Creative Blog Hop

Good evening, welcome back :-).  This evening I am honoured that I have been tagged as part of the Creative Blog Hop and I was tagged by the ultra amazing Rachel, if you have never visited her before, please do as her work is truly inspiring :-).  This blog hop is past on from crafter to crafter and is about finding out more about each crafter, so here goes lol.

My name is Kerry, but I love being called Kezzy by my friends.  I am a part time

accountant and work from home a lot because I have degenerating Disc Disease which is

really bad and can keep me from getting around sometimes.

I live with my partner Adrian who is an electrical engineer, I also have two children,

Bradley 15 who is working towards getting into Army College next year and

Shannon (almost 18 in a month and a half as I am being regularly reminded!!!)

and she is at college studying gaming, website design, apps etc.

I am 40 next Monday and I think I'm ok with that, but I do keep looking at my kids

thinking I don't feel old enough to have an 15 and 17 year old lol.

 

Our dog is called Jasmine, she is going to be 13 in October, we love her sooooo much.

My life inspiration is my sister, who is 18years older then me and is amazing,

I'm proud to have her as a sister :-)

My very best mate, I couldn't do without her, she is always there for me :-)

and she is holding her daughter Lacie-Louise who I adore :-).

 We love to camp and here is our tent, as you can see inside on the table is some beading :-)

I started crafting after a break down in 2006.  It was Easter and I felt guilty not being

able to take the kids out, I sent my partner off to the shop to get some kid craft and he came

back with card blanks, papers and gorgeous embellishments, not sure the kids ever got to play lol.

These are my very first cards made Easter 2006

 

I started my blogging journey in January 2011 and I love everything about it, from sharing

my creations, doing tutorials and step by steps, to meeting so many crafty friends who I have

had the privilege to have met Rachel who tagged me :-).

At the moment I am working on several bits, but the major thing that has slowed my blogging

at the moment is doing a complete craft room change around to make place for all

my mixed media products.  Since working more with paints, mediums etc most have been living

on the desk, floor and hanging off shelves lol.  I have to admit I didn't realise how big a job this has been

and I have had to buy way more storage eeeeek.

My Craft Room in a state lol

As you can see I have loads to still do eeeeeeeeeeeek :-)

I am also working on ...........

Project 1 (a guest designer post)

Project 2 (in my spare time)

Project 3 (learning to make better flowers in my spare time)

Project 4 (atc box in my spare time, only problem is I have managed to use it for storage

at the moment lol)

Project 5 (my journal in my spare time)

Project 6 (in my spare time)

Project 7 (tutorial with Dylusions in my spare time)

Project 8 (a guest designer post)

Project 9 (a guest designer post)

Project 10 (my Creative Expressions new DT stash that I have started working on)

My other love is crochet and I taught myself a year ago and these are

the projects I'm working on, except for the mandala as I just wanted

to show how much I love them lol.  The top left is going to be a blanket, top right

is the first square of a bag,  bottom left is a handbag for Lacie, middle is a small motif to start

making a cover for my phone, middle bottom is a flower bunting that I have done some

more on this afternoon as I want to give it to Lacie next week.

My favourite products are Paperartsy stamps and paints (shown below).

I'm currently reading ...........

and some magazines, my favourite are my crochet ones, Craft Stamper due some time

this week, Cloth Paper Scissors and Stampington magazines.

Why do I create what I do ...............

Because I enjoy it lol.  Obviously I work on Creative Expressions DT so that dictates 

what I use, but at the moment I am enjoying teaching myself all about mixed media products.

In all my projects that you see above that are in my spare time, you can guarantee it's because I'm

teaching myself something.  At the moment I am very interested in learning colour theory, now

initially I tried from a book and a colour wheel, but I have found out I am understanding

it more by playing with those colours, finding out what I can mix together or what will make mud, this

is then shown on a project I start, so I'm actually playing with it and learning.  I also

am learning more about my paints, inks and mediums and how they compliment each other.

I have found over the last 3-4 months that creativity has been a struggle at times, but I realised

it's because I am not enjoying working in such a mess, it takes me ages to find things, and by that

time the inspiration has gone past as it has took my around an hour to collect and find things.

This is one of the other reasons to sort my craft room as I like to be able to gather

everything together even embellishments that need paints, die cutting etc, by the time I got searching

that's why it takes so long.  I would like to have my whole craft room sorted by my birthday in

one week, but I don't think that will happen, the major part will be done so that will be good

enough hopefully then everything else will be done between projects :-)

How does my creative process work and how I stay focussed.

I explained a bit of that above, I do get inspired by other crafters work especially the 

amazing Paperartsy Inspiration challenge.  I hate to copy, I love to see the techniques, and

the composition of someone's work but to copy mortifies me, and because of that

some of the Paperartsy challenge entries I have scrapped because they look like I have

copied them.  I also have a form of OCD, not so much the cleaning etc, mine is I sometimes

can't move on until I have done something else.  This all came to head during my breakdown and after

working with specialists I am so much better, before it took over my life.  But I still feel it creep

in sometimes and that can have a huge effect and why so many times I have projects half

done.  It also effects commenting, some days I'm fine, but I have this thing that I need to have the

time it will take to catch up on all the commenting of that particular blog, but if I haven't got the time

then I don't do it, which then makes me further behind, then I panic, feel guilty and it's months

before I can bring myself to start again.  I really hate it, and try so hard but sometimes I just can't 

get my head around it.

When I am working on a project it either comes two ways, one from playing then suddenly I know

exactly what I want, or the other is where I have a challenge or a DT and I'm thinking about it or

exploring Pinterest for colour ideas, or techniques.  Then an idea may form, I then collect everything I need

to start, or sort out the drying time process to make sure I have time to complete it.

When I do start working my OCD goes out of the window, I end up in a little area on my desk and

everything around me, on the floor, on me, on the table etc lol, and I get totally involved and

excited.  I usually take step by step pictures so I can show the way I get there.

But then I like to clear away and start a fresh and that is the problem I'm having at the moment,

I can't start a fresh, but when the craft room is done I reckon I will definitely be up to my

usual 3-4 projects a week :-).

What is to come .................

Another reason for the clean up is I have invested in the products to be able to do videos on

you tube, my nephew has even done me my first piece of music (he is at uni doing music).

This is such an exciting prospect for me, the thought of being able to share what I do.

I also want to be able to help, I can remember every process of my crafting time and

how I moved on from then to now.  What helped the most was workshops,

you tube videos, blogs etc.  I want to give back to that, I want to be able to 

help someone else to progress and find themselves in art.

I want to be able for my followers to be able to ask how I do this and for me to 

be able to make a video for them.

I also think I have almost found myself in art, it has took years, but I am realising that

when I'm painting and stamping I loose myself, especially when I'm painting fine

detail acrylic and watercolour paints.  I also love stencilling, and journalling, 

and at last I feel that I'm me, I'm in my own art, I enjoy every process of what I do.

OK maybe when doing DT projects I with I was doing something else sometimes, 

but what I do in my own time in my own art place I am finally finding myself and what

I love and it feel joyous and exciting to move into the future knowing that.

And I can see some amazing exciting times ahead in my art :-)

I am tagging 3 lovely ladies who inspire me, they are extremely talented and I can't wait to 

learn all about them, their post will be up on the 1st September.

1. Julie Ann Lee

2. Claudia

3. Erin Stewart

I hope you have enjoyed a peek into my world of crafting and life at the moment,

I hope I haven't bored you too much lol.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate in asking, I love to share :-).

As always Happy Crafting :-)

Hugs Kezzy xxxxx