Hi there! It’s September, it’s the 10th… And it’s time for a new Inspired by post!

How are you?!

Autumn snuck up on me, and now it’s here to stay. Summer was hot and dry, but halfway through August moisture came in out of nowhere: it started quite innocently with me dunking my Stencilfied Journal in tea (on purpose) and intense workouts in new surroundings which caused a bucketload of sweat.

But by the end of August, it was flowing. There were tears of grief, I dunked my MacBook in tea (not on purpose) and then last week, on top of that, it poured rain not only outside, but also inside of our house.

And yes, I freaked out. But at the same time, I tried my best to keep calm. Because what else could I do.

My aunt is never coming back, but I’m grateful for the memories and the fact that she was a part of my life for such a long time.

My MacBook was rescued. I’m ecstatic to be typing on it as we speak and I’m super thankful that I had my old laptop and my husband’s laptop as a backup to meet my deadlines while this computer was away for repairs.

The jury is still out on the dormer on our roof and the damage inside. The culprit was a blockage in the drain, and it looks like it has wreaked havoc for a considerable amount of time because we weren’t aware of it.

We think the dormer is beyond repair, but thankfully it doesn’t look like it’s going to cause any more immediate damage inside now that the blockage is gone.

So… was I inspired by anything while all of this was going on?

In short: I was. But it wasn’t necessarily the kind of inspiration that contributes to creative output. I just had a lot to contemplate (again). And I think it’s time I made some (more) changes going forward.

But let’s see what got me creating first.

Paula Modersohn-Becker
I think this may have been the day the accidents started to happen. My mom hurt her hand in the morning we went to see the Paula Modersohn-Becker exhibition at the Rijksmuseum Twenthe together, and we ended up seeing a doctor after our visit there.

Modersohn-Becker’s work is mesmerising and walking through the exhibition I wondered a lot about how her style would have developed had she lived a longer life.

It also makes you think about what other women artists would have painted had they been taken seriously and given the same chances as male painters. Because Modesohn-Becker’s approach was so different from that of the men in her community at the time and they didn’t speak very highly of it. Even her own husband criticised her painting style!

I would love to see more of her work and to see if I can learn more about her.

I documented this day for prompt 10 of the Stencilfied Journal, and you can see the girl with the hand (that also fitted the story of my mom’s injury) on the page:

The Stencilfied Journal
The Stencilfied Journal is currently at prompt #15, but I’m still stuck at prompt #13. Which is the one that involves stencilling on/with the sole of a shoe and that was something I just could not deal with at the time. I will catch up soon though!

From June through September fellow StencilGirl® Columnist Tina Walker is posting one prompt a week (16 in total, but there are more to come!), and we’re creating a ‘Wreck this Journal’-esque journal StencilGirl® style.

Check Tina’s Instagram or Facebook feed to find out more!

A Facebook notification
Facebook sent me a message saying that someone had suggested I change my website URL to my Linktree bio link. Which is ridiculous, because Linktree isn’t a website, nor is it mine and, although you can find all the relevant links there, it’s obviously never going to replace my site.

That said, I kind of got the point this person was making. Because I haven’t been as active in updating my website in the same way I’ve been updating my Linktree bio link. So I took this nudge to do better, and I spent a couple of days on a long overdue website update.

It isn’t done yet, for the obvious reasons I mentioned at the top of this post, and the website still may need a more significant overhaul at some point, but I’m happy with the solutions I came up with for now.

Please let me know what you think! I would love to hear from you, especially if there is something you feel is missing from the site!

The September issues
Of course, I was inspired to buy a couple of fashion magazines! Just to forget all about them until now… LOL!

I also asked my Instagram friends about their favourite home decor magazines because I couldn’t find one I liked. All of my Dutch friends answered that they miss ‘101 Woonideeën’ terribly, which is a Dutch magazine that unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore.

The other suggestions were of British or American magazines that I can’t buy locally, but that I might be able to find at Schiphol or in an international bookstore in Amsterdam. I will look into those soon, so… To be continued!

Stop-motion filmmaking
Wes Anderson’s ‘Isle of Dogs’ wasn’t part of my inspiration this month, but it has to be mentioned because it was the primary source of inspiration for my most recent column for StencilGirl® Products.

I approached this column as I would do an oldfashioned Inspired by post: I went all the way in, researched everything I could think of and even watched Japanese anime in the process.

Stop-motion filmmaking also came up in a chat I had with Marieke Blokland, and she mentioned the stop-motion filmmaker Trisha Zemp to me. And while I was searching for her videos on YouTube, I also came across videos that featured Terry Gilliam. So very inspiring!!!

Instagram accounts
@the.flo.show This is the account of Flore Vallery-Radot. Her Insta Stories are such a pleasure to watch. Flore is currently in Greece, and before that, she spent a couple of weeks in Paris. In her stories, she takes you along on her on her daily walks and errands and shows you all of her favourite shops, foods, views, cinemas and restaurants.

@lerenvankunst.nl This account is run by a Dutch lady called Roumayne, who goes live every weekday to share a quick creativity exercise that you can do at home. I’ve watched the daily ‘show’ each day of last week, and it was super fun to play along.

@plasticdieet / @hetzerowasteproject These accounts do not fall into the ‘fun’ category, but they are inspiring. Both focus on low impact, zero waste and plastic-free living. The first one is currently hosting a challenge called ‘the plastic diet’ and the second one is by two local ladies that have a book on zero waste coming out this week.

Thinking about plastic makes me sick to my stomach. Simply go into a supermarket and try to find anything that isn’t packaged in plastic. It’s a challenge. Even most of the produce is covered with it! And don’t get me started on how much plastic I have in my craft room alone…

There is so much I can do to reduce the plastic in my household. Being aware of it is only the first step. 

That’s a wrap!
OK, that’s it for this month’s edition of Inspired by!

Hop on over to Paperiliitin to see what has inspired Riikka this 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 August, it’s the 10th… And I have a new instalment of Inspired by for you!

OK, so this summer thing is getting ridiculous. It was so sunny, hot and dry in the past month that all Dutch weather records have been broken.

Yesterday was the first rainy day in a long, long time in the city where I live, and I was so relieved that I didn’t even mind having to bike through the rain while running an errand.

The hot weather has had some effect on the amount of creative time I spent in the past month.

My craft room is situated on the back of the house, and it catches the sun all afternoon and evening. It’s not a pleasant room to be in during a heat wave. We don’t have air conditioning, you see. Most Dutch houses don’t have air con, because it never gets this hot for long.

Anyway. Here are a couple of things I can share!

The Stencilfied Journal

I’m currently one prompt behind, but The Stencilfied Journal is still going!

From June through September fellow StencilGirl® Columnist Tina Walker is posting one prompt a week (16 in total), and we’re creating a ‘Wreck this Journal’-esque journal StencilGirl® style.

I love it!!! If this sounds like something you’d like too, then check Tina’s Instagram or Facebook feed, grab a notebook, and follow along with the prompts!

Esther (@badass_paperlover)

When Esther posted this photo on Facebook, I was reminded of my own stash of 1950s ladies magazines!

I have been using a lot of magazine clippings in my art journals recently, and though I regularly do cut up vintage books for collage and transfer purposes, these vintage magazines had completely slipped my mind.

The cutouts turned out to be just what the mini book I created for my latest Gelli Arts video tutorial needed!

What I didn’t realise it at the time is that Esther actually sells these 1950s cutouts (among other vintage ephemera) in her Etsy shop. So check out BadAssPaperlover on Etsy if you fancy a stash of vintage cutouts too!

Books and films

Not only did I cut up books this month, but I also listened to (audiobooks) and read some. Because when the weather is too hot to do anything, I think reading is the very best way to spend your time.

I’m also just inspired to read more. I keep wanting to buy books, but I can’t justify buying them if I keep adding to a bookshelf that is already full of books that I haven’t read. So if I want to buy more books, then I will need to read more books!

When I didn’t read this past month, I tried to watch films. I’m deliberately choosing films over TV series because that can be such a black hole and I would rather spend that time reading one of those books from the shelf!

I did go through the whole second Netflix series of Anne with an E though… But that only proves my point!

That’s a wrap!
OK, that’s it for this month’s heatwave edition of Inspired by!

Hop on over to Paperiliitin to see what has inspired Riikka this 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 July, it’s the 10th… And I have a new instalment of Inspired by for you!

Pinning a theme to the past month is hard. Looking at my phone photos it was part clothing and style-type things, part creating, part enjoying beautiful sunny summer days and part filling the creative well.

If you discount the endless full-length mirror selfie attempts, there is less photographic evidence than I would like there to be.

In other words: this time I really did fall off The 100 Day Project wagon. So let’s start there.

The 100 Day Project

After last month’s Inspired by post, I was determined to finish my #100daysofusingacamera. So I made an effort.

For about a week.

And then I let it peter out again.

On my Marshas100DayProject Instagram feed it looks like I’m stuck at day 61, but in reality, I probably made it to day 65. I know I have at least one video and I certainly have a couple more photos that I could add.

I think I know exactly what happened this time. When I look at my calendar, I can see that there were a couple of impromptu appointments and activities around the time that I stopped posting. Work-related stuff got postponed to the following week. So I had two weeks in which my schedule got mixed up, and I chose other things to come first.

I didn’t quit photographing altogether, but I didn’t upload anything to my laptop, and I didn’t edit right away. I simply lost track. And from there it went all downhill.

The 100 Day Project is wrapping up this week. I don’t know what I’m going to do about mine yet. I can continue (or rather: restart), I can leave it for now and maybe pick it up again in September, or I can just post the photos and videos I do have, draw my conclusions about the project and pull the plug.

What do you think I should do?

Van Gogh & Japan

Now onto the things that did inspire me to create!

I visited three museums in the last month: the National Military Museum, the Van Gogh Museum and CODA Museum.

I think the visit to the Van Gogh Museum (to which my friend Birgit invited me) was the most successful one regarding inspiration, though the other ones definitely gave me food for thought about what I like and what I don’t like in a museum.

The exhibition Birgit and I went to was ‘Van Gogh & Japan’, about Vincent’s fascination with Japan and his vast collection of Japanese woodcut prints.

I have always loved Van Gogh’s studies of Japanese prints, but I had never really thought about what it was that I liked about them.

This exhibition has helped me better understand what I love about (woodcut) prints and to pin down what it is that I personally see and love when I look at Van Gogh’s paintings.

I didn’t consciously link what I did for my latest Gelli Arts® video tutorial with this recent visit to the Van Gogh Museum, but in hindsight, it may well have been of influence!

The Stencilfied Journal

Something that is still going strong and that is super fun to participate in is The Stencilfied Journal!

From June through September fellow StencilGirl® Columnist Tina Walker is posting one prompt a week (16 in total), and we’re creating a ‘Wreck this Journal’-esque journal StencilGirl® style.

If this sounds like something you’d like too, then check Tina’s Instagram or Facebook feed, grab a notebook, and follow along with the prompts!

We’ve officially arrived at week 6 now, but I’ve yet to share my take on week 5. It still needs some finishing touches, and I will post it on Instagram later this week.

The tag is still hanging outside, but it’s now a bit hidden from view:

Online classes

Speaking of The Stencilfied Journal: working in the small journal reminded me of how much I loved working in my even slightly tinier Creative JumpStart 2018 (aff. link) journal.

It made me decide to catch up on the Creative JumpStart videos I didn’t have time for in January, and I’ve created five more little journal spreads in my passport sized Traveler’s Notebook.

In June I also started with a different kind of online course: Eerste Hulp Bij Styling (Dutch). This one is all about style and clothing, and I love it!

I’m having one epiphany after another and I immensly enjoy doing the homework and exercises.

Summer!

The hot summer weather we’ve been experiencing here in the Netherlands has had an impact too.

With summer on the brain, I thought about easy summer crafts, and I came up with this little video for Carabelle Studio.

And in the last week of June, we tried to BBQ all of our dinners. Which was super fun because we discovered that BBQ-ing on weekdays is perfectly doable for us!

Crayon: An artist’s colorful guide to drawing on the go! by Monika Forsberg (aff. link)

Last month I mentioned that I ordered a couple of creative books to read over the summer. One of them is Crayon: An artist’s colorful guide to drawing on the go! from the Anywhere, Anytime Art series.

Crayons… Oil pastels, wax crayons, water-soluble crayons… I have quite a selection of them, but I always feel that I’m not using them to their full potential. So when I was browsing for creative reading material, this book jumped out at me.

What I didn’t realise at the time is that the crayons that are predominantly used in this book are Caran d’Ache Neocolor II’s.

At first, that disappointed me a little because these are precisely the crayons that I do use quite often.

But then I figured that there still must be something new I could learn about using them, and I started to do the exercises in the book.

The exercises are simple and easy to follow. You can dive deep and spent hours or even weeks practising on just one of them (which is perfect for developing your own style).

Or, you can do what I do: pick one thing from the exercise and do just one sketch/drawing to get a better feel for the material.

This does mean that I’m staying reasonably close to what Monika Forsberg is showing in her examples. But that’s OK. It’s not my intention to share my results with the world. I’m just practising!

The cool thing about Neocolor II’s is that they’re perfect for taking with you in an art-on-the-go kit and Forsberg has terrific tips in the book about how to decide what colours to bring.

I keep my Neocolor II’s in jam jars, and when I want to create in the yard, I can just grab the jars, my sketchbook, a water brush, the Crayon book and I’m good to go!

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

Riikka, unfortunately, has been coping with a painful hand injury. She’s only slowly trying to create again at the moment. She does have a post up for us today, and I’m curious to see what she has to share! Hop on over to Paperiliitin and please send her lots of love and well wishes!!!

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… Here’s the June instalment of Inspired by!

Let’s keep it short and sweet today!

I don’t feel like I’ve been that creative… This month was more about digging deep, dusting off, blowing away cobwebs and letting go. There just wasn’t much room in my head for anything else! It also affected my #100DaysOfUsingACamera, so I’ll start there in a moment!

I did spent time filling my inspiration well. I saw Wes Anderson’s new animation film ‘Ilse of Dogs‘, I went to the ceramic museum the Princessehof in Leeuwarden with my mom, and I visited Flehite, one of our local museums, on the last day before it closed for renovations.

I also ordered a couple of creative books to read this summer, and watched ‘Krabbé zoekt Gauguin‘. In this television series the Dutch actor, film director and fine artist Krabbé tells the story of Paul Gauguin’s life, who he was, and what influenced him and his work.

None of these things has inspired me to create. Yet. But you never know when it will come in handy!

The 100 Day Project
I made it to day 56 of the project. I missed nine more days since last month’s post, twelve in total. Which doesn’t have to be a huge deal, but I did skip five days in a row at one point. In my defence: I’m still in the middle of a major decluttering session, and there was scaffolding in our backyard. Everything was in a massive state during that week, and I just forgot about photographing altogether.

I decided against quitting though. Because something is percolating on my Marshas100DayProject feed. It may not be apparent to anyone else, but I’m learning ‘things’. And I want to see if I can get clearer on what it is I’m precisely learning in the next 44 (or more) days.

The Stencilfied Journal
I started a new journal last week! Fellow StencilGirl® Columnist Tina Walker initiated a super fun collaboration challenge called ‘The Stencilfied Journal’. ⠀

From June through September Tina will post one prompt a week (16 in total), and we’ll be creating a ‘Wreck this Journal’-esque journal StencilGirl® style. Tina already had me at ‘collab’, but the idea of ‘wrecking’ an art journal is just irresistible.

The second prompt will go live tomorrow, and this one will reveal a bit more of what’s in store for the next prompts!
⠀
If it sounds like something you’d like too, then check Tina’s Instagram or Facebook feed, grab a notebook, and follow along with the prompts.
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For the first prompt, I stencilled my pages using StencilGirl® stencils, a mini Gelli Arts® gel printing plate, and Dina Wakley Media acrylics. I drew the circles with Posca markers, and the übercute die-cuts are designed by Marlene Meijer-van Niekerk for StudioLight.
⠀
I’m using a tiny 3.5″ x 5.5″ sketchbook, but any journal size will work. Just keep in mind that the journal *may* get wet, ripped up, stomped on, etc.!

Feathers
Here’s a perfect example of how filling your creative well can have results long after the fact.

Back in March one of the prompts for Birgit’s ‘31 Days of Gel Printing Challenge‘ was to gel print on feathers. The feathers I had in my stash were too fluffy, and not suitable for printing on, so I decided to use them to print with instead.

The results were stunning!

Fast forward to this month when Gelli Arts® sent new supplies for upcoming videos. The package contained these beautiful white feathers! They came in just in time for my next video tutorial, so I didn’t have to think twice about what I was going to demonstrate!

You can watch the video tutorial here: Gel Printing with the Gelli Arts® Feather Printing Kit

Krijt
The last thing I want to share is another visit to a local museum. You really do not have to go far to seek artful inspiration and to have a little fun.

I only went to KAdE to escape the renovations at home for a bit, and I came home with fun video footage and lots of inspiration!

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 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!