Another serendipitous video, thank you. I was thinking about the nature of creativity a couple of days ago. I still think your neckerchief is an expression of creativity because you have taken an existing image on one side and your ability to imagine and deconstruct on another and then used your practical textile skills to create something new that hopefully pleases you in the handling of the material and then also in how you choose to wear it. I think the creativity is on many subtle levels there. And yes, I have a primary school cross stitch square somewhere!
Thank Ursula. Though I think with the neckerchief- maybe with many things - it is what is in the mind of the maker that makes the difference. I know that this is my attempt at a copy, just using what I have to hand. Possibly creative thinking in terms of reverse engineering, but a copy nonetheless. X
“I have it squirrelled away and I can find it”. OMG a lightbulb moment for me as trying to find ‘stuff’ takes up 80% of my time. Such good advice… thank you.❤️
Good morning, so happy to catch another one of your great videos. I just wanted to jump in and say that I never have considered that. Taking a creative idea and turning it into something different. Wouldn't be anything but perfectly fine. I love your creation. Much better than the one you saw because you totally turned it into your own. I'm happy that you brought up the subject so we can all think it through and feel good about what we create. God bless you. Have a great day
Hello Jane, thank you so much for the time and energy you put into your videos. I also have a chronic illness, and have begun to use creative endeavours, particularly patchwork and embroidery to help me rest. Historically the minute i felt a little better I returned to my previous levels of busyness, landing myself in another crash. This cycle continued for years. I think I've found a way to reduce the risks of this now. So lovely to feel met here. Xxx
Thank you Becci. I suspect that this is something that lots of people will recognise. In my experience chronic illness- especially auto immune diseases- seem to hit people who have always been ‘doers’ which makes it much trickier to navigate. J x
Thank you for spelling out the difference between art and creativity, and for showing us your notebooks. You’ve given us some inspiration/joy/calm again this morning, and I am very grateful for that
Hi Jane. I enjoyed this week’s video very much. I too love Toast and often recreate things I have seen on their website. I take a similar, though much less organised, approach to collecting inspiration to you. I collect photos, scraps of paper and fabric, all sorts of bits and pieces, but mine just get pinned up or collected in a drawer or box which I rummage through periodically. Less organised but does provide regular moments of discovery as I come across things again! Laura x PS I have a very similar crossed stitch done by my husband on the wall of my sewing room x
One of the things I love about Toast is that many items are easy to copy - they are often handmade in a way that has been simplified to allow them to be quickly done and therefore commercially viable at a properly premium price point and it along the way validates all us handmade gift givers! A rummage box of inspiration sounds wonderful. X
Also I have been meaning to message to tell you that your footage of your Yorky has given me so much joy this year, we lost our little lady in March, heartbreaking but she is with me every time I see yours, especially the shots where she is rummaging around in the background, so much like my Pixie ☺️
I made a comment before about the sound and thanks for replying. I should also have taken the trouble at the same time to say how thoughtful, interesting and inspiring this video was. I've not seen anyone address this issue of where we find our creativity, or what creativity actually is. It's got me thinking since I saw it and I know I'll re watch because I'll have missed something. Just needed to come back to say this. Thanks!
Thanks for bringing your unique calm to my day . I agree with your thoughts on social media and not letting it colour your own creativity and source of inspiration too much . I believe i have undiagnosed ADHD as i havd a calm exterior and a very busy, creative mind that is full of images, colour and ideas . When i walk or look out of the window my mind is like high speed shutter of a camera clicking away at the beauty allaround me and of the not so beautiful too! I too take lots of pics on my phone too and will definitely start printing them off . I have baskets and windowsills full of what i collect.... driftwood, stones, twigs which all inspire me . Putting my inspiration into something is where i crave more time to play. If i could organise my space more it would help and my time . Thank you for the ideas. You always inspire and give me a feeling that anything is possible ❤xx
Thanks Jane. Your video has made me think about my own way into creativity (doing my textiles degree back in 1990) and how that has changed in the last 10 years because of Instagram/Pinterest. I think it's been too easy for me to access thousands of images of other peoples work for inspiration rather than my unique work back at art college and through my 20s, which was mainly through drawing/sampling/exhibitions /observing and noticing. Very thought provoking. X
It is so, so easy and so pervasive that we don’t really notice that that is what we have begun to do and how the loop tightens and becomes smaller as the algorithms take over. J x
Thanks Jane, this was really thought provoking. I've been trying out lino printing for the first time and have enjoyed seeing how my creativity developed. At first, I had no idea what to do or how to design an image as I don't see myself as particularly good at drawing. I trawled through Instagram and basically ended up with some images I could copy, definitely not my own ideas. As I got going, I realised I was changing things and making the image more my own and developing ideas for further linocuts. Using other people's experience and ideas has helped to get me started but having time to work on my own without the images from social media has been so satisfying. I have a clearer idea of what I want the image to look like and how to go about it. On a different note, I smiled when you said you were reverse engineering the neckerchief as I've thought about doing the same. And I also did a cross stitch sampler at school, I remember the colours and the fabric was blue.
Thanks Karen - that sounds like you made the right decision with the linocuts to get something to start with and then to make sure you could work out your own designs. The reverse engineering was quite simple though when I look closely my frill has a number of different stitch styles in it. 😂
I loved this video Jane and is another clue into some recent thoughts I have been having lately as I feel overwhelmed and pressured by my phone and social media. I love to write, so I can see how I could combine this as well. Thank you so much for sharing as always ❤
A very interesting video & what a lovely neckerchief you're doing. I feel very lacking in knowledge to create (as in make something as a whim might take me), so I am doing lots of online courses/tutorials ( a lot free), to give myself some basic knowledge on how to use materials. I have learnt alot & my interest is furthered all the time so I'm beginning to feel now that I could do my own thing in an art journal & could pick random scraps of material to sew something which is all so freeing & the desired outcome. Next year I'm going to start on knitting & crochet as have no idea how to do either of those!
Really thought-provoking video. Thank you. By the way, your volume was so quiet that when the ads came on the difference was shocking - don’t know if you’ve any way to adjust it, but may be worth nudging your sound up
Thanks Alison - thanks for letting me know about the sound. It is at the same level as normal on the editing but it could well be that the ads have got louder, so I’ll have a look at what I can do for next week. X
Hello Jane. Thank you for such a helpful video (another one!). I have similar views about the social media - helpful, but not quite! I have sort of found my way a little into your method, but your ideas are so much more cohesive, helpful, and organised. I shall certainly be adapting them to my creative work. You have opened a new door for me, thank you vey much indeed. Carolann
@@lostinsomerset6002 Unfortunately RUclips took the volume down on the whole clip because - when the pen dropped off my desk - it caused a momentary bump in volume which went over their advised levels. There is nothing I can do about it now but at least I now know and can try and prevent it happening again.
A very interesting video Jane 🎉 fascinating to see your process. My overriding question is how do you manage to do everything 🤔 for example if I were using the 2 books you showed at the end that would be it!!! I wouldn't get round to going beyond that 😢 time management maybe or that I am on a reading program i really enjoy and I like to cook from scratch but don't drive so that can take quite a few days to complete and then freeze. I am older but I can honestly say i was the same in my 55s. Do you have a housekeeper/ cleaner to free up time? I have adopted your suggestion of creating tidy hubs around the house because I also have a tendency toward messiness which I have to check!! I am so glad you mentioned the Kimono exhibition at the V&A in Dundee - that is a timely reminder and a perfect example of something I really want to do and as yet I haven't and it's virtually on my doorstep! I don't use Instagram or Pinterest - I would disappear completely down those rabbit holes!!!! I Ps as an aside I really love your style today with the dress and the blue at your neck.❤ big love from the East of Scotland ❤
Hi Margaret - Since April Sarah, who house/pet sat for a week in March when Euan joined me in Naples, has been cleaning the house for 3 hours on a Tuesday. For the past couple of months she has been doing the same in the studio for one hour very first thing on a Thursday. This particularly has made a difference in the studio for I now tidy things away a bit more and it frees up my brain a lot. The kimono exhibition is wonderful and the cafe also very good! J x
Thanks for the reply Jane. I think I am going to do that in 2025. I was already thinking of a website I found borrowmydoggy so I can get a bit further afield - I will start there and then a 3 hour cleaning session will definitely free up time for me. In January I used to always go to the Vaughan bequest exhibition in Edinburgh - I think it was 2018 last time I visited - wow that's 6 years ago 7 in 2025!!!!! ❤
Oh yes, love your suggestions, thank you for sharing your sparks! Cheers from storm Darragh here in Ireland! Ps despite my subscription your episode wasn’t shown again, typing Snapdragon your channel didn’t show up, only when I completed with writing life it was there. RUclips changed incredibly this year, rather to the worse pps Maybe they want me to turn on the notifications but I don’t do them, too may channels I love, so the constant notifications would drive me mad, nothing for a very sensitive person.
@@snapdragonlife Thank you! Due to the power outage, which happened just a short hour round my place, my gas heating didn't work, but I also have a wood stove, so always quite safe during those events. My place was spared, just chaos in the garden an a few smaller branches down, but people more in the West of Ireland lost trees and still seem to be without electricity, like the stunningly beautiful Kylemore Abbey.
Thank you. Unfortunately this is not something I can fix. Having googled it, it just seems to be something that sometimes happens on RUclips- the audio on my original is exactly the same as normal. You can’t change the audio after upload. Hopefully people will just put the volume up a little. There were also a few posts online about RUclips having put the volume of adverts up which won’t help 😂.
It seems likely that it is that when the pen dropped it was a loud noise that overstepped the RUclips parameters so the whole thing has been made quieter. Though having said that it plays fine for me and for a few others that I’ve asked, so perhaps it is also random! I’ve had the worst week with tech so now I’m switching everything off and going to read a book! Have a great weekend.
Thank you for another lovely video. I clearly remember stitching a piece of embroidery just like yours at primary school in the 1960s. Did every child in Scotland make one, I wonder?
I just discovered your channel. I have binged watch several episodes. Really enjoying your talks. One problem I'm having, however, is that although I have my volume up as high as it will go I have to strain to hear you. Maybe more volume at your end? Please.
Hi Sue. It will be both. It will be a six month course available to anyone to buy. It’s likely to be around about £175 and is a mix of tutorials, lives, writing, embroidery, talks. If you buy it you get lifetime access as long as my business continues. It is also going to be freely available to Studio Club members as long as they remain members. If you want to be part of a community and pay a subscription then Studio Club membership is the most economical way to get it, if you want to have it to work through over time and don’t like subscriptions then you can buy it as a standalone course. The cost of the Studio Club membership will be rising for NEW members in mid January, partly to reflect the extra things that I’m adding in. Existing members will keep their current subscription cost. As you can probably tell I’m still working out all the details. It’s kind of a Buying/Renting thing - do you buy a single film to watch or sign up for Netflix.
Wonderful Sue. We have a zoom pre Christmas get together on Wednesday where we will be making string from fabric scraps and also chatting about what people want from the Studio Club in 2025. I shall send you the link - it will also be recorded. You can see Joan’s beautiful fabric string in the forum and the video instructions are in a journal entry.
Another serendipitous video, thank you. I was thinking about the nature of creativity a couple of days ago. I still think your neckerchief is an expression of creativity because you have taken an existing image on one side and your ability to imagine and deconstruct on another and then used your practical textile skills to create something new that hopefully pleases you in the handling of the material and then also in how you choose to wear it. I think the creativity is on many subtle levels there. And yes, I have a primary school cross stitch square somewhere!
Thank Ursula. Though I think with the neckerchief- maybe with many things - it is what is in the mind of the maker that makes the difference. I know that this is my attempt at a copy, just using what I have to hand. Possibly creative thinking in terms of reverse engineering, but a copy nonetheless. X
“I have it squirrelled away and I can find it”. OMG a lightbulb moment for me as trying to find ‘stuff’ takes up 80% of my time. Such good advice… thank you.❤️
It’s certainly one of the things I’m going to work on this year!!! X
Good morning, so happy to catch another one of your great videos. I just wanted to jump in and say that I never have considered that. Taking a creative idea and turning it into something different. Wouldn't be anything but perfectly fine. I love your creation. Much better than the one you saw because you totally turned it into your own. I'm happy that you brought up the subject so we can all think it through and feel good about what we create. God bless you. Have a great day
Thank you Karen x
Hello Jane, thank you so much for the time and energy you put into your videos. I also have a chronic illness, and have begun to use creative endeavours, particularly patchwork and embroidery to help me rest. Historically the minute i felt a little better I returned to my previous levels of busyness, landing myself in another crash. This cycle continued for years. I think I've found a way to reduce the risks of this now. So lovely to feel met here. Xxx
Thank you Becci. I suspect that this is something that lots of people will recognise. In my experience chronic illness- especially auto immune diseases- seem to hit people who have always been ‘doers’ which makes it much trickier to navigate. J x
Thank you for spelling out the difference between art and creativity, and for showing us your notebooks. You’ve given us some inspiration/joy/calm again this morning, and I am very grateful for that
Thanks for watching and for your lovely comment Catherine x
So freeing. This is an intriguing way of being more expansive. It is entirely your take. It feels like cutting loose. Thank you ❤
Thanks Treeza. X
Found this very interesting Jane! Thankyou
Thanks Debbie. X
You are a great inspiration Jane xxx
And you Georgie.
Hi Jane. I enjoyed this week’s video very much. I too love Toast and often recreate things I have seen on their website. I take a similar, though much less organised, approach to collecting inspiration to you. I collect photos, scraps of paper and fabric, all sorts of bits and pieces, but mine just get pinned up or collected in a drawer or box which I rummage through periodically. Less organised but does provide regular moments of discovery as I come across things again! Laura x PS I have a very similar crossed stitch done by my husband on the wall of my sewing room x
One of the things I love about Toast is that many items are easy to copy - they are often handmade in a way that has been simplified to allow them to be quickly done and therefore commercially viable at a properly premium price point and it along the way validates all us handmade gift givers! A rummage box of inspiration sounds wonderful. X
Also I have been meaning to message to tell you that your footage of your Yorky has given me so much joy this year, we lost our little lady in March, heartbreaking but she is with me every time I see yours, especially the shots where she is rummaging around in the background, so much like my Pixie ☺️
They are such wonderful little dogs - so much character.
I made a comment before about the sound and thanks for replying. I should also have taken the trouble at the same time to say how thoughtful, interesting and inspiring this video was. I've not seen anyone address this issue of where we find our creativity, or what creativity actually is. It's got me thinking since I saw it and I know I'll re watch because I'll have missed something. Just needed to come back to say this. Thanks!
Thank you. I’m glad you found it useful even if you had to hike the volume and then put up with the adverts booming. X
Thanks for bringing your unique calm to my day . I agree with your thoughts on social media and not letting it colour your own creativity and source of inspiration too much . I believe i have undiagnosed ADHD as i havd a calm exterior and a very busy, creative mind that is full of images, colour and ideas . When i walk or look out of the window my mind is like high speed shutter of a camera clicking away at the beauty allaround me and of the not so beautiful too! I too take lots of pics on my phone too and will definitely start printing them off . I have baskets and windowsills full of what i collect.... driftwood, stones, twigs which all inspire me . Putting my inspiration into something is where i crave more time to play. If i could organise my space more it would help and my time . Thank you for the ideas. You always inspire and give me a feeling that anything is possible ❤xx
Thank you Tania. I think that many creative people have very busy minds x
Thanks Jane. Your video has made me think about my own way into creativity (doing my textiles degree back in 1990) and how that has changed in the last 10 years because of Instagram/Pinterest. I think it's been too easy for me to access thousands of images of other peoples work for inspiration rather than my unique work back at art college and through my 20s, which was mainly through drawing/sampling/exhibitions /observing and noticing. Very thought provoking. X
It is so, so easy and so pervasive that we don’t really notice that that is what we have begun to do and how the loop tightens and becomes smaller as the algorithms take over. J x
Thanks Jane, this was really thought provoking. I've been trying out lino printing for the first time and have enjoyed seeing how my creativity developed. At first, I had no idea what to do or how to design an image as I don't see myself as particularly good at drawing. I trawled through Instagram and basically ended up with some images I could copy, definitely not my own ideas. As I got going, I realised I was changing things and making the image more my own and developing ideas for further linocuts. Using other people's experience and ideas has helped to get me started but having time to work on my own without the images from social media has been so satisfying. I have a clearer idea of what I want the image to look like and how to go about it.
On a different note, I smiled when you said you were reverse engineering the neckerchief as I've thought about doing the same. And I also did a cross stitch sampler at school, I remember the colours and the fabric was blue.
Thanks Karen - that sounds like you made the right decision with the linocuts to get something to start with and then to make sure you could work out your own designs.
The reverse engineering was quite simple though when I look closely my frill has a number of different stitch styles in it. 😂
I loved this video Jane and is another clue into some recent thoughts I have been having lately as I feel overwhelmed and pressured by my phone and social media. I love to write, so I can see how I could combine this as well. Thank you so much for sharing as always ❤
Thanks Sarah. Happy writing x
A very interesting video & what a lovely neckerchief you're doing. I feel very lacking in knowledge to create (as in make something as a whim might take me), so I am doing lots of online courses/tutorials ( a lot free), to give myself some basic knowledge on how to use materials. I have learnt alot & my interest is furthered all the time so I'm beginning to feel now that I could do my own thing in an art journal & could pick random scraps of material to sew something which is all so freeing & the desired outcome. Next year I'm going to start on knitting & crochet as have no idea how to do either of those!
Thanks Lisa. That sounds like so much fun x
Really thought-provoking video. Thank you. By the way, your volume was so quiet that when the ads came on the difference was shocking - don’t know if you’ve any way to adjust it, but may be worth nudging your sound up
Thanks Alison - thanks for letting me know about the sound. It is at the same level as normal on the editing but it could well be that the ads have got louder, so I’ll have a look at what I can do for next week. X
Hello Jane. Thank you for such a helpful video (another one!). I have similar views about the social media - helpful, but not quite! I have sort of found my way a little into your method, but your ideas are so much more cohesive, helpful, and organised. I shall certainly be adapting them to my creative work. You have opened a new door for me, thank you vey much indeed. Carolann
@@snapdragonlifeme too with the volume
@@lostinsomerset6002 Unfortunately RUclips took the volume down on the whole clip because - when the pen dropped off my desk - it caused a momentary bump in volume which went over their advised levels. There is nothing I can do about it now but at least I now know and can try and prevent it happening again.
To me, it sounded like the sound went mono instead of stereo.
A very interesting video Jane 🎉 fascinating to see your process. My overriding question is how do you manage to do everything 🤔 for example if I were using the 2 books you showed at the end that would be it!!! I wouldn't get round to going beyond that 😢 time management maybe or that I am on a reading program i really enjoy and I like to cook from scratch but don't drive so that can take quite a few days to complete and then freeze. I am older but I can honestly say i was the same in my 55s. Do you have a housekeeper/ cleaner to free up time? I have adopted your suggestion of creating tidy hubs around the house because I also have a tendency toward messiness which I have to check!! I am so glad you mentioned the Kimono exhibition at the V&A in Dundee - that is a timely reminder and a perfect example of something I really want to do and as yet I haven't and it's virtually on my doorstep! I don't use Instagram or Pinterest - I would disappear completely down those rabbit holes!!!! I Ps as an aside I really love your style today with the dress and the blue at your neck.❤ big love from the East of Scotland ❤
Hi Margaret - Since April Sarah, who house/pet sat for a week in March when Euan joined me in Naples, has been cleaning the house for 3 hours on a Tuesday. For the past couple of months she has been doing the same in the studio for one hour very first thing on a Thursday. This particularly has made a difference in the studio for I now tidy things away a bit more and it frees up my brain a lot.
The kimono exhibition is wonderful and the cafe also very good! J x
Thanks for the reply Jane. I think I am going to do that in 2025. I was already thinking of a website I found borrowmydoggy so I can get a bit further afield - I will start there and then a 3 hour cleaning session will definitely free up time for me. In January I used to always go to the Vaughan bequest exhibition in Edinburgh - I think it was 2018 last time I visited - wow that's 6 years ago 7 in 2025!!!!! ❤
Oh yes, love your suggestions, thank you for sharing your sparks! Cheers from storm Darragh here in Ireland! Ps despite my subscription your episode wasn’t shown again, typing Snapdragon your channel didn’t show up, only when I completed with writing life it was there. RUclips changed incredibly this year, rather to the worse pps Maybe they want me to turn on the notifications but I don’t do them, too may channels I love, so the constant notifications would drive me mad, nothing for a very sensitive person.
I hope that you are keeping safe and warm in the storm. X
@@snapdragonlife Thank you! Due to the power outage, which happened just a short hour round my place, my gas heating didn't work, but I also have a wood stove, so always quite safe during those events. My place was spared, just chaos in the garden an a few smaller branches down, but people more in the West of Ireland lost trees and still seem to be without electricity, like the stunningly beautiful Kylemore Abbey.
Your sound volume is kind of low so thought you might want to know. Great video once again. Thanks Jane!
Yes - I agree - my volume was up super loud to only just hear this!
Thank you. Unfortunately this is not something I can fix. Having googled it, it just seems to be something that sometimes happens on RUclips- the audio on my original is exactly the same as normal. You can’t change the audio after upload. Hopefully people will just put the volume up a little.
There were also a few posts online about RUclips having put the volume of adverts up which won’t help 😂.
Sadly this seems to be a glitch within RUclips and I can’t post edit the audio within the app.
@@snapdragonlife sorry about that. I will probably have this issue on my channel too then. Ugh.
It seems likely that it is that when the pen dropped it was a loud noise that overstepped the RUclips parameters so the whole thing has been made quieter. Though having said that it plays fine for me and for a few others that I’ve asked, so perhaps it is also random! I’ve had the worst week with tech so now I’m switching everything off and going to read a book! Have a great weekend.
Thank you for another lovely video. I clearly remember stitching a piece of embroidery just like yours at primary school in the 1960s. Did every child in Scotland make one, I wonder?
I think they must have - perhaps every schoolchild in the UK. X
@@snapdragonlifeI did too!
@@snapdragonlife And in Australia! I still have a pink hessian elephant with sample stitches on it, among others.
I just discovered your channel. I have binged watch several episodes. Really enjoying your talks. One problem I'm having, however, is that although I have my volume up as high as it will go I have to strain to hear you. Maybe more volume at your end? Please.
Hi Jane, I'm very interested in your upcoming Stitch class. Is this going to be part of the Studio Club or a stand alone class.?Thanks!
Hi Sue. It will be both. It will be a six month course available to anyone to buy. It’s likely to be around about £175 and is a mix of tutorials, lives, writing, embroidery, talks. If you buy it you get lifetime access as long as my business continues.
It is also going to be freely available to Studio Club members as long as they remain members. If you want to be part of a community and pay a subscription then Studio Club membership is the most economical way to get it, if you want to have it to work through over time and don’t like subscriptions then you can buy it as a standalone course.
The cost of the Studio Club membership will be rising for NEW members in mid January, partly to reflect the extra things that I’m adding in. Existing members will keep their current subscription cost.
As you can probably tell I’m still working out all the details. It’s kind of a Buying/Renting thing - do you buy a single film to watch or sign up for Netflix.
@@snapdragonlife Thank you for responding so quickly! I just became a member. yay!!
Wonderful Sue. We have a zoom pre Christmas get together on Wednesday where we will be making string from fabric scraps and also chatting about what people want from the Studio Club in 2025. I shall send you the link - it will also be recorded.
You can see Joan’s beautiful fabric string in the forum and the video instructions are in a journal entry.