Picture Inspiration

I am participating in Picture Inspiration which started this week with Tracey Clark. I am looking forward to the weekly prompts in order to help me keep up with my photography practice. Participating in Picture Fall last year seemed to help get me out of a creative funk and I am hoping this will do the same. It seems to slide if I don't have inspiration or a project I am working towards. This first week it is all about starting out with the focus on ourselves. Self portraits are definitely challenging for me. The first is taken with my iPhone and the second with my Nikon.

Did you know?

Did you know have a terrible habit of switching blogs or deleting them all together? I did the same things with journals growing up. I don't own a single one. They were all torn up and disposed of. In fact the only journal I currently have is the one I started last Fall. I made a promise to myself not to do that anymore. I now feel that small pieces of your past can be kept and stored away if only to remind you how far you have come. I've never been much a saver until recently when I started to appreciate the value of heritage and family treasures.

Something you also may not know is that two years ago I finished up a very challenging Project 365. I blogged it all. Every single day. I took a new photo every...single...day. I started it with a curiosity to learn photography better.  By the end I definitely succeeded in sharpening my skills. Although, the task and discipline of taking a photo every day is not something I ever want to do to myself again. I put too much creative emphasis into most of the photos and ended up getting burnt out in the end. It felt forced and not nearly as fun. But I made it through and now I have a beautiful time capsule of daily photos for one whole year of my life.

So here is my former Project 365 site and all my photos. I hope you enjoy the journey! It was quite a ride!

She held love in her hands

The difference a day makes

It is all about perspective

Friday Finds

Etsy has quickly become my absolute favorite place to shop and browse. I love supporting other artists and finding unique things. Here are a few of my recent acquisitions.

Tea cozy from Knit Storm

Lace Necklace from White Owl

Round and Round

I think writing out my Life List has really given it momentum. I cannot believe that I have crossed off yet another item. All in less than 4 months time I have checked off 4 things! That means I need to dig deeper and start adding some bigger dreams to the list. Maybe I'm making it too easy on myself. Or maybe writing down my intentions helped give them flight. Whatever it is, it seems to be working for me on getting them done.

Yesterday just happened to be my first ever Pole Dancing class. You'll remember I almost crossed it off my list a few months ago. Please overlook the grainy iPhone shots. They are just my proof that I was there. That I did it anyway. Even though I was extremely nervous about making a fool out of myself. My friend who was supposed to come with me canceled at the last minute which upped my anxiety just a bit more. For half a second I thought about bailing. I love to try new things just not so much when they involve coordination, dance steps and going it alone. But I did it anyway.

I'm feeling sore and little bruised today but I know this is something I can go back and learn more from. It can teach me how to unwind that tight protective rubber band of a ball I have wrapped around my facade. It can teach me to feel the music and move with it. It can teach me to laugh again. Plus there is absolutely no argument on how awesome of a workout it is! My arms tell me so.

I want to send out a special thank you to Allison from Ophidia Studio for hooking me up with a free session and teaching a kick-ass class! I hope to be back very, very soon!

Art Journal Love Day

Double posts for today! Dirty Footprints Studio is hosting an Art Journal Love Day party which started on Valentine's Day. There are also some pretty sweet prizes being given away so make sure to hop on over! I thought it was the perfect motivation for me to start in my art journal. So that I did.

Here is another from a few weeks ago which just happens to nicely fit in with the theme. I am feeling a lot of love and gratitude lately and it must be coming through in my artwork.