create.share.love

supporting handmade | Crystal Moody

One of my intentions this year is to primarily buy handmade and support small businesses. There is something special in buying a product someone made with love vs. buying something mass produced. Not that I don't buy mass produced things but to hold something in your hand that is handmade or made in small quantities is magical.

I found Crystal Moody on Instagram last year. She started a project called Year of Creative Habits where she decided to choose one creative habit each month and do it every single day. In 2014 she made a drawing every single day and shared it on her Instagram feed.

For 2015 she decided to make a painting every day. Her paintings are extremely good. She still shares them on Instagram but she also has a great blog. And she also sends out a weekly newsletter with lots of inspiring content and information.

At the beginning of April she opened a shop where she sells her paintings. They are beautifully framed and there is always only one of them.

I am very inspired by her attitude to make something each and every day. She formed a habit and it's amazing to follow her progress.

Please note: This is NOT a sponsored post. I bought that painting and just want to highlight people I admire.

Add Oranges to your Salad

When we were in Florence we ate salads with oranges, almond slices and thin Parmesan shavings on top several times. It was so good, that I knew, I had to try it at home. I made this salad at least six times this month.

I used one orange for two plates. I cut it in half and then into small pieces. I roasted the almond slices for a few minutes in a pan to give them more taste. They are much better when they are roasted.

Add the orange, the almonds and the Parmesan shavings onto your salad and enjoy.

Here you can find a recipe for my favorite salad

selling some paper packs

I'm currently selling some paper packs on Instagram. Each envelope is filled with 20 to 25 pieces of paper. Some 6x6, some 4x6 and some smaller ones. No two envelopes are the same.

For $10 (shipping included) you can get one envelope. And I send them worldwide.

You just have to leave a comment here or on Instagram with your Paypal-address and I'll send you an invoice. Please pay your invoice in 24 hours. As soon as I get your payment, I'll ship the envelope. 

on scrapbooking

In 2012 I made my first minibook, in 2013 I started with Project Life and in 2014 I made my first traditional scrapbook page. I never thought I would start with scrapbooking. I thought, this was nothing for me and that I wouldn't be good in it. The main reason why I started was the fact that I wanted to use my stuff I collected over the past two years. I had (and still have) way too much stuff to only fill Project Life spreads.

So I made my first page. I don't know where I found the inspiration for this page, but I'm pretty sure it was on Studio Calico. This layout is one of my favorite ones I made in the last 15 months. I just love a good grid.

Since this first page I created 46 layouts. 46 layouts in 15 months. Sometimes I made four in a month and then nothing for two months. I don't force it. When I feel inspired I sit down (well actually I'm standing) and work on a few pages.

I'm not an expert in scrapbooking (or in anything else) but I gained some experience in the last 15 months I was working on my layouts.

THE SUPPLIES

When I started with scrapbooking I already had a lot of supplies at home because I subscribed to the Project Life kits on studiocalico.com and I also went a few times to a local scrapbook store. Although my initial plan was to use those supplies I already had on hand, I bought more stuff. I bought the scrapbook kit at Studio Calico.

I love these kits and they are perfect for anyone who has no stuff at home but also for people who have a room full of supplies. They bring you everything you need to create a few pages. There are colored 12x12 papers, 12x12 patterned paper, embellishments and always a stamp or a stamp set. I like to challenge myself to only use what comes in those kits to create a page (or more). The limited supplies, which work perfectly together, inspire me.

I keep my layouts in a simple album. There is no other system than filling my first one until it's full and then start a new one. You can find some great posts about how to organize your albums on Ali Edwards' blog.

THE INSPIRATION

There are several sources I use for inspiration. The biggest one is again Studio Calico. They have a great member gallery, creative team gallery and I especially love their Sunday Sketch blog posts where they share three sketches (a card sketch, a Project Life sketch and a layout sketch) each week. Use the sketch as a starting point for your own layout. You don't have to make it exactly similar but you can. Those sketches really helped me in the beginning to get a feeling for layouts. And I still like to pick them up from time to time.

Three months ago I signed up for the Story Kits from Ali Edwards. The Kits and stamp sets are amazing but even more inspiring is the class content you get every month. I find so much inspiration to tell better and more complete stories in that class room. Each month we focus on another theme.

I also like to browse Instagram for inspiration. There are so many amazing layouts under the hashtags #studiocalico and #craftthestory. 

There are also other places you can find inspiration. For example the creative jumpstarts with Marcy and Stephanie.

SHARING MY LAYOUTS

Except one page I shared every single layout I made in my user gallery on Studio Calico (you don't have to subscribe to their kits to create an account). I also share them on Instagram under the hashtag #layoutsbyandrea.

I don't think you have to share what you make, but I highly recommend making photos of your layouts. When I see my pages through a photo I can see it with different eyes. Sometimes it highlights that there is something missing on the page. It just doesn't look complete. For example this page I made. In real life it looks okayish, in the photo, just plain boring. 

I like to share my pages to get feedback but also to provide inspiration for other people. If no one would share what they made, no one could find inspiration.

And I guess if I haven't shared my layouts online, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to be featured in a magazine.

MY WORKSPACE

You can find a video of my workspace in this blog post. I like to stand while working on my creative projects.

Please note: This is NOT a sponsored post. I just share my experience.

27 handmade items | printing on fabric

To print something onto fabric was on my list for a very long time. I like the idea that you can make a stamp (or use one you have on hand) and create your own pattern for your fabric.

Totally unrelated to this project: This is project number 13 so I'm far from finishing the 27 handmade items on time. But that's okay. Sometimes we just have to move on. Read more about that at the beginning of May.

I own this book by Lena Corwin for several years now and it's very inspiring. She shares some great printing techniques and there are also some patterns in the book. I could have used one of them but decided to make my own one.

I got a Speedball Carving Block and carved this circle with a line in the middle. Carving this one was so much easier than carving a linoleum board!

For this project I used a light gray linen fabric I already had on hand. With a brayer I added the fabric paint to my stamp and stamped a straight line of circles. I made sure to always rotate the circle. This paint doesn't have to be sealed with an iron but it had to dry for at least 24hours.

After the paint dried I sewed my pouch. I didn't use a pattern because I learned how to make one in a sewing class I went to a few years ago. But here is a great tutorial for making a zippered pouch. You just have to adjust the measurements.

I really love how the pattern looks like on the gray fabric. So simple but really interesting.

I keep my knitting needles in this pouch.

In the year I'm 27 I want to create 27 handmade items I've never done before. I want to experience new material and try new techniques. You can follow my progress here and read more about how this project came together here.