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Every now and then someone will stumble across this blog looking for a "beauty salon greeting card". Many people assume because I have the word "salon" in the title of my business that I own a beauty salon. However, the word "salon" in my business means "art salon".
Well, I thought it would be fun to create a beauty salon greeting card anyways...Click the image to buy a card(s) at my online gift shop.
Every artist needs a couple tools to keep the spark of creativity going. In my life as an artist, there are two creativity tools that I have not been able to do without: a notebook and a sketchbook.
I literally have dozens of notebooks filled with ideas for blog posts, quotes, or pictures from magazines. If I ever go through a writer's block or I don't have an idea for a drawing or painting, I'll flip through my notebooks to find images or information that will inspire me.
I'm always aware of what's going on around me and the things that I come across in my daily travels. As an artist you should always pay attention because you never know when or where that bit of inspiration will come from. You could be at the mall and overhear a conversation that will spark an idea for an article or book. Maybe you'll see something that you would want to interpret as a painting. When you have a notebook handy at all times, it's easy to capture that idea so that you don't forget it later.
The notebook is also a great place to simply write down your thoughts or to clear your mind of all that brain clutter that could be blocking all the creative ideas in your head. Maybe you've just sat down to do some writing or to work on that painting, but you've got a million things vying for attention in your mind. You've got a list of things to do, people to call, places to go. Sometimes it's good to just get it all down on paper. That way those creative juices don't get lost in the shuffle of thoughts.
My other must-have creativity tool is an artist sketchbook. A sketchbook gives you a chance to play around with ideas. However, a sketchbook is not limited to just drawings or sketches. One of the things I love to do with my sketchbook is to make multi-media collages like the one pictured here. (click picture to buy a print at my gift shop)
Working in an artist sketchbook helps keep my mind open and gets me "warmed up" for other projects that require a great deal of creativity. Sometimes I'll work on a collage in my sketchbook which will inspire a jewelry piece or maybe a simple sketch will turn into a full-blown colorful painting. I think of the sketchbook as the catalyst for more creative ventures.
If you're an artist or writer, I would highly recommend keeping at least one of these creativity tools nearby at all times!
My boyfriend and I had a conversation today and he asked what I was going to do for the rest of the day. I told him, "Make jewelry!"
"Wow, you sound excited about it!" he replied.
I told him how I had gone out to buy new beads and how getting new beads inspires me...I think anything new would inspire anyone, right?
I think the art mode really started yesterday when I woke up super early and worked on a new banner for the Beauty is Within blog. I had so much fun doing that - so I decided to update the banner at my Etsy shop as well.
Lesson learned: Do something different! If you are an artist like me who starts to feel uninspired. Change up the routine a little and work on something else. Instead of waking up and writing articles like I usually do, I started off working on graphic art. It definitely got me excited again - excited in general...about work...about life...Just plain excited! Who knew just a little shift like that could change everything for me ;)
Below is one of the newest pieces: The "Love" Bracelet in Black and Grey. I was playing around with the Photoshop brushes, so it's not exactly the best-looking photo montage. Oh, well, let's just say that it's art! Inspired by the Fall runway shows...Buy now!
I went through a little bit of blogging rut, so I decided to take a break from a few blogs. I thought my life was pretty well-balanced, but I realized that I was doing way too much writing and not enough jewelry making or painting. However, I did venture off and update my gift shop with new and exciting products. With Christmas just around the corner (well, actually it's not, but for a business owner who needs to prepare it is!), I know I need to get my butt in gear and start making new things to sell - that means jewelry and greeting cards as well.
So here was my cure for the blogging rut: Last week I took a few days off to relax, go clothes shopping, and just sleep in! Then today I went to my "Disneyland": Michael's Arts & Crafts and spent way too much money. I can never go in to just "get one thing". I ended up with a myriad of stuff to keep my busy for a few weeks.
I've decided to just focus on making abundance and prosperity jewelry, so I've been researching different semi-precious gemstones like citrine, peridot, iolite, and green aventurine. These are stones that have good energy and bring prosperity to its wearer. I've also bought "love" charms and I'm still on the hunt for other charms that say "joy", "peace", "dream", etc. It feels good to be inspired to make jewelry again!
I'll probably take one day out each week to focus on making jewelry and holiday greeting cards. Stay tuned because I'll start posting some of the pieces here as I go along...Make sure you subscribe to this blog because as we get closer to Christmas I'll be offering readers special discounts!
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