Hi there! It’s the 10th… And it’s time to share the May instalment of Inspired by with you!

Unlike last month when I wrote that it felt like I had just shared my previous post, it now feels like I haven’t posted in ages.

I don’t know whether that’s a good or a bad thing, but I do feel a bit like there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel. It also feels a lot like summer is here with super sunny days and high temperatures. So who am I to complain!

I’ll start with an update on my #100DaysOfUsingACamera!

The 100 Day Project
The good news is that I’m still going! Here’s a list of my realisations along the way:

• I’m recording things that I haven’t recorded before or at least not in a while.

• I missed a couple of days, and apparently, Fridays are particularly bad days for picking up a camera.

• I never feel like bringing a camera along when I have to go out and about. Both cameras are too heavy and bulky. I don’t have a huge purse, and when it comes to taking a (note)book or a camera or my sunglasses or a camera, the camera never wins…

• Most times I only seem to think of picking up my camera when I sit down. Which is often at the table in the living room. Or when I’m watering plants. This reminds me of how my husband always complains about the amount of food and drink related vacation photos. It’s just because when you sit down at a table you aren’t busy looking, following directions or doing anything else!

• I don’t feel like picking up the camera when I already spent a portion of the day on work-related photography. Which is OK. I’m rolling with it.

• The problem with work-related photography is that I can’t always publish a photo right away. But I still want all the entries to appear in the right order on my Marshas100DayProject feed, so I’m archiving these photos until the project I was working on goes online. In theory, this means it’s possible to catch a glimpse of something secret on my feed. But only if you watch it like a hawk. And don’t blink.

• I caved and ordered a small tripod. I didn’t think I would ever need one. But stacking books will only get you so far. And said books aren’t always around either.

• I promised myself beforehand that I wouldn’t have to take the look of my Instagram feed into account for this project. And I don’t. I just post what I have for that day. I do notice when/where the order of the feed could be better, BUT it surprisingly doesn’t look half as bad as I thought it would look! I even have an accidental colour scheme going on! I’m excited to find out what my conclusions at the end of the 100 days will be in this respect.

• On the note of just posting what I have: I’m still flying at the seat of my pants. I have collected a couple of photography challenge prompt lists, but I haven’t used any of them yet. All of my posts were spur of the moment ones or event or work-related. I do read Studio Polle‘s daily prompts for #100daysconceptualplayground every morning, and sometimes my photo is influenced by it. I never use the hashtag though because I don’t want to mess up the artful hashtag feed with my ‘real life’ photos.

• At the moment I feel neutral about the project. It’s not a huge deal. I’m not particularly enjoying it, but I don’t hate it either, and I’m determined to keep it going. I’m mainly curious about how I’ll feel and what I’ve learned once I’ve completed the 100 days. I think slow and steady wins the race in this case!

34 days down, 66 to go!

Now let’s dive into my primary sources of inspiration this month!

The 100 Day Project(!)
Knowing that I spend a lot of time at home, I anticipated going into the project that the subject of home decor and clutter would come up for me. So I made sure this was in a way part of Marshas100DayProject.

Well over a month into it there are only minor changes visible. But there was a fair amount of decluttering going on in April, and I think both my husband and I are now much clearer on what we’re missing, what’s in need of change (or repairs) and what we would like to add (or get rid of).

I’ve been studying interior design, home decor, styling etc. too. To be honest: it’s daunting. Especially if an interior designer sums up what makes a delightful home and your house doesn’t seem to tick any of the boxes. Is that going make all of my efforts pointless?

Anyway: we’ve been gardening too. Sowing some climbers and sunflowers. Adding potted plants. Nothing too shocking because we have an idea about how we can change the yard to make it work better for us. We’re just not ready to tackle that project yet. Small steps!

Susan’s Garden
On the subject of flowers: I can’t remember if I wrote this already, but I enjoyed meeting Susan Tierney-Cockburn at the Elizabeth Craft Designs booth at Creative World in Frankfurt this year. And I’ve been dying to try my hand at making some flowers with her dies ever since.

So in the build-up to Art Specially (which took place 14 & 15 April) Esther of Artchicks Studio lend me some of the dies to play with. Of course, I didn’t have enough time to complete any project with them yet, but at least I gave it a go. I have a list of project ideas though, and I will get to them eventually!

Chiara Spruit (Stijlcoach Indiaan in je kast) – photo by Yolande Avé Stijlcoach & Personal Shopper

Accessories
I don’t know why and I don’t know how but accessories were a reoccurring theme this past month. It started with helping my aunt sort through some of her accessory drawers.

Then I attended a fun and eye-opening workshop about accessories by style coach Chiara from Indiaan in je kast (which was organised by ‘my’ style coach Yolande Avé).

Chiara gave a lot of useful information during the workshop, and there was a lot to think about afterwards. I organised my own jewellery and scarves the next day… And from then on I started to try on different earrings, rings and bracelets every day. Just for fun!

I didn’t buy anything new until I visited the Jewellery – made by, worn by exhibition in Museum Volkenkunde. I could not resist some of the bangles that are sold in the museum shop. And I only went to see the exhibition because Chiara had mentioned it!

I also found two new scarves, and I bought a couple of hair accessories to try out.

But please don’t think that I’m now going to fill my closets with random new stuff! That’s not what I want, and I’m glad to report that I don’t have to. Because a huge point that Chiara makes is that the best accessories have stories.

That’s why some of them are just ‘meh’ and others you will hang on to for the rest of your life. Chances are you will not find the latter on the highstreet anyway. You could. But probably not.

There’s lots more to say about the workshop, the exhibition and the museum but because my inspiration didn’t end here, I’ll share more about it in my first column for StencilGirl® Talk. Which is coming up very soon, so the wait isn’t too long!!!

Multilayered printmaking
The last thing I want to mention is printmaking. Layered printmaking. For my latest Gelli Arts® video, I was initially inspired by screenprints and those layered stamp sets that are all the rage right now.

I went on a wild Google chase until I had an idea of how I could create something like it with the gel printing plate. And I found so many awesome things along the way that I wish could take a course in printmaking techniques!

That’s a wrap!
That’s it for this month’s Inspired by!

Don’t forget to stop by Riikka’s blog Paperiliitin to see what she was up to in the past month.

Inspired by is a blog series by my friend Riikka and I.

On the 10th of each month, we share what inspired us that month with you and each other.

It can be anything from a person, a film, a book, a painting, to an item, something found in nature or in the city, a colour scheme or some materials we bought or discovered.

We will also share how the source of inspiration affects our work. Consider it a window into our creative minds!

Hi there! It’s the 10th… And I can’t believe it’s time to share the April instalment of Inspired by with you!

It feels like I only posted last month’s yesterday! But the good thing about these monthly posts is that when I write them, I take inventory of the things that happened, what I worked on and also how much time I spent to fill my inspiration well.

March felt like a whirlwind, not in the least because I travelled to Germany twice. But I still somehow found some free time to play along with my friend Birgit Koopsen’s Gel Printing Challenge, and I’m also happy to report that I visited not one but two museums last week!

Five things stood out to me inspiration-wise this month, so… Let’s go!

31 Days of Gel Printing Challenge
If you follow me on Instagram, you have probably seen that I managed to share photos for 24 of the 31 prompts Birgit cooked up for her fabulous and immensely fun challenge.

This was gel printing without thinking about it too much, trying to catch up, having fun with it, working techniques I had never done before, and of course, I did lots of printing like I always do.

I love, love, loved seeing what all the other participants were posting. So many cool ideas. So many cool results! Check out the hashtag #birgitkoopsengelprintingchallenge on Instagram to see for yourself!

Bochum
My first trip to Germany took me to Creativa in Dortmund. I was there to help at the Elizabeth Craft Designs booth.

The show was massive, and though I did some quick walks through a couple of the halls, I didn’t find my primary source of inspiration there.

It was the vacation home we stayed in!

The house was small, but it had everything you need. It looked so cool, it was welcoming, comfortable and styled to a T!

I loved it so much that I wished I could have taken it home with me.

I’ve tried to analyse what it was that appealed me so much about it besides the bold colour choices. I liked the dark kitchen and the layout of it.

I liked that there were coat racks everywhere where you would need them. The lighting was very cosy. There were bright orange curtains in the living room!!!

But the one thing I immediately noticed was the use of natural materials. Because that’s something that is not lacking in my own home, but it isn’t as prominent.

So I know what my next interior decorating mission is going to be!

Frankfurt
The second trip to Germany took me to Frankfurt. Not for work this time, just for pleasure!

My goal was to visit the Basquiat Boom For Real exhibition at the Schirn Kunsthalle. It was the first thing Harold, and I did after checking into our hotel.

Everything we saw and did after that was a bonus!

The 100 Day Project
Whilst we were in Germany, The 100 Day Project started.

This is my first attempt at the project after admiring so many Instagrammers do it before me. It’s about doing one (creative) task every day for a 100 days.

I listened to all the advice. I chose a daily task that seems doable to me, and that doesn’t have to take me more than 5 minutes per day.

So no sketches or collages or gel printing or anything like that for me.

I chose a task that will get me off the phone and that will (hopefully) help me use my ‘real’ cameras better.

I simply called it #100DaysOfUsingACamera.

I purposely called it ‘using a camera’, because in my heart I really want to do videos. But I know I don’t have time to tape and edit a video a day.

So that’s why I’m initially going with photography and who knows… I might eventually get to use the video part of the camera too!

I’m starting off with getting to know my compact camera better.

It’s a camera I purchased last year for taping video, but it’s a different brand than the cameras I’m accustomed to, and I just haven’t taken the time to find out how to use it.

That’s why some of the photos I’ve been sharing on my Marshas100DayProject Instagram account aren’t that great. It’s because I don’t know what I’m doing!

I’m confident that it will get better with practice. That’s the whole point!

Gelli Arts® Gel Printing In My Traveler’s Notebook
Last Saturday I taught a workshop at the ArtChicks Studio monthly Mixed Media Café.

It was a super fun group of people, we had a great time together, and I hate to say it, but I have no photographic evidence whatsoever.

I do have the project I taught because it’s in my latest Gelli Arts® video tutorial!

The inspiration for the video and the project came from gel prints I made during Birgit’s challenge, but also because the workshop required me to print directly into a journal.

I loved the result so much that now I can’t stop making pages like this!

That’s a wrap!
That’s it for this month’s Inspired by!

Don’t forget to stop by Riikka’s blog Paperiliitin to see what she was dying to create in the past month.

Inspired by is a blog series by my friend Riikka and I.

On the 10th of each month, we share what inspired us that month with you and each other.

It can be anything from a person, a film, a book, a painting, to an item, something found in nature or in the city, a colour scheme or some materials we bought or discovered.

We will also share how the source of inspiration affects our work. Consider it a window into our creative minds!

Hi there! It’s the 10th… And I have the March instalment of the ‘new’ Inspired by for you!

It doesn’t seem like February was a very inspiring month.

Perhaps it’s because I felt a bit under the weather and that resulted in me working extra hard on some days and then having even lower energy levels on other days.

This has inspired me to think about better ways to deal with my time. I’ve started to look more closely at where I spend my time, and I want to get better at batching chores and get more of a routine going.

I did manage to do a couple of things to fill my inspiration bucket though!

Ecoline

I attended a class about Ecoline at the Royal Talens Experience Centre.

Which immediately prompted me to create swatches of all the liquid watercolours I have in my stash, but… I didn’t finish the piece I started in class, and I didn’t practise any further either.

And I need practice because my watercolour skills are still limited. So yesterday, in an attempt to clear my head for a bit, I finally gave it another try.

The paper they gave us to use in the class was far more forgiving than my Moleskine watercolour journal. Better quality, a lot smoother and of course it was taped to a board to prevent the paper from buckling.

Anyway: It didn’t go well. Which is OK. I was practising after all!

But I also wanted to show it here. So, in the end, I decided to admit my defeat (for now) and called coloured pencils and felt tip (brush) pens to the rescue.

Antwerp

[vimeo 259406830]I also visited Antwerp.

Antwerp is a familiar place. I know my way around, and I always find something to photograph.

We mostly just wander with no end goal in sight.

That’s fine because we’ve been there many times before and we know we will be back again. There is no need for haste to see the sights.

Sure, there are some we haven’t seen yet. But there is always next time!

Vacation photos

I revisited vacation photos and let them inspire me to create my last project for the n*Studio Creative Squad.

Needlework

And maybe you remember that I told you last month that I was interested in fabric printing and stitching?

In the end, all I needed was right under my nose!

There is a book on my bookshelf on needlework that I’ve used for at least three decades to figure out how to knit, crochet, macramé and embroider.

No idea why I thought I had to look for inspiration elsewhere. And I’m super happy with the result!

You can watch my video tutorial for Gelli Arts® here: Create a Fabric Book with the Gelli Arts® Patch Printing Kit

That’s a wrap!
That’s it for this month’s Inspired by!

Don’t forget to stop by Riikka’s blog Paperiliitin to see what she was dying to create in the past month.

Inspired by is a blog series by my friend Riikka and I.

On the 10th of each month, we share what inspired us that month with you and each other.

It can be anything from a person, a film, a book, a painting, to an item, something found in nature or in the city, a colour scheme or some materials we bought or discovered.

We will also share how the source of inspiration affects our work. Consider it a window into our creative minds!

Hi there! It’s the 10th… And I have the February instalment of the ‘new’ Inspired by for you!

Much of the past month has revolved around Creative JumpStart 2018 and around Creative World, the massive annual trade fair for hobby, craft and art supplies that is held in Frankfurt.

And though I also managed to sneak in some artist dates, I haven’t been able to process those yet, so I’ll save them for another time.

This post is about what has truly inspired me in the past month. So… let’s go!

Max Ernst

Remember that I told you last time that I didn’t think the impact of my visit to the Max Ernst Museum was over yet?

Because of the frottages, I did as a result of that visit, I accidentally discovered that crayon and monoprinting are a match made in heaven!

Check the Gelli Arts blog to see how I created these prints in my most recent published video tutorial.

Creative JumpStart 2018

I managed to create along until my own video went online on January 21st. That means that I filled a total of 21 pages in my passport sized Traveler’s Notebook!
Some people say that it takes 21 days to create a habit, but unfortunately, in my case, it didn’t. I just stopped on the 21st.

In my defence, it was the de week before Creative World, so that was my main priority at the time.

I plan on watching all of the remaining videos eventually, but I have started new projects that need my attention first before I can dive back in.
The student gallery is a huge inspiration too. So many talented people joined Creative JumpStart 2018!

It is a delight to see what inspiration the participants took from each daily lesson and especially to see what they created after seeing my CJS video.

Work shared by Jacqueline van Zuiden, Mary Thoma, Sue Sharp, Jennifer Reardon, Anne Aitken Anderson, Karen Hall, Debbie Kreischer, Cath Sheard and Tracey Gurley

I can’t believe the event is already over. Creative JumpStart is always such a blast!

Instagram Stories

I’m inspired to get the hang of posting InstaStories. My regular Instagram feed is suffering because of it, but it’s such a relief to not (have to) overthink posting.

I mean: of course, I do! But I try not to.

Pantone Fashion Color Trend Reports Spring 2018

Llama marionettes created for DoenKids.nl

I know the trend reports were published months ago, and the Pantone colour of 2018 was announced in December, but I guess I can’t wait for Spring to arrive and I wanted to play with a springlike colour palette.

I’ve created a colour chart, and I’ve already been using it for a couple projects this month!

Books

[vimeo 254909514]

Fabric printing and stitching have been on my mind, and I’ve been checking the craft department of my local library for books on art quilts, patchwork, embroidery and/or stitching.

I found a couple, but I feel the library collection is somewhat dated. So if you have any book or source recommendations for these topics, then please do leave them in the comments!

I’ve also been reading The One Thing by Gary Keller (aff. link) which was recently recommended by Andy J. Miller on his podcast ‘Creative Pep Talk‘.

Creative World

Dina Wakley’s art journal and table at the Notions booth

And then there was Creative World!

It’s too soon to tell if and how the things I saw, heard and tried will inspire my work. It will take a while for specific items to hit the stores and besides I haven’t even had a chance to use any of the samples and goodies I brought home with me yet!

It always takes time for me to process what I saw, what I want to try, what I want to explore, what items I would like to add to my stash, what I want to do and who I want to work with.

One thing I know for sure is that we are all going to be affected by the trends. I always make sure to visit the trend shows at Creative World as well as Paper World, and I take photos of anything that catches my eye.

According to Creative World, the 2018 trends are:

The Purist

The Gardener

The Colourist

As you can probably guess, this last one was the most exciting to me, though I liked some of the ‘botanical’ stuff too and that has actually sparked some ideas.

The stationery trends at Paper World showed similar colours, patterns and ideas, but in a sleeker and more elegant way.

A lot of what I saw of the stationery trends made me very happy. Especially the colourful and graphic patterns.

As for everything else that I saw: it just needs to percolate a bit before I can tell. You’ll have to stay tuned for that!

Siegfried Woldhek

Yesterday I went to Deventer for a portrait drawing workshop by Dutch artist and illustrator Siegfried Woldhek. I was allowed to take photos, but not allowed to share any on the internet.

It was super inspiring though!

It came as no surprise to me that I was one of the lesser skilled students, but I soon discovered that materials make all the difference. And my results are much better with materials I never use. My portrait drawing confidence is officially boosted!

That’s a wrap!
That’s it for this month’s Inspired by!

Don’t forget to stop by Riikka’s blog Paperiliitin and read what has been on her mind in the past month.

Inspired by is a blog series by my friend Riikka and I.

On the 10th of each month, we share what inspired us that month with you and each other.

It can be anything from a person, a film, a book, a painting, to an item, something found in nature or in the city, a colour scheme or some materials we bought or discovered.

We will also share how the source of inspiration affects our work. Consider it as a window into our creative minds!