Friday 15 May 2015

The Focus Your Craft and Soul bloghop x


Good evening welcome to the next part of Jennifer Grace's bloghop in celebration of her latest blog event.




You should have arrived here from K's Crafty Corner or perhaps you hopped over from Bloglovin. However you arrive, do be sure to hop over to Jennifer's blog and follow all the other lovely blogposts, not only because it'll be a beautiful trip but also because you could win a fabulous giveaway. 

This is the rather aptly named "Shine" Insta album kit set you could win courtesy of  WRK. Enter to win by commenting on all the blogs in the Focus Your Craft & Soul hop! The giveaway closes on Sunday the 24th of May at 10pm BST, and is open internationally".


For me, crafting is all about relaxation and to be honest at the moment, I'm really busy so my relaxation times are small. In order to maintain some semblance of creativity, which helps my mental health no end, and to not get bogged down in the daily routines of life, I began doing a small piece of creative activity everyday after I've had my supper.

I have begun keeping a creative book and I'm following 2 projects on Instagram which I found via Amy Tangerine's blog and Instagram account. These 2 projects help keep me focused on being creative everyday without having to get out a load of scrapbooking supplies or taking a huge amount of time when I'm tired or just unmotivated.

This is one of the great things about blogging and using social media - the joy of finding something which inspired you to be creative in new and interesting ways. 

The first project I'm doing is called the Creative Midori Challenge and is the brainchild of Florence Antonette on Instagram aka livelifeandcreate . Every month she sets a daily topic for you to be creative with, this month's May can be found here . I like the fact that the topics are slightly off the wall some days and I have to think a bit before creating my page but also they are brief and I can do as little or as much as I feel up for.

Here are a couple of my pages............






The second challenge project is by Cori aka  The Reset Girl. Again each month,  Cori compiles a daily listing topic and you base your creative activity on that. I use the same journal for this project and much like Amy Tangerine I have one side of the page for my listing challenge and the other for the creative midori challenge. Here are a few of my lists..........







What really focuses me on these projects is that it is so simple and quick. I have a tray in my lounge with all the basic bits I use for the projects. It has my journal which was 99 pence from The Works, my watercolour paints, brushes, a StazOn ink pad, some washi tapes, some stamps, a stamping block, pens, pencils, a few stickers - alphabets, quotes and sayings, and that is just about it.



Keeping this tray simple has meant I am focused on being creative rather than swamping myself with lots of choices. I can always add some extras on as I go along, but I am pretty much keeping it to those few bits. And so far I've done everyday for 15 days so that makes me very happy indeed.


Your next blogger is Jacky so hop on over and see what she had prepared for you. Have a wonderful time.


54 comments:

  1. wow I can see you are really enjoying the journal and it is so personal...really like that globe stamp please may I borrow it in September??? xxx

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  2. You have such lovely writing Jo. Love the idea of being creative every day and your pages are great

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    1. thank you Fay I always think other people's writing is way better I aspire to Shimelle's
      Jo x

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  3. Such a lovely way of keeping up the creativity,Jo.

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  4. Two great projects and fab idea to have it all on your tray!!

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    1. Thanx Sarah I love the tray too it was made for me and has penguins inlaid on the bottom x

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  5. Hi jo, so pleased I popped over to you. What you said made so much sense, sometimes when life gets in the way you want, to create but simply and quickly. I had no idea there were journal challenges like this to be found, I think I may have to go and investigate.

    Enjoy your relaxation time x

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    1. Thank you Claire glad it made sense. I find that if I craft everyday my mood is much better in general and I don't have that feeling of not achieving something creative. I love social media for all the reasons I said and more.

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  6. You have beautiful handwriting Jo. I also find crafting relaxing & I'm glad you've found a way to keep up with it amongst your busy schedule

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    1. Thanx K see Fay's comment reply re the handwriting. I'm looking forward to our weekend of crafting x

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  7. I enjoyed your post Jo and saw lots of similarities - our love of journaling, carrying our camera's everywhere, enjoying a challenge to keep focus. I love the idea of a small tray with everything you need - I so easily get overwhelmed by too much stuff or suddenly thinking I'll add this or that. Keeping it simple is the way to manage when we juggle so many other things.

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    1. Thanx Sandie we do have similar tastes in many ways yes. Looking forward to sharing our creativity further x

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  8. Really loved getting to know you! So happy you found this lovely way to get a little playful creativity in every day :-)

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  9. What a great idea Jo and how fascinating it will be to look back through your book in years to come :o)

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    1. I do hope so too, I have a box of letters from many years ago which I dip into and it reminds me of so many great times

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  10. I love the idea of journals, but I'm not very good at keeping going. I start well but then miss a few days and don't get started again. The few times I've written in an ordinary diary have been useful to look back on. Might check out the ideas you've shared and see how I get on.

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  11. I love your determination. I manage to create a lot more now I have a space to leave things out but like your idea of a slimed down set of essentials!

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  12. beautiful journal, great idea to keep a tray to hand to keep the mojo going

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  13. I loved that glimpse into your creative journal: your writing is lovely to look at and a pleasure to read! Couldn't help noticing the heart around "Orange Juice"..add another one from me!!

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    1. I will x I couldn't fit them all onto the page so some names got left out sadly x

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  14. Super journal...good idea to keep everything to hand so you just create!!!!!!!!!!!

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  15. Way to stay focused on creativity during busy times. Nice idea.

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  16. I love your journal pages - I like the idea of keeping all your supplies together in a tray!

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    1. Thanx Gill that seems to be the general opinion so - tray was a good idea x

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  17. I've really enjoyed your pages, Jo, and thank-you for the links as well. I admire your stickability - finding a time and limiting your supplies are such useful tips.

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    1. Thank you Alexa, I can't miss it as it's right in front of me all the time and reminds me to go be creative x

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  18. what a supper idea Jo, a great journal

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    1. Hi Louise and thanx for your lovely comment x

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  19. I love your journal. I see some of my favorite Shimelle products in your stash!!

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    1. Thank you Janet. Yes I love Shimelle's products although the pens aren't what I expected they ran out of ink really fast and I find the tips too thin x

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  20. I love your journal and the idea of the tray of basic goodies is genius for when you want to create away from your desk. Def on my to do list!

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    1. I've never been called a genius before xxx

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  21. Just thought I'd let you know I've done some creating with the inspiration from your post!
    thanks heaps - it was so much fun! I've actually managed to do this and will keep it going!!

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    1. Thank you so much and for being inspired x

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  22. Love the idea of being creative a little bit everyday with a few supplies. And loving the fact you love mess. Me too. Surely it's all part of the fun. x

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  23. Hi Jo! How nice to read about your creative journal. I love the idea of having the basics on a tray, so you can access everything easily and move it around, to wherever you are creating (or maybe away from there when you are not?!). I was smiling at your music page - I like lots of those bands/groups too - and the pages about shapes and mess. In fact, it's all fun and very Jo (lovely ;-) The others are right, you have nice handwriting (mine looks more like a tangle of string every day!).
    By the way, I do love your blog's profile photo - it looks just as smiley and lovely as you really are! X

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    1. Oh Lizzie you great big lovely friend you. That picture was taken by a proper photographer when my mum kept going on about wanting an uptodate picture. That's my fave one of the bunch x

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  24. Thank you so much, I never think it's great so it's good to know other people disagree with me x

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  25. Wonderful journal pages!!! Loved reading the little notes you made. What fun you are having!!!
    <3 J

    jwoolbright at gmail dot com
    HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com

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  26. I've seen some of Amy Tan's pages with these two challenges, so I really enjoyed seeing your version today, too!

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  27. Hopping along....what wonderful ideas you have going here....& I really liked seeing the photo of your materials.....fabulous!! And MandySea is lovely...& she will do your ideas justice, for sure:):)

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  28. I love your pages - and your selection of material you use in this journal. What a great idea to keep it simple and of course focused. x

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  29. Thanks for letting me know about these people Jo, I am now following them on instagram! I love how you've kept your tray of supplies nice and simple so you don't get bogged down by too many choices, great way to focus! Thank you so much for joining in with the Blog Hop! x

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Hello and thank you so much for stopping by. It is always a pleasure to read the comments I receive and to meet new friends. I try and reply to comments on friend's blogs as much as possible. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and look forward to seeing you here again soon. Love Jo xxx