Get Messy and Me : some exciting news!

About a year ago I stumbled on art journaling, it looked like such a fun,beautiful and creative thing to do. I bought an art journal and tried making some pages, I watched some online classes and looked at other peoples pages, bought more supplies and started hoarding ephemera, but I really struggled to actually create pages!

I heard about the Get Messy art journal group through Nullsie (aka Sharon), via an online Collage group I am in. I stalked the #getmessyartjournal and visited and started following some great blogs. At that stage it was a closed group but I really enjoyed seeing what people were creating and sharing, so when Get Messy opened it’s doors for membership with a new format in 2015 I dove right in and signed up.

Pretty early on I made a decision that I was going to really keep showing up and trying to get pages created using the prompts, tutorials and inspiration that come out each week. Some weeks have been such a struggle and some of my early pages I really didn’t like much at all, but I was kind of hooked and just kept going because I want to be an “art journaler” . I had read/ watched The Gap by Ira Glass and it made so much sense to me. If you haven’t watched it yet, go now and do that, it only takes 2 minutes although you may want to watch it more than once because it is so GREAT!

One of the best things about joining Get Messy for me has been the community that I’ve landed right in the middle of. I could have bought a bunch of books and done lots of online courses and tried to do this art journaling thing by myself,but for me the format of weekly input from Get Messy, my commitment to complete and share pages plus being part of a community of supportive and inspiring people has worked. I now art journal regularly and even take my journal on holiday with me. People make all the difference.People who have liked my pages, read my blog posts, cheered me on, sympathised with me, shared enthusiasm over great prompts, inspiring tutorials and a mutual love of all products art journal related. People whose art I admire that I now chat with.People who over time have become online friends. ( my non art journaling readers/friends/family who have supported me too- Thank you xx)

So when I saw the call for applications to be part of the 2016 creative team, my heart was racing. Maybe I could do this, I want to do this, this is exciting and a little scary, perhaps I’d be out of my depth, am I crazy to take on more, should I , could I, will I try, will I apply ???

With any big decisions I go with my gut and my gut said this feels right, be brave, this is taking you in a direction you want to go, strengthening your creative life….DO IT! So I did, I applied and then a couple of weeks ago I got the email saying that I was on the Get Messy Creative Team for 2016…. me! On a creative team! For something I am not an expert by any means at but something I love and am excited(passionate) about. I’m here to prove, it’s not about being perfect, it’s doing what you enjoy. Making time for creative play and keeping on keeping on if you want to be able to do a thing.

I feel so grateful and fortunate to be on this team of creative and lovely people. I’m looking forward to a creative, inspired and no doubt sometimes challenging year. How is 2016 looking for you? Have you started making plans or goals, or wish lists for things you’d like to do or try? Or are you just trying to be organized for Christmas?

Anyway here are the rest of the team, if you have time, pop in and see what they are up to. Get Messy is over here if you want to find out more. Thank you so much Caylee and Lauren, for creating Get Messy and for inviting me to be on the creative team, you are both adorable and awesome!

The team: Anika || Cait || Me || Essie || Gretchen || Julia || Karen || Kathleen || Katie || Nina || Sharon || Tanyalee || Torrie || Vanessa || Zinia

I’m not sure if I’ll be posting again before the end of the year, so just in case, I’d like to wish you all the best of times with your loved ones and a Healthy, Happy and Creative New Year.

“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.”      Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Thanks lovely readers,

Emily xx

ps. Apologies for the craziest punctuation ever.