1/ Do you keep a notebook/sketchbook? I try but inevitably it gets full of shopping lists and desperate reminders to my addled brain. (Sometimes I have to make a note to remind myself to shower) I’ve been trying to keep up the creativeness that I got from doing the piece of art a day thing. Trying to remind myself that it doesn’t matter if not every sketch is beautiful but still I don’t like how rushed and haphazard my creative life is. Just too much stuff and not enough time to do it (it doesn’t help that I have 3 different books, one is a normal notebook full of things to remember one a sketchbook/scrapbook and one a combination of both.

I bought myself a miniature moleskine note book to try and do sketches in but it’s not really worked as I hoped (Though they are very cute and portable.) I have tons of flickr notebook groups I look at for inspiration but to find my own, my own style that’s within me, that’s something I am failing miserably at. It doesn’t help that after A Level I just completely stopped doing anything arty until I took up craft things. These are all the kinks that would have been ironed out during a foundation course but I am not in the position to do one of those. I think it would be nice to fill in a diary (I have a spare one from work) every week with a sketched painting or print or some such. But I panic that what I draw is not nice enough which always kills any creativity.

2/ Following on from this, I would like to do a fine art course BUT one where creativity is pushed a lot. I don’t want to do one where they make us paint some oranges. I want to be able to do mixed media and metalwork and plasticwork too. I don’t suppose such a thing exists does it?

I am currently quite obsessed with buttons. My mother, like many mothers had a button box full of various buttons and I found it quite inexplicably exciting to sort through. I was never the greatest at sewing so I never used the buttons for anything other than inspiration but I still feel the same excitement whenever I see a button box.

This fabric button with metal rivets makes me feel really inspired and happy. Inspired to do what I haven’t a clue. I came up with an amazing idea for a short story this morning but have promptly forgotten it! This is why I have been trying to remember to use my notebook dammit!

I keep thinking of a writing style (I don’t quite have a writing style of my own, it’s made up of little bits of everywhere) that would suit this journal, something that would make it more cohesive.

At the moment I am interested in lovely twee happy, let’s-have-a-try-and-see-if-it-works, art. Fun and sweet things like knitting or crochet round a streetlamp, or letters hidden in library books.

My art and craft has no real thread tying it all together. I wish it did as it would be easier to say “This” is what I do. You have to work at art, it’s not something I am good at doing. i like to wait for inspiration but inspiration increases the more you make. Just like the love in your life increases depending on the amount you wish you love other people.

I think I am doomed to have a messy literary style. I cannot even make one post coherent, but that’s okay. The important thing is to keep it updated. Updated more often than I currently do, anyway!

http://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/index.html

I love participation art and this is fine participation art. Always send letters!

I have had to buy one of the matchbox theatres, it called to me. Lovely!

I just went to see La Cage aux Folles and when I got back my brain was singing the song from the cat came back so I thought I’d link to it. It is a fantastic and kinda dark cartoon I saw when I was little and I loved it instantly. Click here.

Some quick links:

Lovely Mary Blair artwork from Cinderella. Unsurprisingly I want the Alice in Wonderland book!

This steampunkesque book bag . I am going to do a steampunk post some time soon.

Not quite steampunk but a lovely wooden dress and corset. I would love hoop skirts.

Isn’t Halloween ace?

I love Top Gear muchly and I thought I would share this plush OLIVER! with you. All it needs is a tiny Richard!

I love jewellery making but whilst I am imaginative and make fun mixed media pieces I am not very talented at silverwork. This limits the pieces I can actually make but I have a sketchbook full of ideas! (If I could find it!)Margaux Lange’s silverwork is beyond perfect though. I would very much like someone to buy me this. (and while you’re at it you could get me this.) Her blog is wonderful, it is full of pictures of her workbench covered in various bits of Barbie’s body. 

I am always jealous of other people’s work because I can never be like that. I’d like to be able to do every style. It’s hard finding your own style and what your ‘thing’ is. I love indie stuff and punky stuff and cute stuff and everything inbetween. But trying to do them all at once leads to a bit of a mess. I am wondering if it will click one day and I will discover what art it is I am good at. For now here’s another Paint picture:

I love looking through the Craftzine blog. Lovely, lovely jealousy inspiration.  I did subscribe to the magazine but found it a bit sucky, (even with all the lovely electronics I will never make but am still fascinated by!) however the blog is amazing.

I am having a lovely Bank Holiday weekend. I may for for a lovely little ride (on my pushbike!) in the rain to Stratford. Am a bit unwell but if you can’t drive yourself into the ground on a Bank Holiday when can you? I can’t cycle back though as I intend to be ratted later.

There is a mysterious mewing going on somewhere. I assume it is Ginny (or a really weird ghost.) but I can’t see where she has hidden herself.  I have two cats. Ron and Ginny (Yes I am that sad, they are actually named after Harry Potter characters). They look like this: (B&W is Ron, Tortie is Gin)

Today I had INSPIRATION and did some sketches for some necklaces I want to make. I hate that I am so lazy, I have a (ugly) sketchbook full of ideas and no motivation to make them into something beautiful. Awful lazy wench that I am.

Back to Craftzine blog, here is me retelling what they have already told everyone about:

Recently there has been a thing about the ‘Beware; old people!’ sign where there is an old lady bending over with a walking stick to denote ‘oldness’. Older people’s rights campaigners are saying it is offensive. And I can see why, however it is really important that the sign invokes the idea of ‘people who might not be able to walk across the road so fast, so better slow down’ in drivers. And that sign does it perfectly. And simply. It’s just a normal black silhouette picture like other road signs.

It’s something I am fascinated by, the simplest way to invoke an idea. That’s why I have been playing about with Paint a lot recently, can a load of curvy squares invoke a set of Russian dolls or a monkey? Apparently they can and not only that you can connect with them the way one would connect with ‘real’ art. Not that I am saying my weird little scrawling are exactly art. But they invoke feelings in people even though they are done with the simplest art package in the world. I think that is pretty cool. In a similar vein I love how these invoke Summer.

Eee!

This clock is lovely. I need a black clock for my living room and everything I have seen in the stores is rubbish so I have decided to make my own one. Except I haven’t a clue what would look nice. :/ I think someone else should design me a cute gothy clock so I don’t have to. (also why can you only buy damn ugly clock hands in the UK?)

Are you rich? Do you love me? Even if the answer to all these is no I still think you should buy me the little red riding hood pin cushion from here.

Aren’t people AMAZING? Of course I am hideously jealous of such talent.

I did my A level Art on abandoned places (I am the trespass queen!) and hadn’t realised there was a Livejournal community dedicated to people’s amazing pictures.

These are currently my favourites:

Super amazing abandoned zoo!

Abandoned Russian sports camp. (I think this is breathtaking!)

Gothy greenhouse.

I am really sad I have missed going around Battersea Power Station. I did see it once when they had several gigs on there (I went to see Cast, but only because I wanted to see the power station, okay?

And here is a power station I don’t want to visit any time soon.

WordPress helpfully create a journal entry for you but it is nonsense so I have to edit it. I have decided I want to have a proper craft blog. Unfortuantly my camera is broken so it will be a blog with few pictures for a while.

Today I found these things called Pixelblocks. I totally want some, it’ll be easier than doing a Mario cross stitch. 

I am currently trying to do a piece of art a day for this I am currently 6 days behind because I have been quite unwell but I am quite pleased with how I have done any wayl. I have being trying to teach myself it is more important to get something DONE than to expect it to be perfect.

I also have a hideous amount of crochet and knitting to do and I am currently working on making a dollhouse for my Bratz and Barbie dolls. (Eventually I shall have a Pullip and Blythe too.)

So this post isn’t just my waffling here is an elephant I made in Paint. I have a bit of an obsession with the curvy edged square from Paint.