The projects that take years

For this weeks ramble I want to talk about something I have been feeling a lot of in 2014...frustration. I think I have felt more frustration during my creative process this year than I have ever before, but that isn't to say I haven't learnt a hell of a lot too. For example the majority of this year I have found it *extremely* frustrating that I cannot create things as quickly, get them polished and out into the world as I wish to.

'Fed Up of this Frustration'

I have learnt that they ALL take far longer to do that you not only want, but estimate or expect. As an example my new shop item I just launched, Mystery Mail 2, has been in production for well over 12 months! It has taken so much planning, designing, creating, altering, re-arranging - on *every* item in there, that I wondered why on earth I was doing it all. 

Mystery Mail 2 next to Mystery Mail 1

Why was I putting so much effort into items when no-one would even know about them (as the whole concept of Mystery Mail is that people are able to send themselves an arty goodie surprise), but the reason was because my heart was telling me to. It was a project I really wanted to make, and make it the BESTEST ever. And BESTEST ever things, well, they take time. 

So happy with how this has turned out...even though no-one can see it

And I am learning that, and allowing that, and taking that weight off of my shoulders. I want to stay in a place of joy in my creativity, creating from that calling from the heart, not from a place of pressure, which is what happens when you are wanting to accomplish everything you have planned at once; that's the definition of pressure, and  then of frustration when it doesn't work out. 

And I've realised that this thinking alone has also raised my confidence. I will create. I will create when I want,. And when I do that beautiful things happen. I don't need to churn out 50 things a day because my creative to-do list is as long as santa's present list. 

It has been a hard lesson this year, but I am getting fed up of allowing frustration to have a hold over me. So I will create, and allow, and allow those projects that require years to have them. If my heart is still in them after all that time then they were meant to be given life, if frustration of how long the project's taking overrules my desire to create it then it was never meant to be. It's that simple.

And here is a semi-new video from a project that also took a long time to come alive - my Journal Workshops Art Community, it is from the monthly challenge a couple months ago and I'm sharing it here because...well I mention all that in the video. If you are not a member of my community please enjoy, and consider coming over to join us for more. Much love & Happy Creating =)

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Angela Vale

Hi guys happy tuesday

So last week I was very bad on my blog and didn't do any of my normal posts (but I did some other stuff so hoping that goes into my bloggy bank and my blog's not too mad with me lol).

Last week was a clear case of burn-out, I had a lot going on and then on top of that the creative things I tried to do just drained the tank completely dry. So I've had a couple of days just self-caring and now I'm back. Moral of this story: Rest and listening to yourself ARE A PRIORITY! (really, they're not just an option!) Anyway onto this weeks TAT, who's featured artist is a lovely lady I've got to know recently and hope you relish that privilege too, enjoy the interview =)

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.
My name is Angi Vale and I currently live in Michigan, in the United States. I am a very new artist and I have never in my life ever believed that I could draw anything. One day I bought a sketch pad and some pencils to play around with and I just started drawing, but nothing ever came out “right”. Then I found Jennibellie’s YouTube channel and I was addicted! I found my love for art journals and I wanted to know more. When I heard about LifeBook 2014 my love for Art Journals turned into this new passion that I just can’t get enough of! My favorite type of art is mixed media and making art journals.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?
My biggest challenge that I face as an artist is knowing what I want to put on the page. I can stare at a blank page for far too long if I’m not careful. You gave some really good advice in one of your videos Jenny, when you said just let the page tell you what it wants. So that is how I overcome the challenge. I will start with some collage and watercolor crayons and let the page decide what it wants out of it. My latest thing is shimmery watercolors as a background and then building from there. Once you let go it just becomes easier to just put your heart on the page and let it all just fall where it wants to.

What is the best thing / worst thing that art has brought into your life?
The best thing that art has brought into my life is that for years I have struggled with depression and anxiety and no way to release it or to get things out of my head for fear of someone reading my secrets and being judged for them. I have struggled with depression since childhood due to some pretty personal events that have taken place in my life and in later years developed an eating disorder that I still struggle with to this day. Art is now my safe haven. It is my place where I can get everything out on paper, every dark thought, feeling, every tear, and every pain. Every fear that I am experiencing at that moment spills out of me onto paper. Because of art, I feel safe because I can cut it up into bits and use it as collage, or paint a beautiful picture over it. No matter what happens to those words in the end, no matter how they end up on the page, it is no longer bottled up inside of me where it can fester and grow. It’s out! It’s done! It’s buried in beauty in my journal.

What advice would you offer to any perspective new artist?
My advice to any artist or perspective artist would be this… there is no bad art! Period! It’s you, it’s who you are so get it out and if you don’t like what you see paint over it but don’t give up. There are many places online to learn different techniques on how to do things but if you don’t try you will never know if you got it in ya! I never knew my whole life that I too can be an artist, until I tried.

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art?
I have a website, but it’s still under construction. I am currently working on it putting pictures up and it should be ready to view soon. For now, anyone can find me on facebook, it’s my personal page but I do post my artwork there.

Hi Angi, thanks so much for sharing with us.

I really love that you were so honest with us and so hope it gives others courage to share openly their art and story like you have in this interview, not necessarily here but just in general, I really think 'pooling' our experiences and thoughts etc really does enrich our community...and it takes bravery to do it in the beginning especially so THANK YOU =) 

So would you like to...

To be featured email me or find all the details here =)

How to Get The Perfect Collage/Decoupage

Hi Guys

Following a question posted on Journal Workshops I was prompted into action to make this video below on how I get my perfectly smooth bubble and buckle-free collaging on board (decoupage). Hope it helps anyone who has previously been frustrated by bumps and bubbles in their work, if you have your own tips or tricks for this issue please join in and post it to the discussion:

Glue and Boards

See you soon

Much love

Jennibellie

Weekly Ramble ~ GO, GO, GO!!!

Hellllllooooooo

I'm going to be very quick for my Weekly Ramble this week as I've my bff descending for a stay at any moment; it's her 30th tomorrow and while I've wrapped all 30 pressies I've not yet hidden them around the place or written any cryptic treasure hunting clues, as has become our 30th tradition lol so I need to get going... 

So to keep this short for me but interesting for you (hopefully) I've decided to theme this Ramble. As I mentioned a few Rambles ago that I've been making changes to my Outdoor Studio so now here's an early look at how it's turned out in my Updated Studio Tour:

And as I said in the video I've been continually falling into the flow of making more art out here, so here's a look at some pages I've made this week:

and a lil work in progress:

...And you may have seen my mess of an indoor space from my facebook post yesterday: 

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkk!!

I'm in the midst of making something new to go in my outdoor studio, though now I've a new project jump into my head today (from nowhere - I love that) I'm eager to clear it all away and get going on the new one! But priorities, first things first...=( ...but still it's nice when your creative spirit is all go-go-go (however much you don't have the time to actual do all the things you want lol - I'm sure you know that feeling!)

Thanks for reading

See you soon

Much love

PS if you are a member of my Art Community and have not yet entered my 4,000 Member giveaway click here: http://journalworkshops.ning.com/forum/topics/4000-member-giveaway to enter

 I'll be picking the winner on Sunday ;)

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Cindy Richard

Hi guys

This is the first TAT in over a month woooooooooooah!

If you read my last Weekly Ramble then you may know the strangest mixture of events has had a hand in that, but it was also a timely break as this feature needs more artists that want to be featured to continue after this week - so if YOU DO please click the details at the bottom of this post. Be bold. Be brave. Be yourself and share with us what you've got to say!

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.
Today I am a textile artist and landscape quilter. I worked in high-tech before turning to art as my Day job. I've been living in Israel for 23 years. Before leaving the US I worked in publishing, supervising the printing of children’s books created by master illustrators. After immigrating to Israel, while working as a technical writer in hi-tech, I sought a creative outlet and started quilting. At first I was attracted by the structured simplicity of traditional designs. It was only later that I branched out to create contemporary designs of my own. Today I prefer creating fabric landscapes using raw-edge appliqué. I particularly like creating handmade quilt art that reflects the people and places of the Holy Land. I am drawn by the beauty of the landscapes and the unique colors of Israeli society. I have built a repertoire of landscapes of the natural wonders here like the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. Currently I am working on a series of “moments in time at the Jerusalem marketplace”. One of these pieces is hanging at the Jerusalem Theater.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?
I think my biggest challenge is finding my voice and getting my name out there. It's really hard to wear an artists hat as well as a business woman's hat. Success is only going to happen if I also learn to market my art and sell my name. That isn't my strong side. It isn't easy to be out there attracting attention to my work. I would much rather be quilting!

Do you think you have achieved a uniquely recognisable style as an artist, or do you find it a struggle to find your own style?
I have been searching for my voice all along. I realized early on that my best work was always based on places I love. So, I basically focus on places that have personal meaning for me. I'm originally a New Yorker, so I am attracted to New York scenes. More important though are the scenes of people and places that surround me in Israel. The natural wonders, like the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are so amazing. I strive to capture their grandeur. The marketplace in Jerusalem is so colorful and poignant. So these are my most favorite subjects. I think if I can become known as the quilter of Israeli society and landscapes I will be thrilled.

What daunts you most as an artist?
I don't have a background in art. I've worked with color and I can learn technique, but I really wanted to make a leap for craft to art. So, I found a really talented art teacher who knows how to teach and started taking drawing classes. It's the best step I have taken. I have learned quilting with some amazing masters and that's shaped my work as well, but building a foundation has really helped my confidence. Drawing is not something you can learn from a book. You have to see it, feel it and immerse yourself in it. I can now piece and embroider faces, which was a real goal for me. I've overcome this stumbling block enough to move on.

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art? 

I teach private students from my studio at home and sell my designs at my online 

store, cindyrquilts.etsy.com. My work can be found on my website, cindyrquilts.com.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and work with us Cindy, you are seriously talented! You're quilts are beautiful and I am so grateful I get to share a variety of enriching art on here.

*****IN NEED OF ARTISTS*****

Again artists interviews are nothing without the artists lol

Do you want to be featured?

To be featured email me or find all the details here =)

Weekly Ramble ~ Pre-Raphaelite Art Binge

Hi guys

This weeks weekly ramble is gonna be a quickie as I'm busy busy busy atm. I spent a bit a long weekend at a country park and visited this house:

I visit many historic places/house, this one is called Wightwick Manor & the reason I'm showing it is it was sooooooooooo inspiring for me artistically speaking. Most places I love for their beauty anyway but this one was not only full of beautiful arts and crafts features but also chocca with Pre-Raphaelite art.

Postcards of some of the art in there - too much to count!

It sent my head spinning, so perhaps the future will hold some sort of Pre-Raphaelite inspired art or tutorial lol we'll see. While I was away I caught a few mins to do some warm-up art with VERY limited supplies and managed to record it too, though I've so much on atm mo no idea when I'll be posting that lol

Finally I did a giveaway in last weeks ramble, 

the winner gets my new art pins

and iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis:

RENA DECKARD!

Congratulations!

Now I didn't realise that google had yet again made changes and turned our blogger profiles to be Google+, which frankly twists my melon! But I believe I can figure a couple of ways to try and contact you - but if you read this Rena please contact me with details of where you'd like me to send these to =)

And the final finally is because I've been away (with next to no internet) on TAT days, or been ill, etc, etc, etc you may have noticed I've not been posting them for around a month. Weird set of circumstances has dictated that, but if I were doing it I would have no more artists to interview by now...so I shall be getting back to TAT this coming Tuesday but I need artists! Please see this post to find out how to be featured if you are interested: 

TELL ALL TUESDAY

So that's all for now, bit of a weird Ramble (but I guess that's why I started this in the first place!)

See you tuesday

Much love

Weekly Ramble with Giveaway (Closed)

Hey ho!

Well this week I'm rambling from a v.remote lakeside country park, with hotspot wi-fi via my phone making this post possible (or not, well see when I come copy this out of a notepad to try and post it lol).

So I haven't done much creatively the last few days part from getting videos ready for Journal Workshops. Firstly yesterday I posted a very late video that included a portrait tutorial on a recycled page for a previous challenge on 'Two Recycled Items' from June:

Then today I posted this Months Challenge video here:

August Challenge Page

but I won't go on about this too much as I did so in my Monthly Newsletter yesterday and don't want to bore those readers with the same things. In the newsletter I'm doing a giveaway of some new Art Girl Pin Badges I've created and it has just now made me realise how long it's been since I've done a blog giveaway - so I'll give one away here too =) Here are what they look like:

I shall choose a winner in next weeks weekly ramble and the rules are my normal ones ( 1: to be a follower of this blog via the button on the right column, and/or Bloglovin', and 2: leave me a comment on this post so I know you want to be entered).

That's about all for this ramble, I wanna post this while my wi-fis here lol

See you when I get back from the countryside (but I've got my art kit with me so it could be sooner!)

Have a happy week, mwah!