushed us out of the house exploring and led to a fabulous weekend and a whole heap of new memories to scrap.
I want my son to grow up in a positive creative house, where the answers are yes we can whenever possible and show him that the best things in life aren't things they are experiences - days out with family, holidays, trips, time with friends - all positive things to learn and live your life buy.
The rest of my creativity - well the art journalling stemmed from a time when I couldn't cope with emotions so I art journalled it was a great release and rebalanced my life, I haven't art journalled for an age - why - because I don't 'need' to any more I'm happy with my life.
The larger art works we have around the house, one stemmed from a low point in my work life - it's what I use for the rocking your world button, who would have thought that something created at a time of pain and distress would come to symbolise my take on the positive and grateful moments in life.
The other one was created as a part of an anniversary gift between me and hubby - it makes me smile whenever I look at it. It is a creation from a time when we needed to grow closer together and it symbolises that for me.
We also have a family piece in the main TV room which comes from seeing a fab version of Macbeth at the RSC.
How does your Writing/Creating process work?
It became obvious a few years ago that the creativity is a really important element of my life and when I didn't create I often felt upset that I could have been creating but didn't. I started out in the spare room downstairs and soon found that the whole family also joined me in that creative space. So when we 'moved' the main living area into another room in the house I decided that my creative space needed to come with me.
So now I have my desk in the family room, the boys (hubby and said 13 year old), can chill and watch a film or play on Xbox or in said 13 year old's case build lego, or sit on the laptop (not literally - that would be silly) and I can sit and create. I find that as it's in the main living space I tend to 'scrap' in that space but not paint and spray paint etc, so that is kept to the dining area.
Blog wise, well I sit on the main PC and type away, I take photos when the light is good and I can get a reasonable shot of things - it works for me and I enjoy it!
Plans for the future, well counterfeit kit challenge blog has set a challenge of a bucket list on a layout, I've only really come across bucket lists in the 'before I die...' genre - so the idea of having a bucket list for a short period of time or over a specific holiday really strikes a chord. In fact I'm going to drag out some lining paper and stick it to the main door in the kitchen/dining room and put a pencil with it and ask us all to add to it - let's see what comes of that over the summer.
And now time to move you on to someone else and share their creativity and spaces -
First up Suzy at Sea Glass & Sand - I love Suzy's posts they are fabulously creative and positive, she loves to dabble in mixed media and isn't adverse to get inky fingers! I also love that this mixed media is now spilling over into her scrapping style!
Next up is
Lesley at - Oh! Blog It! - a fellow DT member for Wear Crafts Lesley's style of scrapping is fantastic, always up for a challenge, part of the counterfeit kit blog challenge design team, she really turns out some beautiful pieces!
Next up is
Jen of Wear Crafts fame - her blog Scrappyjen spills out all the beautiful positivity she has for happy scrapping - her idea is to bring this to as many people as possible so they can be creative and join in with this fabulous hobby!
Finally (because like Carmen I can't add up to three either) is
Sarah's blog at are you flowin? - this girl can create - her work is utterly fabulous and she throws her hand to all sorts of things - and I love love love her stencil work - amazing stuff!
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