I’ve got some yellow fabrics in my quilt, but otherwise it’s mostly warm tones like pink – my signature color. The backing is a light beige with white polka dots but I didn’t have quite enough so along the length of it there’s a wide stripe of polka dotted spring green fabric. The edges are folded over so you can see both these backing fabrics on the front edge as well.

Mom’s quilt is a deep blue (which is her signature color), with some turquoise and light blue patches as well, and a very dark blue backing – also spotted with polka dots of course!

I love how my quilt looks, but also how it sounds and how it feels. It is so fluffy and new that it kind of rustles like a hotell blanket, and all the dots and colors make my heart so happy.

Here are some (rather silly) bonus pictures from when we finished our quilts:

Me admiring my newly finished polka dot quilt:

My first journaling session under the new quilt, and my mom admiring her new favorite quilt:

And then testing the full length out, and it works:

I got sidetracked after I made the bold promise to share my finished polka dot project “next week” a while back, when I did the blog post about the process, Time to sew: Replacing my comfort quilt. So this post is a bit late, but also very late in any case – if blogging is supposed to be “news”. This was our January project 2025 when I stayed with my parents after Christmas. This January we played with ribbons on fabric and had so much fun, but that’s a story for another day.

In case you noticed my new green handbag next to me in the chair photo above, here is a close up of that bag because mom made it as well:

My new comfort quilt is done, and it was a fun make that I will use for many years to come.

Craft on everyone.

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and Finished polka dot quilts first appeared on iHannas Blog.

I will try to not be too ambitious with ten or 20 links in each post, because I have done this mistake before. I quickly run out of steam and quit. But I do hope to write a few sentences about each video/link/idea to both inspire you to click through and to document it for myself…

Looking back at link love posts of the past almost all the blog posts, articles and ideas have been lost or removed from the Internet, and sometimes I don’t even have the title of what it was about (because sometimes I’ve written: Check this awesome idea out!!! – and that’s it. I can only presume it was a really awesome idea I wanted to share but now have no idea of what or why I took the time to copy the url and share it on my blog in 2007 or so, LOL). So, let’s give this a try.

Please comment or share this idea on if you get anything from this list of three videos, so I know to keep going. And without further ado;

Artist’s loft spaces series

What: A video series of New York artists lofts as homes and studio spaces combined. It’s created by photographer Joshua Charow, who was writing a book about these New York loft apartments and the artists occupying them.

My thoughts: I love these videos so much and have resisted binge watching them all just to spread out the goodness. They document aging, the artists process & mess, living where you also work and the love of painting. Video is the perfect format to capture the dimensions of these strange spaces and the voices of the artists. The only drawback: times are changing and this series came about because New York is not as artist friendly as it once was, unfortunately. :(

You might also enjoy Joshua Charow’s book: Loft Law: The Last of New York City’s Original Artist Lofts.

Bird watching

Random choice, but it is a very sweet & short documentary about people watching birds as a hobby. Isn’t amazing how we get to watch things like this for free.

My thoughts: Birdwatching as a subject might not be something that I am personally into – but absolutely get the joy of. Also, I try to watch documentaries every now and then about subjects I know less about – it is part of my personal iHanna Life-Long Learning program.

Creative Idea: Morning Make for 15 minutes

What: Morning make is a creative habit where you make something for 15 minutes every morning before breakfast or social media. Watch this clip to see if it’s something you’d want to try.

My thoughts: I found this video via Carina’s Craft blog post morning make in late December, and felt really inspired by its simplicity. I thought I’d both share the idea and start doing this for myself, but I quickly found out it’s not for me. I am the most lazy in the mornings and I definitely want coffee and breakfast before anything. I think I need that (and time to wake up slowly) to make my brain start braining again after sleeping.

My personal morning make is to watch one or several YouTube videos while I enjoy my breakfast. I watch videos about journals, art materials, crafting, book recommendations, decluttering, digital scrapbooking, small business or artist vlogs, and random paper tutorials all the time. What do you watch? Or do you have a similar creative morning routine like this?

I hope you enjoyed this first episode of “Creative inspiration for the weekend” from yours truly. I am wishing you a great weekend. May the force be with you.

Link Love was a fun blog concept where we used to share blog posts with link lists to inspiring content that caught our interest. It could be anything, from tutorials to yummy blog posts, and the links made our blogging community better, kinder and easier to navigate. Now I am bringing it back, one weekend posts at a time.

PS: You can still sign up to the DIY Postcard Swap if you haven’t already. Cheers.

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and Creative inspiration for the weekend: Three videos to watch first appeared on iHannas Blog.

Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age.

— Victor Hugo

50 is not old, you say? Sorry to everyone who is +50 or older reading this blog, I don’t think YOU are old. I am just not used to being this age yet. I am grateful for becoming 50 and being celebrated by people who loves me. Having both my parents alive and all my teeth intact, still. We’re all aging and it is a good thing, if we consider the alternative…

I am simply feeling self conscious about my looks, age, mental health and where I am at this moment in time (which is not a good place) so I was considering glazing over the fact that April is my birthday month this year, but that would feel weird, an a little too sad. I mean, I am this age now. This is me. And look at all the beautiful flowers I got. I wanted to share these to the blog, and with you guys. And the Hello Kitty cake – I loved it so much.

By the time we hit 50, we have learned our hardest lessons. We have found out that only a few things are really important. We have learned to take life seriously, but never ourselves.

— Marie Dressler

I have been thinking about this birthday for about two years, trying to grasp the number 50, and what it means. I considered creating a special birthday journal for myself, but now I’m glad I didn’t. It’s just another new number to get used to.

And now that it’s attached itself to me, I feel mostly like I did as 32 and 49 years old. Like myself, a little girl that loves color, toys, art, flowers, painting and doodling, iced coffees and colorful un-matched clothes. Only difference is now with gray hair and a bigger waistline (oh, and joint pain). I am a Hello Kitty fan, still and for ever. An aging woman who still wants to notice (and document) everyday beauty, blog, and say hi to birds when out walking. I am someone that is still holding on to some semblance of hope for dear life.

It was not a big birthday party or anything, but still very sweet. Made the usual chocolate cake along with the pink store bought Hello Kitty one. The next morning I had leftover strawberries for breakfast, and it was yummy indeed.

Looking fifty is great – if you’re sixty.

— Joan Rivers

But maybe this explains the 50-lists that I’ve made earlier this year? 50 in 2026… doable or not, in case you missed them, here are my two lists of ideas/projects I want to do:

When looking for some good quotes on being 50 years old for this blog post, I also read that “If you haven’t grown up by age 50, you don’t have to” and I think I’ll go with that, at least for now. Cheers.

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will have truly defeated age.

— Gary Marcus

PS: Happy blogoversary to my blog as well! On the 24th of April 2004 (!) I started this little adventure and it’s still going strong on this its 22nd birthday. Happy 22 blogoversary my dear, I love you.

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and Becoming 50 years old all of a sudden first appeared on iHannas Blog.

Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.

I have this note up on my wall. It’s been up for over a year now. I was just testing out some green metallic paint on a yellow post-it-note and lettered “Make your art” as a message to myself. I stuck it up (not actually on the wall but to a drawer in the dresser) and it’s still there, a year later. These notes tend to fall down/off a lot, but this one didn’t. The message is very clear.

I should listen to my own advice. I should look at that note more often. I should make more art, and maybe also remember that posting to this blog is also one of my art forms. Something to enjoy and do more often, right?

I love writing and I know it has great value to me, but it is even harder to do when your mind is raising in all directions…

I think people are trending away from writing altogether. It’s easier to create and consume videos. Writing is a massive investment in time. We need to see a culture shift in the value of writing.

Writing has value that exists within the act itself – independent of audience, likes, or discovery. Writing is worthwhile for its own sake, and that’s the cultural shift we need to champion. Show people the intrinsic value of writing.

— Derek Hanson [Write more, consume less]

The reason I haven’t posted much in April is because I got sick again, which derailed me a lot. After Easter I got some kind of cold and lost my voice for a few days even. It’s the third time I’m sick this year already. Enough of that for now, I hope. I managed to sit by the computer to start the DIY Postcard Swap spring 2026 edition, but that’s been about it until now. Although I have updated some plug-ins and I continue to update old blog posts with thumbnails, images and a footer to each post. It’s a lot of work and now I am starting to feel like it’s a job I’ll never get through. It feels like an endless slog, but when you feel too weak to write, glue or think up anything creative at least it’s some kind of work for your future self that is being made I guess.

Life is very overwhelming to me

Then when I want to come back to blogging I feel like I don’t know where to begin. I feel very overwhelmed by all the options I have. Drafts, photos to edit, things to share, videos I wanted you to watch, finished craft projects from last year and this year. There is always so very much to write, share, fix, do, create – all the time. Life really is overwhelming a lot of the time, to me. So again, I remind myself: just start. Do something small. Share a post-it-note-photo from last year, and go from there.

Make your art – start right now.

I’ll be back tomorrow.

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and Note to self: Make Your Art first appeared on iHannas Blog.

You have from today and about one month forward to create ten handmade postcards (or 20 if you opt to create that many) in any creative style you like (although they have to be originals). It will be a blast!

If you’re new to mail art and mixed media – you are welcome to join us!

If you are a working artist that loves getting happy mail – you are welcome to join us.

If you’ve signed up previously and loved the experience of this swap – welcome back my friend.

Current status of iHanna’s DIY Postcard Swap: Open – you can join right now. If you would like to be notified about the autumn 2026 swap, make sure that you are subscribed to the newsletter. Thank you.

If you feel curious and in need of a deadline to make sure you create something uniqe and fun this month – then this swap is for you!

If you’ve never signed up for anything online – this is your chance to try it out in a secure, welcoming way together with a bunch of kind, generous peeps all around the world!

Most of you have done this previously many times so just go ahead and sign up, no rules have changed since the spring although I am definitely adding in that AI “art” is not welcome in any shape or form in this postcard swap, but why would it?

If you have any questions about deadlines, size, payment, participation, anything : check the FAQ.

Current status of iHanna’s DIY Postcard Swap: Open – you can join right now. If you would like to be notified about the autumn 2026 swap, make sure that you are subscribed to the newsletter. Thank you.

The sign-up period for the swap opens today – and it will remain open until 10th of May. Sign up before then and join us in all this fun and joyful creativity! Let me know below when you’ve signed up, I love learning what you’re up to on your creative journey.

You might also be interested in:

The DIY Postcard Idea Book

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and Join now: DIY Postcard Swap spring 2026 first appeared on iHannas Blog.

When I wrapped it in pink polka dot tissue paper, I remembered a blog post of mine that I recently edited, where a recycled paper flower adorned a birthday gift (also for my mom). I decided to replicate that bow idea for this gift (about 19 years later), but using paper of a roll of yellow gift wrap. It’s the Easter color after all.

I think it turned out rather sweet in it’s simplicity. And the sticker in the middle says:

I hope this package brightens your day!

How to make your own paper bow

To create your own paper bow all you do is cut strips from any fun, patterned paper, abot 5-8. Fold them in twice, so that the ends meet. Then staple them together in the middle. You can add as many strips as you like, alter with and length, play with folding them upwards to make the bow fuller. You might want to glue a button, bead or round sticker in the middle to hide the staples. Stick the bow to your gift using double sided tape or a rolled up piece of regular magic tape. Enjoy.

I am so glad I made this wee something today, and repurposed an idea documented on the blog so many years ago! A blog is truly a gift that keeps giving.

I’m wishing you a happy Easter my dear. I hope you are well. Here it’s been the rainiest Easter in years – which has made all the snow (that fell last night) melt away. Gloomy sky, but only feet bright yellow socks with a brown hen pattern. All is well.

I hope this blog post brightens your day.

You might also want to check out these from the Studio iHanna Shop

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and A paper bow that lifts your gift first appeared on iHannas Blog.

Read my answers on the blog, type out a comment to let me know you read me and say hi (I’d love to know where you’re at and what you like doing). Then feel free to answer these questions yourself if you feel inspired to do so.

Below you’ll find my responses to the Colbert Questionert* (*not a typo), because why not?

Get to know iHanna

Here we go…

1. Best sandwich? Ciabatta bread with Brie and salami, and some veggies as garnish (sallad, fresh cucumber and/or a slice of tomato), that I can slowly munch on while sitting alone in a cafe in town, people watching, reading a great book or with my journal. Bliss!
2. What’s one thing you own that you really should throw out? My attachment to memories and memorabilia of the past? Or perhaps plants that are obviously asking for active death help, not for me to spend weeks trying to save them!
3. What is the scariest animal? In Sweden most of our fauna is non poisonous and gentle, but as I love nature programs I know that there are many other species that I would not want to have close encounters with in the wild. I’m okay with most of them from a distance, but if I have any phobias at all it is bats. The way they fly low, look, hunt and see in the dark creeps me out! I can see the beauty in snakes and bugs, sure, but not bats.
4. Apples or oranges? From an environmental perspective I should go native and discard oranges since they can’t grow in our climate… but why choose when we can have it aaaaall? Mwaha-ha-ha. I love sliced fruits together in a bowl: aka fruit salad.
5. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph? Yes, but never musicians or band members, only authors (and one book illustrator). I’m a nerd like that. Notably: Marian Keyes, Michelle Magorian, Paul Auster to mention a few.
6. What do you think happens when we die? I think the body slowly rots if not burned, and that what we leave behind is most of the time: nothing, especially as we will fade from the memory of our loved ones in just one generation. Exceptions occur, so let’s all aim to write and publish moooore.
7. Favourite action movie? Die Hard, because: epic.
8. Favourite smell? Candles/fake smells: vanilla. IRL: freshly baked bread.
9. Least favourite smell? When it comes to fake smells I really back away from strong and/or old perfumes and hair spray, women and men smelling not clean but soaked and drenched (like what are they trying to disguise?). And when it comes to “natural” smells: really old sweat/body odour, and rotting food.
10. Exercise: worth it? I hear good things about it all the time. One of these years I’ll give it a try and get back to you on that. *wink*
11. Flat or sparkling? Sparkling if it’s flavoured, flat if it’s not.**
12. Most used app on your phone? The audio book app, Instagram and during this winter a game called “Township” where you fill train carts with things you grow or make in the factories you invest in. So time consuming, but I still enjoy it.
13. You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it? That’s a hard one, I have so many on so many different mood-lists. But maybe I’d go with “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” with (and by) Joan Jett & the Blackhearts from 1981. Great dance and clean-the-house song full of energy and feelings.
14. What number am I thinking of? 49.
15. Describe the rest of your life in 5 words? Art. Craft. Creativity. Love. Joy.

Back when I was doing a blog post a day for a while (NaBloPoMo), Elisabeth of The Optimistic Musings answered these questions (originally posed by Stephen Colbert to various celebrities) found on Stephany’s blog. I was then reminded of them as Alexandra posted answers to the same questionnaire, and I started writing my replies 1,5 years ago. I decided to answer them, just for fun & now I’m posting them as well, LOL. True story of the Cool Bloggers Club: what goes around, comes around!

** Definitely just blatantly stole Elisabeth’s answer to the question about sparkling drinks straight of, because that’s was the same answer for me. Can’t drink sparkling water, it’s weird!

Check out the original Colbert Questionert too.

Your turn. Feel free to answer all the questions. 

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and Get to know iHanna in 15 quick questions first appeared on iHannas Blog.

I love sewing and have created quite a few quilted pillows, pin cushions and table cloths over the years. But big quilts feels big to me and a bit intimidating, so I hesitate before I jump in. And then I grab my mom, because she’s a wonderful quilter with a big stash of tools, fabrics and helpful advice. Also, she is not that hard to talk into making “another quilt” along with me, her only daughter. We both enjoy crafting together, and have created everything from bags to bunnies and glue books through the years.

When I created my first “comfort quilt” 18 years ago, I made a pink one from fabrics in my mom’s stash. Mom made a similar one using her blue fabrics, because that is her color. I came up with the concept after a photo of a vintage quilt that I saw at someone’s blog, and we free cut strips and sewed them together randomly. This time, my concept wasn’t in the construction of the blocks but in the choice of fabrics. We picked only polka dot patterned fabrics!

I wasn’t sure she would have enough polka dot fabrics for two quilts, but she did. And oh my, we found plenty all stacked up together on the shelf. It was kismet.

But why would I replace my favorite lap quilt you might ask. Well, it was falling apart. I have used it almost every day for the past +15 years and some of the fabrics was sourced second-hand. Those fabrics were the first that started to split and fray. I kept mending it, but last year I just decided it was no longer serving its purpose of making me happy. It was still keeping me warm on the sofa, sure, but it was not looking like something I’d want to use. So I decided to make myself a new quilted blanket, and I’m calling it comfort quilt right now, because that is what it’s all about. Coziness and comfort in the warmth of a home-made patchwork quilt.

An abundance of polka dot fabrics

I picked all my favorite colors, to start with, but in the end I sorted out the turquoise and greens, and only went with warm colors. Pinks, oranges and reds, because I think that creates a united and calmer quilt. Although I think all these fabrics are stunning and you could create any number of different designs using them in different combinations.

Mom was on cutting duty while I was by the ironing board, to flatten all the folded fabrics before cutting them. That is how we collaborate, in an assembly line. Then when all is cut we each pick our pile and start designing our quilts. I created a temporary “design wall” over mom’s wall-hung fabric shelves so I could move my squares around before I started sewing them together. I moved mine around a lot, taking black and white phone photos to “see” how the darks and lights was distributed.

Mom tried my idea of a design wall as well, but didn’t need to move her squares around much at all. I think it was because she have a more practiced eye for what she wants. As I am more of a beginner still, I had to visually see my quilt before I knew what I wanted.

I really wanted to finish the quilt during the week, so we decided on doing mostly big squares. Faster to cut and quick(er) to sew together. But then, to mix it up, a few of the big squares are created by four smaller squares sewn together to the same size as the big ones:

I definitely have suggested to make a quilting design wall to my mom before, but she isn’t interested. To me it was really helpful though, and I doubt my quilt would have turned out as good if I hadn’t moved blocks around for so long. The idea of a design wall this time comes from Kate of The Last Homely House on YouTube. I love watching her and have watched her for many years by now. She is very much like me and does a little bit of everything and loves mixing up her crafting days. She’s into gardening, spinning, quilting, sewing, knitting and more. I recommend you to check her out if you haven’t already. Kate used to be a blogger before she got YouTube famous and back then we did a trade. I still have the little cat book she sent me.

Here I still had some green quilt blocks left on the wall, but later I removed those in favor of more warm ones. We ended up with so many extra blocks mom started a third quilt after she’d sewn her blue one together.

I will show our two finished quilts next week. Cheers my crafty friends.

* You might also enjoy taking a look at my first comfort quilt from 2008, that I mended quite a few times before I gave up on it and decided to make a new one, this my third ever quilt.

* The Brown Quilt – the second quilt I made was brown, and it’s still in great condition.
* More Quilting – all my blog posts tagged quilting

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and Time to sew: Replacing my comfort quilt first appeared on iHannas Blog.

Reacquaint yourself with your diary by spending time with it.

You could, like I’ve done here, spend time adding in washi tape and stickers, lettering and journaling, gluing in magazine images and snippets of articles that are relevant to the season you (and/or nature) are in. Just to give a few examples.

Another fun thing to add into your journal is a monthly intro-page at the start of the month, much like they do in fancy bullet journaling. A page or a spread that introduces the upcoming journaling/writing.

I recently got some new country life type magazines from my mom, and made intro-spreads first about February, and then about March:

Recently I also got a pack of new brush pens that I’ve enjoyed lettering with. This spread say just that “spend time with your diary” in Swedish, and then I listed a few ideas on how to do that:

When you feel a disconnect with your journal you might want to spend time with it adding in quotes, recent photos, doodles,writing about your day or about a movie you watched or a book you’re reading… Or adding in random stickers to prepare the pages for the week’s journaling session.

I am really enjoying stickering (using stickers) randomly on my pages right now. It is just such a delight to use so many at the moment, now that I have gotten some cheap ones. Stickering for the win!

* You might also like my previous blog posts about diary collages

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and Spend time with your diary first appeared on iHannas Blog.

They’re so small, these illustrations, and they were getting smashad already in the folder. And as you probably knew, I am mostly drawn to colorful images when I create – so why did I pull all of these out of the stamping magazines then? Well, they’re rather cool looking and I can not resist cool illustrations. So instead of tossing all of them into the bin, I decided to be more purposeful and use them deliberately straight away. New project idea born!

I created a little pile of the small illustrations and added them into a plastic envelope to keep them together. I also found a stack of cut up graph papers that I then cut in half and folded into tiny notebook pages. I did not bind them together, because even though I love everything about notebooks I also love working on loose papers. I will later make those papers into a small art journal (that is already filled). It’s the same process, but different enough that it feels like I am mixing it up, which is good for the creative mind.

A small project with big impact

A few days later I was tired and felt stressed out, so I decided to try my idea out. I brought watercolors, the folded graph papers and some very small magazine bits, including the stamp motif illustrations. I listened to an audio book, made one tiny page after another, drank coffee, and didn’t think about the world falling apart around me once. It was bliss.

I worked on each paper as it were four distinct pages, and tried to match the order so the following page would “fit in” with what surrounded it. I like this way of working, but you can absolutely ignore the order of your pages and be surprised by the combination of left and right page when you gather the folded signatures up and sew or staple them together. This way of working offers a freedom or expression that I (at times) appreciate and need.

It’s been quite a while since I worked on loose pages, and just writing about this idea now makes me long to make my own square smArt journal again. I named them sm-Art Journal because I was working on pages one at a time and re-ordering them as I pleased. Back then I waited until I had a stack big enough to become a journal, and then I used my big spiral binding tool to create the finished product. After I had created & decorated a cover I punched and bound the square pages together, and when the journal was bound it was also done – already filled and finished. I love this idea so much. But back to current day small project.

The thing about such small projects (that can, of course, grow to become huge expansive projects if you feel like it) is that they are instant happiness boosters. You get to finish several pages in a sitting, each one a little success, and it builds up until you feel very accomplished and joyful even though all you have done is to glue some papers together. The happiness boost is not promised, though. It only hits if you can let go of your shoulds and find that you are content in the moment. This is true for almost all creative and leisure activities though, but the more you practice the better at this you will get. If at once you don’t succeed, try and try again…

With this little stamp illustration booklet though, I did not have to work for days to finish it. The pages were so small that I finished all of these in one sitting, and I think I have enough to call it done already.

I have been (trying to) give myself this kind of joy for years, and even a little art journal like this one, now, will make me happy (or at least “happier than before”). Often this freeing kind of creativity also leads me into a feeling of flow. Flow is a state of mind where you forget about yourself and your problems at large, and you exist within the activity you’re doing right now. It comes when you’re at ease but concentrating, when you’re mastering what’s at hand but also making intuitive decisions. At least that’s what creative flow is to me.

Creating something “in flow” does not (at all) mean that what comes out is a masterpiece, or even something you’ll always love or want to hang on the proverbial wall, I think. But the fact that there was joy within you when you created does mean something. In fact, I feel that this joy is worth taking note of.

As someone who often cries, falls into depression, or feels overwhelmed, I know that this is important, this creative work that I am doing. Maybe not change-the-world important, but still important to me. Maybe even a wee bit important to my friends and family who cares about me. Because I know that this is what is keeping me alive, sometimes the only thing. And I feel like we all need to put more worth on this kind of creative “work”. The work we do for ourselves to stay alive, to find energy, to exist.

Hobbies are not frivolous or unimportant, and that shouldn’t be saved for “another day”. This “work” can not be pushed to the bottom of the to do-list, because if we don’t get to this work we might never get to the dishes, to the laundry, to the family dinners.

To me it feels just as important to do creative work as eating and sleeping. Without my creative work I am reduced to being that sad cry-baby person. I feel myself slipping away from myself when I don’t prioritize a bit of creativity in my days.

I think we all need to understand this better, and give all of us room to explore whatever it is that makes us human (maybe it’s about prioritizing what society calls leisure activities).

Who are we when we give ourselves permission to feel joy, to find joy, to create our own little sliver of happiness? Especially now.

Especially as the mantra of conforming productivity increases, when inhumane hours on the clock and streamlined workflows are norm (or the fear of being unemployed is near). This is when the rebellious act of taking time for ourselves is an even greater joy. Let’s do it. Let’s create joy.

Project details: The size of my journal pages is 13 x 8,3 cm (5,11 x 3.26 inches), which folded in half creates a tiny page that is 6,5 cm in width and 8,3 high (2,5 x 3,2 inches). Folded, this notebook fits inside my palm.

I feel like this project is about nothing special – but also a lot about carpe diem and joyfilled moments of creativity. To me it’s been all about finding some flow, serendipity and collage joy. Tiny turned huge, in many different ways.

Continued from here: The rebellious act of being creative

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and A Tiny Art Journal Project just for fun first appeared on iHannas Blog.

A bit of a restart or refresh doesn’t always help in the long run, but in the moment it offers a kind of relief that I crave. Starting something new is also a much needed distraction from my own thoughts I guess. I am not sure you know how this feels, but maybe that matters less to you than it does to me. And on the whole, what I wanted to share today grew out of a very small notebook project that I started on one of those days (of which I have had many in the past months).

The act of starting it almost felt rebellious, and my hope is that by me sharing my thoughts and the fact that I resisted my own “I shouldn’t right now” idea, you’ll also feel the rebellious tug in your stomach and follow it without shaming yourself. That you will be able to ease into your own creative longings. This is when you know you shouldn’t, and you absolutely know that you don’t have the time right now, but you want to, right? All you really want is to sit for two hours and do nothing but fill a new little notebook with color, collage, doodles or thoughts (or whatever it is you long to do).

Can we allow it? This frivolous act of self-indulgence? Yes, yes we can.

This is my pep talk of the day

You are allowed to do “this” (creative thing) for yourself! You probably already know it will help you feel calmer and less stressed in the moment, so let yourself embrace that tug. Be in the moment, ignore the musts. Maybe it’s not a tiny notebook project for you, but casting on a new knitting project or sitting down to sort through some of your materials. Whatever it is you want to do but don’t allow yourself to do (because there’s always so many other things you need to put away/fix/attend to/arrange/finish that you’re always exhausted). Life is full of these must-dos, and often we tell ourselves that we will do them first, right?

I don’t know your situation, but I know we as creative women have a lot on our plate and on our mind, all the time. Too much to ever be “done”. I get that, but your well-being is also important. Very important. So please, take a break from your musts and do a few wants for a while today, this weekend, soon. Be in the moment. You are worthy, you are allowed to take breaks from your tasks (and your racing mind and the shit-show that is the world right now) and to break up your schedule with some creative play.

Anyway, what did I do during my own much needed creative break from life? I made up a small, ephemeral, absolutely meaningless project that I loved creating. A project that had me thinking all these thoughts about my own (and our collective) need of down-time, me-time, time for our creativity – what ever you want to call it. I was thinking about how we too often ignore our need to slow down, sit still, and find a bit of flow. To scroll less and let our minds wander. There’s a sneak peak above of the tiny notebook I made, but I’ll show you more soon.

PS: the Studio iHanna Shop is up and running again after some downtime due to a need for a php update & intense spam attacks. Check it out:

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and The rebellious act of being creative first appeared on iHannas Blog.

A big heart filled with colors. It is my way of adding myself & my heart into my new art journal.

A heart is such a beautiful symbol of all that really matters in the end. Love. Compassion. Kindness. Friendship. Generosity. Because love comes in many different forms. This blog for example. It is filled with love atoms that I formulate and finesse as best I can, and then send out into the ether. To my bosom friends. To my family. To like-minded dreamers. To creatives everywhere. To you.

It’s filled with my big heart. And little painted hearts, and doodled hearts.

With color explosion and explorations.

And rainbows.

With my previous two spreads I’m moving along swellingly in the new Art Journal. Traveling on the road of my renewed art journal practice. How is yours going?

Happy Valentine’s!

Art Journal Prompt #6: Rainbow of Hearts â€“ paint a big heart on your page, a rainbow of hearts or a heart filled with rainbows. When love is on our side we know we can go far and beyond even on our own.

— prompt from the list 50 art journal ideas

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The post is written by Hanna Andersson and Art journal prompt: Add your Big Heart to the page first appeared on iHannas Blog.