When fall arrives my main inspiration is all the changes going on around me in nature. I love to watch the leaves sway and dance in the sky. How the colors change right outside my window making the perfect frame to fall days. I'm all ready for blankets and hot chocolate. Along with all the lovely weather and soft colors outside it gets my creative juices flowing.
Every year I used to make a gratitude journal to document my favorite things about the season and life in general, and this year I got a head start. This is a little mini I made just in the spare of the moment one night when I felt really inspired.
I used my prints from artifacts uprising as my base size and then cut lots of sheets in the same size for painting. Of course I had to add a lot of leaves.
It's just about finished minus journaling and a few extras. I promise I'll be back soon to share more!
I don't think I'm ever more productive then in the fall, spring being a close second! Everything gets sort of off during summer. I never seem to sit long enough to get my thoughts going in a crafting direction. Time is minimal and there are too many things calling like the pool, beach and other fun afternoon activities. This is the time that things seem to fall into place again, new products start popping up, new colors start to make everything look fresh again. I begun to just let things happen as they will and not stress too much about. I do hate that my blog gets little or no attention for big chunks of time.
I'm back for a bit to share a few things over the next week. I really have fun when I stay up late and sqeeze all kinds of fun painting and craftiness into a few hours.
This was a fun page I painted using lavender as a base color and this pretty contrasting yellow.
There's a little Maggie Holmes and a little Pinkfreshstudio collection products. I cut plenty of butterflies from this lovely violet blue paper and a few others. I love that they lead your eyes around the page.
Painting a pretty page and then creating a composition around that satisfies my artsy inner self. Creating a story along with something that's pleasing to the eye is always my goal...
Hope everyone is getting into that fall crafty spirit. Before you know it its all about turkey and presents! Be back soon...
New collections always inspire me to create...something... Anything fun and colorful! I always take my cues from the colors in the collection but I always go off on some unbeaten path color wise, I like to throw in a little something extra to catch the eye off guard. It's actually become a habit of mine to say "hmmm, I wonder how these colors will work together"?.
One of the things I've always loved about the Maggie Holmes collections is how the colors blend but continue to be new and fresh. The combinations are always right on point!
There is a lot of peach and coral in this collection and I love those as starting points for crafting. Rust, coral and all things lavender are my favorite colors at the moment.
I decided to make a few cards to play around with the papers a little. Of course I had to add lots of glitter and a little chalkboard paint to add a little extra flair. The one above using the chalkboard paint was my favorite. You can add just a little writing on the front as well as a little something inside. Isn't that marble paper absolutely gorgeous?
I cut plenty of butterflies and leaves to layers on my cards. And a little stash for later.
I actually crave creating in the fall, after all the summer activities are coming to an end, I get lots of free time back to get my craft on!
Check out the New collection ! I can't wait to share more later.
Thanks for stopping by!
I've learned that change is an inevitable thing. And it was once something I wouldn't let in, I just couldn't come to appreciate losing things and closing doors even though new ones always opened. The newness was always good. I think that's something that art has taught me along my journey. Change will happen and you will become something else at some point... Something better. My art is always changing, first suddenly and then all of the sudden I see things changing!
I've incorporated watercolor and painting into my scrap booking just as easily these days as breathing. I just can't help it, the fun of it brings me back every time.
I created this page first with a light brush watercolor texture in lavender colors. Then a layering of watercolor cut flowers. The lace florals are from a previous Heidi swapp collection. I am officially on the hunt for more. I really need a entire box of those!
I have stacks of pages to share and I hope to get around a few days this week! Crossing my fingers I can stay on track!
Happy spring and happy crafting!
Xoxo
Kim
Every now and then I get pulled in different directions. I'll paint for awhile, lots of florals and such and then something will jerk me out of that zone into something else. I've just learned to let it happen and go with the flow. What did it this time was a painting I saw on Instagram. They were quite simple black brush paintings, very deliberate in nature but so interestingly beautiful! So what did I do? Pull out my chalkboard paint and splattered some old magazine papers!
I love when inspiration hits like that! You just have to go where it takes you! Don't ask any questions!
One day I will try to get photos of my process but most of the time it's very late or very early.
Hope you all are finding inspiration in common and strange places...
Take care
More and more I find myself loving to style pretty photos! It's fun to paint pretty patterns but sometimes I want to do more with them. I feel like those images have more breathe and stories to tell. Stories can be read and re-read in different ways. When I lay the pieces down I try to create a story. Today it was a story of spring!
Wishing everyone a bit of spring today!
Xoxo
Kim
I wanted to stop in a share a few photo tips, some things that I use almost all the time when taking photos for my blog or social media. It’s a small list but if you’re like me your time is limited and getting the best out of your short periods of time is essential. I usually have 30 min to an hour of time most days, some days I have more, but if I can do things quicker I will take it. This was originally intended to be short but looks like I had a lot to say! Hee hee. I really did keep it short with hopes of adding more content and maybe creating an ebook with tips and more how-tos in the future. So here goes..
1. Making the best use of afternoon light.
This is the time when I take photographs the most. You have to play around with your surroundings to figure out the best time for you. Morning photos are not really the best for me whether I’m using my phone or DSLR because I get a bluish tint on my photos. The sun is at a pretty low point so you don’t get that warm light that it gives off. If I do take morning photos I usually have to edit them by bringing up the warmth a bit and the cast down in my iphone edit feature. You will find that there is a perfect time in the afternoon where your photos are just perfect.
The sun gives off just the right amount of warmth and the light is just bright enough where your camera doesn’t have to work too hard to get the white balance right. I’ve tried using different artificial lighting sources and the photos don’t have that fresh look that I’m going for.I’ve spent lots of time in photoshop editing photos and trying to get everything just right. But after trying a few new apps it’s really hard to go back to a more time consuming chore. Don’t get me wrong I really love photoshop and I have only dabbled in light room but its good to know your way around just a tiny bit.
Right now I usually have lots of things going on so I have to limit my time on the computer. Oh and there’s the one little thing preventing me from spending too much time…my computer sucks right now…it’s running on an older syster! Boo! Soo other alternatives have to be found.
2. Use your phone apps!
Some apps that will change the life of your photos.
Afterlight : this was one of the first photos apps that I started using when all I need was to make my photographs brighter and use shapes every now and then. It’s very simple and easy to use and has lots of filters to try out. I love the shapes feature because every now and then I want to post a heart or silhouette.
Another app that I just love recently is Colorstory! I haven’t begun to touch the surface of using the editing features in this app but it can help just about any photograph look good!
Phonto is a fave of mine as well. I swear you can do almost anything with this app. I might have used this one even before Afterlight, I’m not sure! Sometimes you just want that magazine quality look and you can really play around and get that look with this app. You can add images on top of images, creating fun effects using the same image and add text in all different style. Whoa! I just discovered that you can even curve your text to fit your design!
I’m not an expert on any of this but I do love to play around in these apps and see what they can do.
3. Buy a few pieces of foam board.
Ok so this might have needed to be #1 but it’s something I use so often that I almost forgot it really is the most essential part of creating bright pretty photos for your blog or Instagram. It cost all of 2-3$ and no matter what you’re taking your photos with, DSLR, cell photo, or point and shoot camera, it will help tremendously. It balances the light nicely around your props or projects that you’re taking photos of.
I keep mine right near the window in my living room behind a bookshelf. One to lay your projects and one to slightly cut in half and stand near your project. When I say halfway but mean take an xacto or knife and but just halfway through the board just so you can bend it without it splitting in half. I get a nice v shape to bounce light from 2 angles. Like I said I’m really no expert I’ve just found what works for me and I love taking and editing photos so that is where my passion and exploration begins. I’ll pop in to share from time to time and hope to work on more helpful content in the future. Yay 2016!
Xoxo
Kim
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