There are so many interesting ideas, techniques and wonderful eye candy out there, how is a girl (or guy) to choose which blogs to visit? or which projects to work on? How to juggle it all???I attended a webinar on marketing oneself yesterday, and one idea for generating interest was to visit and link to other blogs. I know I could easily get sucked into hours on the computer and then not make any progress on my projects... How to choose? If you've got a good answer, please let me know!
Here's what I'm going to try: visit a blog, find a tidbit of inspiration, and then get to work. Don't know if I can do it without getting sucked in, but here's today's pick -- GrannyGoodStuff. Thea's got a quote from Erma Bombeck that I love:
"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me.""
I'm not sure it is possible to use up talent, but what a challenge and privilege to try. In Erma's honor, I whipped up this little digital collage. As usual, Photoshop Elements blending modes transformed some wonderful images into something glorious. I can't wait to print it on fabric...
(technical details follow if you're interested).
- Background: "A Wash of Blue" artist paper from Somerset Studio magazine (scanned at 300 dpi) -- I love anything with handwriting, as long as it isn't mine!
- Layer 1: SpotDots brush by Katie Pertiet (selected a deep blue from the design, Soft Light mode, 50% opacity)
- Layer 2: a stunning photo of the flowers on a black background from "The Agile Rabbit Picture Atlas of Flowers" (Overlay mode, 80% opacity)
Oh boy, do I ever hear what you are saying ... it is hard to continue your creativity and research on the internet. I find it best that I take one night and do the majority ... then I have my other evenings free and I am not trying to blog and research every night. I may take two or three other times during the week to reply and look around. I find that way I am not drawn into it every day and lose hours ~ the most important thing is your work ... so finding a balance and time for both is key!
ReplyDeleteI wish you all the best,
Barbara
Hi, Barbara!
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of picking a day for internet research but probably would have to do mine in the morning when I check email (while waiting for my morning tea to kick in!). It is too easy for me to get overstimulated at night and then I can't sleep -- I get all these ideas and want to play and then can't turn my brain off.
One thing I'm trying is to spend less time "ruminating" on an idea and more time doing, whether it is working in Photoshop, drafting a quilt pattern, etc. I tend to spend too much time in my head and overthink things. That means being willing to toss out some ideas that don't work, but I hope it will help quiet the "not good enough" voice in my head, too. :-) We'll see... Cheers!
thanks for the linky, K - lovely work on the digital image - I am hoping to get Photoshop on my 'puter soon! Would love to try it....
ReplyDeleteOf course, my NY Resolution is to spend LESS time on the computer and MORE time at the sewing machine! lol - like I should be right now!
Oh, yes, Thea, I should be sewing, too, but had to say Hi first. I spend too much time messing around with Photoshop (I have Elements) but I've come up with some great images and ideas so I guess it isn't a complete waste of time. :-)
ReplyDeleteHappy Sewing! K