I've been up to all sorts of creative shenanigans lately, as you can see from the photo. I thought I'd catch you up on my world and ask about what you've been making and inspired by lately.
Stitching a bunch of tiny beaded embroidery kits on perforated paper
Deciding between learning stumpwork embroidery or goldwork in 2021
I'm also planning out a new-recipe-a-month experiment for 2021. There will be pictures of food next year! And of course I'm finishing up the lessons for New Year's Ease. There's still time to join me for that, so jump on in!
What about you? What have you been creating or inspired by? Any plans for new projects? Drop me a note in the comments--I'd love to hear about your creative life.
I plan my own birthday celebration every year. That way, I know I'll be doing something I enjoy. I'll have fun and have good memories to look back on. Usually it involves going somewhere with my partner and a couple of my close friends. We've gone to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, on a scenic train ride at the coast, to the Oregon Garden... All sorts of fun and memorable adventures, always with a meal at someplace we haven't tried, and usually involving at least a little bit of a road trip.
This year, of course, things are a little different. I'm doing a small adventure on Saturday--just the two of us going to the Oregon Zoo then getting carry-out Bavarian food for dinner and a movie at home.
To make up for the more low key birthday celebration, I decided to have three days of celebrations. Today was getting art supplies (I actually went in a store! My favorite little embroidery shop, where they limit customers and require masks and have you use hand sanitizer, so about as safe as you can get outside your house). And there will be carry-out dinner (Hawaiian!) and a movie tonight. And tomorrow night, too. And then Saturday's adventure.
So here's what I'm feeding my Muse with for my birthday weekend:
Above: Some NaNoWriMo planning, a lovely box of oil pastels, a couple of art journal pages in process, a pile of paint and art crayons and stamps and cross stitch kits, and flowers
Now I'm going to go make a swatch page with all of my fun new toys and finish the cute little cross stitch on paper kit I'm working on so I can jump into one of these new ones. I hope you're having fun and find what appeals to your Muse out there. And remember, you never have to wait for someone else to invite you to the fun. Go out and make your own adventures! Have fun!
The past few weeks, I've been all about cutting and tearing paper and gluing it down. Here's one piece in progress (above). And here's one I finished about two weeks ago:
Both of these came from mini classes with Jennifer Chamberlin of The Maker Beehive. She does really fun collage pieces, very vintage looking, and very relaxing. Her classes are great for beginners but still fun for people who've been doing collage and mixed media for a while.
I have one more piece from her classes I'm planning to make--pumpkins! Because it's September, and that means fall and Halloween and pumpkins! The cutting and tearing and gluing is what my Muse is all about right now.
A few of the things feeding my Muse right now. Index card art, mixed media painted backgrounds, creating a little shelf garden.
In the early days of MuseCraft, I used to write a blog series called "On My Table." It was pictures, combined with a bit of writing, of projects I was working on that week, and it was really fun to do (although trying to do a new project every week got a little hectic).
I've been missing those sharing posts lately, telling about the things that are inspiring me, what's stirring my Muse. And I know when I share the things I'm making on Facebook and Instagram, people seem to really enjoy it, and we end up having really good conversations. So I decided to bring back sharing posts, but they're not going to be just things I'm making. I thought it might be fun to share all the things that perk up my Muse's interest (Muse Appeal, get it? I know--I'm too funny)--books I'm reading, songs I'm loving, food I'm eating, all of that.
This week's Muse Appeal is a list. And just so you know, I love lists! There will probably be lots of lists.
A few of the things delighting my Muse this week:
Daisy Yellow's Index Card a Day (ICAD)--it's almost finished for this year! I've been making collages on my cards every day using gel printed papers I made during a 30 day gel printing challenge I did last September, so I'm getting to make some art and also use things I already had.
Making backgrounds for mixed media pieces using techniques I learned last week in Seth Apter's class "One Layer Away." These are so much fun--I know there will be a lot more in my future. Pretty sure my art journal is going to get a lot of these backgrounds.
Looking up tutorials and info on plants and decorations for my new container garden I set up just outside my back door so I can see it from my perch on the sofa.
Continuing work on the little embroideries from #The100DayProject. When I'm finished, they're going to become a mobile for my studio! (You can see all 100 days of this on my Instagram--the link is over there on the right.)
Those are the big things capturing my attention right now. (That and a studio remodel, but I'm stalled on that right now, so more on that another time.) What about you? What's appealing to your Muse right now? Leave a comment or pop over to my Facebook page and let me know. I love hearing what everyone's enthused about!
