Guest Host NIKKI

Hello everyone! My name is Nikki Zimmer and I live in the beautiful and warm state of South Carolina...Greenwood to be exact. However, I was born and raised in Muskego, a suburb of Milwaukee, WI.

TWO PLACES YOU GET JOURNALING INSPIRATION FROM
I find that there is inspiration everywhere! Whether it's tv, (yes, I love the dirty jobs logo, so that gave me some inspiration once) a magazine, walking down the street, a photo...you name it, I use anything as inspiration.

WHAT YOU FIND TOUGHEST TO JOURNAL ABOUT
When I first started art journaling I found it very hard to actually write down difficult personal feelings. Oh it was easy to do the fun feelings but the hurt was hard to put on paper. Now, a few years later, it doesn't bother me at all...I actually find it to be great therapy! LOL!

WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT (journal/techniques, etc.)
I'd love to learn more about masking...I try all kinds of different techniques, but this is one I just haven't seemed to master.

ARE YOU PUBLISHED? HAVE OTHER BRAGS?
I was just recently featured in the winter edition of Art Journaling by Stampington. I haven't been art journaling that long and to have my first submissions accepted and then featured on top of it made my day! I have also been published and featured in Somerset Memories. Scrapbooking is a passion of mine and it's so cool to see my pages in a magazine I so admire!

YOUR WEB SITE OR BLOG
Studio 13 Designs - http://nikkiz-nikki.blogspot.com/

A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF
I have a wonderful husband, Jeff, we've been married for 20 years and I'm a mom to my son AJ, 15, who is growing up way to fast. I feel like he was just 2 yesterday. Both of them are a huge inspiration to me when it comes to my art. They are also both very supportive of it and are my biggest cheerleaders. They even built me a beautiful art studio! I am a huge sports fanatic, with my Green Bay Packers being at the top of the list! I also love to play all sports, but have given in to playing only golf now...it's a little easier on the bones, muscles and joints...LOL! I work full time in advertising and travel quite a bit. And though it's hard to be away from my boys, I find that absence makes the heart grow fonder as the old saying goes. I also love to read...I've always got a book going that I can grab and get a few minutes of "me" time.

THREE UNKNOWN THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF
I don't know that it is unknown because I have scrapped and journaled about it...but I love tattoos. I have 4 now and though most people wouldn't see me as a tattoo kind of girl, I just love them! I think of them as art as well and hope to get another one soon! Another unknown thing about me is even though I come across as a girly girl...love my clothes, shoes, purses, etc., I am very much one of the guys at heart...playing all out in sports...I was an all conference player in both softball and basketball. I also love classic cars...my hubby has one and my dad was always in the auto industry and he has a classic car as well...so I've learned a lot over the years and I can talk cars with anyone!

WHAT YOU HOPE TO GET FROM A YEAR IN THE LIFE
I know I'll get lots of inspiration from A Year in the Life along with learning some new techniques and just seeing the way others interpret their thoughts and feelings to paper.

WHAT YOU HOPE TO GIVE TO A YEAR IN THE LIFE
I hope to inspire others with my art, sometimes it's raw, sometimes it's silly, sometimes it's just "normal", if normal is a word that can be related to art journaling...but I hope others will be inspired by my work. I hope to share new ideas, techniques and an all around sense of "just create" what comes to mind.

ONE THING YOU WISH YOU HAD LISTENED TO THAT WOULD HAVE GOTTEN YOU STARTED IN JOURNALING SOONER.
I wish I would not have been afraid to put the "not so nice things that happen in life" down on paper. I think that kept me from art journaling because I didn't want people to know I was feeling down or had some crappy stuff happening in my life. Now I see it as a release from those things...it has made me feel free and has helped me to forgive.

WHAT WILL I USE FOR MY ART JOURNAL THIS YEAR?
Normally I pick a book, or a set of cards the same size to journal with. But this year I'm going to be different...I'm not sticking to any one size...I'm going to make a hodge podge of different size pages, cards, ephemera, etc. Whatever I see that strikes my fancy for each particular prompt will be how my journal goes together. Which will be fun because at the end of the year I'll have a project to put it all into one somehow! I can't wait!