Creative Blogger Nomination

I am honored to have been nominated by the very talented Karen Day for the Creative Blogger Nomination! Karen's Creations are always elegant & beautiful. Often times her creations are also very humorous. I'm always surprised by her art and get a giggle out of her stamped images (with impeccable coloring) & funny sentiments!

The Creative Blogger is ultimately a Blog Hop of artists that will inspire you through their creativity.

Meet new bloggers by hopping along and reading through the answers to these four questions.

1. What am I currently working on?

My husband and I celebrated 20 years of marriage recently and I turned 40! We celebrated both events with a little weekend getaway to beautiful Solvang, California. If you have never been there it is a quaint Danish community nestled in the rolling hills and vineyards of Southern California. {Although I liked one of the gentleman's shirts that described it as "A quaint little drinking village with a Danish problem"!} We were there during their Danish Days Celebration and I would highly recommend that you visit during this festivity.

So... currently I'm working on creating scrapbook pages to capture our adventure. I have so many wonderful photo's from picturesque danish village scenes, dancers in costume and lots of food and wine pictures! Here is a collage of just a few of the photo's I will need to scrapbook. I will try to post the pages when they are done!

2. How does my work differ from others in its genre?

This is a difficult question! As you will see most of the artist's on this hop are Close To My Heart Consultants, therefore we have the same products at our disposal to create with. I try to set myself apart by thinking about using a product differently or mixing paper collections to create a unique blend. I try to keep things clean and simple as time is of the essence! Staying on top of the latest trends is also important when treating my hobby as a business or reflecting "the times" when I'm creating a scrapbook layout. This card is a great example of mixing colors and patterns. It also features the ever popular honeycombs and Washi Tape to stay on "trend". The black tulle is used unexpectedly as embellishment behind the focal image rather than just ribbon. 

3. Why do I create what I do?

When meeting people for the first time that are interested in scrapbooking or simply CTMH I always share with them what my "why" is.

I was always creative; having a crafty mom and a father who was the art teacher at my Junior High. I sewed clothes for my Barbie dolls, painted on canvas or wood and loved making floral wreaths. As soon as I married and had children I was taking tons of photo's and slapping them in those awful magnetic photo albums. I was introduced to CTMH in 2002 or 2003?! The consultant had me interested in card making immediately, but it was not until later that I became interested in preserving my photo's in better quality albums and using high quality products. In 2005 my Grandfather passed away as did my husband's Grandmother. They had so many loose photo's in boxes with no names, dates or places on them. It was frustrating to sort through them and not have details. It was from that experience that I would properly scrapbook my memories, with details, names and dates! I know it will help me remember "old times" and I'm glad that my kids will also have these memories!

On a side note~ I also find that I need a little creative time to de-stress! About 2 weeks ago, after a long exhausting week I was super cranky. I sat down in my craft room and worked on some Halloween cards for a card exchange this month. After only an hour or so I realized that I wasn't nearly as stressed and was breathing calmly again. What a difference a couple hours of creative therapy makes!

4. How does my creative process work?

My creative process works in four ways~

1. I take life experiences that I have captured on film and create something. Just like I talked about in the first question basically.  Whether its a life event, celebration, vacation or just those little moments you don't want to forget they inspire me to create! I love choosing a layout, papers and colors based on my photographs. I feel like my scrapbooks are truly those items that can never be replaced. I want to build a vault to store them in so they are safe from flood or fire!! :)

2. I am often inspired by other artists and their work. I enjoy challenging myself also so I will often play along with a sketch or color challenge. This brings out creativity that I never expect or a color combination I would never think to use!

3. "If you create it, they will be inspired!" Another consultant mentioned in their answer that they dream about it. Some may think this is silly, but it has happened several times. I can particularly remember visioning a cupcake card and waking up to create it. Granted I was a little hopped up on Nyquil that night, but I was inspired to head to my crafting room at 2 in the morning! I had the most adorable cupcake cards created for an upcoming swap by the time the sun was up!

4. Occasionally I create out of necessity. I am sometimes asked to create something for a family member, friend or co-worker. It is a challenge to be able to take someone's vision and make it reality. I am always thrilled when they love what I was able to create for them.

One last note on my creative process would be this~ When I start feeling pressure or stuck for ideas that is when I take a break! Forcing creativity is no fun, you want it to be a pleasant experience...a time to relax and let the stress melt away...like embossing powder under the heat gun!! {tee-hee}

I hope you found some inspiration here today and have gained some new ideas or solutions to your own creative process!

My nomination is for a very talented lady that I follow on my Crafty Blog list. Jody Gustafson is so good about posting often so there is never a lull in ideas or inspiration. You can find her beautiful creations on Cre8n' Memories Blogspot.   See what you think for yourself!