Updates and hellos

Hello my dear blog friends,

It's been a while since I last wrote you. And I'm missing you and our Simply Neutrals gatherings! And my stash of yummy fabrics and laces, the needles and threads, the papers and glues, making mixed media books... But alas, no time at the moment... Alsn alas no time yet to have another Simply Neutrals party, I'm really sorry.

At the moment I'm over my head in illustration work (as in work I do for study purposes, not for paid jobs yet unfortunately). I hardly have time or energy left to be social besides family time and the social media side of following an intensive year long online study and trying to set up my illustration business. But I thought you might like to get an update on what's going on here and why I am so silent :)

So here it is.

Recently I worked hard on the children's book part of the year course at Make Art That Sells. This is for a story written by art director Zoë Tucker (she wrote it especially for class) about a pack of wolves and a little girl. The wolves are really naugthy and destroying the forest by their reckless behavior. They also eat way too much and grow bigger and bigger and bigger... And that's where this page spread comes in. I took that sentence a little further and imagined that the wolves were getting so big that they took up all the forest, nay, they become the forest themselves! :)

Whispers of the soul

Do you ever feel like you're stuck? Lost for words? Searching your way through thick mist in your head? Knowing that you have so many ideas and options but just can't find them anymore? You try to grasp one and poof! it's gone...

I feel like that for a while now. I know I have tons of inspiration, but it's like all these nice ideas that I have, are like fragile butterflies fluttering around in the mist. I can't catch them. I chase them and they just keep flying away from me.

My mind is misty. It goes blank several times a day.

When I try to read a book or text, the words dance before my eyes and won't stick with me. It's like there is already too much stuff in my brains. I can't focus.

And may be that's where the clue is.

May be I should not try to think for a while.

Just be.

Do.

Play.

Go outside.

Breathe.

Watch.

Feel.

Smell.

Listen.

But don't think.

Well, not on purpose anyway.

No analyzing. No making of mental notes.

No judging, no comparing.

No searching.

Not even trying to make sense of it all.

And may be, after a while, I will be able to hear the gentle, subtle whispers of my soul again and to carefully catch my butterflies.

How about you?

Do you ever feel this way? How do you deal with it?

xx Wen

Pins and Prunus

Hello dear friends,

When I shared my thoughts about the evolving in art style versus the blog, I got such sweet messages from you! Some of you say you have wandered away from the shabby romantic lace style as well. Some say a blog doesn't have to be one particular style or should not necessarily stick to one - a blog can evolve with your change of style. That it's important to listen where your heart leads you, and just see where that will bring you.

And I know there are also some of you that will miss the shabby romantic lace style here on AppleApricot. Well, I will always be a romantic at heart, so there will always be some kind of that in my arts and crafts I suppose. But probably with less lace and less vintage photos, if there will be any.

Pinterest investigation

Seen in this light, I got curious as to what exactly from this blog got the most repins on Pinterest. I mean, I had an idea about what might be liked about AppleApricot, but I could be so wrong! So I did a little investigation.

Turns out, in part I was right, but in part I definitely was wrong, haha! So the results somewhat surprised me. I thought you might be interested in the result of my little investigation as well. So here they are, the most repinned AppleApricot creations on Pinterest - in order of amount of repins:

By the way, I left out the DIYs and the freebies. From top left (first place) to bottom right:

shabby white collage on bark

blue rose fabric heart

soft blue fabric and lace book in the making

shabby romantic heart

He leadeth me - altered jar

autumn hues fabric and lace collage

atc queen Wilhelmina

Madonna and Child collage on wood

mini junkjournal

Just a fun investigation to do for your own blog. I can highly recommend it!

But one thing is good to remember:

The outcome of an analysis as this doesn't necessarily mean you have to do something with it. I know that it is been said that it would be good to do more of what works best. But if that's not where your heart leads you, then please don't.

Well, this was a fun and clarifying thing to do.

Did you ever try something similar?

Wishing you a beautiful day!

xx Wen

PS: the Prunus photos... those beautiful branches are remnants of a drastic pruning of a tree a few streets from here. I couldn't help but take some with me and put them in a vase :) I shared the photos and the story earlier (in Dutch) on my blog AppelAbrikoos.

A pondering or two

My blog AppleApricot has reached its 5th anniversary last February, I just realized. A good moment to look back, chew on it for a moment or two, and then curiously look forward to what the future might hold. Or not.

Looking back I see:

* love received and given between blog friends

* wonderful and meaningful new friendships developed

* lots of inspiration received from watching the work of other creative explorers.

Looking back I also see:

* explorations in different styles, materials, and techniques.

 Which brings me to some of my pondering of late.

You see, if you have been following my out and abouts for a while, you know how I constantly wander off in quite different directions. Keeping track is not being mentioned in my dictionary, I'm afraid.

And since a while now, I noticed that I tend to wander away from the shabby romantic style with lots of lace, which I used to share here on AppleApricot. So, what's a girl to do?

Shall I just let AppleApricot wander with me on a different path? Or will I keep business here as usual? Will I still want to make things like I made before for AppleApricot? Or will I abandon it all together?

Honestly? I dunno.

Meanwhile, I keep on creating, taking photos, exploring and wandering, in whatever direction speaks to me at that moment.

So, if you don't find me here, may be you'll find me wandering around in one of these places:

Wen's Paint (for bright and bold explorations in paint)

AppelAbrikoos (for cheerful crocheting, illustrating, and gardening - and ramblings in Dutch)

And something that goes for all of these places, is a quote I love from Tif of Dottie Angel:

"Sometimes I'm here a lot,

sometimes I'm not."

***

Wishing you a wander-ful day!

xx Wen

Lazy Daisy

Touring in a covered horse wagon in the shades of the forest

Hello dears,

What does your month of August look like?
It's all about August this week at Our Beautiful World.

Moss, pine cones and wild mushrooms belong to my nature favourites

August in The Netherlands to me means looking for wild mushrooms. Actually I saw one already in July, a couple of weeks ago.

I love looking down and seeing the beauty in the small details on the ground. It's a whole different world down there. The home of little creatures, living in the ground under our feet. I truly wish I had an amazing macro lens to capture that.

In August in The Netherlands the colours of nature are getting darker, more browns and dark greens. And everything starts to dry out. It's the hottest month here. And I'm being a lazy daisy then. I can't cope with the heat very well and am very much looking forward to the fresh air of autumn again.

We have sand dunes near the beach but also in some inland places. Like these in Kootwijkerzand. It's a popular place for horseback riders and pony carts.

What does August look like in your country? We'd love to know, so we welcome you to share it with us at Our Beautiful World, where the word prompt this week is August.

Happy August to you!

xx Wen

A card likes to hang on a wall now and then

... or doesn't it?

"I wanna be seeeeen" they seem to cry sometimes. Well, there you go, on the wall with you.

That way, the receiver of your carefully and lovingly handmade card can display it as a personal treasure. Or as a little piece of art. Because that's what we make, right? Mmm, I might be right. But I might be wrong, right? Wrong.

(Are you still following me? I don't.)

What I do know is that we tend to think that what we make is never "good enough" to be called art.

I'm learning how to crochet.

This flower was intented to have five petals. Carefully following the instructions (read: tongue out of mouth, nose in my work) I got four, six or seven petals, but not five.

Don't laugh.

And learning to stitch with a sewing machine.

Ya, I know.

That should have been on the edges.

The joy of summer to me is...

Beautiful flowers, blue skies, strolls in the garden (well, our garden isn't that big, but it's a lovely idea, apart from the wasps giving me the creeps) and catching daydreams under a pergola...

And the spontaneous happy laughter and screams

of children playing outside.

Yeahhhhh!! She's definitely having some fun over there!

Now tell me, what's summer joy to you?

***

Ah, there are two other things (notes) that I'd like to get rid of.

NOTE ONE

Do you remember that I told you about a purple fabric book with embroidery I had started with and abandonned?

Probably not, but never mind. I'm happy to tell you now that I went on working on it and I'm hoping to be able to show the finished book in about two weeks from now. (My son's home for the summer vacation, meaning: less time for crafting and blogging for me. But of course I don't mind. Honestly.)

It's not going to be Art (See? That's what I meant!), but I love working on it and seeing the progress. And that's what makes me happy, because I have several needlework projects here desperately waiting to be finished. Poor things.

NOTE TWO

Love you!!

"That's it?"

Yup, that's pretty much it.

Anyway.

Happy crafting!

xx Wen

Why hello Miss Mojo!

Hello my friends,

I've got happy news to share with you! Miss Mojo decided to come back. So off with you, evil twin sister Miss Nojo!

This week at CCCB the theme is called On The Road and then I found this sweet vintage photo of the cat and rabbits, which I couldn't resist. I used buttons from the thrift store. And some paper goodies from a favourite magazine of mine called Daphne's Diary.

Aren't these buttons cute?

This card will probably end up as a little wallhanging in my room. To remind me of the joy of finding your mojo back when you just keep on going!

Sewing the edges had come into my mind, but I didn't dare to screw up this lovely project...

Yesterday's card

I already showed you this card yesterday, for Charlene's birthday.

Some musings...

When this card was finished, I felt so happy. I made it after I made a project for CCCB. A mixed media collage that just wasn't it. It was missing something. You know what was missing? ME. (I don't even bother to show it to you.) Not so with this card. This is me. Well, at the moment anyway. And within a blink of an eye I made even more cards in the same style. With earlier projects I was trying to copy the beautiful work of others (which probably includes you!). That's what you do when you're just starting with being crafty, don't you? I only started crafting last year you know... With this card I didn't copy anyone. I followed my own heart and imagination. And as you can see, it's happy, colourful and flowery there at the moment :)

***

Of course I shouldn't forget to mention that the first card was made for our challenge for you this week at City Crafter!

The CCCB Challenge

Host: birthday girl (alright, that was yesterday) Charlene, who's work I admire and so wish to be able to make myself too! (Oh no, I'm going to follow my own path, didn't I say that just now?)

Theme: On The Road (see CCCB for particulars)

Guest Designer: my dear blog buddy, fellow Dutchy, and very talented Ira!

Big hugs to you all dearies, I've said quite enough for today!

xx

A happy Wen

Hang on... there is a PS...

Oh no!!

We've had enough Wen!!

But but...

Dear Ros is going to have a fabulous tutorial on photo editing coming Wednesday 24th at Our Beautiful World!! I'm very sure you don't wanna miss this one!!

Okay, I'm really off now!

Am I?

Oh yes!

Phew...

Oh so fabric

Hello dear blog friends and fellow WOYWW'ers,

What is on YOUR worktable today? Papers? Fabric? Lace? A big messy pile? Paint everywhere? Your cat, guinee pig or dog helping you out with your work? If you came over via Julia's blog and are new here, then hello there and a warm welcome to you, I'm happy to meet you!

Julia of Stamping Ground has a weekly fun linky party called WOYWW or What's On Your Worktable Wednesday, where a lot of crafty people from all over the world gather. If you haven't heard of it before, then hop over to her blog for more information.

Now do let me show you what's on my table: a happy stash of colourful fabrics and buttons.

Recently bought in our local thrift store. (Actually I'm lying. They were on my bed when posing for these photos, not my table. But then, my bed often serves as my craft table...) I went to the thrift store in the hope of finding doilies, but alas. It's so hard to find them, I never succeeded. And my little stash of my great-granny's doilies is almost empty...

So here's another question for you, my friends: Where do you find them, those gorgeous vintage doilies?

I know some of you are lucky in this quest. (Do I look green now? Oh yes, I do.) Are they going to be extinct though? Are we to make them ourselves one day? (Yep Wen, go start learning how to crochet right now.)

And happy happy me, I finally got a sewing machine!!! Hoorah!!

It took me two days to figure out how to thread the #@!*%# sweet thing. And got nowhere. Then my mom stepped in, and voilá, of course she got it working in two minutes. I thanked her dearly.

My (93 year old!) granny decided to give her machine to me, I'm very happy and grateful. But there's always a sad side to this... for she's no longer able to sew herself, due to her high age and bad eyes.

But oh... the happy sight and smell of fresly washed colourful and beautiful laundry. Honestly, I'm in love...

The fabrics from the thrift store of the first photo above, you know, they're actually clothes, in all sizes. They were meant to be cut and stitched into something new. And then my mom saw them and exclaimed "Oh just look at this lovely one, and that one, and... can I try them on?" Lol, of course you can mom :)

So, what's on your table? Can't wait to see what's in the making there... Thank you for visiting me!

Hugs and happy crafting,

xx Wen

Dear Miss Mojo, { Or: how to get your mojo back }

Fresh flowers smelling good

Dear Miss Mojo,

So you're on a vacation are you? And leave me behind with your evil twin sister Nojo (as dear Darnell calls you, lol, that's so funny Darnell!)

Luckely, my dear blog friends have helped me out :)

Wanna know what advice they gave me? Okay, listen very carefully then, as I'm going to share their advice in a minute...

Your owner,

Miss AppleApricot

Why, hello dear friends,

Are you having a lovely weekend?

Like I said, you're a bunch of sweeties.
When I ask for advice, there you are with a listening ear and some jolly good tips 'n tricks.
I'd like to share the advice you gave me, so we might all benefit from it.

So, what could you do when you're Mojo is on a vacation, without inviting you to join in the fun?
Leaving you behind with dear Miss Nojo?

Hear what my friends do:

1)   Go on a vacation too! (Good one!) Or just take some time off.

2)   Try not to see creating as a chore. It's meant to be fun, isn't it?

3)   Clean out / organize (not necessarily major, just a bit can do the trick).

4)   Go visiting your blog friends and Pinterest for inspiration.

5)   Visit new-to-you challenges for jumping off points with a sketch or colours or both.

6)   CASE a card or project you love. Before you know it, you're making this card or project your own (with credits to the person who created the original piece).

7)   Don't be too harsh on yourself (ouch...)

8)   Just create for the sake of having fun. The result doesn't have to be perfect, does it? It's the process of creating that we love, so: love it without fearing the result.

9)   Relax girl, you still rock!! (Thank you dear Kirsty, love you!)

10) Hang in there, your mojo will come back eventually.

11) Try a new-to-you challenge or challenge yourself.

12) Or avoid challenges if they're stopping your creativity.

14) (Ya, I don't like 13... lol) Buy some fresh flowers after clean up (my tip, they cheer you up).

Thank you dear friends for helping me!!

peekaboo!

I tried the clean up / organize trick first.
Which was soooo needed by the way (and still is, don't dare to show you the mess here).
That really helps! You really do feel afresh after some good cleaning up.

And then I bought me some fresh flowers. Now that's pure happiness!

Anyway, I'm very sure Miss Mojo will head back home, be it mine or yours :)

Hugs and happy rest of the weekend!

xx Wen

Time for tea and a chat

It's time for tea and a chat. I really would like to talk with you, my bloggy friends, about something (oh dear... lol, well, it's not that worrisome).

But

I have a confession to make...

My creative mojo is gone for a long while now.

Yup, it's my turn :)

I know that every creative person faces this from time to time.

Grandpa's typewriter

The sound of a typewriter, our dinner table packed with documents: grandpa doing his weekly bookkeeping of the home finances, and correspondence on his vintage typewriter (which wasn't so vintage at that time of course, we're talking about the 70's here). A favorite childhood memory of mine.

Hence my love for old typewriters.

My dream is that one day I will walk into a thrift store and find one to bring home with me.

Update: Dreams do come through, look HERE!
I did find my own old typewriter, hooray!