Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.This months question is about 'Customer Service'. How to take care of customers. How to relate to customers. Do we and should we treat all customers the same?

I strive to give the best customer service I can which means that I treat my customers the way I'd like to be treated myself. Good communication is essential so that's always the beginning. If there is any problem concerning the order, I will always try work with the customer to find the best solution. I love custom orders and if they are requested within a reasonable timeframe, I will try to make it happen. It's not easy as I have to translate in 3D what people have in their head and that might differ in reality. So in this case, communication is very important and a continious process. I heart my return customers because they are the best feedback I can get on my work. By coming back for more, they let me know that I'm on the right track. :)

Want to know what the other Merriers have to say about customer service? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)

Laura at Blue Terracotta
Monika at Red2White
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Crafts of Texture
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Jen at Painted Fish Studio
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.It's that time of the month again and this month's question is 'Do you do fairs/shows? If so, share some hints and your experience. If not - why not.'

Yes, I do fairs but not on a frequent basis though. When I first started out with fairs, I really loved it and couldn't get enough of it but after a few, I kind of changed my mind. It takes quite a lot of preparation and the clearing away afterwards is just dreadful. Just wrapping up all my feelings takes a long time, let alone unwrapping and clearing 'em away which usually takes longer. So I'm very picky on the fairs that I do and sometimes I even visit a fair beforehand to get a general impression and see if it would attract the right audience for my work.
It's a great promotional tool though and the best part about fairs is meeting people from my creative community. Be it customers, blogreaders or other makers/artists, I just love to interact with them. And it's also a great opportunity to get feedback on your work.

I did prepare quite well for my first fair and made a little 'how to' for those interested.

I have a fair in 2 weeks time and my studio is a big mess right now. Besides that, I'm working a lot too & it's not good for my stress levels. Obviously I have not been preparing enough during summer which results in frantically running around like a headless chicken right now.
The kiln will be doing overtime & that also means that I'll be doing overtime. I plan to make up for that afterwards though. :)

Want to know if the other Merriers have tips for you on fairs/craft shows? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)

Laura at Blue Terracotta
Monika at Red2White
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Crafts of Texture
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Jen at Painted Fish Studio
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge. Since I forgot to post last Friday, I post the first Friday of this month! :)

This month's topic is "write a simple tutorial on anything - craft related or not"
Oops, a tutorial? That's been a while hey!
To be quite honest, time has not been on my side to make 'em as often as I used too.
And even for this one, it is nothing really spectacular as I kind of forgot about this post and I got reminded on Tuesday evening. So on wednesday before leaving to Holland I decided to quickly snap a few pics and edit them later. They didn't turn out really well so you'll have to forgive me for the bad quality I'm afraid.

How to make a quick & fun packaging idea?

What do you need?
Brads, handmade paper, paper, punch, water, needle, brown paper bags and a brush.

Punch out a flower.Take a piece of handmade paper and apply with a brush some water along a ruler.
The water makes it easier to tear the paper and you get the lovely handmade look afterwards.
Fold it over on the paper bag, add the flower and punch a hole with a needle.
Then use the brad to close it.
Pretty easy and fun packaging.

Want to know what tutorials the other Merriers posted? Hop over to their blogs.
Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)

Laura at Blue Terracotta
Monika at Red2White
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Crafts of Texture
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Jen at Painted Fish Studio
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge. Since I forgot to post last Friday, I post the first Friday of this month! :)

This month's topic is "Since you started blogging, has your style/content/feeling about blogging changed?"

I started blogging on september 25th 2007, nearly a month after I set up my etsy shop. It seemed a natural thing to do somehow as I wanted to use my blog to connect with the community that I was part of. I didn't know much about blogging and had cold feet to start off with and didn't know really what to write about. I also wonderded what would actually interest people to come and read my blog and what I would do if no one would ever visit my blog...

Being an active member of a team on etsy certainly helped me to overwin my fear and there was always a teammember who cared to drop by and be nice to me. Soon, I started to become a bit more confident about blogging but really, the blogcontent I wrote back then was much different then now.
Whenever one of my items would hit the frontpage of Etsy, I would blog about it with a screenshot and many yay's but after a while I thought 'who cares if my item is on the frontpage of Etsy really?'
It was then that I felt I needed to change my blog to a place where people would want to come to see work in progress and it meant heaps to me to get feedback on them.
I learned that a blog is a very valuable tool to share work and processes. It made me grow as a maker and a person.

In fall of 2008, I started my '99 feelings'-project and for about 3 months, I made a feeling each day and posted it in my blog & on Flickr. I don't really know what happened but people started to come back every day to see what feeling I had made and that kept me going. It was the power & feedback of you who helped me finish this project. I don't think I would have managed it without any interaction. As a maker, you are often 'alone' and knowing that there were so many people who cared,  it really moved me. What an incredible community I am part off!
At the end of the project, I posted this little video and I still love it to pieces...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My blog became a second 'home' where I met up with creative souls worldwide. So many awesome people out there! I posted tutorials and little tips & tricks & I'm so glad they are enjoyed so much. If they make you want to run to the craftshop and get crafty, I've reached my goal. I think that creativity can't be stimulated enough & if a little push is all you need, I'm happy!

There was a time that I was very organised, had my daily posts scheduled and an actual plan on what to post when. Without realising, that put a lot of pressure on me and when I took a blog break last year due to my mom's illness, it hit me that there was more then just blogging.
It took me a lot of courage to come back after that break and somehow I still haven't found my blogging mojo back. I try though and I actually start enjoying it more now that I don't put the pressure of daily posts on me anymore. I don't want to be repetitive and to be honest, I haven't done much new things lately (except for the collaboration work) and it kind of feels like I'm repeating the things I do all the time. And you have all seen that, right? I feel like I just bore you with yet another picture of sanding work, glueing magnets, making singing birds,...  So, I try to avoid to post about what I make daily but will show you the 'special' things I make. And hopefully soon, I'll have some more time to make tutorials again. It's been a while & I know you enjoy those...
The most important thing to remember is that this blog wouldn't be here without you so thank you for all the support and being part of my community. 

Want to know what the other Merriers had to say about this topic? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers - http://www.vintageisforlovers.com/
Jen at Painted Fish Studio - http://paintedfishstudio.com/
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles - http://www.dirksendabbles.com/
Laura at Blue Terracotta -  http://blueterracotta.com/
Monika at Red2White - http://red2white.wordpress.com/
Mitsy at ArtMind - http://artmind-etcetera.blogspot.com
Kim at Vilt a la Kim - http://viltalakim.com/blog/
Sara at Crafts of Texture - http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com
Mariana at Florcita - http://florcita.eu/wordpress/
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent - http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com
Ruth at Birdland Creations - http://insidetheartisan.blogspot.com

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.This months question was 'do you take a holiday from your craft/art?
I can't remember last time I took a holiday from my creative work as I always seem to be doing something. It's a constant factor in my life and I wouldn't know any other way really. When I go away on a road trip, even if it's only a short one, I usually take a bag along to assemble happy girls. My hands are always busy and it feels strange if they are not doing anything.
The past weeks have been busy with house chores so my creative time has been limited but I don't see it as a holiday as it was totally not my choice not to be creative. :)
Nearly done with all the house stuff so I hope to be back on my blog sometime soon to share creative stuff again. :)
Want to know if the other Merriers are taking a creative break? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)

Laura at Blue Terracotta
Monika at Red2White
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Crafts of Texture
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Jen at Painted Fish Studio
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.
Last month, we all posted a picture that affected us in one way or the other and explained a bit why. This month, Ruth assigned us to someone else on the Merry go round to make something being inspired by someone else's photo. I got assigned to Mariana's picture of little Seba with his binoculars in Patagonia. The end of the world and he can see all of it from there...Having travelled a lot myself over the years, I really enjoyed seeing Seba being encouraged by his parents to explore the world. Ovbiously he has an advantage to many other kids as he's being raised in 3 languages so he'll be sure to get around the world without language problems.
So I made him a little tag to put on his backpack...
Happy travels, Seba! :)

Want to know more about what inspiration the other Merriers chose to share with you? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)

Laura at Blue Terracotta
Monika at Red2White
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Crafts of Texture
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Jen at Painted Fish Studio
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.This month, we decided to post a picture that affects us in one way or the other. And this picture will serve as a source of inspiration for another merrier to make something in next month's post.
I can't wait to see all the pictures.

I chose to use 3 pictures as I wanted repetition and textures to be my theme.
Not that my feet are such interesting topic for pictures nor for inspiration but I just couldn't imagine how life would be without 'em.
My feet have brought me to many places and everyday they show me beautiful things to see and inspire me.
I love looking in general and most of the time it's looking up and around me.
Lately I've been looking down too and I found the most amazing textures right underneath my feet. How I love textures!
So, don't forget to look down too from time to time - there's great stuff right underneath your feet!

Want to know more about what picture the other Merriers chose to share with you? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)

Laura at Blue Terracotta
Monika at Red2White
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Crafts of Texture
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Jen at Painted Fish Studio
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.The question this month was 'how do you juggle your time and/or how do you wish you could juggle your time'.
It is actually a very, very tricky question for me as I'm one of those people who always feels there are too little hours in a day an too little days in a week and I'm very, very bad at managing my time.

image by zkamalee

For this post for example, I wasn't organised enough to get it ready in time for you to read with your morning coffee or tea nor did I take a picture to accompany it. And that's not because I'm lazy but because other things took over my week.
I spent Easter Monday with my partner and we walked a bare foot trail (FUN) , Tuesday Elza D. and Celeste B. came to my studio to play (MORE FUN), I visited my friend Mariana on Wednesday evening (jip, MORE FUN) and I dragged myself to sewing class on Thursday evening (not so fun as it's so slow). Add 4 days of day job work to this week and running my on line business and you know that there is little time to manage here.

I have one list and that states the things I need to make.
No more, no less.
That list is never empty.
Never.
It tick things off and I add things.
And when the list gets messy, I copy it onto a new sheet.
It's nearly the only handwritten thing I do since I dislike my handwriting.
I don't do housework very much.
It feels like a waste of time.
But I love it when it's clean so I force myself once in a while.
Although I dislike doing it.
I ship two days a week.
That saves me heaps of time.
I do the wrapping, my partner goes to the postoffice.
I wish I had some sort of control knobs.
They would be needed to prevent procrastinating.
Or wasting time on the computer.
But I love to be able to decide in a blink to go sit on a sunny terrace with a beer.
I can do that because I don't do time management.
It always fits in.

Control knobs by Elston2001

Because I post so late today, I decided to check out the other merriers posts and share with you some of the things that caught my eye...

• I am learning to set bounderies to people who try to make me busy with their affairs, ’cause they have unwisely/in greed/deliberetly taken on too much. (Monika)
• I’ve decided that I will put a few limits just because otherwise I get sucked in and I forget that I should be using weekends to do stuff with my son and husband. It is not all about work. (Mariana)
• Blogging. This really encourages me to create new things. I want to have something to share with my blog readers each day and thus, I work at finishing off new pieces. (Ruth)
• I find that minutes turn into hours, hours turn into days, and days turn into years, and all in the blink of an eye. (Samantha)
• I enjoy having a full schedule, but just full enough tho be happy and well rounded. (Bethany)
• I try not to kick myself too hard if I don’t get everything done. I just move it over to the next day and highlight it! (Laura)
  

Want to know more about what the other Merriers wrote about time management? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)

Laura at Blue Terracotta
Monika at Red2White
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Crafts of Texture
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Jen at Painted Fish Studio
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.This month we were asked to introduce you to an artist who's work I find inspiring or interesting. It could be anyone at all, famous or not, dead or alive, ugly or pretty,...

That's pretty tough for me as my inspiration is influenced by so much and many around me. It is too hard for me to pick just one artist which inspires me so I think I'll cheat a bit... (shhht!)

Clay is the medium that I've been working the most with the past years and because of the nature of the classes I took, I'm used to work in themes or projects. We would get an assignment and that's where I usually started off to find inspiration. I would think how I could translate the assignment and find connections with my thoughts in books, on the internet or in real life.
I remember how hard it was in the beginning. First of all the anxiety to not have any inspiration at all and second the fear of having too many images in my head.
I never started an assignment right away and usually did some freewheel claying to give my head some space to 'deal' with my thoughts.

It still works like this in a way although I do miss the interaction with my fellow ceramic students a lot. We used to stop by each others table and give feedback on each others work.
Suggest someone to try something a different way or ask advice on how they would tackle a certain concept. I believe that interaction around your work is what makes it come to life most.

I love to be around creative people and do things together. It's a process that makes me grow in every way. Be it crocheting granny squares at a crafty meet up, giving a workshop at home, do supply shopping with friends and discuss art materials or exchange thoughts on a certain image on Flickr,... so really it's the entire creative community that inspires me every single day.

Finger pointing with limited DOF by Jamie McKerral

Hey, that's probably YOU I'm referring to as you are reading this blog, you are part of my creative community and thus my main source of inspiration.

I would not be as inspired if no one would ever visit me in this space, on Flickr, Twitter or at home. I love getting feedback on what I'm up to and I love to give my opinion on other people's projects although I feel that I do too little of that last bit nowadays*.
I should as I really feel that I want to give back what I receive... support, friendship and inspiration! Thank you source of inspiration, I hope you'll stick around for many, many more!

*I have issues with time.

Want to know what the source of inspiration of the other Merriers is? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)

Laura at Blue Terracotta
Monika at Red2White
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Crafts of Texture
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Jen at Painted Fish Studio
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.
We welcome three new members to the group this time:
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles, Jen at Painted Fish Studio and Samantha at Vintage is for lovers. It will be lovely to get to know you better through the Merry-go-round. This months question was what our 5 favorite tools that you in your art/craft?
Aah, that's difficult as I have a few more then just 5 I'm afraid... so I'm going to cheat just because I can! :)

I made these many years ago from branches and nails.

Each and every one is used for specific textures for my work.My favorite pencil that I use for 'glueing' parts of clay onto clay with water or clay slib.
It's starting to get worn out and I'm already fearing it's end...

A rib tool with teeth for getting texture to the clay slabs I press in double moulds. After the slabs are in the mould, I use the rib tool to roughen the edges so that I can apply clay slib. And the big needle punches airholes into the bottom of the feelings.
From the thrift shop: potato knives for cutting my clay slabs.

I don't understand why these clay ribs have not grown onto my hands yet. They certainly are an extension of my body and I can't work without 'em. Some of 'em are plain creditcards, the blue and red ones are a bit hard and the grey ones are really soft ones. And those are the ones I love most as I use 'em to smoothen the feelings. I have two now but everytime I have two, always one gets lost...
My rolling pins for making clay slabs. All reclaimed: one from a broom, one from a rack from Ikea and one used to be a table leg.
Other tools I made myself after I had some wine... :)
Love using cork, pin needles and nails onto them. They are great for making textures into clay and are superfun to use.
I don't think clay tools are really exciting but I wouldn't want to do the job without these. I'll have to rephrase that: 'I couldn't do my job without these'

There are lots of other tools I love using but none of them are really indispensable and worth mentioning in the, ahum, 7 tools-that-you-love-using post! :)

Want to know what are the favorite tools of the other Merriers? Hop over to their blogs.
Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)

Laura at Blue Terracotta
Monika at Red2White
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Crafts of Texture
Samantha at Vintage is for lovers
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Jen at Painted Fish Studio
Bethany at Dirksen Dabbles

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.
The group has been extended with 2 new members: welcome Monika from Red2White and Laura from BlueTerracotta.The question to start off this year is: "What are your compass words for 2011".
The "Compass words" refer to a little exercise (click on Renew, Reenergize, recommit...) that you can work through.
I didn't do the excercise as I know the words I want to focus on.

This year I want to learn to let go...
Let go of fear.
Let go of pressure
Let go of stress.
Let go of things that really do not matter (only I need to be remembered sometimes).

Once I've let go, I want to balance my life a bit better...
Spend time with my family and friends.
Take a day off and not feel guilty.
Eat more healthy & excercise a bit more.
Keep work fun.

And when my life is all balanced, I can start to enjoy it even more...
Read, crochet, sew & sit in the garden taking up the sun.
Give new ideas a chance to actually come together.
Take roadtrips to nowhere in particular & discover new places.
Share & learn things.
Do something insanely crazy - or even more then one.

January is nearly over already and I haven't even started on the 'let go' thing but I soon will. No gloomy posts about being tired and stressed but happy cheerful posts because that is really what I want life & me to be. And I know that as soon as I let go, it will happen!

Want to know what compass words the other merriers came up with? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Saras Texture Crafts
Fabienne at Easterya Jewellery
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Ruth at Birdland Creations
Monika at Red2White
Laura at BlueTerracotta

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.This month we collaborated creative wise with someone on the Merry go round.
Ruth drew names for everyone and that person sent you something creative they've made.
Then it was up to us to try and combine it with what we do normally.
My collaboration partner was Mariana from Florcita. Way back in February when we were on a fair together, she gave me some beautiful green, handspun yarn. So when I knew she was my partner, I told her not to send anything as it was the perfect opportunity to use the yarn.
It had been sitting in my studio for quite some time so it was about time I got my hands on it!
I quickly knew I wanted to try and do something I had never done before: freeform crocheting.
I love it so much but I never tried it because I only know the basics and I do think you need to 'understand' what you do somehow. I know how to finish something by pattern but I'm still struggling with 'dc2togs' and other weird loops I have to make sometimes. So, I don't really have it in my fingers yet, as my mind does somehow needs guidance from a pattern to actually make something.
Freeform crocheting feels so liberating! I hooked away jippety jappety happy and didn't really care what stitches I used or how many single or double crochets I did. How fun!
I wanted to use the lightest and softest yarn for the middle and then decided I would use all the other different greens on the sides. Just doing whatever stitches I liked doing at that time.
It put my head on automatic pilot and I never questioned why I did a certain stitch.
The yarn is all different quality (bamboo, wool, silk,...) so the textures are amazing!
Thank you for the lovely yarn Mariana! I loved working with it!
I made a special porcelain brooch to go on the scarf. I made a mould from a bear's head and placed it in a little tray. Then I added lots of lime green glass beads around it. The beads melted in the kiln and it looks glazed now. I think it worked out really well although the edges are not quite the way I would finish 'em if I had any control over it. I think the design of the brooch is quite wild and goes really well with this wild scarf! :)
Want to know what the other merriers made with their goodies? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Saras Texture Crafts
Fabienne at Easterya Jewellery
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Lily at Lily Pang Art and Design
Ruth at Birdland Creations

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.I promised to show you the finished piece of the picture challenge last month but I didn't like how it turned out. As soon as I filled the holes around the bubbles to cast it, it looked more like a bunch of grapes then like what I had in mind. So I decided not to waste any time casting it.
So far for a failed experiment. Aah, don't we all have those?
I better move on to this months merry-go-round question: what's your favorite color and how it comes into your work?

My favorite color is probably not a surprise for you: lime green.
Lime plays a big role in my branding. I used to have a red avatar on Etsy but I had been told it looked a lot like Target's, a shop we don't have in Belgium so I had to check it out. And indeed, it resembles a bit so I decided to change the color as I didn't want to change the shape. I remember I doubted to choose between lime green and teal blue as I love both a lot. But lime won because it's so fresh, vivid and fun!
Since then, I bring the color into my packaging with adding lime ribbons or using lime boxes. I add lime happy girls to every order, unless I know it's a repeat order, then I add a different color.
I have been told that people can easily recognise me out of a whole lot of avatars in for example an Etsy chatroom as the color and look of it is consistent.
So I suppose I can't hide even if I wanted too. I like being 'recognised' by my color - it gives me a fuzzy feeling. :)

Want to know how the other merriers incorporate their favorite color in their work? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Saras Texture Crafts
Fabienne at Easterya Jewellery
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Lily at Lily Pang Art and Design
Ruth at Birdland Creations

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.This time we had a photo inspiration challenge. We all submitted one picture and the one with the most votes was the one we had to be inspired by. Thank goodness I voted for the picture which won. It is made by Viltalakim and it just makes me happy and content.
But it is also summer and I have been slacking a bit lot, I have not much to show for as I only started something yesterday... So this is what I am making at the moment:
It's going to be a 3D brooch with the shapes of the balloons and I hope it will look like a happy cloud... I'm going to mould it and then press clay into it. I'll show the end result next month! So you have something to look forward to...

Want to know what the other merriers made? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)
Alison at Tweed thoughts
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Saras Texture Crafts
Fabienne at Easterya Jewellery
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Lily at Lily Pang Art and Design
Ruth at Birdland Creations

Merry go round

Every last friday of the month, I jump on the 'Merry go round'. What is the Merry go round exactly? Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their reponses to the same question/challenge.The question this time was: How much, if at all, does your geographical location affect your art/craft.

To tell you the truth, I don't know really. In Belgium, kids start school usually at 2,5 years old. It's not obliged until 5 years old but most kids go to school that young. So I was cutting, drawing, glueing and shaping stuff at a fairly young age as that's what you do a lot at pre-school.
After that, in my free time, I went to children's art school one day a week until I was about 12 years old. As a teenager, I remember I loved art classes at school most but somehow I got distracted with teenager stuff back then. But I kept on cutting, drawing, glueing and shaping stuff up until now.I suppose that being given the opportunity to be able to do all this crafty stuff as a kid has affected me to who I am now. I strongly believe in the fact that if you are given the tools, ability will grow on you. A bit of talent may help too though. The fact that I was encouraged to be creative made a big difference too.
So I feel lucky and grateful to have been born in Belgium where all the tools for a creative life are available at a very young age.
I wish this would be balanced a bit more throughout all parts of the world...

Kerrin's (Sigmosaics) kiddies at play by ArtMind

Want to know what the other merriers think about this theme? Hop over to their blogs. Please bear in mind that the members will be posting at different times of the day, depending on which world time-zone they are in :)
Alison at Tweed thoughts
Kim at Vilt a la Kim
Sara at Saras Texture Crafts
Fabienne at Easterya Jewellery
Mariana at Florcita
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent
Lily at Lily Pang Art and Design
Ruth at Birdland Creations