Nope, 'm not :)

Change is inevitable and I need to move on - or at least that's how it looks like now. So, my dear neglected "made by nini" blog, thank you for everything you made real for me. It's still tangible. Thank you.

And to whoever reads this, thank you too! I don't take your time for granted, there are still a few posts here - tutorials - that may be of service to you. Enjoy the creative process and definitely leave a comment, those still come through :)

All the best, always!

Nina a.k.a. nini 

I'm back! I hope :)

I went back and read a few blog posts here and was so surprised by the things I wrote and the energy that oozed out of my posts. I realized I missed it. I did blog on my Nina Spolar blog page (still do, occasionally) but that is something completely different. It really feels (at least to me) as if two different people are writing.

Anyways! Please let me know if you are still out there my old friends and let us reconnect and do some cool creative projects together again :)

If you aren't that's OK too :)  I shall use this space to keep track of my creative projects I offer in my Etsy shop. Hopefully of course. Who knows what jumps in between and derails me again.

On the photo is my little pocket note book made out of recycled paper and a print of one of my old artworks - a card that originally flew to a charity event. I need a much better corner trimmer though.

Thank you 2016!

You were one of the best ones for me! ❤

Thank you.

P.S.
I can't believe I am only publishing this today but... yes... it happens :)

May Eco Creative Postcards fly!

It's been a week since my last post and I would like to thank all of you who came forward with ideas for my new project's name. It's tough to name things! At least for me.

I wanted this project to be a bit mindful towards the mass over production of printed matters and one of the ways we could use them for. And since I do like to make things this idea really is the most me it could be.

Without further ado, the name I set on is Eco Creative Postcards. Why postcards instead of just cards? Because I'd love the cards to be sent out to spread the love of creating and spark creativity in others.

I have already opened the FB group for this project and you can ask to join in here: EcoCreativePostcards

My wish for this group is to become a place to share our made cards, tips and tricks we'll pick up on our outings and creating, and a place to set up card swaps. So, if this is something that speaks to you, please join in and let us start creating together.

For those of you who don't have FB accounts, let's connect via #EcoCreativePostcards over other social media. If there will be plenty more of us I'll think about setting up a web site just for this project. But for now, one FB group should do ;)

Hope to see you join me!

♥

nini 

P.S.
here is the link to my original post about this idea: about the project

New year, new project and I need your help with it's name

Hello there, long time no post, right? Well, let me make things right.

I have a new Project in mind!!!!

It has everything to do with promotional printed materials. Stuff that you can find just about everywhere. In stores, restaurants, pubs, bars, shopping malls, waiting rooms, our mail boxes - the real ones that is,... the list goes on I'm sure. All sorts of cards, leaflets, tiny cards, thin catalogs, maps... things that were printed out to tell us about events, services, projects or just for purely promotional reasons. Well, these things can be used for something else too! They can be re-purposed as collage elements in our sketchbooks or art projects. And here's what I'm aiming at - art projects. Even more in particular - art postcards.

look at all the papers we found!

How about we start making postcards when we get together with our friends? When we are out in that coffee shop and want to have a bit of creative fun.Or when we are alone, sitting in the waiting room waiting to be called in. Wouldn't it be much better to create a card while waiting instead of being immersed in that tiny display on our smart phone? And wait, there's another great thing we can do with the cards. We can send them to one of our friends across the globe or... gasp... swap it with another art card that has been made in the same way. Can you sense where I'm going? :)

totally immersed in creating

Me and my friend Lidija had a test drive of this idea yesterday. And my oh my was it fun. Not a laughing kind of fun but a "deep connection with creating forces" kind of fun. And we got all the paper we needed right there! Perfection. Really. All we needed was some pens and a glue stick but we have these with us all the time anyway ;) At least lots of pens.

Lidija's finished card

my finished card

I hope I have inspired you to give this a go and to join me in creating and sending more art into the world. I'll be having another test drive with another friend at a very different location and I'll write about it soon.

And now for the part where I really need some help. I need a nice hash tag for this project so that we can use it across social media to connect. And to name the group I'm about to open on FB to welcome you in and host swaps. I need a nice name that will reflect what we are doing so please please, share your ideas no matter how weird you think they are. Thank you in advance. Let's do this! ♥


edit on 16th of March, 2016

the cards are not all about the collage if you fear this is the case... they can be altered with drawing on them only, or cutting out of them ... it's all about your ideas and stuff you have at hands

12 pages in 2015 - final words and finally - my pages :)

Hello my friends and first and most of all - happy and bright 2016!
I hope you had nice holidays and are now ready to dive in this shiny New Year with all sorts of plans. I know I am :)

But I still owe you my pages and I made a little collage with all of them:

 

I didn't exactly make the pages in good time as I mostly did them in November and December - I finished the last one on 31st of December! :)   But I am so glad I did it! It's so nice to flip through the book; one wishes to have more to look at but only 12 pages. 

And because the big U is always here for us and because I was really fond of this project, another one came by! Jennifer Orkin Lewis a.k.a. August Wren is doing the same thing this year and I am already making my book for it. The hashtag for the project is #12monthsofpaint and I'll keep my 12 pages group open for it (with her blessings). 

So, drop by again, invite your friends and let's all dive into another painting/drawing/collaging/CREATIVE year together! ❤

Here's the FB group if you are not in it already ;)  12 pages group 

All the best with whatever you'll be doing.

present in 2016 - the idea

I don't know if you noticed but I've been working on a little project for the last "few" days :)

I've been calling it "present in 2016" and the more I think about it the more excited I am.

So, what's this all about? It's actually very simple - I'd like to invite you to be more present in the upcoming year; to notice things that are happening around you, things that happen only to you, the little things that you find on your walks or while you're out drinking coffee and browsing a nearby magazine. I invite you to note them down in your journal or a notebook or a planner and with doing this, this action alone, making yourself be here more, noticing more, observing more.  

I know we live in extremely fast world, things need to happen fast, everything needs to be done almost yesterday and with all the tasks of our everyday lives we put ourselves in “auto-pilot” mode; it’s our safety mechanism for coping with all the stress. And sometimes we notice that the whole week, or even month has gone by and we have almost no idea about what happened during this time - and it bothers us, right? I know it does bother me and I am trying to live by the rule of “slowing down to smell the roses” a lot and I will continue to do so even more.

Why exactly am I so excited about this? Well, it’s because I’d like to invite you to join me in this quest of “being here”. Grab a notebook, use your favourite journal, make yourself a weekly planner from the files I prepared or just go and buy one - it really doesn’t matter - as long as you have all the days in a year in it and some space to write things down - something like this:

weekly planner for 2016 designed by yours truly ;)

Then, I challenge you to start noticing things and at the end of the day, note them down. Did you open your newspaper on a page and something really grabbed your attention? Tear that out and glue it in your notebook. Were you thinking about a question and an interesting song came on the radio and it had just the answer for you? Note it down. Did you see something interesting while commuting? Note it down. Yes, it’s this simple. All these things make you be here more, more perceptive and often, they make the time slow down a bit. Try it, you’ll be surprised.

I will open up a FB group for this because I’d love to hear about your synchronicities, special moments, hear about a good guided meditation you found on-line or anything good really. We need to share, write things down and with doing this, help each other.

And if you know me, making art will not stay out of all this :)  I think a really good challenge would be to make weekly art pieces that would mirror what actually happened in that week. And because we’ll be noting things down, it’ll be easy to sit down, relive the week again and do some kind of art to honor it, to show we’ve been there, felt it, seen it...  I know some of you already do it and I’d love you to join me and share your art with others and inspire all of us.    

I’ll be setting up the group in the next week but I wanted to give you all a heads up to think about this and hopefully making you want to be present a bit more ;)

Let me know if you’re interested in joining and what kind of things you’d like to see in the group as well. I know that if we go and do this, it’ll be really really good!

Wishing you all a very happy Sunday!

With love,

nini

p.s.

if you like my little planner that I made for myself, I am offering it as a downloadable file in my Etsy shop - 2016 weekly planner  I'll be honored and very thankful for your support if you'll use it.