CREATOR'S CORNER - Tracy Easson

Good morning, crafty friends!

I have enjoyed sharing makes inspired by the products of today's guest!  I hope you'll take time to check out all of her links at the bottom of this post. 

Tracy Easson

I first met Tracy as part of our What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday group... aka WOYWW

I find her to be pleasant, inspiring and a beautiful person inside and out. 

Let's find out a bit more about Tracy:

I`m a self-taught artist, dreamer of dreams and believer of magic, who loves nothing more than bringing to life the whispers that drop out the end of my pencil or paintbrush, telling a story along the way.

My own brand of stamps "Just a girl and her Imagination" was born after the loss of my much-loved dad in June 2018.

At that time, I never thought I would pick up a pencil or a paintbrush again, BUT my dad who believed in me was having none of that and started sending me messages that came through loud and clear.

Out came the paper and pencils early one morning whilst I was at my mum's, were little characters started dropping out my pencil one after another, in 2019 my first stamp collection was born under my own brand.

Each one has a story to tell with words straight from my heart … to connect, to uplift, to inspire and to bring hope through creating and gifting.

Amongst my stamp collections you will find … my whimsical wee Clan of mice along with Whimsical girls, rainbows, miracles and hope … with lots of words to stamp, telling your own story along the way.

You`ll also see me creating soulful merchandise using my artwork from notebooks, calendars to mugs and totes along with my Soul Whispers Hand-painted Ceramics.

I also take on private commissions from time to time, creating original artwork … something that brings such joy to my heart and soul ... to have the trust to bring what they want to be is something I will be forever grateful for … to hear their joy on seeing what I`ve created … it`s the best feeling in the world!

1 – What got you started on the creative path?

From my earliest memory, sat on the floor in my Gran and Di`s living room playing with matchboxes and watching my Gran create necklaces from melon seeds was the start of my creative path. I was always happiest when I was creating, imagining something bringing it to be through my heart and hands.

2 – How has your creativity evolved?

As the years have passed I`ve found me, my own voice, my own style getting braver, trusting I am enough just the way I am sprinkled with whimsy, always listening to the whispers from within, no longer afraid to share who I am through my art.

3 – What do you enjoy most about your creative path?

That SOUL, TUMMY TINGLING feeling I get when I know I`m on the right path, when everything just clicks and flows, when I`m being TRUE to who I am, when I`m up into the wee hours painting, listening to my music, feeling my dad so close in that time … when I`m finished and I see what I`ve created … not quite believing that it was me that created it … an overwhelming sense of  such pure JOY, such PEACE and LOVE surround me … then I bound upstairs to waken up Alex { my husband } to share my JOY in what I`ve created … bless him, no matter the time, he reaches for his glasses to look and to listen to my excitement!

4 – What inspires you?

My Dad is my biggest inspiration … the world all around me … from the glorious sky above and the earth below … my happy music as I call it ... the awakening of my soul, the whispers that I hear that get louder and louder until I let them out through my pencil and brushes.

5 – When did you move from hobby to business and what initiated the transition? 

The passing of my dad was and is behind the decision, we had a conversation the week before he went in for his operation … I was worried about my job, one of the things dad said was

 "What are you worried about, when one door closes another opens … you have a gift, you can do anything, believe in yourself".

The year following my dad's passing I was gifted so many signs from my dad, I was left with no doubts what I had to do … so with my BRAVE girl pants pulled right up I started on my new path, one step at a time … going forward in life, doing what I was born to do … create, uplift and inspire through my art.

6 – What do you love most about your space, and would you change anything?

I`ve went from working out in my shed in the garden, to upstairs in a room … to today … a desk in our living room right in front of a big window … I love it, it`s a space where I don`t feel cut out from the bustle of family, a spot where I can see the sky above and watch the clouds chasing, changing shape … a place to watch the birds come to feed and dance in the bird bath … to Mr and Mrs Squirrel who come and watch me from the shed roof … I`m sure they think I`m crazy as I wave hello!

Would I change anything … at some point I`m sure I`m going to be back out in a garden room as I want to incorporate ceramics into my work, not something you want to do in your living room plus I can beeee messy … but for now I`m right where I want to be.

7 – What 3 things do you feel are important when planning a space?

As my workspace is in our living room, I like it to be kept relatively tidy so lots of storage is a must as I don`t want everything on show {have I mentioned I can be messy}

Lots of natural light for me … when I worked upstairs or out in my shed the light was never very good … having my desk in front of a huge window is my idea of bliss!

Little baskets or bowls to hold little treasures, it`s good to look back on the days when inspiration has taken a holiday

 8 – What is your best organization tip?

When you`re lost in the process of creating it`s a good idea to have what you`re going to use to hand from the start… nothing worse than having to stop to go hunt something out.

9 – What is your best tip for anyone wanting to turn their craft into a business?

If you wait until you think you`re ready … you`ll never be ready … there will always be something that you think you have to do first!

I started with 5 stamp sets under my own brand, I was asked to go on Hochanda TV … I didn`t think I was ready … who goes on with only 5 sets … me, I did knowing my Dad was working his magic from next door all I had to do was trust and believe!

Believe, trust, have faith and be brave would be my advice and go for it … we only get gifted one chance at life, if you have an feeling, an urge inside you, a whisper from within then take a chance … you might be surprised where you end up!

Thank you, Tracy, for being here and showing your passion and tips with us. Creative Blessings, my friend!

Remember to check back here tomorrow for my final creative video featuring Tracy Easson Illustrations stamps!

To check out Tracy's art and purchase your own items, click on any of the links below: 

BLOG   FACEBOOK   ETSY

INSTAGRAM  YOUTUBE   PINTEREST   

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

 

 

WOYWW #743

 Good morning, crafty friends!

NOTE: Before I go any further, I want to remind you to check back here tomorrow for a visit with our very own, Tracy Easson!  Tracy takes us inside (and outside) her workspace where she creates her beautiful artwork. She also shares a tip on starting your own crafting business.  

Getting this post up and staying out of Bob's way as he prepares to leave this morning. I think this is his last 2-week trip. Beginning October 1, he'll be back on the 3 weeks on/ 3 weeks off and back up in Chicago. 

He's going to miss this shorter drive.

I've been busy working on challenges for the Spectrum Art Creations Friends FB group. Tomorrow is the last day to turn in the August challenges. So far this month I've done:

* 3 #SACsAug23 challenges (using products I've purchased from them at any point to make something)

* 8 items made from Mintay products including 4 cards posted HERE

I still need to make at least 2 Christmas cards before end of day tomorrow.

Please keep my SACs family and others in your prayers as they are in the direct hit from the hurricane.

Okay... what you came to see:

This is the remnants of all of those projects. I'll need to clear the way this morning to work on G45 Christmas cards.

Weather has cooled and tomatoes are beginning to produce. I've been dehydrating bell peppers. Tomorrow I'll start on tomato sauce.

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Julia and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Stamping Ground for all the details. Miss Julia has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

#TAGTUESDAY - Part 1

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Craft A Long videos are just too long for me to upload in one pass. I just keep telling myself that while I don't have broadband, at least I'm not working with dial - up. #glasshalffull

In Part 1 we'll put together the master board using the bits and pieces left from the four sheets of Mintay papers I've been using for the Spectrum Art Creations Mintay challenge items.

I'll have Part 2 tomorrow where we make the tags.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

MAKE IT- MAIL IT Monday!

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Okay, today was supposed to be a Memory Dex card. I'll be doubling up on the next go round. Between Bob being home, celebrating our anniversary then a bad hotel experience for me over the weekend, just wasn't in the 'cards'.

However, I did have four cards made up for the Mintay Challenge with Spectrum Art Creations so that's the video and pictures for today.

I had to use Mintay papers/ products purchased in July/ August. Earlier this month I purchased two 12x12 sheets from the Bird Song collection and two 12x12 sheets from the Secret Place collection. I kind of mixed and matched everything around.

I've already done 4 projects I'll show you on Friday. For now, here are the four cards I made. I needed some general Thinking of You kind of cards:

Each card began with a Soft Succulent card base and one of the journaling cards from the collection. I used a stamp from one of my Paper Pumpkin kits, added velvet ribbon and pearls from Stampin' Up!

If you want to see the walk through, here's the video:

I'll be back tomorrow with tags from left-overs.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

#KCDAUGJJ23 - Inspired by Tracy Easson - Week 3

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Yep, I'm late again. 

I fought a good portion of yesterday trying to get the video for this week to upload. The video stuck in processing for several hours. I tried multiple things to make the video process but nothing worked. I finally gave up and dove into projects I have deadlines for - without giving yesterday's post another thought!

I'm trying the video again this morning in Firefox. If it works, I'll come back and add the link at the bottom of the post, as usual.

In the mean time, here's this week's project:

I used THIS stamp set from her Soul Whisper's collection . This is one of my favorites!

I made a postcard from a food box, covered with the Winter collection from Maja Designs that I'd purchased from Spectrum Art Creations over a year ago. Three of the colors for this month's challenge were in the background paper. The girl is cut from one of the 6x6 sheets and brought up on dimensionals - with the wings in the background.

I did this in full on the video:

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

LATE TRACY EASSON PROJECT

 Hey all!

Man, this month is flying by!  I don't think it helps to have Bob only gone two weeks ... and home only two weeks.  Last week was Bob's first week home and I failed to post Thursday's video here... so check out what I did for Week 2 and Week 3 will be here tomorrow!

Creative Blessings!

~Kelly

WOYWW #741

 Good morning, crafty friends!

I'm rushing to get this post up. Bob is on his way home... about 30 minutes out. Which means, I may not be as lucky as last week in getting to everyone. I'll do my best and may be late. 

Here's my desk as I left it last night:

I'm working on the new color challenge this week, featuring our own Tracy Easson stamp set. To the left you'll see a sheet of cut aparts from a G45 8x8 pad called Ocean Blue. I've used part of it on the right diagonal of the 6x9 art journal page. The top left diagonal is a water print from Hobby Lobby with a dylusions bubble stencil & Stamperia  Cream paste. You can just see the colors for this month's challenge. I'll be adding color to the sea shells with a Magicals alcohol application. 

If you want to see in the Week 1 challenge with Tracy's stamp set, you'll find the blog post HERE

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Julia and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Stamping Ground for all the details. Miss Julia has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

INSPIRED BY TRACY EASSON

 Good morning, crafty friends!

This post should have ran yesterday but after a rough night sleep Wednesday night, I just could not get the things done that needed.

We kick off our Inspired By series this week with stamps from Tracy Easson. Tracy is a fabulous artist from Scotland and a member of our WOYWW blog hop group. You can see her blog HERE.

Tracy will be in our Creator's Corner on Thursday, August 31st.

For this week's card, I chose to use two of the sets from her large collection.

BELIEVE

SOUL SYMBOLS

I absolutely loved both of these sets.  While SOUL SYMBOLS is more of a 'star' theme, I thought they'd make beautiful snowflake/ Christmas images, too. 

What is a 'soul symbol'?  Basically, a sigal assigned to your birth month. You can read more and find yours HERE. (NOTE: the sight is AD heavy)

My soul symbol, or sigal, is a FLOWER.

If your soul symbol is the flower, you have an incredibly pure and lovely heart. Wherever you go, you spread a great deal of happiness and joy. You embody tranquility, adding elegance to a boring environment. The kindness you exude encourages folks to take a break from their hectic lives and appreciate the peace.

Your lovely heart and soul are your unique selling proposition and you never compromise on that, no matter how hard life gets or hurts you, You always emphasis your inner fortitude, positivity and beauty.

Now that we know more about soul symbols... here's the card I made this week:

Because I had to work with the August colors:

I used colors from my Lindy's Magicals - Industrial Chic collection. I used Time Travel Teal, Rusty Lantern Lime and Shabby Turbine Teal. I brought the Mango Melody in by using some vellum from a retired Stampin' Up! collection and mounted everything on Balmy Blue card base.

I hope you'll check out the links I've provided.  In the mean time, here's the video where I put the card together in 'real time'.

I'll be back Monday with our Memory Dex card of the week!

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

WOYWW #740 - Still Christmas!

 Good morning, crafty friends!

If you've not been buy in a few weeks then you are not aware I've been really busy getting the studio in order. Was a must as we had company coming - and will have in various interrupts through the first week in October. All of which required using the sofa bed. I made the decision to not just clear things out of the way but to pitch some and put the rest in the general area of where it needed to go until the sofa bed and the work table (now cleared and being used for actual crafting!!) back into place.

Yes, Julia, Christmas projects make an appearance yet again. I worked on tags for my #tagtuesday video as well as for the Spectrum Art Creations challenge. The video link is HERE if you want to see. I need to make two more tags then get them posted to the group... then I'm moving on to something REALLY Fun & Exciting.

On Thursdays all this month, both here and on my You Tube channel, I will be featuring projects inspired by our very own Tracy Easson!  I am soooo excited to play with her stamps. 

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Julia and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Stamping Ground for all the details. Miss Julia has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

MAKE IT MONDAY - Back to Business!

 Good morning, crafty friends!

You would not believe what I was able to accomplish in the past couple of weeks. Thank you for your patience.  I still have a ways to go as the sofa bed will remain out until after the first week in October. In the mean time, while everything is sorted by category, a lot of items are positioned strategically around the room waiting to be put back once the sofa bed is folded up.

No card today. Instead, I have a project I've had in the work for a couple of months. I didn't like the the way the project was taking shape so I sat the pieces aside. Sometimes you just need to let a project breathe before you find the right  direction.

Here is a group shot:

The Spectrum Art Creations challenge called for us to do something with a napkin we had purchased from them. I loved this castle napkin and knew what I wanted.

I started by painting the coasters blue so that the sky in the background would have that tone. Instead, the blue overtook the image. After several weeks of contemplating, I flipped the coaster over, put a coat of white chalk paint then applied the napkin. MUCH better!

I cut the butterflies from panels of the same collection and glued them to vellum to give them a bit of stiffness. I show you in the video linked below how I made the antennae. I added quotes from a Tim Holt chat book.

Here's a close up:

I'll be back tomorrow for Tag Tuesday!

In the mean time, here's the video giving you a view of several items I have in the works:

Creative Blessings

~ Kelly