So you remember in elementary school when a group of kids was playing Capture the Flag and you really wanted to join but you were too shy to ask and you didn’t know who started it all and you felt totally left out and it made you whiny?

That’s how I felt when I started seeing the posts for A Tour Through Blogland pop up.

Bloggers were all “We’re so awesome!” and I was all “Pick me! Pick me!”

And then, out of nowhere, I was picked!

THANK YOU, Hailey from Here nor There, for inviting me to join in on the fun, calming my playground insecurities, and introducing me to your awesome blog!

Here we go, guys, I’m answering the four questions for A Tour Through Blogland:

What are you working on right now?

What am I not working on right now?! Seriously, I am starting a petition to change the term “blogging” to “doing too many things at once for an audience of thousands.”

My current to-do list:

• this post (obvs.)
• a super easy, super cute DIY for Thursday
• hanging art in the living room
• phone call later today to hopefully negotiate a sponsored post (EEP! cross your fingers for me!!)
• planning fall and holiday DIYs
• my top-secret living room DIY which is driving me crazy because of unexpected technical difficulties (and is the last reason I’m STILL not finished with this room! argh!)
• photo editing, photo editing, photo editing
• furniture refinishing, furniture refinishing, furniture refinishing

But I’m not complaining, I LOVE this list. This blog is my creative outlet—and it saved my brain from an art and inspiration-free void (more on that later). I do something different every day and adore every minute of it.

Excepting, of course, agonizingly endless projects like painting the living room over and over…

How does your work differ from others in your genre?

…It doesn’t really? This is a tough question as I’m STILL trying to nail down my “niche.” There are a million DIY blogs that also post recipes and project roundups and playlists and so on. It’s a saturated market!

(Which, let’s be honest, is awesome, because I want to dive into a sea of DIY blogs and just keep swimming around until I’ve seen/made/fawned over ALL THE DIY.)

That said, I like to think that Jade and Fern stands out just a smidge through my fresh take on trends, my unique voice, and by just making whatever the bleep I feel like. I work hard to create projects that haven’t been done before, like my copper wire abstract art. And if I am taking on a popular subject or technique, I try to do it with a twist, like the embroidered gemstone ornaments and Mondrineon tote bag.

(::cough cough:: OPTIMISTIC SELF-FLATTERY)

How does your writing/creative process work?

Wait, there’s a process for these things?

(Potential sponsors, please don’t read this part.)

Although I try soooo hard to be organized and plan ahead, I’m incurably one of those people who thrives on the adrenaline of a looming deadline snapping at my heels. I wrote this entire post this morning. Yikes.

I’d like to get more done ahead of time, as it would help me keep publishing content in weeks when my migraines are particularly relentless, but those same migraines unfortunately keep me in a state of perpetual catching-up. So frustrating! But they also keep me working hard and living fully on days when I am well, so, you know, it’s all meant to be or something.

As to how it all comes together, it’s a combination of intentional effort and “divine inspiration.” Creativity is a temperamental beast that rarely allows itself to be forced into anything. At the same time, the more you practice being creative, the easier it becomes.

Basically, I work my ass off while completely winging it. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it, amirite?

Here’s me, crouched under my tripod to shoot an upcoming tutorial. 

Why do you write/create what you do?

Because creativity, once accessed, is an insatiable hunger that demands constant and ever-varying feedings.

Because creating in any form helps us to recapture that wonder and joy we felt as kids.

Because in the years between graduating college and starting this blog in March of 2013, I was so overcome by chronic migraines that I felt like I was drowning, and starting to create again pulled me up back among the living.

Because I have to, or else I would burst.

Because there’s nothing quite as pride-inducing as being able to say, “I made that.”

Holy cow, that was crazy cheesy. Excuse me while I clean up these pools of schmalz.

………………………………………….

And that concludes the tour!

Thanks for giving me (another) chance to share some more about my wacky self. I know I always love learning more about the bloggers I follow, so hopefully some of you feel the same. And if not, you can just ignore this post and click through to the DIYs. 

Now it’s my turn to pass the torch—I nominate Jeran of Oleander and Palm! I love this lady and her gorgeous DIYs. Be sure to check out her Tour Through Blogland post next week!

And if you’re interested, here are some delightful Tours that I enjoyed:

Amy of Homey oh My

Emily of Go Haus Go

Francesca of Fall for DIY

and of course, Hailey from Here nor There