Hop

Yikes. It's been a while.

I'm very glad to be back here, though, thanks mostly to my friend, Julie, who invited me to take part in a different sort of blog hop today. It's kind of like those chain letters you used to get when you were a kid, only less dramatic and without any agonising over which sheets of fancy letter-paper you were going to use. The idea is that each participant 'tags' three more people, each of whom will write their own blog post the following week.

You can read Julie's thoughtful post over at her blog, Notes On Paper, and then follow the blog trail both forwards and backwards, if you feel so inclined. It's an easy way to discover new blogs, and you're bound to find at least one or two you like enough to revisit. I'm hoping you'll also like the ones I've tagged for next week, but we'll get to that in a while.

For now, I'm going to take the first of the blog-hop questions and run with it. What are you working on? Let's make that what have you been working on, and play catch up here.

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have spotted news of the biggest project on the list - another book.

Paperie: 100 Creative Papercraft Ideas - Gifts, Décor, Stationery, Accessories

The title makes it pretty clear what you can expect to find inside - another 100 projects, but instead of being fabric-based like those in Hoop-la, this time they're all made from (or with) paper. I'll obviously share lots more about the book over the next month or so, and I have a whole post planned for later this week, but if you're the impatient type, you can buy the e-book version right now as an instant download.

As well as book-writing, there's also been some magazine-writing going on, specifically for my not-that-new-but-I-haven't-mentioned-it-here-yet column in Papercraft Inspirations.

Called The Thrifty Crafter, it's based around the idea of using recycled, household or unusual items to make cards. We've covered all kinds of things, including postage stamps, twist-ties, cassette tapes, twigs, old keys and sweet wrappers. The two above use patterned drinking straws (the apple) and simple erasers (the stamped triangles), while the one below is made with repurposed birthday-candle holders. It's a lot of fun, both coming up with ideas for the materials and then working out exactly how to incorporate them into a card project.

For now, I'm going to set a couple of the blog hop questions to one side. 'How does your work differ from others in its genre?' is tricky (because maybe the answer is that I obsess over it so much, and that's neither healthy nor something to be recommended), and 'why do you write/create what you do?' is even harder to answer. But, 'how does your writing/creating process work?' . . . well that's a little easier to share.

An average project goes from excitement to angst, to frenzy, to consideration, to uncertainty and finally, if I'm lucky, to some level of satisfaction. On the days when it doesn't work out, that last one will be frustration, followed by resignation and the small comfort of knowing I can try again tomorrow. Generally speaking, the process is slower than I'd like, and creates a lot of mess. If this is what my desk looks like . . .

. . . it's probably best not to think about the state of my brain.

So. That's more than enough about me, right? The whole point of this blog hop is to introduce you to some new blogs and bloggers. The three I've picked are all (obviously) fantastic. Read about them below, then click through to find out even more.

CARINA ENVOLDSEN HARRIS is an embroidery pattern designer, blogger and craft writer. She is the author of Stitched Blooms and editor/writer for the &Stitches embroidery blog.

REBECCA GRECO is a freelance designer with a BFA in Illustration from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. She started stitching as a creative outlet to keep her hands busy, and her work has since been exhibited in both the UK and USA.

Visit Rebecca's blog, Hugs Are Fun.

And find her Etsy shop here.

ALICE PARTRIDGE is a young designer-maker from southeast England. She hopes to make a living doing what she loves, and spends most of her free time reading blogs, drinking tea, or stitching with a needle in her hand. In addition to working behind the scenes at shimelle.com, her recent work includes Kirsty Neale’s craft book, Hoop-la!

Vist her blog, Alice's Homemade Studio.

And follow her on Pinterest here.