Sisterhood Blog Award

I"m so thrilled my blog just received the Sisterhood Blog Award from Daria at D'Luxe Design Blog.

Now I get to share the award with other great blogs.
This is how it works:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 5 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

I'd like to congratulate my choices for this award:
1. Dancing Mooney
2. Handmade Whimzy
3. Book Wormz
4. Livngood Jewelry
5. Shimmer Me Blue Design

Please visit their blogs and congratulate them!

I made it into a Treasury

Found this piece in a Etsy treasury this morning - Just Screwing Around. A great collection of items with a hardware theme. Check it out.

Yellow, Yellow everywhere

In my hope that spring will come soon to the Midwest, today I thought I would post some of my favorite thing in this springs hottest color YELLOW.

All of these wonderful finds are from Etsy shops.

(click on the photo to go to there shop)

From Idea to Reality - Tools

A sketchbook is an essential tool for your design process. It’s your diary of your design journey, with your observations, visual images, and ideas explored and developed.

The wonderful thing about a sketchbook is you don’t have to know how to draw to use one. I love my sketchbook. I use it everyday, and take it with me everywhere. You never know when inspiration will hit you.

The process for design is different for everyone. You may like to just start a project with no plan, just jump in with both feet. You may draw everything out from every angle and have very detailed plans. You may be more like me where I sketch to get the ideas down on paper and use them loosely depending on the materials available. Sketching can be your thinking process, how you fine tune your ideas, working things out before you start working with your expensive materials.

Use your sketchbook for your ideas, and as a technical journal. Record experiments you have tried, material you have worked with and techniques that did or did not work. Keep your sketchbooks, you will be surprised how often you go to them as a source of inspiration. Plus it fun to look back and see how your work has changed over the years.

Once you get started with sketching out your ideas it you will be surprised how the ideas will start flowing. It take practice to get into the habit and remember sketching is just for you, so no need to make them perfect. Try these exercise to help develop your mind-hand connection making sketching easier over time.

♦Make on-minute gestures drawing familiar objects or the scene outside a coffee shop
♦Use simple lines or scribbles to capture shapes
♦Doodle – Set your mind free and see what happens

Here are a couple of resources for making your own journal and on how to keep a sketchbook. Check out these Etsy shops that offer beautiful handmade sketchbooks (click on the photo for the shop).

Create your one moleskin sketchbook

How to keep a sketchbook

Question – How do you design? Do you just jump in working with the material you have or do you plan out what you are going to do?

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs

Over the last week I have been checking out blogs. So I thought I would share with you some of the blogs I enjoyed.

Try Handmade
Funky Finds
GilBea's Fashion & Handmade
Shop N Blog
Make It
The Boss of You
Miss Malaprop - Green and Indie Finds
Tip Junkie

Thursday's Thoughts

Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it has not before possessed.

Joseph Addison

From Idea to Reality - A Series

Since the launch of my new collection ♦VIBRANT ♦ HARDWARE♦ in my Etsy shop, I have been thinking a lot about the process of coming up with a design and making it a reality. I did a lot of research for my new collection, on products to use, design concepts, and of course color choices.

In this series I will share with you design concepts, tools, ideas, and an exercise or two, that you can use in your own process to create new products.

It's important to remember that how each person approaches design will differ, for some people design is and extension for their love of crafting and for others a desire to express something that inspires them. Either way design is about enthusiasm and commitment, and I will share with you the tools I learned for designing and creating new products.

Even if you are not a designer, it will give you insight into the design process.

I want to make this series interactive, let me know what you think, share your process, if you have photo's you would like to share please do. I want to hear from you!

This week's question: What part of the design process do you find most difficult when you are creating?

♦VIBRANT ♦ HARDWARE♦

Six new piece have been added to the
♦ VIBRANT ♦ HARDWARE ♦
collection now available in my Etsy Shop!


Purchase any item in the new collection and receive FREE SHIPPING (until 3/8/09).


Check everyday, new items will be added all week!