A different kind of blog hop

Good morning folks and a big thank you for visiting today. This is a different kind of post as I was invited to take part in a blog hop with a difference by the lovely and very talented Gloria (pop over and check out her gorgeous artwork and find out a bit more abouther  here on her blog Purpleglo Creations) A big thank you Gloria for inviting me to take part !

So to begin here is a little bit about me. I live in the UK and have spent most of my life in the same small town. I was a nurse for a long time but then in a moment of madness decided to change my career and now I manage a mental health charity.My days at work are full of challenges trying to make sure we have enough funding to pay the bills and keep providing support to people with mental health problems. We have a lot of fun along the way and I get to meet some very brave and inspirational people When I'm not at work you can find me out walking my two lovely dogs or in my craft room getting inky and messy. I've dabbled in lots of different crafts over the years but I started stamping about 8 years ago and I've never looked back as there are so many different styles and techniques its impossible to get bored

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I started my blog in December 2009, we had a really bad winter and I was stuck in the house so I decided to start blogging. Lots of my friends already had blogs and I had no idea what a lovely world I was entering. I love blogland and I've 'met' so many wonderful people over the last few years as well as learning so much and getting constant inspiration from all the lovely friendly stampers out there.

What am I working on right now?

I'm lucky enough to design for some amazing companies so at the minute I'm busy with lots of Christmas samples using some fabby new stamps which you'll be drooling over before very long. I'm totally addicted to crafting and usually grab an hour in my craft room before work. After work and walking the dogs I usually relax and do some colouring . My job is really stressful so crafting is a real escape for me. I have the box room as a little craft room and its crammed to the rafters with all my stash lol. Here are some sneaky peaks of some of my current projects

 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I don't think it does is the simple answer to that one lol.  I don't think I have a particular style as I love everything from create shabby/vintage projects, mixed media and altered art to colouring cute characters. I'd love to be one of those crafters who have a really defined style but i'm far too fickle lol. I love to try different techniques and experiment with different products. I do love to start with a blank canvas or a plain white piece of card and create my project from scratch, I particularly love scenic stamping and in the past I used to do a lot of brayer work. Since I discovered PanPastels a couple of years ago my brayer has been gathering dust as its so easy to make scenic cards with Pans. Here are a few of my favourite cards

       

     

Why do I create what I do?

A lot of my projects are inspired by the products I use, as I'm a very lucky crafter and design for some wonderful companies I regularly get happy mail which is an inspiration in itself. I usually start thinking about the stamps or images and begin to scribble down some ideas for projects.

I'm often inspired by colour, particularly colours in nature and often get inspiration when I'm out with my dogs or even on the way to work. Here's a card that was inspired by the view down the alley at the side of our office - not that it looks anything like this but it sparked the idea (my head is a very strange place to be at times lol)

How does my creative process work?

Well I have to confess I'm not a great planner, I tend to jot down a few ideas go up to my craft room and just go for it. My projects are a bit of an adventure and I usually don't have a clear idea of how they will turn out. I love to make my own backgrounds which is a good job as I have a terrible habit of colouring images and then finding I don't have any papers to match lol. I would share some pics of my craft space but i'm such a mucky pup I wouldn't dare haha!

How do I stay focussed/motivated?

Spending time creating is part of my daily routine and although I'm not a planner when it comes to making my projects I treat my DT work seriously as I don't want to let my teamies and the generous companies I design for down. I usually work at least 2-3 weeks ahead on my design team projects so that if I have a crisis at work or lose my crafty mojo I'm not in a panic. If I lose my focus I just mess around with paint or ink and create some backgrounds. Usually experimenting with colours will tempt my missing mojo home and before I know it I'm full of ideas for my next project.

I'm tagging a lovely and very talented lady Rachel, pop over to Rachel's blog 'Fisher's cards and crafts' here and check out her gorgeous artwork. Rachel's projects are really varied and she's always an inspiration so don't miss her post on 18th to find out more about her and her art!

Thanks for popping by

Claire xx