The Blogland Tour

Today's post is a bit different from my normal style, but I'm excited to be taking part in my first Blogland Tour. I've been nominated by the lovely Julie from Sum of their Stories.

Julie is a true creative, her blog features everything from baking to crochet. She not only does a lot of different crafts but excels at them all and shares her wonderful creations and techniques.

I love her cute crochet items like this little owl brooch...

...and this gorgeous crochet blanket which she made for her cousin's baby.

Do stop by and visit her blog, you'll find yourself getting carried away browsing through! Julie's Blogland Tour post can be found here.

The Questions

It's not often that I actually talk about me on my blog, it's mostly focused on art and crafts so I suppose although some of you know a lot about what I do, you don't know a lot about me! So before I start answering the Blogland Tour questions, here's a little introduction.

I live and work in North Devon and art is something I do in my spare time. Although I haven't had any formal tuition, it has always been a favourite hobby and I can't imagine life without a project on the go. I studied French, Spanish and Russian at university, so drawing and painting kept me sane!

I live with my boyfriend Sam and our pet fish. Apart from art, I enjoy walking, picnics, cake, tea, travelling, eating out and life's simple pleasures. We've also just taken up sailing which is proving to be a great weekend activity!

Ok, on to the questions...

#1 - What am I working on?

As usual, I'm working on a lot of different projects, which, to my boyfriend's despair, results in a lot of different bits and pieces strewn around the living room. The thing is, whatever I'm working on, another idea always pops into my head, asking to be started! I often end up with lots of things on the go, many of which never get finished. Since I began writing this blog, however, I've been a lot more motivated to see things through to the end; there's nothing like the deadline of a blog post to inspire you to finish!

Here are a few bits I'm working on at the moment.

#2 - How does my work differ from others of my genre?

I'm not sure my work even fits into a genre! I get bored doing one thing all the time so like to dip in and out of different crafts - a bit of drawing here, a bit of paper cutting there.

I know a lot of artists find their niche, or a certain style which they like working in, but apart from loving anything ultra detailed I've never really stuck to one thing!

Here are some of the things I've created recently and over the years.

#3 - Why do I write/create what I do?

I started this blog in Malaysia when Sam and I were travelling as a way to record our adventures and the sketches and drawings I did along the way. I really enjoy blogging because of the feedback and comments I receive on each post and also on a personal level as a kind of diary to look back on what I've done. I don't have a huge following or a broad reach, but I've 'virtually' met some lovely people and continue to discover inspiring blogs of artists and craftspeople on an almost daily basis!

#4 - How does my writing/creative process work?

I think it's probably best to split this into two. My writing process is fairly simple. I sit down at my laptop each Sunday evening, have a little think about what I've done that week, take photos of my projects and explain what I've been up to!

My creative process depends on what I'm making but broadly follows the same pattern each time. A little idea pops into my head, inspired by something I've seen on Pinterest, other artists' work or a suggestion from friends or family. I then sit down and make/draw/paint whatever the idea is, usually over many sittings because the nine 'til five job gets in the way! I take lots of photos to use on the blog, and hopefully, after hours of beavering away, I have something lovely to show for my efforts.

That's it from me, now it's time to nominate a couple of my favourite blogs to continue the Blogland tour next Monday.

Firstly there's my Mum, Alison of Fiddly Fingers. Mum is an inspiration for many reasons, not least because of her crafting skills. Her main love is crochet, but she's dabbled in embroidery, jewellery, dress-making, polymer clay and many different arts and crafts as my sister and I were growing up. One of her most 'famous' creations is Chester, a crochet cat which is very much larger than life...bigger than a fully grown man in fact!

Chester gets up to a lot of mischief, some of his escapades, like this trip out in Dad's car, have featured in Mum's blog.

Mum hasn't written a blog post for a while, but I think with a little encouragement from you lovely peeps it won't be long before Chester or his little friend Taffy make another appearance!

The next blog I'd like to nominate is Desserts and Decoupage, written by my friend Emma.

As the name suggests, Emma blogs about everything from cooking to crafts, interspersed with tips which cover every topic, from advice for first-time buyers to healthy lifestyles.

She's had a few problems with her blog design and settings recently, because of transferring to a new hosting, but do pop by and follow her blog and she'll hopefully have it all sorted and full of inspirational images and content very soon!

I know I'm meant to nominate three blogs, but due completely to myself leaving it to the last minute, I can't nominate anyone else without springing it on them and causing a mad panic! There are many many blogs which I love to read, so I thought instead of nominating some more in the Blogland Tour, I'll list a few of my favourites below.

Lottie Designs and Illustrations - Manon is a true inspiration, she makes art with varied media featuring her fantastic quirky characters, one of which, Lottie, is the blog's namesake. She is an extremely versatile artist and always surprises me with her amazing original designs.

Andrea Joseph - I'm always in awe of Andrea's art, particularly her biro drawings. She has a fun and interesting style

Quirky Artist - I love this artist's beautiful sketches and paintings.

Nina Johansson - I only recently discovered Nina's work and I'm so glad I did. She paints gorgeous pen and watercolour scenes.

That's it from me! Have fun on the rest of your journey through the Blogland Tour!