Be Inspired by Winter

Well we finally got some snow last week and it was really nice to feel like winter for a while. Just a couple weeks prior, it was 70 degrees and I was fighting with the boys about wearing coats. The snow didn't last long because it quickly turned to rain and became a slushy mess, but for about 5 hours we had a beautiful snowstorm and about 5 inches of snow to play in. While walking and playing in the snowstorm, I made special note to look out for inspiring sites. The beautiful way the bare trees look covered in snow. Their branches really stood out to me against all the white. The red holy berries covered in a blanket of snow. The birds hunkered down on the electrical wires huddled together and also covered in snow. The mass of snowflakes falling all around. The foot prints we all made in the snow. The different sizes and shapes of the icicles. Inspirations was everywhere. Even though the snow storm didn't last, it left a lasting impression on me and I decided to create a treasury list in it's memory in hopes of inspiring others who may not have experienced "winter" in their neck of the woods.

The look of the stark winter trees has inspired some of my recent pieces too. I created a basic winter tree design and called it "Hibernation" and "Winter's Sleep". The names came from me thinking of the trees as sleeping through the winter. The series includes earrings, cufflinks, a pendant and a magnet set.





















I think a lot of us are guilty of not paying attention to the season we are in (at least those of us who still have seasons). In winter we are always longing for spring and summer. In summer we can't wait for the fall cool down and in Fall we look forward to snow and winter. We should probably take a little time to enjoy the season we are in and what it has to offer instead of always looking ahead and wishing for something else. Take a little time this week to appreciate winter, or whatever season you are currently in. Celebrate it's unique qualities. Think about both what you love about it and what you don't like about it. Make note of the foliage and clothing changes. (I know I can't wait till the first day that I have to wear my winter coat and gloves.) Think about the activities that you do in that season. I will be thinking about winter today and hoping for the snow that is forecast for this afternoon.















If it snows where you are, make sure to take some time to catch a snowflake on your tongue, catch a few in your glove to see what they look like before they melt, have a snowball fight, make a snowman or a snow sculpture, lay down and make a snow angel and snap a few pics of winter, so that they can inspire you during any season!

Inspired by a Thesaurus?

One of my New year's resolutions was to blog more consistently and I was so proud to get 2 posts in early last week and thought I was well on track to meet my goal.... then my dh got in a car accident and flipped his truck 3 times. Thankfully he is OK, but the truck is totaled. I have been spending much of my time taking care of him, so my computer time has very much been reduced, but I'm back until the next disaster strikes (feverishly knocks on wood).


I have to start working on my entry for the PCAGOE February "Love" Challenge, so that coupled with almost losing my dh last week has had me thinking and brainstorming about love. I already created some fun things for Valentines Day, so I may incorporate my XOXO design in my piece. I have something in mind, but will I have the time to get it done?

A fellow PCAGOE member, pollyhyper, turned me on to a fun site, Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus that can help you brainstorm visually with words. Just type in a word and the thesaurus will give you some related words that can really help inspire some ideas. Love is a pretty broad word and can be used in several ways and can inspire any number of ideas, but if you are like me, you get too many ideas all at once and need some help narrowing it down. I found the visual "spiderweb" helpful in getting me to narrow my focus. Here is what you get when you when you type in "Love"
Click one of the red dots and you will get a whole new chart. Here is what I got when I selected emotion:

From this chart, the word heartstrings caught my eye and made me think of the phrase "pulling at my heartstrings" and now I have a visual in my head of something I would like to create. I don't know if it I will enter it into the challenge, but either way, this little exercise has helped inspire me to create, which is what I hope it does for you too! So take a little time this week to explore the online thesaurus and see what words inspire you. Create something inspired by the words you choose or find a way to actually incorporate them into your art.

Here are some items I found on Etsy that use words (just click on the picture to be taken to the artists site). I wonder if they used a thesaurus to pick them? A dictionary? Well, no matter where they got their inspiration, their use of words have inspired me:

























PS : My new XOXO rings (sort of a word, right?) are featured on Cuteable today. Stop by and leave a comment! This design will also be coming soon to the shop as magnets, cufflinks, hair pins and pendants. So check back often!

Through My Eyes - Art Supplies

Well with the passing holiday season and a little artist in house, we have a lot of new fun art supplies and have created some fun new art. I thought I would share some inspiring pics I took of our new goodies. I recommend taking a little field trip around your studio (or your kids' like I did). Look at your supplies less as supplies and more as inspiration. Take in the colors, the shapes, the patterns and textures. Take a few pics like I did and see if inspiration strikes. I already have a few ideas from the ones I took.













































The handmade crayons are by bluebeargifts.etsy.com and they are very well made and perfect for little hands. The red and green acrylic rods are from Polymerclayproductions.com. Not only do they work great, but they look good too!

Be Inspired by a New Year's Resolution

I'm finally back from a short holiday hiatus. I had planned on taking the week off between Christmas and New Year's, but my whole family got sick, so I had to move it back a bit. Being a nurse is definitely not a vacation. So I took a few more days in January, but now I am back and ready to get inspired!

It's that time of year again, when we all look back and think about what we would like to change for the new year. The New Year's resolution has become quite cliched and most people don't even make it through the first month of the year. This year do things a little differently. This year use your New Year's resolutions as inspiration. You may not be able to keep them, but you can make art that will represent the changes you would like to make and perhaps it can be a reminder to help keep you on track to actually reach your resolution goal.


The PCAGOE is finishing up it's January monthly challenge and the theme was New Year's Resolutions. Each member did what I suggested everyone do above by turning their resolution into art. You can vote for your favorite at http://pcagoe.com. I really recommend clicking on the links at the bottom of the post to read the actual resolutions and explanations behind each piece. They really make you think and bring a whole new meaning to each piece. You know I love to know the inspiration and background of art pieces. To me it is like looking into the mind of the artist.

One of my resolutions was to play a little more and take things a little less seriously. It is great to work hard, but you should also make time to play hard. I always love the pure joy my kids feel doing a simple thing like blowing bubbles and this year I plan to capture a bit of that joy for myself! This pendant is what I created from my resolution. The circles obviously represent the bubbles and are a reminder to see the joy in life.



Take a little time this week to turn your New year's resolution into something tangible. Use it as a reminder to keep your resolution, or use it to inspire others. Think about why you chose that resolution and think about change and progression (the things behind the idea of a resolution). Think about the things you will need to do to fulfill your resolution and perhaps what might happen if you don't. All of these things can be great inspiration for creating. So dig deep, make a resolution, make a change and make art! I'm off to go blow some bubbles!

Inspired by Sweet Contradiction - Artist feature with Eggman Studios

Eggmanstudios.etsy.com was one of the first shops that I noticed when I found Etsy. She had some fun and extremely well made polymer clay jewelry and her photos were always clear and crisp. The overall feel of the shop was quite inspiring for someone who was new to selling and Etsy. As her shopped evolved, she started adding her paintings which only added to the fun in her shop. The paintings are very thoughtful and bright and at times odd (but in a fabulous way!). So here is a little interview with Michelle as she details the inspiration behind one of her paintings.

What inspired this piece?
--I have a serious fascination with the ocean and its strange inhabitants, especially all those weird critters that live in the far depths. I just think it's incredible how nature can adapt to changes (such as the lack of skin pigment in fish & invertebrates, or bioluminescent lures attached to fish foreheads to attract prey in the dark). A lot of my work is therefore deeply inspired by the ocean and nature in general. I love to take a creature that's often looked at as being odd or ugly and throwing it in a contradictory and sweet environment. My goal in each completed painting is to have a piece that is both lovely and darling...but also a tad strange or slightly bizarre.














Can you detail how you translated your inspiration into your work of art?
--I always paint in acrylic and usually work on a hardboard surface and the nautilus piece is no different. I'll plan out the design in quickie doodles, then slightly more elaborate sketches on large sheets of tracing paper, and then finally transfer the line drawing to my surface. But 80% of the time, I end up making large shifts and changes in the piece when I start painting. I'll realize that the colors I originally chose don't look quite right, or there needs to be more detail in the background, etc. That's the fun part though--hitting those temporary snags and figuring out a way to make everything *perfect*. Most of my work is also quite small--8x10" being a typically large piece for me. I love to create miniature works of art that bring you in close and that you can connect with.














Where do you tend to find inspiration for your art pieces?
--I *love* watching nature documentaries. Planet Earth series? Yeah--I'm one of those nerds that bought the dvd boxed set the second it came out. I’ve seen it a dozen times now. I’m also a big film buff and have my staples and fave directors I always turn to when in need of a creative burst (Wes Anderson and Tim Burton are the top two). And, oddly enough, I get hugely inspired by fashion and interior design magazines. They always send my creative brain into frenzy-mode.

Any advice for someone feeling uninspired?
--Definitely keep a sketchbook/notebook handy at all times to jot things down. Most of my sketchbooks have very few sketches in them--just lots and lots of random phrases, titles, and ideas that pop into my brain at odd hours of the day. And if you haven't already done so, grab a bulletin board from the craft store (one of those big ones!) and fill it with inspiring images, clippings, and textures. Just cram that thing full! And then hang it where you'll walk past it every day. It never fails to bring inspiration and creative thoughts on even the most uninspiring days.

You can check out more of Michelle's work on her blog, her Etsy shop and her trunkt portfolio!












































So take a little inspiration from Michelle and her work and add a little whimsy and contradiction to your work. Mix-it up a little and see what happens!

Be Inspired by Non-traditional Holiday Colors

Here's another treasury I made a week or so ago using non-traditional holiday colors. I just loved all the pinks, turquoise and greens used for the ornaments. Don't get me wrong, I love the traditional holiday greens, reds, whites and golds, but I think it is fun to add a little whimsy and fun with some of the brighter colors. The list inspired me, so I bought a little white tinsel tree this year, and I am going to cover it with brightly colored ornaments. The list also inspired me to make a few ornaments of my own. I had been wanting to make some retro inspired ornaments for a while and had sketched out some ideas a couple of months ago. I had in my mind the many illustrated retro ornaments you see in catalogs, advertisements and holiday cards. I just loved the funky feel of the ornaments and I wanted to recreate that look. I also wanted to keep the illustrated feel to them, so while drawing them on the block I wasn't too careful that they were exactly symmetrical and some of the curves were more pronounced than others. When it came to painting them, I thought of the funky color palette of my treasury list and new just what colors I wanted to use. I tried to distress them in a way that again was reminiscent of an illustration and I left the sides and back white to represent the paper that the ornaments would be illustrated on. I love the way they turned out. Just the right amount of bright and funky while still being festive.




I had my first indie craft show over the weekend. (Shout out to Craft Mutiny for putting on a fantastic show!!) There was a little girl who kept coming back to my table and admiring the ornaments. She even brought me some magic reindeer food to help Santa find my house. So the next time she came by I asked her if she liked the ornaments and then which one she liked best. She picked the short fat one and I told her she could have it. She just lit up and was thrilled. It was definitely the best moment of the day. Don't get me wrong, I like being able to make money with the things I make, but having someone really love and cherish one of them is a gift more precious than gold (or greenbacks). I might eventually forget the details of the show, but I am sure that I will remember the look on her face as she left my table!

So this week, be inspired to make a holiday project and use some non-traditional colors and maybe some retro-inspired imagery, and then give it to someone you love or to someone who has done something wonderful for you this year. Let's all do our part to spread some good handmade Karma! Happy holidays!

Craft Mutiny Holiday Booty Market

Come and see me at the Craft Mutiny Holiday Booty Market on Saturday in DC! Click the picture for more info



When I showed my kids the postcard for the show, and they heard it was the Holiday Booty Market, there were lots of giggles and my little one asks me in all seriousness "Are you going to sell your booty there?" I can honestly say I never thought I would hear those words. Somewhere along the line the kids were told that girls have booties and boys have butts (sounds like something Dad might say?), so he was very amused at the thought of me selling my booty. Thankfully Trey explained the correct meaning while laughing the whole time. So Thanks Craft Mutiny for the great show and for making my kids almost bust a gut laughing. If you are in the DC Metro area, please stop by and say hello. I would love to meet you!