Oh My Felted Goodness!

The approach of autumn always makes me feel like I want to get cosy and snuggly, and I usually associate wool with that feeling. 

I love felting! 

I always return to it when I want to feel comforted and calm. It's time consuming but very relaxing. The thing I love about felting is that you can't completely control the final outcome, so it's a great activity to do as a reminder and practice of holding things loosely and going with the flow. 

I have been making lots of felted flowers. I use them for the bags & other things that I sell but I do actually just love making them.

I also use the flowers to adorn my window display which brings me much joy.

My felted flowers look especially wonderful in a woodland setting.

I have been working on a Junk Journal inspired by autumn, and the cover is made from denim and felt and features one of my felt flowers.

If you'd like to browse my various Felt related items, here's the link to my shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ayozie

So here's to the approach of Autumn, and all the newness that a change of season brings.

Thanks and very much love.

xxxx

Staying awake.

It's the start of a new term and I currently feel inspired and focused and ready to work, especially after a lovely summer break but I don't always feel this way.
Through the years I've had patterns or cycles of feeling awake and inspired, and then periods of time, when it felt like I was half asleep with absolutely no creative energy at all. 

(I have written about this before. Click here to read that blog post.)

Page from my art journal.

More recently I've realised that the key to staying awake is to make myself stay awake! 
To make sure that I stay inspired and motivated to create. 

Inspiration can be cultivated, it doesn't just fly on the wind like a bit of pollen that pollinates a flower, although that is sometimes true. I find it more helpful to think of inspiration as a plant that is rooted in discipline. It produces flowers and fruit, and is beautiful in every season.

Discipline is the soil that inspiration grows in. 

Routine is not the enemy of inspiration, it can be its friend. 

I used to find that in the periods of awakeness, I would get overwhelmed. 
Colour would become so much more vibrant and it felt like pretty much everything was interesting! This would lead to sensory overload and I would get frustrated because it wasn't possible to execute all the ideas that would come into my head, songs, music, artwork, patterns for dresses, craft projects and so on. 
So usually what I tended to do was to shut down. I didn't even realise I'd done it. So then I'd have long periods of time of just existing, and then I'd wake up, become overwhelmed, and shut down again. It's a bit like if you plug your ears for a while and then release them, the noise all around would be overwhelming at first.
But now, I'm starting to embrace being awake, and staying awake, trusting that the initial shock and overwhelm of it will die down.

I find that a regular routine helps a lot, making time everyday to do a creative exercise like art journaling, collage, making something, or just simply writing an idea down. 
Getting ideas out of my head onto paper removes the panic I have that if I don't execute it straight away, I'll forget it or the inspiration will be wasted. 
Something to record audio like a phone, or voice recorder helps too, as song ideas tend to pop into my head randomly before bed!

Keeping my creative mind engaged has been key to an improvement in my mood, perspective and general well being.
I find that taking daily walks really helps, keeping eyes and ears open. 
It could be paying attention to the simplest things, the way that paint is peeling from a wall, or a bit of rust, or the vibrant colours of a flower, these are all wonderful sources of art inspiration.

So here's to a new season of awakeness and discovery
With very much love.
xxx

Collage!

I love collage! 

The act of simply sticking bits of colourful and pretty papers to a page is one that I find tremendously rewarding and lots of fun. I like that you never know exactly how it will turn out, but the end result is usually always a pleasant surprise.

I usually always begin art work, especially in my art journal, with a bit of collage, as it acts as a catalyst for the rest of the page in terms of colour choices or even the overall feel/emotion of the page.

I have started a mini journal just for collage. I made it using the cover of an old book, and have been using it for pages devoted solely to collage.

I also use collage to decorate the covers of journals, that I use, or sell.

The front cover of one of my art journals.

back of the art journal.

A journal that I sold on Etsy.
The cover was completely collaged with different papers.

Here are a couple of boards that I'm going to use for a journal cover. 

I really love how these turned out.

Here are some of my art journal pages that have collage as a feature. I love the combination of the papers with acrylic paint.

So there you have it!

 A celebration of collage, the simple of application of paper and glue to paper. 

Have a go, you'll love it!

 Allow yourself to have fun with it, without overthinking. Approach it in the way a child would do. There's lots of freedom to be found.

Till next time.

Much love.

xxx

More Journaling Fun ~ Vintage Style Junk Journals.

I love junk journals! They originally came about as a way of using up junk paper, like old mail, packaging etc, but the concept has developed into journals that are full of lots of beautiful inserts, tuck spots, and lots of interest. I love the creativity involved in creating these journals and the fact that each one is unique and has had so much thought poured into it.

I've started a You Tube channel!.. and guess what the current focus is, ...junk journals of course!
I made a vintage style junk journal with tea dyed papers and with tea as the main theme. So all the added design papers are tea themed and I've even used emptied out tea bags as decoration. I sewed lots of lace trim to the pages, it's really pretty.

Here is the video if you are interested in seeing more...

I also made another vintage style journal with birds and roses as a theme. This junk journal was more true to its name as I used some old amazon packaging for the cover, onto which I collaged lots of pretty papers and varnished with mod podge to make it more durable.
There is also lots of stitching in this journal.

The Front

The Back

Here is a video if you are interested in seeing more...

There is also a speeded up process video for this journal. You can view this on my Instagram page.

Both of the journals in this post are listed in my Etsy Shop.
Hope you've enjoyed the glimpses into my recent creative ventures.
Much love.
xxx

Journals and Notebooks

I have always been a lover of notebooks and anything to do with paper and stationery. I learnt a couple of years ago how to make notebooks using a simple bookbinding technique and have been completely hooked since!

I recently went on a songwriting retreat in the beautiful East Sussex countryside with our worship team from church, and I led a notebook making workshop. We made notebooks which we then wrote our songs in.
It was so much fun!

I have also been beavering away making fabric covered journals for my Etsy Shop. These include some junk journals and larger art journals. It has been a joy to make these. I kinda wish I could keep them all, but that wouldn't be very practical, seeing as I am trying to build a business too.

Large Art Journal with a variety of papers, mainly watercolour paper.

Another Large Art Journal..

Fabric Covered Junk Journals, with papers mainly A5 in size..

Here is a video of the junk journals in more detail and how I use mine.

Here is a Youtube video of the fabric covered art journals in more detail, as well as an art journal page in progress. I really enjoyed filming this.

I love journals because they keep a record of our lives, of the everyday things and simple moments which could so easily be forgotten. I resolved this year to keep a record of each day and it's a practice that I am enjoying doing. It helps me to savour my life, to become more aware of the present and to  appreciate the precious people around me. 

So here's to journaling in all its glory!

Much love.

xxx