I’ve been on a bit of a blogging hiatus while spending some time away from the office and in the photo studio with the wonderfully talented Samantha Lopez. I can’t say much about her forthcoming book just yet, but I can tell you I’m incredibly excited about this project. Such opportunities to witness artists at work are definitely among the highlights of my job as managing editor of North Light Books.
Sam is a talented jewelry designer with a thriving online boutique at KnotStudio.com. Happily, I also found her to be a bit of a kindred spirit. (I love it when that happens!) One day when I complimented her on the necklace she was wearing, she explained that it was made from links of a special bracelet her husband had given her that had broken. I told her that I, too, had such a bracelet—a gift from my own hubby that I had worn every day for several years while we were dating before it broke. A local jeweler had said it couldn’t be fixed, but Sam offered to take a look and give me some advice on what might be done to salvage some small part of it.
Not only did she take a look, but she kindly took some time on her last evening in town to transform it into a necklace of my own. She filed off the broken ends, drilled holes into the safety latches of the broken clasp, and used wire wrapping to attach a delicate chain. I could never show my gratitude enough for this gift—new life for a deeply meaningful piece of jewelry that had been relegated to a box for years, as well as a new friend in this talented and generous soul.
This seemed to me the perfect lesson in inspiration and creativity. What item that holds meaning for you can you transform into something even more beautiful?
Right now, I'm in the midst of a full-blown knitting addiction. It's bad. To the tune of about $150 in less than a week bad. I've made three trips to stores between Orlando and Cincinnati on my way home from vacation just to buy instructional books, needles and some yarn to play with. You could say I was bit by the bug so to speak. BAD...
Now, I'm on the hunt for the best way to store all of my new goodies. Google has not been my friend in terms of finding knitting totes and/or bags because all sorts of things come up. I remember loving the designs of a tote bag company at TNNA while I was there, but forgot their name. If you know of a cool tote place for knitting goods, please let me know!
Meanwhile, I did notice that we now have this handy dandy Craft Directory at the bottom of every page. If you're looking for a store in a new location or searching for a specific product, it might just have the information you need. I've been browsing it this afternoon and have found a local store that I did not even know existed. I know what I'll be doing this weekend.
If you haven't had a chance, yet, check out the Craft Directory. If you have a store, I'm sure you can contact them to have your information added. It's just one more way to connect all of us crafters!
Google has joined with YouTube to bring video interviews and talks with newsmakers, politicians and authors through its Talks@Google program. Fellow Inspiration &Creativity blogger, Jessica, pointed out that Living the Creative Life author, Ricë Freeman Zachary, is a featured speaker. Ricë waxes poetic on what living the creative life means to her and what it can mean to you.
After enjoying the video, pick up your copy of Living the Creative Life in the My Craftivity shop.
Real Simple, a favorite magazine of mine, recently released free desktop wallpaper downloads of styled images from the publicaton combined with "Daily Thoughts." Why not log on to a bit of inspiration each day? Choose from 19 and download your favorite, or let them motivate you to make your own with a favorite photo and quote.
Tired of your oldie-but-goodie craft books and ready to learn some new techniques? Bored with your iPod playlist and looking for new tunes to
create by? Any place where you can swap books and music for free is a place full of endless inspiration ripe for the picking, in my book—and all it costs you is a little bit of time. I recently discovered Swaptree, one such site. With gas at $4/gallon, don’t we all deserve some guilt-free inspiration to fuel our creativity?
