Gorgeous and Fun

Magazine Collage 2

Some red more red, black and white to whet your appetite. Another magazine collage.

 

Magazine Collage 1

My heart has been wanting to tell stories!  Telling stories with images.  At some level, don't we all like stories? Stories intrigue the imagination.

So starting today I am sharing images that I am calling magazine collages. Something about these pictures in magazines appealed to me. Say hello to inspiration!

 The color palette of the bold reds and blacks......

Images are from magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair, Instyle..... I wish I had written down the exact publication months. Some of these images are ads.

Cookbooks, Food and Indian Recipes

A long time back I avoided cooking. My mom is such a phenomenal cook and I yes, I admit it, I didn't like to cook. And then I moved countries and kinda had to cook. I knew the basics, fortunately mom had convinced me to learn that much! But would I have rather read a book than cook? Yes. 

But now I see cooking as creative work. And I did inherit the good cook gene from mom. And now I even make up my own recipes or modify existing recipes - successfully. My mom is reeling in shock as she reads this. She is able to taste food and reverse engineer food. I am not so great at the reverse engineering but I do have the sense of what flavors and textures will work well together. And, of course, the hubby is a great sounding board - he is a fantastic food maker and loves to cook. And so is the mom-in-law. So I have been lucky.

Anyways, recently I had been craving a present and asked the hubby for cookbooks. I keep a very small number of cook books because like I said before I can improvise and with the internet so much can be discovered online. But I was craving these couple of cook books and the hubby got me both!

I am sharing the first one today. "India - cookbook", 1000 recipes from India by Pushpesh Pant. Yes, I am from India but India is vast with so many regions. Each region has vastly different food, multiple languages and even distinct cultures!

So tonight the plan is to leaf through every page of this giant tome and salivate over every recipe.

 

The gorgeous food pictures.....

 

See the size of the book? It is really as heavy as it claims.

And it came in this fun bag, which you would see in India as a container for grain.....

Harry Potter

I know I have been remiss! But so many things have been happening that I am just getting a chance to catch my breath. You know how one month can seem quiet and then the next month gets frantic? But mostly good stuff.

I watched the last Harry Potter movie this past weekend. I loved the books and all the movies did such a good job capturing the stories from the books. The books that are so choc-a-block (is that spelling even correct? If not, forgive me I am thinking of chocolate!) with details of many, many going-ons and creatures.

But I am talking about inspiration. Hogwarts and the sets and the costumes and the creatures and the special effects and the stories and the people (okay, okay wizards!). I am especially enchanted by special effects - science and art combining to awe us and intrigue us.

I enjoyed the movie and loved the books, it feels like the end of an era!

 

I wonder what will capture out hearts and imaginations next?

Speaking of next things, I plan to share some more inspiring movies, Photoshop tools, occasional show-and-tells and gorgeous and fun things!

Image credit : blogs.forbes.com

Been Sick

See that picture, those shiny things that look like beads. Not beads, my meds!

I have had a bad cold for over a week, it feels like forever. So I have been sick, tired and haven't done much except work and rest. I haven't gone for a walk or done anything creative. 

So this is a post about random stuff, TV shows and books. Here are a list of shows I like, in no particular order and yes, there are some old ones:

Pysch

Wings

Bones

Mentalist

Big Bang Theory

Castle

How I met your mother

West Wing

The Bob Newhart Show

MASH

Two and a half men

 30 Rock

And one of my favorite authors mentioned this site www.whatshouldireadnext.com, you can plugin the name of a book or an author you like and it recommends what else you might like! Pretty cool!

Another Book - Botanical Illustration Course

While I am on the subject of books, here is another one that I like. "Botanical Illustration Course with the Eden Project" by Rose Martin & Meriel Thurstan.

A few years back I was interested in learning botanical illustration. Turned out that I lacked the patience for it. But I still love gazing at botanical art. So much detail, so much color. At the time I had bought a few books on the topic. And I really like this illustration course book because even if you don't want to do botanical art it has really good techniques and is great for inspiration.

Take a peek below at the color studies from the book - I am showing a cropped page. Just seeing so many colors in the same place makes my heart sing. And I think some of these color studies could be art work on their own.

 

Painted Pages

Remember I had mentioned the book "Painted Pages" by Sarah Ahearn Bellemare just a couple of weeks back? I bought it! And I read it in a week flat. And I liked it.

This book is a rare book where you get to see the artist's whole process from inspiration to the finished mixed-media work. This is very rare. Generally creative books give instructions and show the finished work. But very few show the genesis, the seed of the concept.

Other than the process there are great exercises to get your creative juices flowing. And the exercises are well thought out, are not intimidating, don't expect you to go out and buy new stuff, don't even expect you to have a lot of stuff and well....are just great. I will definitely be reaching for this book over and over for inspiration.

My only lament is that I wish the publisher had used glossy paper for this book because the photographs (by  Thea Coughlin) are gorgeous and would have popped on glossy paper.

Here is an image from the book of a project that Ms. Ahearn Bellemare shows from start to finish. Gorgeous, no?

More Craving

Another book I am craving - Painted Pages by Sarah Ahearn Bellemare. This artist's work is so gorgeous! I suspect that this book is in my near future :-). 

 

Craving Something New

Thinking of getting this book, even though I have enough things to do and enough books that are unread.

Do you ever feel this way? Craving something new, just cause.......

 

Image from goodreads.com

Being Creative #6 - Inspiration!

Phew what a week! I had a busy, busy week at work and then I had Friday off. I was planning on doing nothing but that just isn't me! I can't keep still. So between Friday and Saturday I created 4 necklaces. Talk about a creative high! So what was your week like, did you create anything?

I also want to shout out to my 3 three kindred spirits - Karen, Moriah and Tricia. Ladies, you are super creative and you have no idea how much you inspire me!

 
On to today's topic - Inspiration! It's a big topic, isn't it? Or at least a long one. Yikes, I cannot promise to keep this short :-)

 

These are the ways I get inspired and keep my creative fire stoked!

1. Magazines - This was a given, right? Very, very obvious. Magazines from companies like Stampington. Interior design mags, fashion mags, style mags, food mags. You name it. But did you also know that their are digital magazines too? Stampington puts out some of their magazines in a digital format. And even for paper mags, you can order them online. So in case you live in a place where access to mags is not easy, don't let that stop you. Have you ever seen this artzine called Pasticcio? And if you like jewelry have you ever seen Bead Trends? It's gorgeous!

 

2. Books - If you have ever been to this blog before you know I love reading. So I am not just talking about technique books or coffee table books. I am talking about fiction too. Some authors paint such beautiful pictures with their words and the best part is that you get to fill in your own visuals. Don't believe me? Let me give you an example:

"A tea shop, especially Theodosia's Indigo Tea Shop, was a place that just naturally granted the patrons the permission to slow down. To sit at one of the little wooden tables impeccably set with sterling silver and bone china. To appreciate the way the sunlight filtered through the old leaded-glass windows, breathe in in the aroma of fresh tea and engage in relaxing conversation. And, of course, there was the major diversion of partaking in a languid three-course, four-course or even six-course tea menu. A menu that began with fruit or cream scones accompanied by billowing poufs of Devonshire cream and strawberry jam. The segued into three-tiered trays laden wuth cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon pinwheels, individual cheese and mushroom quiches, and other mouth watering savories. Of course, an Indigo tea shop grand finale always included sinfully rich desserts such as chocolate truffles, raspberry cobbler, apricot tortes, or miniature almond cakes."

From 'Blood Orange Brewing' by Laura Childs. It makes me want to bake or make truffles (I have done that in the past but hubby and I eat them all and I afraid for our healths, LOL!) or have tea or go out for tea. At the very least it makes me hungry!!

 

3. Movies - Have you ever seen "Alice In WonderLand" by Tim Burton, or "The Holiday" with Kate Winslet/Cameron Diaz or "Practical Magic" or "My Fair Lady" or period films? Lush settings, lush clothes, beautiful visuals to inspire. Do you have any recommendations for me?

 

4. Catalogs - Not just from your favorite craft supply companies but clothing catalogs like Talbots, Ann Taylor, Anthropologie, or from companies like Crate and Barrel. I pay attention to the wall art and designs on cushions and the colors! Just staring at those catalogs gives me ideas on color combinations that work. And the beautiful jewels are to die for.

 

5. Inspiration galleries from your favorite companies - Some on my favorite jewelry supply stores Artbeads, Vintaj, Fire Mountain Gems have inspiration galleries. 

 

6. Flickr - Join Flickr, even if you aren't much into photography itself! There are groups of all kinds that share interests - silk scarves, moleskine art, ferris wheels. After all "A Picture is worth a thousand words"!

 

7. Creative community sites like - Milliande Creative Community, Split Coast Stampers, Shutter Sisters. Do you have any communities to share?

 

8. If you are taking any kind of lessons - online or in person, inspiration can be found from the work of your class mates.

 

9. Blogs - But you already know about this! I just have a little tidbit. Look at the sidebars of your favorite blogs, see what classes or tools or people they mention. Go to the links on their sidebar. Because if you like their blog, odds are you will like the people they link too. I consider blogs to be a gold mine.

 

10. Do something entirely different! When I am stuck or jaded or just do not feel creative I do something entirely different. I go for a walk, watch a movie, go out for lunch. Go window shopping- shops like Anthropologie can be super inspiring! Or you see someone wearing some beautiful jewelery or a scarf that inspires you.

On Friday, I went out to antique stores with Karen and OMG! Just seeing the beautiful vintage lace, and little art cards from cigarette boxes, old maps, dressmakers books got my creative juices flowing. And of course, spending time with a friend like Karen - invaluable! Getting to rave about all the cool things that inspire and the projects we are working on - it was so much fun and so good for the soul! Thanks Karen!!

 

And here is what I am sharing today:

I don't have an technique to talk about here, I was just playing with paints. But those little frames you see? They are from "Melissa Frances", you get these in stamping and scrapbooking stores.

 

So what are you going to share today?
This party will be open till Tuesday noon EST, so feel free to link up, the link tool is below. And if you like you can grab the button for this party from the sidebar.

 

Next week's topic - Writing down ideas? Do you do it? Do you like it? Does it help?

 

 

Keep Creating!

Amisha