Friday 25 July 2014

Jennibellie is *alive*

Hey ho, Jennibellie is *alive*
lol I've had a few days off of social media etc and I've had a few 'where have you gone', 'are you ok?' messages which feels lovely to be missed online I must say =) I've been a lil ill but am on the mend now. Creatively me being out of it (literally out of it sometimes unfortunately) has had a knock-on effect on what art I've managed to do, which is a shame because the beginning of the month I felt so ON IT!! But in coming to put this weekly ramble post together I have noticed I have managed a few things. 

(TOP TIP: Through journaling I have found out that if you ever feel really depressed or angry over your lack of productivity then simply write a list of those things you have managed to get done, however big or small & that feeling will always soon evaporate - it's much easier to be hard on ourselves for things we have not managed to get done, than notice all the great shizzle we have!)

One thing I have done this very evening is film the new video for the Monthly Challenge Group, it currently looks like this:

...so no chances of me giving it away then lol, lots of editing to be done on that first!

Another is a v.quick style of journaling I've taken to recently, in my new quickie journal, which considering how I've been feeling suits the situation incredibly:

I have also been designing new products for my shop woooooooooooooooooo
as well as spending some time stocking it up on what I've had out of stock for a while:
makin' some zine packs

but the development stage of making new items takes sooooooooooo long that it's hardly worth me mentioning what they'll be, as it'll be 6 months before they are seen lol gotta love the creation processAs I've previously mentioned too I've been switching my studios (a new updated tour of my outdoor studio is coming!) so I've been trying to make my shop organisation more functional for me - if you have an online shop then you know what I'm talking about, it's easy to drown in things quickly - so the old cart has moved inside from my outdoor studio and is doing a great job being my 'products-in-progress' organiser!


In case no-one has noticed this about me before I highly recommend BOXES, 
for everything,
just go get some boxes lol
go!
they are always in demand around here

And that's about everything for now,
hope you have a fabulousooo weekend
much love

Saturday 19 July 2014

U r an *ARTIST* Video & My 'Regular' Journal Vlog

Hi guys


so some of you may have already seen this video I posted yesterday sneakily here, on the issue so many of us have on claiming the word 'artist' as a description of ourselves:


But I also filmed this vlog while at the Chamber. It is about what could be considered my 'regular' form of journaling. I thought it was about time I shared it, though as I say in the vlog 'seeing as I share all my others', but then I realised I actually have TONS of written style journals that I don't share - goal setting, gratitude journals and many more besides. But then they really are mostly writing so probably v.boring to look at...hope this one isn't though. I also lay down a challenge if you would like to discover the joys of regular journaling for yourself:


Much love & Sweepiebum kisses

Friday 18 July 2014

My Awol Week

Hi guys
so I've been a bit awol this week.
After posting a Mid Month Bonus prompt in my Monthly Challenge Group I packed up some stuff and took a trip to spend some time in a haunted chamber:



While there I shot a video, which I have posted below just for you early, because you are fabulous ;)

There is a part two to it in the form of a vlog, but they are on two different topics and I still have to edit etc so will probably post tomorrow (when I will 'officially' post this too)

So hope you enjoy, I'm off to do something to cool down, 
Sweeps already had his bath, it is crazy hot here in the UK today, icky sticky!!

Saturday 12 July 2014

Travel Kit & Journal Flip

Hey guys
today I have the remaining travel art video that I have to share.


 In this one I share my biggest ever travel art kit, and then a flip through of my completed holiday journal. 


Hope you enjoy


Have an awesome weekend
Much love

Friday 11 July 2014

Weekly Ramble #5 ~ The Importance of Space

Hello, weekly ramble this week is all about space, space, space.

A certain someone will fit in any space!

If you saw last weeks post you may have seen that I've been re-vamping my studio space. Last night I added some papercut style garlands:


 and tonight and I busy making a poster for my big fancy style frame (well the Ikea-fancy-chic anyway lol):


This past couple of weeks I've really noticed the importance of space, of being not only happy but inspired by your surroundings. 

Inspiration to create is something that I've struggled with in my outside studio since I've had it. It was more my time-out sanctuary, somewhere to chill-out and set myself back to neutral, which is all great but I've begun feeling the urge to create in there moving in gradually, and the changes I've made have been things to hopefully help me along with that - like completely re-arranging my supplies!

I think I've finally got there with revamps of this space, and after I've completed my new studio poster I think I'll do an updated Studio Tour video so you guys can see (because as I said when I did the one below it was fairly new and I hadn't properly moved-in the Jennibellie way yet....now I have and ahhhhhhhhh it feels good =) )



Thanks for reading
see you tomorrow (I may be posting the other of my travel art vids...maybe)
Toodle-loo

Wednesday 9 July 2014

Travel Journal Page Video Process...or Birds, Birds, Birds!!!

Hi ho,
I have as promised the first of my holiday videos.


This one is a journal page I did in my travel journal (which I will share fully in the next video).
Hope you enjoy:



Much love
Jennibellie

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Jessica Brogan

Hi guys, 
tooooooooodays tooosday, 
so that means we have a new insightful artist interview happening here
so sit back with your bevrrrrage of choice and enjoy seeing art through another artists eyes for a while =)

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.
I am a mixed media artist. I specialize in collage and art journaling. I run a popular international ATC swap. Despite the growing list of publications I have featuring my artwork, I consider myself a Writer above all else. My art is something I do for my sanity -- I need to create. Sometimes it's a project, sometimes it's for a magazine and sometimes it's just a mess that I need to make while something works itself through me emotionally. I really love art journaling and I'm so glad it's as popular as it is nowadays. But writing and photography are also deep art forms for me and I think of, and invest in them all with my energy and practice.


What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?
The biggest challenge that I face is in wanting to have control over my time - to have daily freedom - and this means making a monetary living at my creative endeavors. To overcome it, I've learned and pushed myself to grow as a business, to invest in myself, to branch out into e-courses and other projects that give me more leverage, but are still authentically me, and are true to my passions and art forms. This has meant living with my mother and my small child, it's meant answering uncomfortable questions to nosy new friends who want to know "how do you live??" and it's meant recognizing that I have had help, but that I don't need to feel ashamed of that. My son's father has opted out of parenting, so he pays me in child support. I have the choice to a) get a job and not really have to worry at all about money, but also not have a lot of free time, or control over my time OR live off child support plus any endeavors of my own. I've chosen the latter, so yes, sometimes it's tight. Yes, sometimes I hear a voice in my head saying I'm doing something wrong. But, I'm working hard every day for my dreams. I did not abandon my child -- he did, and this is the unfortunate "blessing" of the circumstance. I parent 100% and ache for my son, but we are able to live off of my art and child support combined. My goal is to make enough via my creative endeavors that I can store away that child support for the future for Liam, or for us to take special vacations together. 


What advice would you offer to any perspective new artist?
You'll have to learn to walk a fine line between taking in inspiration and finding all sorts of artists to admire.....and not being overwhelmed, intimidated and talking yourself out of every making anything period because you've swamped your brain with so many examples that are much farther along than you. Try new techniques out, even ones that you think aren't your cup of tea. EVERYTHING is a learning process. Don't let anyone get in the way of your creative time...most of all yourself. 


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?
This is the honest truth -- finding my own style. I have many friends and FB acquaintances who say they could identify my work anywhere, but I know I am a long way off from having a truly identifiable style. This frustrates me to no end. Sure, it's fun and probably a blessing that I can be versatile in my art, but in researching and just plain observation -- people like artists who have a definitive style. So I try to work towards it, pray for it to come, and not beat myself up for it. I think it's probably true that my wardrobe/closet reflects the same issue! 


Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art?
You can find out more about any of my unique offerings here. I especially love new friends on Facebook, and of course, new friends are always encouraged to check out the super popular Card Deck Swap (It's international!).

Thank you so much Jessica for sharing your thoughts and artwork =) I found so much of what you said inspiring, especially your advice for new artists...which I wouldn't call myself, but I still struggle with the overwhelm issue you spoke of - and I just want to mention that because I think it's important for new artists to know that 'older' artists can still struggle with the exact same things. I think we probably just get better at dealing with it via giving ourselves a break when we do feel some of the more negative emotions a creative spirit can bring, and understanding it's part or the process/no big deal. And I just want to say too regarding following your dreams it is not only supremely inspiring for anyone reading to hear but the best example for your son too.

I'm looking for artists, 
DO YOU WANNA BE FEATURED???
Email me or click the link to find all the details here =)

Friday 4 July 2014

Weekly Ramble #4 ~ More Time For Art

Hi-ho! I am in the process of making videos and nearly forgot that I have a weekly ramble to write...but woohoo that means I have actually been getting back into the flow of being creative, which I've not felt like I have been much of the past few months.

I've been making art:
even at times when I really haven't felt like I have wanted to...

I have done couple of pages like this, I posted this one on Journal Workshops stating it was no masterpiece but I'd had a bad day, and it is proof once again to do art even against your own will, to feel better, which I did afterwards =) 

Spending time in my space to get inspired again. 
If you follow me on Facebook you may have seen this image I posted last night with the caption 'things are changing in the outdoor studio' :


And here is a peek of how it has turned out this far:

still going to do some more lil bits but here's an idea

...think I may do an updated video tour of this space once done as it finally feels like 'my space' is being stamped across it =)

And as I said I have also been making videos, 
and just because you were beautiful enough to read thus far here is an early look at a video I'll be posting over the weekend (which while the process of making a video might be considered creative, the actual content itself has absolutely nothing to do with art haha)...but I thought I'd post it while I am busy working on my other arty bits n pieces:


Hope you are managing to get your art in too =)
Much love

Tuesday 1 July 2014

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Tabitha Beck

Hi guys, 
first July, first July...crazy crazy!
For me posting this eve anyway, as two Jennibellie-posts collide in time (as I have just posted a new challenge & video in the Monthly Challenge Group on Journal Workshops, so checked that out if you have time, then hopped straight over to post this fabulous TAT - I'm not that stretched though apparently, as I've just made a new video tonight too woohoo!). It's all art go-go-go here, but for right now here's this week wise TAT post please enjoy:


Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.
Well, right now I am a bit more out of my mind than usual because we have a toddler running amok through the house…our youngest will be two years old in a couple of months. He is teaching me new things about painting I never thought of. He is finally beginning to be happy to work on his art and his projects while I work on mine for a few minutes at a time but I still don’t do too much while he’s awake. I’m a stay-at-home mom. The youngest there you’ve heard about. I also have a thirteen-year-old daughter and a ten-year-old son. The ten-year-old lives with his father during the week so he can attend school. The other two are homeschooled. I have been a writer my entire life…that’s where I started, oh, when I was ten or so, if not sooner. When I was younger, I remember drawing a lot too, always horses, I loved horses…I still do. I never did anything with my sketching as no one encouraged it, so I sort of set is aside as I got older…although I have always been a doodler. When my two oldest kids were younger, I taught myself to knit and then to crochet so I have that going for me – well, I did before the current youngest arrived—he does not like anything that takes my attention away from him, so fiber work is done in secret. A few years, I decided I wanted to get back into drawing and painting so I bought some random supplies and I played around. I thought I was doing fairly decent, playing with colored pencils and water color paints but someone broke into our house. Not much was taken, but they trashed the place—and that whole episode trashed my confidence completely. We moved but it took me nearly two years to feel ok enough to start playing with color again, that was four years ago now. Then last fall, something hit me, and I started signing up for some online art classes and I haven’t stopped since. I am constantly amazed at the amount of work I am creating, as well as the variety of work I am creating these days I went from oh there is no way I can draw a face that looks anything like a real face to hey, I wonder if I can get this sort of expression from this face or I wonder if I can convey this emotion in this spread and I am nowhere near finished learning and I think that is the craziest part of all I am only at the beginning of my journey. Eclectic is the best word I can come up with for what kind of artist I am, I draw, paint, love art journaling, making my own journals and mini-books, I sew, knit, crochet, make dream catchers, make dolls. I cover a lot of ground but right now I am mostly focused on sketching and painting…and my newest urge revolves around mandalas…sheesh…no pun intended there…everywhere I turn lately is something about mandala making, so with the Universe being so clear about that, I have no choice but to respond and investigate. I am above all else definitely a mixed media artist. I love learning about new tools, as well as new methods and tricks to accomplish whatever I am setting out to do. I always hope to have this beginner’s mind when I approach my artwork. I always want there to be more to learn, more to explore. That should cover the little bit about me and about my artwork, lol.


What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?
I would so love to say my Inner Critic, and/or Fear…but I have learned to just laugh and tell my Inner Critic the plan is to create utter ugly garbage, so how can I fail at that? I get a begrudging respect from her when things turn out nicely…and if they don’t, I am the one who gets to say HA! Just what I was aiming for…My biggest challenge is really two-fold: time and space. We are five people crammed into a small house and although we are planning to move into a larger space soon I have to fight to have room for not just myself and my work—but my supplies. I work in our dining room, which means everything has to be cleared off by dinnertime and then after dinner, I spread out again. My other nemesis is we can say Time, but it is really more like my toddler, the small wonder who 1 loves to help and 2 requires Mama’s attention 24/7. If I am writing morning pages, he will normally swipe the pen from my hand and write all over my writing. He does not want his own paper nor his own pen, he has to write over my words with my pen. If I am trying to read, he will knock the book out of my hand and crawl into my lap. Ditto for knitting and crocheting. Now, if he is in my lap, and I try to read sometimes I can read that way. I don’t dare try to knit or crochet with Mr. Squirmy in my lap…that won’t fly. After putting the boy to bed for the night, I usually start on my work. I try to work two to three hours a night on something, anything. My artwork and my writing keep me from going mad most days. There are days when I start at 11pm and work until I can’t keep my eyes open about 4am but I am so in the groove with something I just cannot quit. I fit in my work, be it writing or sketching or doodling or making notes, whenever and however I can during the day. I get into the paint and whatever else comes up when the baby naps during the day or sleeps at night. As he is getting older, I am working harder to convince him that he needs to do his own work. He is quite the painter these days because of this. The problem right now lies in the fact that his stuff takes him about five to ten minutes…my morning routine (morning pages, gratitude, and some doodling or paint flinging without reason) takes me about an hour…so I do what I can as I can. I am very lucky that my partner is so supportive of me and of my work. 


What do you most wish your art to achieve?
I want one thing really—to inspire others to pick up a pencil or a brush or a crayon or whatever and create something, anything. I want to encourage people to simply enjoy the process and forget about the end product. That was a difficult lesson for me in the beginning taking all those classes, I had to do everything “right” even though I knew it would take practice for me to get as good as the instructor I still had to do things “right”. The real issue is there is no right way and no wrong way, there is the way that makes you feel good about what you are doing and the way that makes you feel bad about what you are doing. Obsessing over doing it right was driving me bonkers so I started to purposely create ugly stuff, some of which turned out pretty nice in my opinion. I always post pieces of whatever I am working on - be it ugly or beautiful - I have had people tell me because I post the ugly as well as the pretty, it has encouraged them to not only post their ugly stuff, but to not get so caught up in the fact that it’s ugly. That is all I want to hear the process feels good to me; the process made me feel better. So what if you burn the end product when you are done? The healing work is done in the creation.


Do you ever lose your mojo, and if so, how do you get it back?
Losing my mojo…right now I am in one of those weird places. I normally consider myself a writer first and foremost.. but since about February of this year, I have not written much for publication. I have certain monthly responsibilities, like articles for two different newsletters, but I haven’t created any courses or anything the way I had planned to do this year. I have tons of notes. I have a ton of outlines. Any time I sit down to write something, my brain and my heart start to argue, leaving me out of the conversation, and I end up either working on some of my art class homework or emailing people I should have emailed weeks sooner. How do I get it back? I work on other things. I go for walks with the kids. I stare at the (wild) bunnies in our backyard. I watch the antics of my youngest. I watch leaves fall from trees. I read blogs by other artists and writers. I talk to my best friend on the phone. I doodle. I sketch. I push myself in other fields. If I am stuck on writing a workshop, I paint something. If I am stuck on a painting, I knit something. That sort of thing. However, I have also learned that sometimes when I think I have lost my mojo—I have not. Sometimes my mojo has gone into what I call incubation - my mojo has taken some time off to go on walk about without me, to gather information and delight, and to simmer and percolate with this new stuff for awhile…before returning to me to say, hey, here’s what we are going to do. I have been pushing myself lately to paint big, so I typically have a large canvas sitting on my easel at all times. I don’t force myself to work on these canvases. I allow my Muse to dictate the when and the how. My first larger canvas took nearly a month, from Full Moon to New Moon. I worked a little bit at a time. For five days (or rather, nights) I did nothing but doodle in paint, scribble, splatter and play and then gesso all over what I had done before leaving it until the next night. On that sixth day, I saw the perfect place for a face appear on the canvas, so I sketched the face. That was all. The next night, I saw a tree wanting to come into the piece, so I sketched in the tree. This is how that canvas went until one day it felt done. I have a new canvas up. It’s been up on my easel for over a month. It looks like some amazing abstract work, but I know it isn’t. Every day for two weeks, I took one color and I doodled in paint or flung paint, and then I left it. The next day, I used a different color. Then, it sat for a week. Out of the blue, I decided to pick up a completely different color and paint over some of what I had painted previously. That lasted for a week. Right now, it is hanging there, waiting for me to continue. I know it’s not done, but I also know it is not ready to be done. So I am letting it sit. This is not a loss of mojo. This is part of the creation process. That too was a difficult lesson for me to learn. What? I can’t sit down at night and an hour or two later have a completed painting or piece of some sort, ready to show off and put up for sale? What is wrong with me? Nothing. This is sometimes what the work needs in order to evolve to its fullest potential. Sometimes it is what I need to fully involve myself with my work, to put more of my heart and my soul in it, to bloom into my work, along with my work.

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art?
Our family website can be found here:
My personal blog can be found here:

Thanks for sharing Tabitha, I enjoyed hearing your wise outlook on art and hearing about your processes themselves which we don't often get so much in TAT so that was fabulous thank you. I (obviously) agreed with a lot of what you said, as I often preach the same outlooks on being accepting of your own artwork and creation process as what you have gone through here, and as you have done is so wonderfully I won't reiterate. I'll just say:
let's go now make some art and forget about the rest xoxo

Do you want to be a featured TAT artist??
To be featured email me or find all the details here =)

Much love
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