Create Every Day // #Yesvember

Happy Monday!

I know, not my favorite day of the week, but hey it is a new week, which means beginnings! It is hard sometimes to keep sight of the big picture, especially when overwhelm kicks in. These times are often when we have so many great things happening (which is awesome!) that it is just becomes too much for us (not awesome), but really all you need to get through it is to focus, and just get started. Here is some inspiration to kick off your week the right way and to help you stay creative.

#YESvember

Thrive Hive Live founders Jules Taggart and Sandy Sidhu have come up with an amazing way to get that one big project done before the end of the year. Better yet before the end of the month. Let's end 2013 with a bang together, come join their #YESvember community. Here you will receive support from other great women tackling a big project, step by step goal making to complete your big picture goal and great tips along the way!

My fellow creatives, come join me! My goal for the month of November is to get my jewelry out there! I am starting by dialing in my shop. I have some great photos of my work coming soon, so I want super sweet descriptions to match them. Also on the queue, my booth display for Patchwork Show Santa Ana, a catalog, bringing Mad Dream Design to a few stores in Orange County, and participating in a few gift guides.

That To Do List

Jules Taggart of Amp & Pivot has a great post on how to make a great to do list! In this post, Shelia Butler of Successful Women Talk, talks about how to make smarter to do lists that are not overwhelming and actually help you get stuff done.

"A list is nothing more than ideas on paper…ideas that mean nothing unless you act on them."
- Shelia Butler

The list above is one of my favorites for staying creative. This is not a to do list, but it is a great reminder when your creativity gets stuck or clouded.
 

Photo: Thank the Now via nosha

Being Thankful

November is all about being thankful, right? But really, we should keep the spirit of November and live it - day after day. Becca Ribbing of Thank the Now has a great site dedicated to being thankful for right NOW. This is the good stuff - taking a minute for yourself (creatives often save this one for last, I am guilty of it myself).

But how can this help with the overwhelm? 

We get so much blasted at us each day, on what we should be doing, what we should be wearing and how we should be (talk about overwhelming...) that sometimes we loose site of the fact that we don't have to be doing what everyone else is doing. You are you, and you matter! Being thankful for that is always a great way to refocus.

Tackle that list by being thankful for you, realizing that you are only human, and focus on one thing at a time. You may notice this helps you get things done more effectively and you feel more accomplished at the end of the day for it. I feel that creativity feeds off of days like these!

Here is to a successful November! 

xo,

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Create Every Day // Custom Designs

I have been working on a few custom designs over the past few months and I thought this would be the perfect place to share them with you.

These projects are something you would not usually see in my shop as they are extremely time consuming, but they are so much fun to do. To really liked working on both of these projects, with an open deadline that I can really just get lost in the design of them.

The first design is a letter opener I made my sister (for ahem...Christmas...). I was inspired by the copper designs coming out of the Arts and Crafts movement, particularly designs originating from Roycroft School of Design (circa early 20th century). Such timeless and simply gorgeous pieces were created during that time period.

When designing this piece I knew I wanted it to be copper and to be personalized. I also wanted it to be different and one of a kind that spoke to my sister's timeless and classic manner. Here are a few shots I got of it at a vacation house in Palm Springs...loving the light.

Here is a shot for our room in Palm Springs (loved it)!

The second is a bracelet I made for my cousin's birthday. She just turned 10, so talk about a fun project! I could be totally youthful and I was able to use one of her chalk drawings as inspiration for the piece. I decided to combine a different element into this piece that I don't normally work with, leather. My Dad is a pro with leather, so we got collaborate on this piece together which is always fun.

Here is a shot I got of it in the studio. I love the copper and leather together!

Enjoy!

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Create Every Day Project

Who has time to create every day???
I think we all do!

Or I think it is important that we do create every day...to stay connected, to get inspired, to get exposure to new things, and to not give up. We are all creatives and there is always time to create, you just have to tell ourselves there is and then make the time.

I have a chalkboard by our side door and for the past couple of months it has had this quote on it:

"You do have time to create."
It is my daily reminder.

After a bit of creative U-Turn a couple of weeks ago, I decided it was important that I just to stay creative, doing even the littlest thing each day (I have to remind myself of this constantly). This was mostly inspired by Week 10 in The Artist's Way, and this post on my friend Allie's blog, Between Dreams.

Here is the list Allie posted:

Photo Credit: Between Dreams

I love this list for a few reasons.
1. It show we are all creatives.
2. A few things are already things we like doing daily.
3. It keeps it simple.
I also love #2, 24, 29, 32.

I have been finding that we can make being creative into something extremely complicated...when in reality, it couldn't be simpler. I went to art school...your creativity had some pressure put on because your grades mattered. I work as a graphic designer, some pressure is put on my creativity to make sure I preform. These things complicate creativity.

Okay, I am not talking about work or school...I am talking about fun creative things to keep me inspired. The one thing I miss most about working in graphic design is working with my hands, getting them dirty and moving around a shop. Love that. That is where jewelry comes in for me. I just have to make sure I do a little bit every week. It is hard when life gets in the way...paddling, work, exercise, friends, family, pets, traveling, planning my wedding (oh ya...) and eating!!
But it is worth it.

Create Every Day Project

So where does the project fit in?

In order to make sure I am creating daily, I am starting the Create Every Day Project. The CEDP will be a weekly post featuring what I am working on (things in progress), what I created the previous week (finished projects), how I got inspired (what I have found), or maybe even a tutorial on how I made something (so you can make it too). I am interested to see what all the weeks will end up looking like, all the different ways I find myself creating, and how it will keep me honest about creating. I think it will be a lot of fun!

Would you like to join in on this project? Should we do a link up party, so we can share all of our projects each week? Leave your thoughts and comments below. I look forward to sharing my projects with you!


 

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Create Every Day // Craftcation :: Part 2

If you missed Part 1 you can find it here!

Craftcation // Part 2
the crafts.

In today's part of this series I am going to tell you all about the wonderful crafts you can find at Craftcation. Well, the name kind of says it all...right? You can basically find any craft here, but it is still fun to learn a little bit about each one.

Book Binding
Scrapbooking
Sewing - like a 3 hour skirt and a fun clutch
Reverse applique and Embroidery
Knitting
Paper projects
Macrame
Preserves
Needle Felting
Soap and Candle making
Fermentation
Rosettes
Letterpress
Printmaking
Pickling
Homemade Carmel Sauce and Ice Cream

Do you want to go yet? I want to go back! Those are just most of the craft classes offered at Craftcation...they also have business classes - anything and everything you could think when owning your own craft biz (Part 3...coming soon!).

So which classes did I go to? 

Well, I don't really do sewing...so maybe I should have taken the crash course they offered, but I tend to steer clear of the sewing machines. I love food, so should have gotten in on some of that caramel sauce and ice cream, but I didn't. Maybe these are good things for next year...

Bookbinding - a fun little book made with cereal boxes
Needle Felting - poking wool with a needle - a sure good release
Traveler's Daybook - A scrapbook on the go
Candle Making - what to do with all those old candles you have laying around...

Bookbinding
In this class we learned how to do a 7 hole pamphlet stitch.
The materials we used were:
Cereal boxes - cover
Paper - pamphlet
waxed linen - stitch
we also used a bone fold (oh so fun) and a punch
With all of this we made these great little pamphlets for taking notes and storing cards. So many ways you can elaborate on this project...especially if you like a good notebook...like I do.

c/o Craftcation and Neon Sprinkles Studio

Needle Felting
What is there not to love about continually stabbing wool with a needle??? Anyone...yeah did not think so. I fell in love with needle felting at Cal State Long Beach while taking a fibers class. I have no memory of what I made, but I know I loved the feeling of it. So when I say this on the schedule I was all over it. Angharad was showing us how to make cute little owls so I decided to follow suit because I have always thought it would be fun to needle felt animals...especially woodland creatures...don't ask me why, but I just think the medium lends itself nicely to those animals. Anyway here is my little owl. We used wool, a needle felting needle, and foam for this project.

Traveler's Daybook
With the one and only Amy Tan! This class was so fun...her classes always are. Her mama comes to help her out and it just all about having fun with it! This class was for a traveler's daybook...so a quick and easy on the go type of scrapbook, so you still have those great memories when you get back from the trip. I love scrapbooking, but have not had time for it in quite a few years...I keep a lot of things though, so this is perfect for me! I made one for all of our camp trips in the next year or so. We go to use a lot of her supplies from her American Crafts collection. Check out her website Amy Tangerine! Here is how my book turned out.

View from our hotel room in the background!

Soy Candles 101
In this class we got to do a few different things with candles. We got to melt down wax, scent it and then pour it, after decorating it a bit. We also got roll beeswax into candles and learn how to make fire starters (awesome!). Here is my soy candle...it smells like cherry...yum!

My mom took some of the same classes but she also did some fun sew classes, block printing and paper projects - like this card! I mean really? :)

c/o Linsi Brownson via Craftcation Instagram

 What craft classes would you like to take? What are you making this week? This week I have been focusing on making, or more specifically, the word maker. This word was a big deal at Craftcation, because we are all makers.

xo,

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Shop. Goals. Craftcation.

I had fun in my shop two weekends ago....organizing.  I love to organize and I love knowing everything has a home...that makes sense.  My shop was in major need of organization and it is so nice to go in there now.

Now that I have all the tools, materials, design ideas, website, etsy shop, marketing materials and the shop pretty much done, I can actually start concentrating on the not so fun stuff.  My goal for the next month is to get my business license (that entails a lot of things I have come to find out)!  Once that is done I can then start concentrating my limited time to actually building up inventory and getting it up on the shop.  My goal is to have it all up and running by Craftcation 2013!  Here's to 2013 goals already starting to come to life!

This goal maybe a bit ambitious, but I am really looking forward to it (maybe not the paperwork part), and this is what I am really passionate about it, so why not make it ambitious?

Having everything setup by the time I get to Craftcation will make it all the more fun! I will actually get to show the work I do and get my name out there, and be able to represent myself properly.

Here is a little video about Craftcation! Really will be in need of this conference come March! 

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