Get to know the Design Team - Geraldine

I have the lovely Geraldine on the blog today who is kicking off the series this month of 'Getting to know the Design Team'.




Hi! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to be a part of this wonderful team and to be contributing each month to the blog. Okay, I guess I should properly introduce myself and how I got into the creative planning and journaling world. You may want to grab a cuppa first! Ever since I can remember, I have loved creating through the medium of pen and paper. I used to copy into really small notebooks stories and draw corresponding pictures, then give them to the one person who encouraged me...my headmistress at primary school. Around that time our family moved so I changed schools and I stopped writing in those small notebooks. Instead I wrote to penpals...lots of them! Goodness knows how much my poor dad paid to post all those letters which were covered in stickers too! The looks he must have got! I also also started to keep diaries, journals and scrapbooks. This is my first ever diary from 1987...

  

So, from quite a young age I have had a creative flair, passion for writing, art, and been something of a stationery addict. However, I never studied art because I didn't actually see myself as an artist at the time. It took a while to discover this hidden artist in me. When I met my now husband, we married at a young age and had children so the only creative outlet I had was embroidery. I knew how to do it, there was little supplies needed and therefore didn't take up much room. As the children grew older, I had the opportunity to go back to work but nothing appealed to me. So, in the meantime, I joined a couple of online art journaling groups and allowed myself to get creative using mixed media. I loved it! I finally discovered the inner artist! This is my first art journal, a Moleskine diary...

 

 I then moved into a Dylusions art journal...

  

The art supplies grew, as did the space I'd need. At the same time I took up sewing and collecting vintage fabrics. Not wanting to go into secular work with terrible hours which would leave little time for family life, I felt bit lost career wise. I started to read books on pursuing your desires and making your dreams a reality. It was then I made the decision that I would not settle for a mediocre life but chase after my passions. I knew what that entailed so I had to get myself a planner...see where this is going?

I think it was Pinterest's fault that got me into creative planning. I'd seen all the beautifully decorated planners and knew I had to apply my own creative flair to my planner, a flouro pink original Filofax. I also joined a planner group on Facebook. I was fortunate to find a wonderful group of ladies.

My first planners and a cover which I made myself...

 

With a plan drawn up, myself in a full creative flow, I set up my new blog, Etsy shop and social media accounts. The rest, as they say, is history! And so here I am. I'm on course pursuing my dreams and in the process I find myself immersed in this amazing community of people, which is more than I could have hope for. It's a community of like-minded people who inspire and encourage one another, mostly to spend more money on planner related goods, lol!

Examples of my creative planning

So thank you Anna for having me in your team and wonderful blog. I look forward to what the future holds!


Blog: geraldinejayne.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/geraldinejayneblog
Instagram: geraldinejayne
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrElyA2nvBOSMI1APySWmFw
Twitter: Geraldine_Jayne
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/geraldinejayne/