Crafty Moments: The Start of My Visual Art Journal

Inspiration, I've got it

Creative block.  It sucks.  I get it almost every year around this time.  The holidays are over, the weather sucks, it's cold, and all I want to do is sit on my butt and watch Bones (Booth is hot, isn't he?) all day with Netflix instant streaming on the big screen.  However this year isn't so bad.  I totally admit I've been procrastinating something fierce about listing new jewelry.  Lets face it clicking renew on listings coming due is soooo much easier than taking a million photos, thinking of a great description to make you all drool, and racking my brain for tags to make sure you can all find it when searching Etsy!  Doing that won't have me swimming in dollars (as if I was ever lol!) though so create I must!

The agate beach on Hunter's Point in Copper Harbor MI

Hiking in Copper Harbor

Since I am one of those overly fussy (and stubborn) artists who blatantly refuses to lift a finger unless I'm in the mood for it, it sometimes takes a little motivation if you will.  Over the past years, my Canon and I have amassed quite the stunning collection of photography from my many trips here and there throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula and it's about freaking time I do something with it!  Staring at hundreds of photos on the computer hunting for one to pique my interest has grown rather dull so I decided to make my own visual art journal comprised of my favorite shots.

Page one, there's the apple tree that graces much of my work!

I made a little pocket for the matching palettes so I can take them out

I came up with the idea when I stumbled across this awesome blog about Smash Books.  What is that you may ask?  Basically it's a scrapbook style journal instead of a written one.  It's not a journal and it's not a scrapbook either, it's a little of both.  That sounded like a perfect idea!  I cannot for the life of me keep a consistent written journal and scrapbooking is sooooooo time consuming!  So now I have a reason to use all those super cute little rubber stamps I've been hoarding and I can use scrapbooking papers for something other than handmade cards!  I can have a spot for all my doodles of past wire designs, thoughts for new projects, and someplace to put oodles of pretty pictures!  Yay!

Isn't that just cool?

This journal I've started is meant to help give me ideas for new jewelry, paintings etc when my brain feels tapped out.  To make it more visually appealing I will be basing each page on color coordinated swatches I've downloaded and stuffed in little corner pockets from my favorite color palette site Design Seeds.  I love how they come up with each carefully designed color palette based on a real photo.  Their site is wonderful when I want help picking out just the right color combo for new beaded treasures!  You can search by color themes or color value so if I want to find colors inspired by nature or a particular season it's a cinch to find something I love!  I also know where to go when I get bored with the color scheme in my house :) My first two pages that I've shown in here are based on woodland tones, my favorite!  I adore mossy greens, olive, and woody browns.  Go figure, lol!

I love my mini alphabet stamps, so cute!

Now I have actually been working on new jewelry and got a few new earrings up in my Etsy Shop for you to take a peek at!  They are Bronzed Champagne Vintage Luster Earrings, Amethyst Crystal Vintage Luster Earrings, Angel Wings Earrings, and Lock and Key Earrings.  I've got more that I should have listed soon once I get photos taken as well.

Vintage Luster Earrings in Amethyst Crystal

I can't forget about all these awesome Treasuries!  Take a peek!