Jen's a Little Loopy

Putting the cray in CRAftY since the 80s

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Everything I thought I know about blogging, writing, creating, and making art was wrong. That's awesome! Read on to learn why it's important to get all of those *expert* voices out of your head and just do your own thing.

I was wrong about everything

Everything I thought I knew turned out to be wrong.

And that’s ok.

The past few months I haven’t had much to say here on the blog. I’d rather say one good thing once a year than 1,000 mediocre things over the course of a year.

I’ve decided no one will assign my worth to me – I’m going to value myself. I’m going to do things that mean something to me regardless of whether anyone wants to pay me to do them or put ads on my website or send me free products or pay me to link to their product.

I don’t want to be noise and never have, but being noise was the path I was marching down.

…

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Art is a verb

You don’t need to be an artist to start making art. I’m going to tell you a secret art schools don’t want you to know:

its ok to make sucky art

It’s ok to make sucky art

Give yourself permission to suck. I can’t draw. If you’ve ever peeped my Insta, you know I tell no lies. But, I’ve developed a certain level of fearlessness about sharing my failures as I go because I learned that nothing bad happens when you share sucky art. So this is the story of why I…

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Big Dream Alchemy - art journaling with intent

Big Dream Alchemy – art journaling with intent

“…it’s absolutely possible to reinvent yourself.” – Patty Eskridge, Art Journaling Magazine (Oct/Nov/Dec 2018) When I read Patty’s words a couple weeks ago I got goosebumps. I’d been feeling discouraged about blogging and designing crochet patterns. Maybe discouraged isn’t the right word, because by all accounts my business has been growing and to most people…

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Crochet plastic water bottle upcycle project - quick, easy, and cheap! #crochet #upcycle #crochetpattern #freecrochetpattern #crochetvase #waterbottlecover

Crochet Water Bottle Upcycled Vase

I’ve just got done cleaning out my craft room (more on that in a few days) and was overwhelmed by how many crafting materials I’ve accumulated over the years. I said to my husband when I was done, “If I can’t make something with what I have in here, I don’t need to make it…

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The intersection of creating and mental health

Confession: I’m a mess. Most of the time I look like I have things pretty much together. But it’s a trick of light and careful editing. Creating is one of the things that supports my emotional well-being. Maybe it can help you too!

Sunday Share 20180520

Bad alpaca joke. Gut Shots. Retro camper playhouse plans. Why does Etsy hate makers? Kelly Diels smashing the patricarchy. Here’s what’s been bouncing through my mind the past two weeks.