I'm in week 21 already and I wanted to postpone my post but then I said to myself no, you won't write for 5 weeks again so I won't :)

​The truth is, I don't have much to show because with Spring being here and the weather somehow weird but also very nice I have been spending my time outside mostly. Which means not that much creating got done. But I am keeping up with my #25daysofteacoffee challenge! And that's great me thinks :)

I have been sewing a bit too, this I must admit. First I made something for myself - I put an applique on a bought top and I love it. I did it by hand and I hope the future fraying of the gecko fabric won't ruin everything. I'm hoping it'll actually make everything way cooler :) 

Then I made a new bag for our climbing rope and I managed to recycle all the good things from the old one. So the blanket is now sewn on the bottom of the new one and the strap and the zipper were reused. It came out really well and it functions perfectly. Mission accomplished in my view :)

Here are 15 squares of the tea/coffee challenge I made up till yesterday. I'm making them at breakfast and then it depends on the day - sometimes I manage to keep adding to them during the day and other times they stay as they were made in the morning. I do like making them though but I very  much dislike this paper that I'm using :) But I'm sticking with it so that they will all be the same in the end.

I know this is short but that's how it was creating wise :)

I hope you're all having good times, if not, I hope you get back in the good soon.

With much love,
♥
​nini

Seriously? Writing down a log for the past four weeks? While being in the fifth one already? Well yeah, why not. I was busy :D 

Spring arrived which means it's time to spend much more time outside - hiking, climbing or just walking. One gets a bit too tired for art making which is not exactly good, so with today, I am setting up a new challenge to get back into the groove of creating again. Hiking, climbing and having time for my friends is still ON though, because friends and the like minded souls out there are what makes everything SO much better. 

​I'll post about the challenge in my next blog post - let's keep it to itself :)

I really wasn't creative a lot in these four weeks but I did do a fun collaboration with a friend of mine who makes dog collars and accessories - here is her beautiful site GALGINA. Because I was visiting my dear friend Mo this month and I wanted to surprise her with a new collar for her little furry friend Simona (from Galgina) suggested I paint the fabric myself. I loved the idea so I made it. I went with green because it's Mo's favourite colour and I knew it will look awesome on her Snoopy :) I wasn't wrong me thinks:

I managed to make myself a My Pages inspired travel journal a day before leaving but I did a different type. The size is the same as the original book but the pages are not treated in the same way and the craft paper I used was a different one. I wasn't exactly using it but I did a few test pages in it and loved it very very much. Here's one spread on which I tested Mo's oil pastels which turned out to be just simple crayons. But in A LOT of different and yummy colours. She gifted them to me so that I can keep on experimenting with them ♥ So sweet! 

Now that I'm back from my very relaxing week with dear Mo and after a week of getting back into my reality it's definitely time to start doing my work again. I miss being creative a lot and it really is time I put a bit more effort into squeezing art into my days.

Oh, I did watch quite a few of my online classes in the meantime! Sadly none of them made me pick up a brush but I still felt like I was getting new things into my head. Which is always good, right?

Don't forget about my new 25 Days Challenge! Reveal is in my next post ;)

Hope you're all good! Do tell what you've been up to.

♥

​nini

Then, OMG, can't believe I nearly forgot about this :D  I finally spoke about my SUPER SECRET PROJECT I kept mentioning for ages :) It's LIVE now and it's all about some very special books! 

I came up with a really cool design for creative books - creative as in you can use them for writing or sketching - and I decided to offer them to those interested. BUT! I didn't make enough to re-open my Etsy shop just yet so this is something I am still working on. I made and published a special web site just to explain these books that I call "My Pages" - not mine per se but made by me for you to call your own. ​

Have a look here and see these pages and books for yourself. There's a sign up to be notified about the release date at the end of the fist page, so yes, please, have a looksie ;)

Then, pretty much on a whim, I made a little design for a contest held by our enamel pots making company called Emo. My mom pointed it out and I said to myself sure, why not, I love these vintage looking pots and mugs and plates so I came up with a small design they can print either just as is or use as a pattern. There were three things to take care of - one color only, small 6x6 cm and it needed to have a dot in it. I don't know why exactly a rather well known cookie came to mind but I guess it had to do with a thought of a full mug of white coffee and the need for a cookie to dip in :)  I like what I did and I very much hope they do too. I'll know in two weeks so please keep your fingers crossed (not literally of course :D ). ​

Week 13 brought a lot of family time - two lunches and a trip to IKEA where I finally bought myself the "art supplies" trolley I've been eyeing for years now. 

Not much time to be creative in this week but I did manage to finish painting a batch of pages for my books and make a watercolor sketchbook for my dear friend whom I'm visiting this month (already!). I actually finished her sketchbook today, it's still drying and I'm hoping it'll open up well and function properly. The challenge was to re-use her old planner's covers (soft covers) and well, it was a bit tricky to do it. I'll post a photo of it in my next log where it belongs.

Now let's see what this week brings! :)

Wishing you all a wonderfully full and creative times.

♥

​nini

It started with seeing the heart shapes for me. I realized it wasn't just a coincidence when I started seeing them after having troublesome times within myself. Being immersed in negative ego thinking and the downward spiral it triggers, the hearts reminded me that what I KNEW was right and OK was indeed so. Now I know they are there from my guides and spirit friends and I love taking notice of them. 

These signs can come in many forms: words we hear, images we notice, songs that trigger an a-ha moment, smells that transport us somewhere and show us something. We are definitely being helped and guided but it is on us to notice it.

Do you have similar experiences too? 

I was still doing Rea Missigman word challenge in week 7. This morphed into a sort of mediation, signs again, answers to questions that I am, or even not, aware of. 

"Unfold"- I just let the page unfold itself and I was astonished how quick that was :)
​"Whittle" - I learned a new word and the moment I read the first meaning this idea came to mind. There is gold colour under the black gesso and I whittled it out ;)

"Connect" - we need to connect to our higher selves more, every day, in order to be what we came here to be. learn and accomplish. 
"Evolve" - it happens every day, holding back just slows it, better to go in the flow and start flying. 

"Notice" - how boundaries dissolve when we get out of the box. They literally dissolved, those boxes I put down :)
"Poise" - another new word that triggered day/night, Yin/Yang imagery. But do take notice, light always seems to seep into the darkness. ​♥

"Tend" - practically grew on it's own. Really. I just needed to remove the limitations.
"Balance" - can be achieved in many ways, simple too. And usually the simple works best. 

I also made myself a planner for this year - need to start working hard on my big thing and holding myself accountable should help with this. My online friend Szilvia inspired me to do it just as she inspired me to start blogging again. Talking about noticing signs eh? Our friends are always great teachers. Thank you Szilvia ♥ Btw, Szilvia makes awesome jewellery and paints beautifully so it's definitely worth checking out her page.

And because I kinda dislike checking my phone every time I need to know what time it is (it holds way toooo many distractions) I made me this new fabric band to attach my old Swatch on. It works but needs adjustments so I'll be making another one soon. What can I say, I do like to sew :)


So wow, quite a bit of creativity got unleashed. Now let's get on with this week, shall we.

With much love,
♥
nini

P.S.
Thank you so much for the comments, I love getting feedback and learning from you, so write away, I mean it! ♥

There are days when my purpose and path are really clear to me and I just know everything is moving into the right direction but then there are days when I am totally in the dark and it is just as if everything was erased from my mind. Erased and forgotten. What helps? Meditation, being creative and going out into the nature. Every. Single. Time.

I return from the abyss with all this clarity, fresh ideas and willingness to just go and do it until Ego kicks back in. But you know what? I'm not giving up! I put Sia's awesome "Never Give Up" song on and I move forward.  

What do you do? What brings you back?

Moving onto the creative log part. 

As I wrote last week I jumped into the training mode with making little works in My Pages book. As it happened I came across (thank you Universe! ♥ ) Rae Missigman's prompts for her Art Marks challenges. She posts words/prompts for a whole month in advance and then you work with them any way you like. There are a few hashtags to follow on IG and as always, it's really interesting to see how others interpret the same prompt. Here's a link to her page where you can read more about it - LINK

The first prompt I tackled was "CREATE" and it it so visible how rigid I was. It's been a while since I did anything and it showed. The right page was done immediately after the left one and I just let go of all the expectations and just experimented with my new acrylic inks :)  I also really liked the words that came to mind when I decided to add something into the spiral - "every day holds an opportunity of becoming the best day ever".

"ATTENTION" brought down these clouds made entirely with my fingers. It was fun using my brand new chalk pastel I got because I really liked the colour. I also realized there are many attention seekers out there competing for my focus so this was a very interesting perspective on something that was eating me up at the time. Thank you Universe again! 

"INVEST" - I loooove how this one bloomed :)  We must definitely invest in things that expand us in order to bloom.

This was just a test spread for the inks but I must admit I am smitten with these colorful splotches. Thank you Rae for teaching me how to make them. 


This week certainly flew by quite fast but I am working on something BIG in the background and can't just share yet what that is. All I can say is: it'll be inspiring! :)

Thank you for being here. Take care please.

With much love,
♥
nini

I'm noticing a pattern in my creative out pours and it has to do with "feeling free" to be able to do my work. Free as in having no tasks upon me that would kill my wish to even start. And this is bad because who has all the time in the world, right?

I think the solution to this is rather simple - it's in creating MORE - in shorter periods of time across the day. Why? Because it  will make me learn how to jump into the creative mode if I train myself to. So this is something I will try and do from now on. It is easier to take half an hour to be creative than 3 hours or so. Maybe even less, it's the "showing up" that matters and being able to connect to our higher selves to bring down what we need to and heal in the process.
​
How do you deal with such a problem if you have it? I'd love to know and learn so please, comment away.

Moving onto the Logging part of this blog now :)​

This week was mostly about watercolors. I finally went into the practicing mode and did two pieces inspired by Danielle Donaldson's "Be Still" on-line class. They are rather addictive to make and fun and I must admit I do love how they turned out. I did not do exactly what she teaches but I am contemplating about how to finish them off by adding some words to them.

I was going to take out one of my washi tapes and seeing that full drawer again made me go into the DIY mode. Like the quick and furious DIY mode. Not pretty, not fancy, not even exact - it was all about an useful end result, that was really all I was going for. And you know what? I love it. Will have to make another drawer as there is less space in it now due to all the tidiness but it works perfectly. 

Here's a quick visual guide through the process if you need some inspiration:

I also managed to finish up 3 ATC cards that I owed for quite a while. I sure hope their new owners like them. One in particular was very challenging (that's why I was putting it off for so long) and one I needed to do again as the first one got lost in transit. The best part in this ATC exchange thingie is packing up the cards to send away. This year I'm using my small stitched envelopes made from recycled craft paper which I just ADORE. Really. I think craft paper is one of the coolest papers out there! How do you feel about it?

Oh and while I had my beloved colored pencils out I made two wooden brooches. I made these designs back in 2015 and they were really loved so I'm thinking about making some more to sell. What do you think? Do you prefer pins or pendants/necklaces? 

This was it for this snowed in week :) Thank you so much for reading, I hope you'll visit next week too.

With much love,
​nini