Have you noticed a few bloggers participating in the Blog Hop With A Difference lately?
It's a 'handing on of the baton' from one creative blogger to another three creative bloggers, and it just may not have an end!
The purpose of this blog hop is for each blogger to tell their readers a little about their life as a creative person and what makes them tick, so today you'll get a little insight about me because I got tagged by Deb from 'allaboutourcrazylife'.
Hi, I'm Jenny of Elefantz!
I thought I'd get the ball rolling with the number one question that is asked about my business...
Q: How did you come up with the name ELEFANTZ?
Back in 2004 I had a dream.
In the dream I was sitting at a cafe having coffee with the Blossom-girl and I was writing 'elefantz' all across the white tablecloth in pretty cursive script like my Nana would have used.
When I woke the next morning I thought God was giving me the name of a bookshop/cafe the Blossom-girl and I had planned to open when she'd grown up a bit more. She was just 11 at the time.
My sewing life at that stage was nothing more than making simple dresses for Blossom or machining a straight seam to hem curtains.
I had no idea that a few years later everything would change.
I taught myself to hand embroider late in 2005 and in September of 2008 I penned my very first 'Jenny of Elefantz' blog post.
I knew exactly what the dream was directing me towards.
Q: What am I working on right now?
A couple of designs for Homespun Magazine's 2015 issues; a new set of Christmas designs hopefully ready for release in September; projects for Country Threads Magazine, Handmade Magazine and Patchwork & Stitching Magazine; a large embroidered Sampler I'm still designing; a cross stitch design that's barely made it off the sketch pad because I've tweaked it five times already and thrown away two different starts at stitching it; a new Christian BOM for next year, more tutorials for this blog, and other fun stuff that I can't tell you anything more about yet!
Q: How does my creative process work?
It may be a colour scheme - this could be in nature, in a dress someone is wearing, or even in a tea towel on display in the manchester department of a store - and I can't wait to get home and put out everything I have in those colours to see what I can come up with to bring them to life in a fresh design.
Or I'll read a phrase, quote or Scripture and I can't get to my sketch pad fast enough. From there a design begins to take form and when I lift my head a new Elefantz pattern has been birthed.
Maybe a song comes on in the car and as I sing along a picture forms and when I get home it ends up in my sketchpad.
Really, anything can trigger a design idea in my mind...it's incredibly fun and a gift God gave me that I do not take lightly.
Q: What is my signature style?
Jesus lovin'
heart warming
sweet
inspiring
personal
fun
soft
bright
smile-forming
bird-lovin'
flower-fetchin'
Q: Words to live by?
Be the best YOU that you can be.
Q: What else do you love to do that is creative?
Write (I blog a lot...)
Take thousands of photos every month
Create Sunday Scriptures to inspire
Devour recipe books for inspiration in the kitchen
Decorate my journals with drawings on every page
...and probably other things that maybe I take for granted in life but really are creative too.
Q: What would you do if you weren't designing?
Adventuring all across the country with my husband in our very old 4WD and taking photos for a book about Australia...and probably blogging about it. You know, I just love to write.
Q: Favourite time of day?
I have two.
6.30 - 7.00 am: spending the first part of the day reading God's word and letting it soak in, changing me for the better, preparing my heart for the day ahead, praying for my loved ones and friends.
10pm: Winding down before bedtime with my husband. We chat about what happened that day, our dreams, our hopes and challenges, we make plans for the future, and we laugh a lot...it's such a special time.
I'm passing the baton onto three ladies I *love* and you can visit their blogs on Monday September 1st to read all about their creative lives...but if you'd like a head start in getting to know them -
And because it's Monday...
Block 12 of The Lord's Prayer ~ 'and forgive'
Download the free block HERE in my shop...
bless ya heaps,
