the shiny bubble: creating success around the world

Showing posts with label creating success around the world. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Creating Success around the World - last post!

This is my last post so far on the blog hop. It will be carried on by the other hosts and might become more interactive - great chance for you to bring your beautiful blog out there! Keep up to date!

Welcome to
Creating Success around the World

The worldwide blog hop tour, that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the globe.

Every Wednesday our hosts on each continent will introduce you to someone new whose creativity is inspiring!

Here's how you can take this worldwide tour with us:

You can follow all the hosts to support them and keep up to date with the fabulous posts they will share every week. Then if you are inspired to join, just link up your own blog to make some new international friends.

Remember to leave us a comment when you follow us so we can follow you back! And of course we'd love if you added our button to your site to help spread the word!

Here are your hosts:

Make sure you visit them all to see the inspiration and creative people every continent has to add to our community.

Australasia - Jill @ Creating my way to Success
Europe - Yaga @ The Shiny Bubble
North America - Suzy @ Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom
South America - Molly @ Marya Mariah
Asia - Janelle @ Of Pinks and Fairytales

Africa - Sadly, our African host is not able to participate in the Blog hop anymore. We are looking for somebody new to join the team - could it be you?! ;o)

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Charlène Fournier is a graphical designer and illustrator from Belgium. I wanted to know how the artist behind all the sweet illustrations, the beautiful jewelry and the adorable plushies feels about what she's doing. Read why Charlène wants to move away from Belgium but still likes the people in her town, and what she does against creativity block.

Tell us a bit about your trade: What do you create, how and where do you sell your things,

how long have you been doing this?

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Hi! I own a little etsy shop called Les Joues Grises. I opened it right after finishing my art studies in june of this year, so it is a pretty young shop. I sell mostly illustrations, prints and originals. I also like to make jewelry and plushes, so you can find some in the shop too.

Please, tell us a little bit about the place and the country that you live in.

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I currently live in Liege, a big/small city in Belgium. It's an old mining city, lots of red brick and grey. Sky often gray, a river called la Meuse crossing the city. Small houses with several stories, very typical and pretty. Kinda dirty sometimes, but great people in it + they have the most delicious fries so they're forgiven. ;)

Do you think that your surroundings influence your creativity? How?

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Right now I'm not sure, I think most of my creative roots come from the people I know, I often see similarities with them after I finish a drawing.

How and why did you 'pick' your creative outlet of choice?

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I have always drawn and doodled, I didn't really see myself doing anything else. I picked graphic design studies because I could be creative and have the possibility of a career.(yeah, sometimes I think it's a little bit of a coward decision)

Why did you decide to sell what you are creating?

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Hum…That a tough question! I think at some point I wanted to see if I could do it, if people would be interested in buying my work…or not ^-^'

How did you start your business?

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Simply by opening it on Etsy, I also created a page on Facebook to promote it and I have a twitter account :)

I also have a blog (far before my shop actually), but I'm not a regular blogger, so it is updated…when it is updated (boooohoooo). I'm currently working on a better version for my portfolio. I think I'll add a blog part, prettier than the one I have now.

So there is plenty of choices to follow my work (maybe a little...too much ?) :)

What, in your opinion is your biggest strength in your creative life and how does it

influence your work?

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I am eclectic, I love to experiment a lot of techniques and mix them to create. Etching, sewing, painting, doodling, mixing all that…So much to try, so little time!

I think this is my biggest strength and it can help during creative blocking, I just switch my techniques and try something else/new. In the end, my illustrations can be mixed media.

What would you regard as your greatest weakness in terms of your creativity and how do

you deal with it?

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Creativity blocking. It's just awful to feel you powerless at doing what you love the most. When I feel empty/tired/creative free, I just do something else, I go out or I read blogs/magazines.

How do you stay motivated and inspired?

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I try to push myself doing at least one thing a day.

Where do you see yourself and your creative life in two years? Do you have any plans?

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I'd love to be a freelance illustrator, still selling my illustrations. I would love to live in Berlin. Or Antwerpen. Great cultural background there.

What are your 5 hottest tips for people who want to be more successful with

creating?
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1/ Try a lot. If you fail, try again. Keep up hope.

2/ Watch clouds and stars every time you can: They are magical.

3/ Listen to good music (the one that gives you energy :) )

4/ Just observe things and faces around you. Every little thing is amazing when you look at them carefully enough.

5/ Share. Just share your knowledge, learn from other people with other kind of knowledge. You never loose creativity doing so, because it never ends.

Thank you so much for all that neat advice, Charlène!

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Now it's your turn! Link up your posts: Inspiration, craftsy blahs, tutorials, tips or business talk: We wanna know!
Link up your blog and you might be the next artist featured in our interviews!

New to the world tour? Check our previous tours here!

Thanks for reading!

Monday, October 31, 2011

The end of a journey

Since July this year, I have been traveling around the world every Tuesday, visiting creative entrepreneurs all around the globe, reading interviews about their work and looking at all the blogs that had joined the linky list with their posts about their own creative endeavours.
Initially, Jill from Creating my Way to Success and I had decided to team up and think of a fun way to promote our and other creative blogs around the world. We didn't want to just create another linky list, since there are already quite a bunch of them. We also wanted to provide people with information and inspiration to take their creativity to the next level and start a business with their art.
So we came up with Creating Success around the world.

We found four more fabulous ladies. Each of us lives on a different continent. Each of us hosted an interview with an artist from their part of the world each week, allowing the readers to virtually visit many different creative souls from Asia to South America.
American Suzy from Suzy's artsy craftsy Sitcom made me laugh each week with her hilarious sitom-y setups of the interview. Molly who writes at Marya Mariah finds fascinating creators from South America. Through her blog I learned that Google translator actually does work quite well and opens me a whole range of blogs that I couldn't read before! In Asia, Janelle presented her guests on Of Pinks and Fairytales and made me dream about faraway exotic places where there seem to live so many creative minds.
Sadly, Adepeju who had joined us with her blog Peekadot and had proven such a talent in finding young and innovative designers from Africa, left the project a few weeks ago.

It was such a fun project and I sure did meet some wonderful people and learnt great stuff. I loved to read the answers of the interviewers and also enjoyed seeing more and more people join the blog hop as the word spread.

But (...you've seen this coming, haven't you?)
it's a lot of work. It takes a lot of time managing an interview every week, looking for people to interview, keeping and overlook on who has responded, who needs reminding, who can be ticked off the list. Then I look through their websites, try and get to know them a bit so I can write an introduction. I choose pictures, put the interview together, write up the post, put all the links in and schedule it. In the end, I have to make sure I don't forget the linky code that is sent around each week for the upcoming post.
Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I'm just stating the facts that there is work involved here, and more importantly: Time.
Time which I don't have at the moment or at least would rather use for other things that are coming up. We will most probably move again soon and we have lots of things to sort out.

That is why I have - not lightheartedly, believe me - decided to leave Creating Success around the World per next week.
There will be a last post with a very nice creative lady tomorrow, and after that, I will only maybe link up to the blog hop and enjoy the world tour as a reader.
I really hope that the girls will go on with this great project and that I will see many more world tour posts on the net.

I didn't intend to write such a long post, but I feel it's only right to take some time to say goodbye to something that was important to me and that my heart is still involved with.

I wish you girls tons of fun and good luck with the hop in the future!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Creating Success around the World

Welcome to
Creating Success around the World

The worldwide blog hop tour, that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the globe.

Every Wednesday our hosts on each continent will introduce you to someone new whose creativity is inspiring!

Here's how you can take this worldwide tour with us:

Here are your hosts:

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Rowan is "a creative kind of English girl living and working in Bosnia Herzegovina." She creates and sells cute and unique amigurumi dolls. Her place on etsy is called "Out of the frame".

Tell us a bit about your trade: What do you create, how and where do you sell your things,

how long have you been doing this?

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I have been making and designing amigurumi dolls since March 2009. I sell my dolls on Etsy, at gallery shows or through personal contacts. I make one of a kind dolls in various sizes and I have also made a lot of caricature dolls as custom orders for people to give as wedding presents, engagement presents, thank you gifts etc. One of the patterns I have designed is for sale in my Etsy shop and on Ravelry.

Please, tell us a little bit about the place and the country that you live in.

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I am English but I live and work in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a UK based Christian charity called Novi Most. We work with young people from different ethnic backgrounds bringing them together and giving them new opportunities through youth club activities and courses in music, art and baking. I live in a beautiful town called Jajce. It is a very historic town as in the 1400s it was the capital of the Bosnian Kingdom and in 1943 it was the venue for the meeting at which Tito declared the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is one of only 12 towns in the world to have a waterfall in the town centre and nearby there is a beautiful lake. Unfortunately not a lot has been made of these and several other potential tourist attractions and the town is poor with a lot of unemployment and few opportunities.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a complicated country politically. It is still recovering from the civil war in the early 90s. Some of the larger cities are starting to develop into more what you would see in Western Europe with the first McDonalds opening recently in the capital city Sarajevo! But in general the country is poor with a high rate of unemployment. It is a beautiful country with amazing mountains and rivers and some beautiful and historic cities. The people are very welcoming and hospitable. It is a country full of potential and well worth visiting.

Do you think that your surroundings influence your creativity? How?

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I started to make amigurumi after I moved here to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The pace of life here is a lot slower than in the UK where I lived before and for the first time in a long time I had some free time to do things I wanted to do. So it’s not so much the surroundings as the way of life that has led to me making amigurumi

How and why did you 'pick' your creative outlet of choice?

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When I first started learning amigurumi I was researching it online and found that a lot of people who made amigurumi dolls had shops on Etsy.com so when I decided to start selling I joined Etsy too. For me one of the best things about Etsy the community aspect. I am part of the Etsy Plush Team which is a collective of plush artists who sell on Etsy. It is great to be part of a group of people who are constantly trying to improve their artwork and to push the boundaries. It is a great place to get inspiration and support. It also means I am able to find out about gallery shows and magazines looking for submissions, mainly in the US, which I wouldn’t otherwise hear about because I am in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Why did you decide to sell what you are creating?

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After a while I realised that I was pretty good at making dolls and could make quality products worth buying, and because I love making them and you can’t keep them all!

How did you start your business?

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I just opened and Etsy shop – nothing else! I haven’t made a business plan or done anything like that. I probably should if I want my business to grow but at the moment I’m just taking it as it comes. Sorry – no good advice there!

What, in your opinion is your biggest strength in your creative life and how does it

influence your work?

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I am always interested in learning new things and trying out new crafts so I often have a new twist to add to my latest creation.

What would you regard as your greatest weakness in terms of your creativity and how do

you deal with it?

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I can be impatient and want to run before I can walk – particularly in relation to learning to sew! This means I cut corners and the final product ends up a mess! I have to tell myself to slow down and do it properly.

How do you stay motivated and inspired?

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Being part of the plush team helps with this because I am constantly seeing other people’s work and we motivate each other to improve. Also every 2 months we have a team challenge with a different theme which encourages me to make things I wouldn’t have otherwise made. Recent themes have included Las Vegas, steam punk and the rainforest.

I often get inspiration to make a particular doll by colour combinations, people I meet or characters I read about in books.

Where do you see yourself and your creative life in two years? Do you have any plans?

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Like I said before, I don’t have a business plan or anything like that. I’m sure I should have, but for now I’m just taking it as it comes! Over the next two years I would like to be part of more gallery shows and be featured in some more magazines.

What are your 5 hottest tips for people who want to be more successful with

creating?
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1. Don’t just stick with your main craft. Try learning something new every now and again.

2. Find other like minded people to encourage and inspire you.

3. Let your mind wander.

4. Use every opportunity to go to art galleries, craft shows, and other inspiring places.

5. Don’t spend too much time on facebook!

Thank you so much for your answers, Rowan, that was a very uplifting interview!

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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Creating Success around the World

Welcome to
Creating Success around the World

The worldwide blog hop tour, that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the globe.

Every Wednesday our hosts on each continent will introduce you to someone new whose creativity is inspiring!

Here's how you can take this worldwide tour with us:

Here are your hosts:

---------------------------------------------------------------- Europe

The blog and etsy shop "Moois van me" (beautiful things from me) are run by, well, 'me'. She's an inspired lady from Belgium, creating so much jewelry, that in the end she started selling it because she couldn't wear it all. Read more about her business in the following interview.

Tell us a bit about your trade: What do you create, how and where do you sell your things,

how long have you been doing this?

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As long as I can remember , I like to create things.

When I was a child, I liked embroidery, crocheting, spinning, … When I grew older I sometimes made or remade clothes.

A few years ago I started with making jewels with beads. I made a lot of them and gave them away. But even then I still had a lot of jewels left . I just had too much of them. Someday someone suggested that maybe I could sell them.

I liked that idea because it was a bit sad that my jewels were just hidden in a box where no one could see them. And it was a good way to get some of the money back I invested in buying supplies.

Most of my buyers are people I know. Friends , colleagues’, …

And a few months ago I started my own etsy shop : www.mooisvanme.etsy.com

I haven’t sold great amounts on etsy ( yet ;-) ) , but I don’t care …

I enjoy it every time someone chooses a piece to wear !

I sell some of my creations because I have too many of them to wear myself and for buying new supplies. But I don’t make them for selling : I make them because I like to make them. It’s fun to create things, it gives me satisfaction and pleasure. And if someone buys them, it’s a surplus. Not the goal .

Please, tell us a little bit about the place and the country that you live in.

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I live in Belgium, a small country in Europe. Many people abroad don’t know our country but they do know our capitol : Brussels.

I live in the biggest city of Belgium : Antwerp. In the Flemish part of the country. What I don’t especially like : for me it just means that I speak Dutch, not French…

I live in an apartment, on my own. I don’t have a partner or children and I like that.

Although I do live in the city, I have a very small garden and I live nearby a nice park. I’m surrounded by nature , but I’m also surrounded by the benefits of living in the city ( café’s , access to busses or subway, restaurants, shops, … ).

Do you think that your surroundings influence your creativity? How?

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The part of my surroundings that does influence my creativity, is the fact that I used to live in the countryside when I was a child and I now live in the city. The city and his big variety of people, cultures, subcultures and colors, combined with the open mind my parents have and gave me, give me the possibility to create with a lot of variation. I don’t think I have a very specific style. I even don’t have a specific thing I create : I make pictures, crochet, paint and draw, makes jewels, knit, …. I like variation …

How and why did you 'pick' your creative outlet of choice?

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The main reason why I create the things I make, is because I can : I like music, I even think I have some talents in music… But I can’t sing or play an instrument. So I don’t make music myself.

However : I did learn how to crochet when I was a child, and therefore I like to use that ability to make things…. I like to drawn, and I do sometimes. But I surely am not that talented in that area, so I’m not going to show a lot of my drawnings.

Why did you decide to sell what you are creating?

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As I said before : I just had too much jewelry after a while …

How did you start your business?

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I don’t have the feeling that I have a business… I create things because it gives me a good feeling. That’s my goal. Not the selling part : that’s an extra that gives me the opportunity to make people happy with my creations and to earn money to buy new supplies .

I started selling by telling people around me they could buy my things. And some day a friend told me about Etsy and I made a shop .

What, in your opinion is your biggest strength in your creative life and how does it

influence your work?

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The fact that I don’t have a specific style. It results in a big diversity in my work.

What would you regard as your greatest weakness in terms of your creativity and how do

you deal with it?

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The lack of time to make everything I have in my head.

Sadly I only have one life ;)

And I think there is not one skill I am extraordinary good at…

How do you stay motivated and inspired?

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I don’t know how not to be inspired. It just comes and keeps on coming… Sometimes even a bit to much… Especially when I want/need to go to sleep. :)

Where do you see yourself and your creative life in two years? Do you have any plans?

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I don’t have plans. I ‘ll see in two years.

What are your 5 hottest tips for people who want to be more successful with

creating?
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just DO it … Everyone can create things. It’s just a matter of getting started and trying…
don’t be a perfectionist : be happy with the things you make… be proud of yourself.
create things because it’s fun, not because you want to become rich J
make things because you like them, not because they are popular or ‘trendy ‘. Be yourself…
You don’t need the latest expensive material or tools… even with a simple pencil and paper you can make nice things!

Thank you so much for your openness, 'me'!

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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Creating Success around the World

Welcome to
Creating Success around the World

The worldwide blog hop tour, that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the globe.

Every Wednesday our hosts on each continent will introduce you to someone new whose creativity is inspiring!

Here's how you can take this worldwide tour with us:

Here are your hosts:

---------------------------------------------------------------- Europe

Michele from liperla is speaking to us from Turin, Italy. He creates delicate and colorful glass beads of all fashion. His etsy shop is called Mannarobeads. I'm very happy to be interviewing a creative guy for a change. Let's see what he has to say to my questions!

Tell us a bit about your trade: What do you create, how and where do you sell your things,

how long have you been doing this?

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I approached the lampworking thanks to my girlfriend about 5 years ago ...

She was already working in this field.

I was immediately fascinated by the beauty of the workmanship ...

When you make a bead, everything happens immediately, the hot glass is a living material that moves, and you have to find a balance and rhythm particular, to make shapes and decorations. Then I do not use tools to make standard forms so each bead has its own uniqueness and slight imperfections.

Please, tell us a little bit about the place and the country that you live in.

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Do you think that your surroundings influence your creativity? How?

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The places are very important and influence more than we think on our lives.

Turin is a magical city, we have the laboratory next to the river Po and we often walks along with "Blue" our dog. Everything that is around me influences me, I love photography and the cinema any aspect extravagant and out of the ordinary. I hate the banality.

Unfortunately, in everyday life there are many difficulties. Italy in recent years has been ugly, the political class that rules us is composed of bandits and this influences everyone's life and on the job.

Why did you decide to sell what you are creating?

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With stefania (my girlfriend) I started doing craft markets, we have improved our income over time more and more, until we realized we could live from what we earned with our trade.

How did you start your business?

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I started my business doing art exhibitions around Italy

What, in your opinion is your biggest strength in your creative life and how does it

influence your work?

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my greatest strength is my distraction, which allows me to keep open the windows of my brain

What would you regard as your greatest weakness in terms of your creativity and how do

you deal with it?

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I want to do too many things and not concentrate on a single one.

How do you stay motivated and inspired?

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By not relying too much on an idea or a way of working ... always keeping the door open to everything. Fixation is death, movement is life!

Where do you see yourself and your creative life in two years? Do you have any plans?

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9 months of working, 3 months of vacation around the world : P

What are your 5 hottest tips for people who want to be more successful with

creating?
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always be authentic
escape from the banality
Always keep your mind open
take things with serenity
do not remain immobile waiting for luck, but work for it.

Thank you so much, Michele, for taking the time to answer my questions!

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