3.15.14 - Inspire

inspire - verb
4. to influence or impel
source: dictionary.com

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Inspire

I love watching little kids create art.  They haven't been constricted by art rules or the dawn of realism where everything needs to look "real."  They just create with a blissful happiness.  There are times I cringe as I watch them joyfully mix colors that I know will turn to a muddy brown/green.  In those moments I have to stop and remember that they have a freedom that many of us lost long ago.  They have an uninhibited creativity that allows them to throw caution to the wind and truly explore the medium they are using.  

Throughout the weeks I've been creating for this blog I've caught myself wondering if I should get focused in my media choices and stick to what I know.  On the other hand, I love the idea of creating with the joyful glee of a child and throwing caution to the wind, exploring all the creative world has to offer.  I don't know that there is necessarily a "right" or "wrong" answer.  There's benefits to both.  For the time being, I think I'm going to continue exploring, learning, and trying new things.  There's time for a more focused project next year, right? 

3.8.14 - Help

help - verb
3. to make easier or less difficult; contribute to; facilitate
source: dictionary.com

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Help

     Recently, I've become interested in hand lettering.  There's something incredibly beautiful about how others have taken the time to take ordinary words and creatively elevate them.  Many have wrote about how nice it is to receive a letter in an era of text messaging and email and I feel like hand lettering is letter writing's artist cousin.  When I decided to give it a shot, I realized how hard it was to actually line everything up, making it look even and clean.  I found a fantastic tutorial on the blog "A Pair and a Spare" The blogger does a great job explaining how to space everything out, get the right angle, even how to pick materials.  I've really enjoyed playing with typography and can see so many uses for it in future projects.

     The basis for this project was born out of a series of discussions and random pinterest pins. My week started by lazily searching around pinterest while drinking my coffee.  I came across one of those "faith in humanity restored" pins and made the mistake of not only clicking on it to read the whole story, but also searching for more.  Later that week I had a wonderful discussion with a coworker about the importance of serving others.  Combining these two moments encouraged me to choose a subject that would be a help to others.  I am a firm believer that small, random acts of kindness can completely change someone's day for the better.  I would also like to believe that these moments can encourage the recipient to pay it forward.  So I decided to embrace the surprise coffee movement that is happening so often.  I hope that by not only having the surprise of a free coffee, but also a little hand lettered message would cause someone to see the beauty and excitement waiting that particular day.  

Perseverance - 3.1.14

perseverance - noun
1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacle, or discouragement.
source: dictionary.com

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Perseverance

It may be a bit of a stretch to connect my picture with the idea of perseverance this week, but it is a picture four years in the making.  Whenever my husband and I come home Bella will happily trot down the stairs and scrunch up her nose.  It's adorable.  Her little scrunchy face seems to say that she's happy we're home.  I've tried for four years to snap a picture of it. Every time I think I have it, she'll be looking away or the picture will be blurry.  I've tried taking videos, but she seems to know I'm trying to capture it and will instantly stop the adorable scrunchyness.  I have begun to call it the elusive scrunch face.  Today, my perseverance finally paid off.  With the help of my friends, Hannah and Justin, we were able to capture it. Sweet, sweet scrunchy victory.