Artscape is this Weekend!!! Sneak Peek

The three day fun that is Artscape is happening this weekend in Baltimore and I'll be there with the talented ladies of BEST!! Here's a sneak peak at what I'll be bringing:



Even though the temps will be hot hot hot, I'll still be debuting some new additions to the "Lovin Knit" Series. It's never to early to start your X-mas shopping!



There will be lots of clouds but only a little bit of rain (fingers crossed)!



There will even be a new "Out on a Limb" necklace featuring dogwood blossoms!



I'm bringing lots more, but you'll have to come see it for yourself! Mention my blog and receive 20% off your purchase exclusively at Artscape!!

Today's Daily Dose of Inspiration - Rain on the Raintree

Be Inspired to Remove the Color

If you're like me, color effects you in a strong way. I am easily distracted by color and can sometimes miss interesting features because I'm so consumed with the emotions and senses that color stirs in me. That's one reason I like taking photos. I take photos of things that appear interesting and then purposely review them later that day or the next. I often find things that I wouldn't have seen while just standing there and looking at my subject. Photos are also great because you can manipulate them to create even more interest and inspiration. Sometimes I like to remove the distraction of color by making the photo black and white or sepia. The absence of color allows my brain to better process the actual form of my subject. Which is really helpful when I'm trying to come up with a line drawing of a design for my jewelry.



So give it a try and remove the color from some of your photos and see if you too become less distracted by the color and more able to focus on the details of the subject.

Be Inspired to Look at all the Angles continued

I was going through some old photos and found a series that I thought illustrated yesterday's point pretty well. The photos are of a section of sidewalk with a dirty plastic "traction pad" on them. Here's how it looks when just looking down on the pad:

Not all that interesting, but change the angle, closeness and perspective and here's what you get:














































































Much more interesting in my opinion. Have a series of photos that further illustrates my point? Link to it in the comments and I'll post them with your permission.

Be Inspired to Look at all the Angles

I'll be posting short posts for the next 2 weeks as I have to prepare for Artscape coming up on the 16th and still fill orders and entertain the boys. I'll do my best to at least get some Daily Inspiration shots up when I don't have time to write anything. I've also been suffering from daily internet service outages over the last week which I hope will be resolved when my provider comes out this weekend.

We are in the middle of a heat wave right now, so I've been kinda stuck in the house. 100+ degrees is not fun! So while trying to find something interesting to photograph, I turned to the newest member of our tiny succulent (the only thing I can keep alive) garden. Kyle picked a rather dramatic cactus the other day on a trip to Home Depot to get stone for our back yard.

While taking pictures, I decided to focus on capturing the cactus from all possible angles. By doing this, different shapes emerged which inspired different ideas. In past posts I've focused on looking at things from a specific perspective or angle, but It's also great to check out all the angles. You never no what you'd miss by limiting how you look at things. So get down on the ground, climb up on something, get up close, move far away or tilt your subject in different ways and see what it inspires.

Today's Daily Dose of Inspiration

Today's Daily Dose of Inspiration

I'm working on a Pile of Craft wrap-up post, so until it's finished enjoy this: