Today's Daily Dose of Inspiration

The roses decided to go out with a bang. The weathers finally getting colder and these will probably be the last of the roses til next year. They were so big and lovely that I thought they deserved their own post.

Inspiration Revealed + Black Friday Blog Sale

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was extra special as it was also Kyle's 8th birthday. We had a great day of family, food and fun and I'm hoping you all did too.

I was inspired to create a treasury from one of this week's Daily Inspiration photos:



























Just click the photo to be taken to the treasury and to the items featured! Please click & comment if you like the treasury! If the photo inspires you too, please create your own treasury and leave a link in the comments. I'll be sure to add it to the post!

I'm also having Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale through midnight Monday EST a offering 10% off and free worldwide shipping. Just use code BFBLOG2010 at checkout and the discount will automatically be calculated! (Yah! Etsy for getting coupon codes working before the holidays!)

Don't forget:
**Check out the RikRakStudio Blog as she's having a HUGE handmade giveaway. You can win one of my "Smitten" necklaces too!

Today's Daily Dose of Inspiration

Be Inspired to Doodle

My almost 8 year old (in 2 days) loves to draw so we often sit down for Mother/Son "doodling" sessions. Sometimes we both draw and other times he tells me what to draw. Often times we end up with a page of random things that have no real relation to each other. I love those because they give me a little snapshot of what he's thinking about on that day. I've been dating and collecting them and hope to make a small book for him in a few years. It might be a sweet gift to give him when he leaves for college.



These doodles also inspired a recent project. Etsy announced a new @Etsy Twitter feature. Each month the @Etsy Twitter profile will be re-designed by an emerging, new artist and the design will be made available as a free wallpaper download on your mobile device. I was feeling a bit uninspired when I saw the blog post about the Artist Series, but I wanted to put in an entry. I sat down with some paper and a pen and started thinking about what I think of when I think of Etsy. The first thing I drew was a log and as soon as I finished drawing it, I was reminded of our Mother/son doodle pages and I started drawing random Etsy "trends" that I've noticed over the last 4 years. You know, foxes, birds, skulls, hedgehogs,diamonds, mix tapes and of course a mustache. I also added some crafting items like a ball of yarn, spool of thread, pencil and paintbrush to cover the handmade aspect that makes Etsy unique. Lastly to tie it all together I added the Etsy name (as it's required) and stars and hearts which represent the excitement and love most people feel when the "find" Etsy.



Since they may not choose my doodles for the series, I thought I'd at least share it and it's inspiration with you. Take a little time this week to doodle. Make a page of random items that are in your head. Even better doodle with a partner (sorry that sounds all kinds of wrong). Have them dictate to you what you should draw. It'll give you a little insight into what they're thinking about and you can just draw without having to worry about the inspiration. You may find that you have lots of inspiration after you see your completed doodles.

**Check out the RikRakStudio Blog as she's having a HUGE handmade giveaway. You can win one of my "Smitten" necklaces too!

Today's Daily Dose of Inspiration

Today's Daily Dose of Inspiration

Today's Daily Dose of Inspiration

Through My Eyes - Rain Tree Pods

We have several Golden Raintree Tree's around our house and this time of year we have tons of dried brown pods everywhere. Here's a visual glimpse of pods through my eyes and how they inspire me.

Daily Dose of Inspiration

Today's Daily Dose of Inspiration

Today's Daily Dose of Inspiration

I hope you are inspired to exercise your right to vote today!

Halloween Wrap -Up

I planned to get this up on yesterday, but I never got around to it. We did our best to include some handmade touches to our Halloween celebration. Here's a slide show of the mini mural Kyle & I painted for our front door. Obviously inspired by the movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

Here are the boys in their costumes. Kyle is the ghost rider who opted for face painting by Mom rather than a mask. Trey is a zombie with mud and blood spattered clothing by Mom.



Our pumpkins:

Keeping with the Jack Skellington Theme



Although in this photo he looks a bit like a Sleestack(sp?)from Land of the Lost! Unfortunately, somebody liked him so much that they stole him right off of our steps.

For the die hard football fans in my house:



Halloween cupcakes for the school parties:





Not a totally handmade Halloween, but a fun one nonetheless.