Merry Christmas

Just popped on to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope you have a great holiday and I look forward to having you back on here in 2008 where I hope to post alot more and be alot more creative!

was I creative?

well I did work on some more christmas cards which I was very happy with and I had fun making them. The windmill cards are fun to make because I get to cut squares, then fold them a couple of times and then attempt to glue them all together to make a nice windmill. It seems to have worked so far so I am happy. It makes me think of a rosette and hopefully my family will like them. I did a couple more small snowman cards as well, I got some white wrapping at the weekend with something so I have been using that for a snow effect on the bottom. I think it just adds a little something to the card. I only need to make a couple more cards to finish my family. I was going to make them for close friends as well but don't think I am going to have time so I will buy some nice cards to send to them and still continue to make snowman cards. Then I will have some made for next year already done to send to my friends :)

I also did some work in the journal I have at the moment - I tried to not to worry about what other people would think of the work but just write and add onto the page what I wanted to add. In the end it was only squares of snowflake paper and sparkly card so it is still a sparse page as such with writing but I was struck by the idea from the paper and I just decided to go with it. I thought about taking some pictures but then realised the person who's journal it is might see it. Then it madew me think about how if you never take a picture of it, its like secret work that only the other people working in the journal and the owner will ever see. Part me thought thats sad because you want to share your work with others and the other part thought wow, it means if you see it you are a part of something special.

I have a problem

a creative problem and that is that I worry too much about my work and accepting myself to just create what I want. I don't actually consider and accept I am an artist, I say I do craft bits. I worry about how my work will look compared to other people's and the style of it rather than just going with the flow and coming up with whatever is in my mind. Even now as I have been working in a journal for a journal swap. I write what I want and put bits of the page and I look at it and think "what will others think, I bet they will think it is no good" because I have mainly written on the page, than been arty on the page.
I realise that this is a block to creating some good work because the idea's never make it out of my head onto the paper. I have abused them and then discarded them without even giving them a chance to take life. I am about to leave work and I am going to finish my christmas cards and then I think I am going to just see what Idea comes into my head and run with it. Just see where it takes me. I definately will need to just experiment more and have some fun whilst on my 2 week christmas break from work!
Anyway a bit of a download from my brain :)

Journals

I am currently in a journal swap with some mailart people and I currently have seren's journal and so I have done a couple of pages worth of work in it. I have some idea's for other pages I am going to do. I am off to Panto tonight and so think I will do a page on it when I get back this evening. It will be late when I get back but I know that all the memory and excitement of the panto will be there and thats what I will want to come across in my page. We are seeing Dick Whittington and I am going with a couple of work colleagues.
I will take some pictures of my work and post them up so you can all see. I have been quite bad in photogrpahing my work and showing you all so I aim to be better with this. I think pictures help and make it much easier to comment. Plus then you can see the colours.

Rushing by

Its the 12th already and less than 2 weeks until christmas. Woohoo. Bring on the present giving. I know this is not all what christmas is about but I love seeing what I am going to get for christmas and seeing other people's reactions to the presents I give them.
I spend the 2 days of christmas working my round different sides of the family so make sure that everyone gets some christmas cheer.
This means that yes I am still behind on crafty stuff however I have 2 weeks over christmas as I have taken some vacation time and so I am hoping to enjoy having some time to just relax and have a play in a creative way.

We moved into our house at the weekend and although I am not going to permanently in it until mid february it was great fun and of course tiring. Lots of moving of Sam stuff and heading round shops whilst we had a van hired to buy a bed and a washing machine. We were putting our bed together at 10pm at night on the friday so that we at least had a bed to sleep in.
It was sad to have to leave the house, after having put alot of work into getting the house, it seemed such a shame to not be in it. But I am heading back up this weekend. We are thinking about boarding the loft and doing some gardening work so that it looks less unruly.

Christmas is coming

Now we are in December I am excited, really starting to feel it now. We watched the Santa Claus on saturday evening which I had never seen and enjoyed alot. Always good for puttin in the christmas spirit. I will be watching Elf at some point because I love that film. Not sure if I own it on DVD though. I also need to do some serious christmas shopping as although was good and got some throughout the year, I have done like zero since and therefore I am behind. Need to get on it!

I did step up and do some more work on my Christmas cards last night and so have finished some. I moved on with some of my snowmen cards and I know have 2 big ones complete and 2 small ones. Thinking that I will be getting them out to my oversea's people. My homemade christmas cards are mainly going to family as don't have enough time to make some for friends as well. But did buy some nice winnie the pooh cards so they will still get cheery cards.
I also working on some snowflake cards which involves some folding technique that makes like a giant snowflake which is not too hard to make so I am enjoying making them. I only did one last night but I am planning some more as they will look nice.
I also did some work with some peel off's which I am not always keen on working with but I think in the end it did make a nice effect and although a simple looking card, I still think it looks nice none the less.

Have been busy working on my ATC's for the christmas garland in one of my ATC groups and I am behind as want to get them off in the next couple of days and need to stitch like 12 so need to really but all my spare time into it and get them off ASAP because Erika needs to get them completed and sent off to the overseas people at least so might send those I have done and then send the 2nd batch as quick as I can!