The Creative Blog Hop - Monday September 8th 2014

Good Morning Friends,

A few weeks ago, my blog friend Claire, tagged me to write a post for the Creative Blog Hop...now I hadn't really heard of it, except that I am sure some of you have been tagged in the past. It would have been easy to say "sorry, but I really am too busy"... but this was Claire asking and we have become such good friends since connecting via WOYWW at the start of the year. We immediately loved each others work, we have swapped cards, tips and stash via snail mail and have found out via email that we are quite alike...in fact, had Claire not moved from the UK to the USA last year, I am sure we would have met up by now. I do urge you to hop over and have a look at Claire's blog -http://hamnmuledesigns.blogspot.co.uk

Now the idea of the Creative Blog Hop is that Claire introduces me on her blog, which she did last Monday and then today I introduce one or two others and this is where it has all gone wrong!

You know how busy I've been? I've hardly had time to craft, let alone blog! I follow all of you because I admire your work - you are all different, which reflects my eclectic craft tastes and to actually pick any of you that I have been blog friends with for a long while was impossible, so I chose three people that I have only connected with this year and who have different styles, blog regularly and aren't already followed by many of my long time friends.

Almost as soon as I said yes to Claire, I was asked my three others (they say good things come in threes don't they?), so I had to say no and hope they understood. One of them was one of the people I was going to tag myself! Of the other two, although one really wanted to, a family emergency forced her to pull out and the other was unable to do it. I had no time for a Plan B, so I'm afraid I'm breaking the chain (although I am sure many other bloggers are doing the same thing today!), but at the end of this post I am going to recommend three bloggers, that aren't already followed by many of you and urge you to have a look..that's the least I can do!

The other part of this blog hop is that I am interviewed and here is my interview:

What am I working on now?

Well, I am rarely working on one thing! I have quite a few interests in crafting and whilst I usually have cards on the go, I also love altered and mixed media art. 

At the moment I have two projects for Autumn on the go...one for Halloween, which is a lantern and crow and also a Primitive Folk Art Tryptch. I love this type of art and have done ever since I was a teenager and discovered it whilst spending some time with my aunt in San Francisco.There was an exhibition at a museum that I must have visited every time I took the bus into the City for the month it was there!

 I love the crows and their message of change and rebirth, the all knowing crow! I'm not giving too much away at the moment...these flowers are for my crow, which I am quite nervous about eventually blogging  as a lot of my blog friends will really not like it, this art can be a bit of an acquired taste!

How does my work differ from others in my genre?

That's a very difficult question and I have to be honest, not something I've thought much about! I don't think I have a specific style really. I like so many different styles and try to incorporate lots of different elements in my own work. I take inspiration from all of the blogs I visit and love to learn new tips from them..I love stamping, using dies, painting, sewing...I just like to have a variety of crafts on the go! Too many I suspect!

my crow at an early stage in its creation

Why do I create what I do?

Just because I love doing it! I always have...Dad was a sign writer by profession, but he went to art school when he was a young man living in Canada and drew cartoons for local papers, whilst trying to sell his art. I never really inherited the ability to draw from imagination, though I can copy photos and illustrations and I did win a Magpie Badge (if you remember that TV Show!) for a painting of a horse :)  so using rubber stamps was the next best thing for me and discovering them (when they were still all on wooden blocks) was just brilliant and I never looked back!

How does my creative process work?

Another difficult question - when I am having to make a card for a commission or design something for my group to make at our craft class, there is usually a starting point, which can be simply a theme or a particular stamp that has to be used. I find the creative process easier if there is a starting point, otherwise I take inspiration from looking at blogs and my guilty pleasure, which is Pinterest!

A glimpse of the Tryptych

That's my little interview, but before I go, I would like to introduce you to a few other bloggers that you may like to visit:

Patti and I also discovered each other via WOYWW and we have also swapped cards via snail mail: I love her CAS cards,  do visit and have a look back over her posts!

http://stationerystyles.blogspot.co.uk

I met Jackie when we both joined Sam Poole's design team at the same time and immediately connected on Facebook (something else I have so little time for at the moment!)...please pop over and look at Jackie's posts - I know you will love her style!

http://tinyrosecr.blogspot.co.uk

Finally, I connected recently with Angela, again via WOYWW..if you love altered and mixed media art, you really should check out Angela's blog...I have certainly been inspired by her.

http://angelacuttingandcarving.blogspot.co.uk

Last, but by no means least, I would like to welcome my newest follower Mouseyjo...thank you so much for choosing to follow me Jo and please let me know your blog address if you have one!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Love and Hugs

Carole X

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