Inspiration Friday

This Friday I spent time on two different projects inspired by people I know.

The first was inspired by a friend of mine that loves music and languages. She is fluent in Spanish and now we are learning Arabic together. She's about 36 years older than I am and she picks things up so quickly. I don't think it's really true what they say about youngsters being more absorbent of languages, at least not this youngster. I won't say I'm doing badly with it, but I know it takes effort on my part to soak it in.

My friend also plays the violin and lately she's been getting me to play. I quit orchestra after my freshman year, partly because I disliked our teacher, playing tests, our nun-ish orchestra dresses, and I wanted to replace it with an art class.

So for my friend, I am creating a violin pendant necklace out of polymer clay. I think I'll write her name in Arabic somewhere on the pendant as well, or make another pendant with her name.

The other project I'm working on is a caricature of my two instructors that I have for a 2 week course I'm taking right now. They are being our instructors completely free of charge, and they arre so genuine! So I thought to capture the fun personalities that they have in a caricature would be nice.

I will hopefully be posting pictures of what I end up with soon. :D

Inspiration Friday

I know I haven't been posting here much lately. I have to admit blogging is pretty new to me.

I've decided from here on out Friday is "Inspiration Friday". Usually by Friday I've come across shops, people, movies, or things in nature that inspire me. So now I am going to obligate myself to sit down and write each week on Fridays about something or someone that inspired me.

So for the first Inspiration Friday I want to feature Captain Cat, the art and design shop of Zelda English and Rodrigo Neto. They're absolutely awesome. http://www.etsy.com/shop/CaptainCat?ref=pr_shop_more

The image on the right caught my eye when it was featured on Etsy's front page. Captain Cat makes these Raccoon Masks out of recycled materials and paper-mache.

I love the photography and the fantasy-like mood of the picture. If you have not looked at Captain Cat's shop, you must check it out!

What really inspires me about Captain Cat's masks is that they make these wonderful masks out of recycled materials! I also am trying to make items for my shop out of recycled materials and it's great to see others being so successful and innovative!

Inspiration!

Saw this little guy on Etsy a few months back and ran into him again today.

Check out the shop he came

from at

this link:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/44435551/news-giraffe-necklace-wood-decoupaged?ref=tre-4c69a26fc7c26d91f0aab54f-5

I thought EsmeDodsworthDesign, which is the shop's name, had a great idea when she made this. In her item listing it says she took a large wooden giraffe bead and wrapped it up with news clippings.

So I'm inspired. There are so many projects I could do using a similar method. And you can, too.

Give it a try and post some pics! Let's see what you create :)

Etsy Greatness

I love Etsy, not just because it allows me to share and sell my own artwork, but also because I come into contact with other people's new and different creations all the time. It never ceases to amaze me.

Take for instance today's featured seller, giddyspinster. First of all, I love her shop's name. Even more impressive than the name, though, is her product. Reclaimed stilettos, I would call them suicide stilettos, that are now used to house plants! Who would've thought? Certainly not me.

I love being surprised by other people's creativity. It is such an inspiration to me and helps me to feel the motivation to think outside the box. "Handmade" means so much to me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I buy clothes from retail stores, and most of my possessions are manufactured most likely overseas somewhere. It is comforting to know, though, that creativity and working with your own two hands is not a lost art.

Enough yapping and rambling from me. Check out giddyspinster's items, and if you haven't looked into Etsy yet, you should definitely take a looksy. http://http//www.etsy.com/people/giddyspinster?ref=ls_profile