WIP Wednesday – March 23

March 28, 2022 by Leave a Comment
A peek at my desk today.

The title of this post was inspired by a colorist that I watch on YouTube where she works on her unfinished coloring projects – her works in progress (WIP). So I thought I would borrow it since as a small business owner I am constantly surrounded by WIPs.  It’s also a fun peek inside of what’s happening here in my craft room. I will also share WIPs of projects I do for fun like my coloring book pages.

Last week, I showed you these butterflies that I had intended on completing to hang up in my studio. Well, I never got around to gluing them so today I will finish the gluing process and hang them up.

I also started working on the backgrounds for these cards that I mentioned to you on Monday.  I hadn’t completed them so today I will assemble the cards. This is actually one of my favorite parts of cardmaking. Once I have all the components made, I can work on the layout and other aspects of the design.  When I make cards for the shop I tend to make the components in batches and then during another work session, I can put them together. This part I can play around with more options. Sometimes, it’s using other tools to enhance the layout and design of the cards. Sometimes it’s choosing embellishments or adding dimension to the layout. It’s very satisfying because I typically complete the project and have a finished product in my hand.

I hope you had a wonderful day!

Filed Under: Belinda's Crafts, Projects, WIP Wednesday Tagged With: , ,

Happy Monday – Where do I find inspiration?

March 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment

Where do I find inspiration? Sometimes, I will be in my favorite place, nature and sometimes I find it in the aisles of the supermarket or in this instance Target. The box for this candle caught my eye. I thought how the yellow color made me feel happy and I liked the pairing with the lavender color.

Sometimes I only pull the color combinations and other times I want to emulate the design in some way. So after taking the candle out, I kept the box. I have had this box for a few months. But I wait for the inspiration to really work its magic and waited for the right moment to use it.

This weekend I was on Zoom crafting with my friends and I started pulling out spring supplies. By the way, Happy Spring!! I had this stamp set for a bit and wanted to play around with it. Then I thought about the box and knew that now is the time to see what I could do with it.

I pulled out my brushes and some Distress Oxide inks and I emulated the design and color of the box for a background. I then grabbed my Copic markers and after stamping up the image I colored the flowers.

The sentiment just felt so right. How many times, do you lay your head down on the pillow only to hear that inner voice criticize your efforts for that day? Well, this card is here to remind you that you are enough today. I really love this sentiment because it addresses the feelings of inadequacy in our daily lives.

I made several backgrounds and colored up several images so I think I will complete them and consider them for the spring inventory.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Filed Under: Belinda's Crafts Tagged With: , , ,

Happy Monday – Beginning again…

March 14, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Making some butterflies that I can hang in my craft room for spring and creating cards from old watercolored pieces.

Hello and happy Monday. Oh and happy Pi Day. It’s been a minute but I am here now. I am constantly learning more about myself as time passes on. I am learning to let go of the discomfort caused by my creative ‘ebb and flow’. I don’t know why I put so much pressure on myself. Or actually, that is a lie, I know that I am both inspired and shamed when I see other creatives on social media moving along with their creative endeavors. I see them on social media and I start to think, something must be wrong with me when I take such long breaks from creating.

I put my Etsy shop on holiday mode since Christmas break with the intention of reopening it in mid-January. Fast-forward to March and it’s still on holiday mode. I found myself putting off re-opening until I have new products. Creating another barrier for myself.

So today I decided to reopen with my current products and ease back into production. I want to share my successes and struggles with you all to keep things real. Too often we only see the successes on social media and that creates a false sense of perfection. But I am learning that I will naturally have creative bursts that ebb and flow throughout the year. For example, school vacation for my kids typically means I am going to spend more time with my loved ones and that’s ok. The beauty of being my own boss is that I am supposed to have that kind of flexibility. As we approach the gardening prep season, I know I will be spending more time in the garden than at my craft table, and guess what? That’s ok! I only hope you will continue to ride with me on my journey

So here I am beginning again…

Filed Under: Belinda's Crafts Tagged With:

Happy New Year, I’m back!

January 10, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Sunsets in the winter are the absolute best!

Well hello, stranger! I can’t believe it has been about 7 weeks since we connected. We must get reacquainted indeed. Ha, I’m being silly. I realized right before Thanksgiving break that I needed to slow down. In the past, I would have ignored the feeling and plowed forward. But I am learning to take better care of myself. What better time to renew that vow to take care of myself than the new year. I feel like I have two times a year that I feel like a fresh start, one is January 1 and the other is on April 1 about a week after the first day of spring.

So I decided in December to put my Etsy shop on vacation mode to regroup. Crazy you might say because that is when most Etsy shops increase their sales. But I felt burnout on the way and decided I missed the window of holiday inventory so why not take time off? So I did and guess what? The world didn’t come to an end and I managed to have a lovely holiday with family. My plan is to re-open towards the end of this month.

I opened with a photo of a winter sunset I took a few days ago. I had my husband take the photo and nearly had an accident taking in that beauty. The photo never captures what the eyes see and believe me it was truly spectacular. The fuschia and the splotchy presentation of purple hues were so gorgeous. I thought it was a watercolor painting. The first thing I thought was how lucky we were out at just the right time to see this magnificent event. The second thought was, what Copic colors would blend to recreate that sunset? Yup, crazy crafty brain took right over.

I will be back with my Christmas haul and I will also share my coloring goals for 2022 (yup, I do that!).

I hope you all had a safe and lovely break and feel free to leave a comment to say hello if you are so inclined. I am slowly getting back to work and re-acquainting myself with my work schedule but I will resume my regular posting so do stop by often.

Be well,

Filed Under: Belinda, Belinda's Crafts Tagged With:
« Previous Page
Next Page »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox

Join other followers: