I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about creativity after my last post. I’ve also been spending time with some good books and I thought I’d share them with you. (all links go to amazon.com)

Jenny Doh’s Signature Styles: Some of my favorite artists are in here, [...]]]>

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about creativity after my last post. I’ve also been spending time with some good books and I thought I’d share them with you. (all links go to amazon.com)

Jenny Doh’s Signature Styles: Some of my favorite artists are in here, as well as a few I’ve never heard of before. It doesn’t focus on their work as much as their own personal style. Although, they’ve each shared a pattern, too. I love reading about what inspires these women.

The Shutter Sisters’ Expressive Photography: I had to get this one via Interlibrary Loan and it was worth the wait. I like how each topic, whether it be portraits or nature, is broken down the same way: approach, perspective, composition, lighting, details and processing. I need to spend more time behind my camera lens.

Rashida Coleman-Hale’s Zakka Style: I’m a huge fan of linen and love pretty much anything zakka. This book contains patterns from 24 different artists. I don’t know if I’ll actually make any of them. I keep flipping through it like it’s a picture book. Coleman-Hale just happens to be featured in Signature Styles.

That’s what I’m reading these days. What about you? Share in the comments and have creative day!

It started with browser bookmarks. I had a folder called inspiration that contained my favorite websites. Then RSS feeds came and I moved all of those bookmarks over for faster, easier access. Flickr was next; I searched and [...]]]> I’ve been thinking a lot about inspiration lately, and how technology is kind of killing mine.

It started with browser bookmarks. I had a folder called inspiration that contained my favorite websites. Then RSS feeds came and I moved all of those bookmarks over for faster, easier access. Flickr was next; I searched and added all of my favorites and discovered some new ones, too. Then came Twitter, Facebook and Ravelry, and now there is Pinterest.

All of these ways to manage inspiration have left me very uninspired.

A few weeks ago I was helping my daughter research her next artist, Paula Scher. Our library only had one title that mentioned her: Inspirability. When I opened the book, I found one of my favorite inspirational pieces of all time: Michael Bierut’s “Design Counts.” postcard.* This card has literally sat on my desk or been pinned to my bulletin board for over 10 years.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that card and how it influences my work. Would it have had the same effect on me over the past 10 years if I had simply pinned it to an electronic bulletin board? I sat down and made a list of some of the things that inspired the designers in this book: music, art, photography, food, movies, books, history, fashion, architecture, details, curiosity, living. That last one got to me. Living.

Now there’s something to be said for having a resource to keep track of recipes I want to try or patterns I want to make. However, using it to manage things that inspire me was overwhelming. As a visual artist, it’s hard to pull myself away from the gorgeous photographs streaming down the page. And there’s a lot of beautiful work out there. I spent so much time glued to my screen that I stopped noticing the beauty around me. I spent so much time looking at everyone else’s work that I had little time left for my own.

I stopped living my life creatively.

So I did something drastic. I deleted almost a year’s worth of pins. Surprisingly, it wasn’t very hard. I deleted the app from my phone, too. I’ve been Pinterest-free for a few weeks and it feels good.

This is hard to admit and even harder to write about. I love how social media has brought the creative community together in so many different ways. I’m not deleting my accounts or anything — I’m not crazy! I am looking forward to rediscovering my creativity offline, however, and most importantly, sharing that here on the blog.

How has social media affected your creativity? How about your life in general? Feel free to discuss in the comments. I’m interested in your perspectives!

*For those who aren’t familiar with the 2000 presidential election chaos in Florida, the image is a “butterfly ballot” used by Palm Beach County. Almost 7,000 votes had to be discarded because this poorly designed ballot confused voters and caused many to punch the incorrect hole for their candidate or to vote for more than one candidate.

Tonight’s supermoon. I didn’t get a chance to capture it until after the golden glow had gone. Still beautiful, though. Taken with my Canon Rebel T3i.

I wanted to make some tiny crochet flowers last week, and figured I could just add a petal to my four leaf clover pattern. Five petals were too bulky, however, and they looked crowded. I reworked the petal a little bit and came up with these cuties. Happy Spring and enjoy the pattern!

Tiny Crochet Flower Pattern
worsted weight yarn
size F/5 (3.75mm) crochet hook
tapestry needle for weaving ends

dc: double crochet
hdc: half double crochet
sc: single crochet
sl st: slip stitch

gauge: not important, but my worsted weight flowers are about 1 1/2 inches across.
Note: The smaller flowers were made with a smaller hooks and different sock yarns.

Make a magic ring.
R1: chain 1, sc into loop 5 times, pull loop closed, join with sl st in first stitch
R2: continue in the first stitch with a hdc, dc, chain 1, dc, hdc; *sl st, hdc, dc, ch1, dc, hdc* in each of the four remaining stitches, finish with a sl st

. . . . . . . . . .

I’ve been trying to document my creative projects at least once a day using Instagram. It automatically posts my pictures to twitter, facebook, flickr and my rss feed. If only it could update the blog! Anyway, if you are on any of these platforms, stop by and say hello!

I’ve become enamored with small things lately. I think the little pin cushions started it. After finishing them, I felt all those little yarn odds and ends calling me. This week has been all about flowers. I’m also thinking about tiny baskets, boxes and more pin cushions.

Small projects [...]]]>

I’ve become enamored with small things lately. I think the little pin cushions started it. After finishing them, I felt all those little yarn odds and ends calling me. This week has been all about flowers. I’m also thinking about tiny baskets, boxes and more pin cushions.

Small projects are so satisfying to me. They’re finished quickly, so I can squeeze them in between helping with homework and waiting for the pasta water to boil. They are an easy way to dress up a tote, shirt or ponytail. They make all of those leftover yarn bits feel useful.

What are you in love with right now?

I had a hard time figuring out what to do with the Easter egg yarn. Once I saw the colors, I immediately wished I had dyed more. I wanted to use every last bit of it, so I decided to make something that I could start from the bottom and go [...]]]>

I had a hard time figuring out what to do with the Easter egg yarn. Once I saw the colors, I immediately wished I had dyed more. I wanted to use every last bit of it, so I decided to make something that I could start from the bottom and go until I ran out.

I love, love, love how these turned out! They were a lot of work, and I don’t think I’ll make them regularly. The pink one with flowers is my favorite.

These are too pretty to just sit around in my “finished” pile of projects so they’re available for sale in my etsy shop.

I also spent the weekend working on a crochet pattern for tiny flowers. Stay tuned!

My daughter brought an Easter craft book home from the library in February. I figured it was too early to write about the basket we made, so I waited until closer to Easter. Whoops! Better late than never, right?

I have to say that I was impressed [...]]]>

My daughter brought an Easter craft book home from the library in February. I figured it was too early to write about the basket we made, so I waited until closer to Easter. Whoops! Better late than never, right?

I have to say that I was impressed with how this project turned out. It’s a pretty sturdy little basket. I no longer have the book, so here is what I remember about the details.

• She colored the coffee filters with washable marker.
• Turned them upside down on a yogurt tub and painted on a mixture of white glue and water, which made the marker colors bleed into each other.
• We tied a ribbon around the basket to give it shape and let it dry. I was worried it would stick to the yogurt tub, but it came off easily.
• I hot glued the handle, which is two twisted pipe cleaners.
• She cut some grass from construction paper.

The book was All New Crafts For Easter, and I have to say that we are officially fans of Kathy Ross. It’s hard to remember all of the projects we’ve made from her books, but here are a two: heart-shaped Christmas card box and reindeer puppet.

You may have heard we had some severe weather in the Midwest last weekend. I love taking pictures of the dramatic clouds, but these storms were different. The sky was cold and gloomy all day, so I grabbed my camera and tried to focus on the rain.

First I [...]]]>

You may have heard we had some severe weather in the Midwest last weekend. I love taking pictures of the dramatic clouds, but these storms were different. The sky was cold and gloomy all day, so I grabbed my camera and tried to focus on the rain.

First I tried freezing the raindrops in motion. I sat in the garage for cover, but there wasn’t enough light to get a high enough shutter speed. Then I went on the deck, where I thought there would be more light, but had the same issue.

I decided if Mother Nature wouldn’t work with me, I’d have to work with her. I lowered my shutter speed and focused on showing the raindrops in motion. I managed to capture two droplets and show the water bouncing off of the wood. Even though the day was mainly gray, the trees in the background make it look bright and spring like.

I love this photo so much, I resized it into a desktop background. Feel free to download and share.

this week I:

watched my daughter have the time of her life with my parents – so thankful that they take the time to visit us in Nebraska

updated more on instagram, twitter and facebook than the blog – need to start using [...]]]>
photo taken by my father

this week I:

watched my daughter have the time of her life with my parents – so thankful that they take the time to visit us in Nebraska

updated more on instagram, twitter and facebook than the blog – need to start using that wordpress app a little more

crocheted little pincushions out of my dyed yarn – just need to add fabric and stuffing and they’ll be finished

started Ballet Beautiful – thought it would be easier than P90X. It’s not.

cleaned piles off my sewing table – still haven’t sat down to actually sew something

listened to Mighty Be Our Powers – continue to be inspired by Leymah Gbowee

thought a lot about what the media does to women – proud of Ashley Judd for fighting back (her essay and interview)

vowed to start going to bed earlier and waking up earlier – I’d really like some quiet time in the beginning of the day when my brain is fresh. We’ll see how it goes.

How was your week?

I have never considered myself a yarn dyer. I have so many odds and ends in my stash, I can’t imagine ever needing a specific color for anything. But while I was cleaning up from Easter egg dyeing last Saturday, I decided to dunk a few balls of yarn in the leftover [...]]]>

I have never considered myself a yarn dyer. I have so many odds and ends in my stash, I can’t imagine ever needing a specific color for anything. But while I was cleaning up from Easter egg dyeing last Saturday, I decided to dunk a few balls of yarn in the leftover dye just for fun.

It was a really sloppy attempt. I soaked my yarn under the kitchen faucet before plopping it into the cups. I let them sit for a long while before I remembered to microwave them. Some of the mini-hanks were wound too tightly and are pale on the inside. The colors, however, are absolutely beautiful! They make me want to try my hand at dyeing a larger amount.

I’m not sure what I’ll do with this little bit of yarn. Maybe I’ll crochet some eggs.

details: The white yarn is from my stash of unraveled sweaters. I didn’t follow a tutorial for dyeing the yarn. If you google “easter egg dye yarn” you’ll get a bunch of links.

I haven’t been spending a lot of time in front of my computer lately. Thanks for putting up with all of my instagram photos.