June 11, 2012

art to inspire: advice your dad might give you

Father’s Day is right around the corner, so this week’s art to inspire has a fun spin: a light-hearted take on advice your dad would might give you about life and business. Sure, a few of these could be a bit of a stretch, but you’ve never been afraid to use your imagination before. So let’s do this!

Welcome to Me print (above) by Conilab: “I am who I am. Like it or leave it.” Take a cue from dear old Dad on this one and embrace who you are  - flaws and all. People will love you just the way you are. Unless you are a selfish, angry butthead. In which case, you might want to make a few changes.

Screw This print by Sweet Harvey: “Screw this!” If something is not working for you, it might be time to re-evaluate. Just because you’ve been doing X, Y, Z for years doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it that way. If it’s not working, fix it.

Beer print from Amy McAdams Design: “I’m gonna grab a beer.” Dads know when to reward themselves with something they love, and you should be doing the same. The next time you meet one of your big goals for the month or plow through your exploding inbox, reward yourself with a little something. It doesn’t have to be a beer.

Wake Up print from Typographics: “Wake up!” When you were little, did your dad every have to give you a gentle nudge stern reminder that it was time to wake up for school? Well, consider this your wake up call from Dad. If you want your dreams to come true, you’ll have to go out there and chase ‘em down. You won’t hear a knock at your door if you don’t get out of bed.

What words of wisdom has your dad shared with you?

Leave your response in the comments below.

That’s it for art to inspire this week. Happy (early) Father’s Day to all the dads out there!

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May 14, 2012

art to inspire: sometimes it just takes one

Last week, I was catching up on a friend’s blog and she mentioned that a buddy of hers, Megan Gilger, had just opened up a new print shop. So of course, I headed over to check it out and immediately feel in love with darn near every print in Megan’s shop.

Those are a few of her designs above. To see more of her work, visit Hitch Print Shop.

Thoughts to lead you into the rest of your week…

There are more bloggers and Etsy sellers these days than you can shake a stick at. So it is easy to fall into the “Little ole me. I’m not as popular as ________ and what I create doesn’t seem to matter because no one is noticing me.” attitude. I get it – there is a lot of  ”competition” and some of your competitors seem to have it all figured out, with thousands of sales under their belt and tens of thousands of subscribers to their blogs.

BUT you don’t have to reach tens of thousands of people with your voice, your message, your beautifully crafted clay animal figurines. At least not yet.

Just start with one.

Every great thing in this world started with just one person thinking it was so.

And then another, and another.

Your work could be the thing that brightens someone else’s otherwise dismal day. Your message – that heartfelt blog post you wrote last week – can make an impact and strike a cord with a perfect stranger.

That sounds pretty powerful to me, even if you do only have 42 twitter followers.

So go ahead, stop comparing your small potatoes to another’s seemingly abundant garden.

Looking over the fence isn’t going to help your garden grow.

You need to plant your own seeds.

With that in mind, I have a challenge for you: Start this week to make a difference. Attempt to impact just one person’s day, outlook, or attitude. Ignore your follower count and those other thoughts swirling around in your mind – aim to reach just one person. It won’t be long before that one turns into two and two turns into ten…

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images above c/o Megan of Hitch Print Shop Be Real + Be Bold + Be True

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April 16, 2012

art to inspire: words to live by

Instead of blabbing on and on, I am going to let today’s artwork do the talking. Here are nine quotes to get you through the week…

(above) You are my Sunshine by Blacklist Studio

Don’t Let… by Rachel B (Moonflowers)

Always Chase your Dreams (Bear and Robot)

Happy Travels by Karen Yi (Almost Sunday Inc)

Dr. Seuss Quote Print (Livy Love Designs) +  Find your Purpose (Tucker Reece)

There is Nothing Wrong with You by Mati Rose (Suspect Shoppe)

Do More of What Makes you Happy by Brooke Witt (Near and Dear)

Not all who Wonder by Rebecca Peragine (Fresh Words Market)

What words do you live by?

Leave your response in the comments below.

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November 28, 2011

art to inspire: good things grow

print by slidesideways - click for info

You’ve probably been overwhelmed with an endless supply of turkey, stuffing, and sales over the long weekend, so I am going to cut right to the chase for today’s art to inspire…

If you’ve ever compared yourself to someone else, maybe compared your shop/small business/blog to someone else’s, I think you need to hear something:

Good things grow.

Its true. Good things do grow.

BUT not all things grow at the same rate.

Sunflowers begin to sprout from a seed in just seven to fourteen days. Gerber daisies produce a 4-inch plant from a seedling in around twenty-four weeks (that’s almost six months). And growing roses from a tiny seed can take years to reap the rewards of actual blooms. Different flowers bloom at different rates, at different times of year, in various conditions.

So what does all this mean for you?

Think of your business, blog, or shop like a flower. One that starts from a humble beginning: a mysterious seed outside of its packaging, that you can’t identify as one such plant or another.

Give it plenty of water once it is planted. Take care of it. Nurture it. And don’t give up. You never know what you have until it blossoms into what it was always meant to be – a sunflower, a daisy, a rose.

Every flower is different. So how can you compare your “seeds” to someone else’s?

Give it time, keep at it, and stop comparing because eventually, if what you are creating is good, it will grow into what it was meant to be.

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image credit: Good Things Grow. Over the weekend at a holiday show, I met Scott and Jacquelyn Scoggin (the duo that started Slide Sideways) and this is a print from their shop.

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September 26, 2011

art to inspire: a time for adventure

"Let's Be Adventurers" by Fifi Du Vie - click for info

Wake up. Brush your teeth. Get dressed. Have a cup of coffee (or tea). Maybe even a bagel. And then get your work day started.

Sound familiar?

We all fall into routines. Good or bad. It happens. And that is perfectly okay. Routines can be a great thing – they keep us organized, on task, and give structure to an otherwise unstructured day.

BUT if those structured days that you’ve come to know feel more like a rut than a routine, its time to make a change.

What kind of change? A simple shift toward becoming an adventurer.

Do something completely out of the ordinary, something far from the “normal” day to day tasks of your business. Something that is for sheer pleasure or inspiration. And, most importantly, something that reminds you of your passions, not your obligations.

When it comes to adventure, there are no limitations. It can be as small as taking a Photoshop course at your local college (you’ve always wanted to take it and although it has nothing to do with your current creative pursuits, there is truly no time like the present. so get to it) OR as big as packing up all your belonging and moving across the country to a new place with new opportunities (this is something that I literally just did myself – I moved from Jacksonville, Florida to Seattle, Washington on September 23).

Believe it or not, taking the time to do something that seems like it’s “just for you” and completely unrelated to your biz can end up positively affecting your creative work exponentially. So give it a try…what do you have to lose?

Being an adventurer will not only bring you back to your day to day with a fresh perspective, it will also re-ignite the flame that has been dimming for some time.

So, what kind of adventurer will you be?

Leave your response in the comments below.

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