by Linda | May 16, 2014 | my creative journal
Looking for easy bookbinding tutorials? A bit of artsy crafty motivation?
For inspiration and instruction combined, here’s a round-up of the most popular bookbinding posts I have shared on the blog.
I’m happy to be able to help you learn and get a bit creative with whatever materials you may have at home. Enjoy!
by Linda | May 9, 2014 | my creative journal
Since combining my various crafty art blogs, I realize that many links have been broken and super old posts need to be updated and cleaned up. After so many years of blogging, the posts really add up and it’s no easy task to sift through thousands of posts!
I know from my analytics that you folks are coming for many of the printables I have offered, so I made it a point to clean things up asap. Here’s a printable round-up of my favorite offerings, even the oldies are goodies! Enjoy and let me know what you think!
by Linda | May 7, 2014 | my creative journal
I’ve been online for quite some time, publishing my first webpage at age 14… but I think my first tweet really defines what I’ve been working towards in the past few years. It was the day before I quite my corporate job and officially stepped into the unknown world of freelancing, moving to Italy and starting a brand new chapter of my life.
Looking back, that first tweet really says a lot about what I want in life. Did you know that you can discover your first tweet by visiting this link?
What does your first tweet say about you?
by Linda | Apr 2, 2014 | my creative journal
Since I’ve clarified my goals for scrapbooking, I’ve definitely realized that I want to emphasize the photo more than anything else. When you ask other people who look at your scrapbook what really counts for them… it’s usually the photo… then the journaling that helps to reveal the story. Everything else, like pretty paper and embellishments is just nice to have.
After reading the post on A Beautiful Mess about full page photo scrapbooking, I was really inspired to go for it. Oddly enough when I pulled out my photos, I noticed that I usually always take landscape orientation, so it was actually difficult to find something to crop. So I ended up with double page of half-photos instead. Still big photo impact, so I went with it.
I resisted the urge to add other things, just because, so printed out the pages with photo, lots of white space and few words. That’s all I really wanted. But of course, I still had to add a handmade touch with some sewing and little leather embellishments that I hand-cut. It’s clean and simple, I really like it.
Slowly, but surely… I’m distilling things down to the aesthetic I really love. Definitely feels like a revival in my scrapbooking journey. Yay!
by Linda | Mar 18, 2014 | my creative journal
How long can I dwell on this little owl girl? I can’t seem to figure out how to finish her off and have been playing a lot with different color experiments. It would be the start of a beautiful series now that I’m getting really comfortable with this style of character drawing.
My little helper seems to think any marker color will do – perhaps all colors! But I’ve been learning that I like the muted, soft colors. Happy colors for sure, but not in your face. I like to think of it as quiet, happy.
Slowly but surely, I will find my way! What do you think?
by Linda | Mar 12, 2014 | my creative journal
I’m participating in the Do What You Love postcard swap and decided to use leather in my project, because I have so much at my disposal and always want to make use of it! The theme is CREATE, so I thought it would be great to include a motivational phrase – simple and direct.
The sentiment is printed on canvas paper (another material I have stashed up and need to use) and everything is stitched and glued together. Pretty hefty and thick! But I really love the fact that there are lots of layers and texture.
Since I’m living in Italy and need to mail my postcard to the USA, I thought it would be best to protect it in an envelope. Instead of writing on the back of the postcard, I decided to include my create fearlessly girl postcard. It goes with the theme after all!
I hope my swap partner likes it and gets a bit of creative inspiration from the mix of materials and simple message.
I had so much fun creating my postcard, just going with my creative whim while my son was napping. It’s amazing how a little bit of creativity can really brighten up your day! I’m realizing that deadlines are necessary for me to get things done… I’m such a project-based kind of person.
How have your creative DIY efforts been going lately?
by Linda | Mar 10, 2014 | my creative journal
There’s no doubt that the sight of pretty paper and the touch of textural fibers can light up my eyes and ignite a pitter patter of excitement in my heart.
I’ve always been a collector of cute stationery and over the years I’ve learned to let go and use said stationery as well! I enjoy sending and receiving snail mail – giving someone the joy of real paper in their hands to help express a sentiment.
Paper definitely stirs up excitement in my creative bones. A pattern here and some color there… so many options and paper goodness out there to still explore and play with.
But even beyond luxury paper goods, the good ‘ole plain white sheet of copy paper holds so many possibilities. A quick sketch? A wondrous illustration? A masterpiece origami project? Whatever you want, that blank sheet of paper can help you realize it. My favorite journals are the ones I have handmade with plain copy paper.
So here’s a digital toast for the love of paper… how lovely it is to live in a world of papery goodness! Don’t your agree? What do you love about paper?
The PaperLove Blog Hop is a celebration of all things paper! Follow the links to discover more bloggers who love paper and use it to inspire and delight. And if you want to explore a whole world of paper, and stretch your paper passion further with a host of creative projects, why not join the innovative new online course PaperLove (starts March 31). Led by book artist Rachel Hazell, PaperLove is a five week creative adventure for paper lovers.
Participant list
Majo Bautista / Tona Bell / Louise Best / Cathy Bluteau / Jennifer Bomgardner / Giova Brusa / Lindsay Buck / Beka Buckley / Joanna Caskie / Jonathan Chapman (Mr Yen) / Halle Cisco / Sarah Clare / Cathryn Clarge / Dawn Clarkson / Rhiannon Connelly / Jenny D’Fuego / Molly Dhiman / Ian Dudley / Ayisatu Emore / Akmal Farid / Monika Forsberg / Claire Fritz-Domeney / Louise Gale / Chrissy Gaskell / Julie Hamilton / Emma Hawman / Rachel Hazell / Holly Helgeson / Claudine Hellmuth / Kim Henkel / Sarah Hoffman / Joanne Hus / Paula Joerling / Beth Kempton / Julie Kirk / Eos Koch / Katie LaClair / Kristy Lankford / Michelle Manolov / Doreen Marts / Rosie Martinez-Dekker / Tori Mears / Maria Mederios / Lise Meijer / Debbie Miller / MaryJane Mitchell / Suzy Naidoo / Grace Noel / Hannah Nunn / Camilla Olsson / Jo Packham / Rachelle Panagarry / Monette Pangan / Melanie Paul / Nicole Piar / Jen Pitta / Liz Plummer / Julie Reed / Michelle Reynolds / Lisa Rivas / Angee Robertson / Natalie Ryan / Aisling Ryan / Elisabet Sapena / Kyrrha Sevco / Jamie Sprague / Elizabeth Steele / Terri Stephens / Juniper Stokes / Mary Tanana / Maike Thoma / Linda Tieu / Gabrielle Treanor / Tammy Tutterow / Deborah Velasquez / Jordan Vinograd Kim / Cat Whipple / Brooke Witt / Katie Wood / Amelia Woodbridge
by Linda | Feb 26, 2014 | my creative journal
I’m taking MATS Assignment Bootcamp and wanted to share a peek into my process from start to finish. It was an exploration of cuckoo clocks and I always enjoy doodling away many variations and ideas. This is probably the easiest part, because I can run away with my imagination.
Since I’m just sketching around, it’s fun to explore crazy ideas. I usually sketch a lot and in multiple sessions, because you come up with more ideas when you revisit the topic over time.
At some point, usually because time has run out… I decide to go with one version and sketch it out in more detail. There’s still a lot of changes at this point, I use the eraser a lot or do a couple versions to see what I like the most.
When I’m ready, I go ahead and ink it up with black pen, scan it into the computer and vectorize it in Illustrator. Then it’s a matter of digital coloring that takes a whole lot of time because I’m indecisive!
Sometimes this process is repeated when things don’t turn out right or I change my mind and have to sketch again, ink and scan. Ultimately, it means lot of hours in front of the computer fiddling around and experimenting. I usually add texture to the piece at the very end and hopefully call it completed. Having deadlines actually helps with that bit, because I can let my work sit there forever, not knowing if I can consider it done or not! Below is the final piece I submitted to the gallery using the color trend suggestions from Lilla. I definitely stuck with my sweet cute style in the end. You can see all the beautiful artwork from February in the Bootcamp gallery here. Enjoy!
by Linda | Feb 19, 2014 | my creative journal
I often have no problem diving into sketch mode and drawing to my hearts content. It’s fun to invent characters and bring them to life with pen in hand.
The trouble is how to finish it all off. That’s where I definitely fall short. I can never decide how to color up my work. Should it be an acrylic painting? A watercolor? Collage fun? Copics? There are too many possibilities and that seriously drives me into a panic and wide-eyed, head-twirling stand still. Sigh.
Enter the computer. Oh, for the love of digital tools and the Undo button! With a scanner and Photoshop, I’m able to load up my sketches onto the computer and play with a million color combinations. Yes, it can be a time consuming affair, but it’s definitely worth the time. This is what they call color studies, right?
I’m loving the variation and freedom to play with color, since I consider color theory one of my weaknesses! How do you like my little girl sketch variations?
Pretty cool that with technology, we really have so much power – muhahaha! Now, if I could only decide which version to go with! What do you think?
by Linda | Feb 12, 2014 | DIY printables, my creative journal
My first venture into the online digital world was when I was only 14 years old. I think it was a local library class that taught HTML, so I created my very first web page and declared my existence online. Do you remember those flashing marquees and gaudy web colors?
The online world has definitely changed since then. Don’t you think we are all so darn sophisticated these days? With just a few clicks, you can make yourself a beautiful blog. Although I know, ultimately it’s always easier said than done.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog and how to move forward. I know that we all curate what we post, more or less. But the more I planned, the more I felt it was too mapped out. There are a lot of tips and tricks out there about blogging successfully, but the heart of the matter is figuring out what blogging means to you personally.
I’ve been blogging since my teenagers years, on and off, from platform to platform and I must admit that ultimately, I write because I need to express my thoughts. Something about getting them out and published, as if I was chatting to a friend about my life. Now that I live abroad, more than ever I feel so detached at times and often miss the company of just hangin’ with my girls, you know?
I also like to create and experiment with DIY crafts and my design and illustration. And I’m not ashamed to admit that having an audience gives me motivation. Perhaps it’s simply the act of documentation that really does it, no matter how many or few people read this blog.
Finally, there’s this thing with community and being a part of a larger whole. I’ve always loved being online and involved in the digital sphere of life. Although commenting was much more common in the beginning days of blogging, now the conversation has simply moved to the various social media outlets. But I think it still all starts with the content on a blog.
So, I will continue to blog. I’m just readjusting my focus and ultimately going to get a bit more selfish about this space. I’m not a professionally blogger, so there’s no need to follow editorial rules or business tricks. That’s not what this space is for.
It’s definitely nice to have some clarity, even if there are still a lot of questions and fuzziness all around. A single point of clarity is something I can hold onto. In trying to unknot all the issues in my head regarding this blog, first I had to identify the issues. I’ve run into problems of trying to create content just for the sake of blogging, thus losing my passion. I’ve also run into censorship issues, wondering if I should share this or not that… whether it “fits” the focus of the blog or not. I’ve always had trouble keeping up with posts as well and being a new mom, time will only become more and more scarce.
My blog problems aren’t really that dramatic – many of us run into these issues every so often. I’m shifting my perspective and realizing they can be easily resolved. First, I must have my heart into this space, so I will blog only what I want to. There’s no need to fit into any kind of box… this is MY blog after all. Everything fits in the category of me (duh!). And the easiest way to keep up is to lower expectations and commit to a realistic schedule.
Sounds pretty straightforward and non-dramatic, huh? Should have realized all this sooner, I know.
All those words above lead me to my real point (see how I like to write?) – that I should be living more authentically and proudly. Enough of feeling inadequate or not up to par or outside the popular crowd. Who cares! There’s no need to make pretense and seem a certain way just for the blog. Living abroad in Italy is exciting and amazing, so I need to embrace it. And we can never do it all, but we can do a whole lot with the time we are given nevertheless.
So this blog is about documenting my sort of normal, yet not so normal wondrous life. From living as an expat in the beautiful Tuscan hills to designing and illustrating the cuteness that I adore to motherhood to DIY crafty goodness that just makes me happy!
Now, I feel so much better about moving forward and doing what’s real and true to my heart. Yay! The guiding principle is to remember that it’s about living my authentic life and making sure it’s something I can be proud of.
I’ve created a printable of inspirational hearts (since it’s Valentine week as well) to remind myself of these principles.
Feel free to download the PDF for your personal use.
I hope you are inspired to just be yourself and do what is best for you. Thanks for reading and sharing in my story. I really do appreciate the time you take to visit my blog.
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