My friend Jeanne invited me to write a post for the Creative Blog Hop - I just love her. If you have not seen her work, you must! She has a gorgeous eye for color and can master anything from CAS to more frilly designs. And she is my patterned-paper kindred spirit! Her blog can be found here.

1. What am I working on right now?

I have forever said that I don’t like to color, but I was inspired by Kathy Racoosin’s 30 Day Coloring Challenge and have been trying to color the Gorjuss image below using my Prismacolor Pencils. It’s a work in progress - I sit down every night and try a little bit more, but here is where I last left it:

I have no idea what I am going to do with her when I am done. I guess I will cut her out and make a CAS card?

2. How does my work differ from those in my genre?

This is so tough for me to answer because I like to think I’ve tried lots of styles over the years. I somehow always feel at home using patterned papers - lots of them! - on a card, and I feel like that makes me unique. I also really like using bright colors, but often my color choices are driven by the paper collection I decide to work with.

3. Why do I create what I do?

I can honestly say that I create now because it’s something that I want to do, because it relaxes me and makes me happy. To me ‘creating’ means a lot more than cards, though - it’s trying new recipes, working in the Project Life App, decorating my planner, searching for the perfect print to hang above my sofa, learning HTML, etc. They’re all creative outlets for me that help me to get out of my head and explore new things.

4. How does my creative process work?

It’s not very organized, that’s for sure! Usually I will sit down to make a card with a specific product in mind - a new die, a favorite stamp set, new paper…and from there I basically make a huge mess. I try lots of things, lots of stamping, lots of layering, until I get something that “looks done” to me. Sometimes this whole process can take a few hours - there are times when Eric pokes his head into my craft room to remind me how late at night it is because I easily lose track of time, especially with music on. Many times I will sit and flip through old issues of CARDS for inspiration; rarely do I browse blogs or Pinterest anymore, unless I am looking for a reason to shop! :)

Thanks, Jeanne, for inviting me to do this! Now I’d like to nominate all of YOU to join in and PLEASE link back to your post here! I would love to read about you!