Creativity: Conundrums, Confidence Confessions and a Coupon.

With the rapid swing in weather comes confusion. Confusion leads to angst. Angst leads to art. For me, anyway. I've been working on both my upcycled furniture pieces and my journal in tandem these days. Outside in the nice weather sanding and priming and painting, inside when the sun goes down or the clouds come out. Working away regardless.

My problem lies in the fact that I don't have a clear picture of where all this awesome creative goodness is actually going. I know, that shouldn't be a a part of my mental equation, the end result. It fucks up the creative process etc., but still, I am lying in bed late at night wondering about purpose and direction and career choices and holy wow do I hate that. I feel like I'm sitting on the edge of something large, a big decision, a big leap, a big step forward, a big something is lurking right around the corner. I can see myself standing on the edge of a cliff looking down. I keep thinking I shuold be looking up, at the place my newfound wings will take me to, but I all I can do is look back and down. Paralized in fear of making any step at all. And that scares the crap out of me.

Ideally, I would have a new website, new name, new logo for my etsy shop and selling some painting and prints while also upcycling furniture to sell locally in consignment/vintage shops as well as on a custom order basis. (phew) Why is this so damn daunting? Because I was a corporate hound girl for so long but gave up making fantastic money and the pride of my family for my own selfish reasons? I fear success and failure? So it seems. I can't make a fucking move. Sure I'm creating with the goals above in mind, but I've had this goal all my life and I can't seem to just go for it now that I'm there. Dammit. At least typing it out here seems to clarify the rapid cycle of imagery and thoughts that have been cluttering through my brain for ages. My point? I need a business name, logo and little teenie site. So yah. That's where my headspace is right now. Moving On.

With all the creative goodness fueling me, I feel the need to pay it forward and share a little of the goodness of Youtube I have been watching as of late. Enter: Teesha Moore, Art Journal Magician. Ok, that's not her title, I just made that up. It's just so accurate though! She takes regular journal pages and makes them into amazing works of art with simple collage and lettering techniques. I am always looking to learn and try new techniques, and Tessha takes you through the entire process in here videos. I was hooked. Here is one video for a taste of what I'm talking about.

As you can see in this video she uses opague gel based pens. Luckily I already had a white one, but after a page or two I wanted some other colours to choose from as well. Since the gel markers are opague they, unike other markers, show up on dark surfaces. I needed some. I found a Michael's coupon online. Since I live within walking distance and now had a 40% off coupon I knew those pens were mine. Turns out you can print out these coupons and use them all week long, once a day. If I ever need to buy anything they supply I always ensure I have this coupon around. The upload new ones weekly. Oh, and on the receipt you get withyour purchase always has a 50% off coupon for any one regular priced item for the next week! I know! You see where I'm going here. Anyway, here is the coupon you can save and print out, as well as the link to where I find them. They are good anywhere. I have asked and they even took the american versions at my local store. Just ask and show them when you walk in, they always say yes and shoo me playfully away. I had to share. I was not paid for this, I just love me a good deal!

So with that, here is a little of what I created in my Upcycled Journal in the Teesha Moore style. I am really loving the tips and ideas she demonstrates and explains.

So there you have it.

Happy Tuesday!

♥ leel