Creative Blog Hop

Last week Felicia invited me to take part in a creative blog hop where we answer the 4 questions below on our creativity and invite another 2 or 3 bloggers to take part the following week.  It’s a good opportunity to get to know different blogs and how people come up with their wonderful creations.  Anyway, I said yes and then the following day Tracy also asked me - LOL.  They are both wonderfully creative and also encouraging people who take the time to say really uplifting things to others of us about our own creations.  Hop on over to their blogs and have a look – you will be inspired!

Down to business, here are my answers:

 

1. What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment I  am mainly having fun in my art journal.  Soon I’ll start making my Christmas cards which are going to be snowflake themed this year because I got a real bargain of a snowflake stamp while on holiday in Scotland.  I often make minibooks of encouraging scriptures as gifts as well, so will start on those soon too.  

 

I also help run a monthly craft group called Scrap and Yap.  We have a different theme every month so I'll make various cards on the theme for the month.  

 I love hearts!

 Heart-shaped petal flowers are a favorite:

2. How does your work differ from others in your genre?

I’m not really sure.  I just know I love to get messy with paint and stencils and stamps.  I was originally a cardmaker and loved fiddling with little bits of paper and stamping and gluing.  However, a year ago I discovered art journaling and am absolutely loving it.  I have never considered myself an artist and before art journaling had not worked with paint before!  Now I love all things painty but haven’t a clue what I’m doing most of the time, I just know I love it and its fun.  I love using bright colours, but also love picking one or maybe two colours and going with those for a whole page.   My faith is reflected in my work so my journal pages often have journaling about God and things of the spirit.

3. Why do you create?

Because its fun!!!  There’s also something creative in me that just wants to be expressed.  It wasn’t always like that.  I was hopeless at art at school, couldn’t wait to give it up and wasn't creative at all.  Then about 10 years ago I was very seriously ill and had to have an operation.  I came across a cardmaking magazine while I was recovering and thought I would like to give it a go.  Very soon I was completely hooked on all things papercrafty.  Having not been creative at all I now found I had this wonderful creativity in me.  I think God blessed me with this creative gift just when I needed it.  I didn’t have it before my illness.  Now I love to create :)

4. How does your creative process work?

Randomly!  When playing in my art journal I very often start with something that’s on my heart.  I’m a Christian so its usually linked to my faith.  I quite often pick a colour or several and start splodging, stencilling, stamping.  I like my page to reflect the mood of the journaling or the title.  Sometimes I’ll write loads of journaling, sometimes a simple title or quote says it all.  Often it all goes ‘wrong’, meaning I don’t like what I’ve done.  Sometimes I manage to rescue it, other times I’ve covered the whole lot over with white and started again which gives a really interesting effect.  I also use my journal to pray so its very much an expression of what is going on in my life.  However, other times I just like to try different things.

Now I’d like to introduce three lovely bloggers I have come to know:

Debbie loves making cards, scrapbooking and wonderful canvasses.   She has recently started art journaling and is on the design team for Scrapping Everyday Miracles.

Ophelia always makes me smile with her cheery posts and lovely creations.  She is an awesome artist and teaches too.

Shelly loves making cards and scrapbooking.  Her blog is called Inky Hugz which has got to be the best name ever for a creative blog!

Hop on over to their blogs, their creative blog posts will be next Monday.

Linking up at:
Create with Joy Inspire Me Monday
Creative Every Day