IF : Liquid

My favorite liquid...Tea!


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On My Bookshelf : Drawing From Within

Drawing from Within by Nick Meglin and Diane Meglin

I bought this book on a whim after reading the preface and introduction on Amazon.  Am I ever happy I did!  This book just gets better and better with each chapter.  If you're looking for a traditional how-to book, this isn't it.  But if you're ready to discover your own voice with your art, buy this book right now.

Drawing from Within is about the sheer pleasure and joy of drawing.  How it makes you feel.  How it makes you feel.  Nick Meglin does a fantastic job of coaching as he gets you to look at yourself, your drawing and what makes you draw.

And if you need a push to get into your sketchbook more often (like, everyday) you will absolutely find it here.  As he says in the book,"your own sketchbook is your teacher."

A few of my favorite quotes (and it was hard to narrow it down - I could've quoted entire pages!) :

"It isn't possible to teach anyone how to draw.  Drawing is self-taught."

"It's fun to draw.  Let each drawing be just that!"

"To spend time observing, without drawing, thinking, without drawing, or feeling, without drawing, is the misfortune of nonartists."

"There are no mistakes, just lines you're not happy with."

"Draw, don't make a drawing."

"What you can achieve is a sincere, personal artistic response to visual stimulation.  That's worth aspiring to because you're capable of achieving your goal with every drawing you make."


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Sketchbook 05.18.2013

A peek into my sketchbook :

I seem to have food on the brain!





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IF : Future

The theme for Illustration Friday this week is "Future."  My immediate future includes a vacation!

Just like it says : a road trip to New England (!!!).  This is the cover of a little handmade journal I'm doing about the trip.  It'll have all of our necessary info in it (itinerary, confirmation numbers, packing list, etc.) as well as a few pages to sketch during the trip.

I tend to spend more time thinking about what to pack for my arts & crafts than I do for my clothing when it comes to vacations.  Which sketchbooks (and how many), which palette, how many pens and pencils, water containers, et al consume many hours of thought.  And then there's what knitting to take, how much reading material, etc.  In comparison, clothes are simple :)


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May Colors

It's been a cold spring around here.  I'm ready for the warm spring flowers, but especially the warm!



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Happy Mother's Day

I've always loved this quote.  My mother died before I was married, so I used this quote on our wedding program.  I like it because it's not about sadness or regret, but about celebration and sweet memories!

Which is what I have.

I may a little printable notecard, because I thought there might be someone else whose mother isn't around anymore that you could give this card to.  

Click here to download the notecard printable.

Happy Mother's Day!

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Link Roundup 05.07.2013

Paper-pieced diamonds.  Hmmm....I might try a few of these for a change from the hexagons.

If you drink any kind of diet soda, please read this.  And then stop drinking diet soda...please.

If you need a creative jump-start, check out this lady's lovely blog and Creative Entrepeneur Toolkit.

Smart Creative Women is a wonderful place to get inspired about your small business!  I've been listening to the interviews with lots of creative women.  Encouragement!

How adorable is this little cross stitch trio?

This is a great infographic for remembering camera settings to get great photos.



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Knitting : Straw Scarf

When I picked up the yarn for the baby sweater I'm working on, this beautiful yarn called to me :

I hadn't planned on buying any other yarn, except for the baby sweater.  Well, you know how that goes!

The colors in this yarn are "me" to a T.  And it is soooo soft and silky feeling.  I immediately thought of making a scarf, something lacy and drapey.

So, I've been searching ravelry and I've come up with a few ideas (see pic below).  We'll be doing some traveling at the end of the month, and this would make great travel knitting.  I've also considered just picking a favorite lacy stitch pattern from one of my stitch dictionaries and casting on!

The yarn is by Prism, Delicato Layers in the color Straw.  It's 630 yards of 100% tencel, lace weight.

I've never used a 100% tencel yarn before, but I'm already in love with the color and feel of it!

Do you have any suggestions for a scarf pattern that's drapey?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

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Timeless Moments

"A sketchbook can transform a moment in time into a timeless moment." - Nick Meglin

I love this quote from the author of Drawing From Within, one of my favorite books about drawing.  In fact, I'll be doing a little review of this book in a couple of weeks, so check back for that!

I love to look back through my sketchbooks and see what I was doing / thinking about / focusing on during a particular time.  When I look at a page in my sketchbook, I can always remember what I was thinking, or feeling when I was drawing.

I love how drawing slows you down, makes you notice what you're doing.  I kind of feel bad for people who don't keep a sketchbook, because they don't have that :)

Do you keep a sketchbook?

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Spring Cleaning for Your Blog

You know how sometimes, you just need to open all the closets and drawers, empty everything into the middle of the room and  c l e a n   o u t.  Yeah?  And since spring makes me want to de-clutter, it seemed a good time to give my blog a little clean up and clean out.

So, I did.  I hope things look a wee bit fresher and less cluttered around here now.  My blog header was getting a little bloated with all the different interests I have, so I went with handmade, small and simple.    I updated my blog roll (yes, I still have a blog roll...because I like blog rolls) and a few other things.

I've started resizing my photos to a the width of my blog (one of the suggestions I kept seeing over & over), to give it a more uniform feel and make for faster page loading.  And I'm enjoying making graphics using my sketches, so you'll be seeing more of those.

I'll be doing a few more tweaks over the next couple of weeks just to suit myself.  (Mostly trying to add more hand-drawn elements.)

Here's a shot of mine before & after :

If you're interested in cleaning up your own blog, here are some things I did to mine, as well as a couple of articles that helped me.

Apply some limits
Yes, limits.  It's very easy (especially for creatives) to be attracted to every gadget, gizmo and pretty sparkler out there.  But your blog will be much stronger and cleaner if you'll use some restraint in what is displayed in your sidebars.  Pick the most useful widgets to go near the top, like a profile picture, email sign ups, most popular posts or categories.  Save the link parties, buttons, and pinterest widgets for further down the page.

Limit the colors, fonts, and graphics on your blog page.  Everything looks cohesive and professional when you stick to a couple of fonts, 2 or 3 colors and simple graphics.  (I'm still working on this one!)

Stick to one design theme
Make your blog look like you!  Are you bright and cheerful, frilly and feminine, or clean and simple?  Pick a theme that reflects your personality and stick with it.  Don't try to be bright and cheerful and frilly and feminine and clean and simple all at once, it'll just look cluttered and confusing.

As a rule, white space is your friend.  Use it.

Don't forget the basic rule of contrast
I see a lot of pretty blogs these days (and can I just say, there are so many beautiful, interesting blogs out there!) that don't remember the rule of contrast.  They have a light, delicate look...but you can't read it.  Instead of light and delicate it comes across as over-exposed or washed out.  Remember, if your goal is to have folks actually read what you write, make it easy for them.  Pale text on a white background is hard to read.  Keep the light stuff for your graphics, but make your text readable.

Keep it updated
Get rid of old, broken links.
Update your blog roll, and clean out those that are no longer relevant to you.
Make sure your internal links work (about page, shop, tutorials, etc.), and your most important elements are easy to see.
Put up the social media buttons you actually use and forget the rest (I, for instance, am never on Facebook.  So you won't find a button for it on my blog.)

Make it personal
Show yourself!  Even if you don't think so, people love to see a picture of the author when they check out a new blog.  It puts a face with the name, and makes it more authentic.  Tell us a little bit about you, even if it's just a sentence or two.  Again, you may think people don't read this stuff, but trust me, they do!

• I found lots of excellent advice in this article from elembee.
• This infographic has some good tips, I followed most (but not every one) of these.

Happy blogging!



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