Monday, February 15, 2010

Blog It Forward: What Inspires Me

I can't believe it's finally my turn to post for the "Blog it Forward" mashup, and I somehow managed to get myself sandwiched in between two pretty awesome blogs, Sweet Sassafras (who blogged on Friday), and Sycamore Street Press (who blogs tomorrow)! It's been pretty amazing to read all the inspirational posts so far, and it's definitely a nice way to start the day, so without further ado here is what inspires me. 


For me, inspiration comes in spurts. It's not a steady stream of consciousness running in the back of my head. It's not dependable, and I can't call upon it whenever I need a little extra push. It's like lightning. It strikes at random and without much warning, and it leaves my senses tingling. It excites me, and moves me, and fills me up so much I feel like I could burst. But just as quickly as it comes, it also then sadly slips away, and I question when the next wave of inspiration will hit. I am not an artist. I am not focussed. My mind wanders, and with it so does my creativity. I dabble here, and I dabble there. But each time I express this creative side of myself I allow my mind to grow just a little bit more. Creativity is my love... my passion. The things that inspire me weave in and out of my life, touching my soul, allowing me to expand my creative canvas, and leaving me fulfilled and content. There is not just one thing that inspires me, and there is not just one part of my soul that is affected. With each strike of my inspirational lightning a different part of my being is awakened, and allowed a chance to take flight.

  • I am inspired and fascinated by the ever changing beauty of the ocean. The sand surrounds me in a comforting blanket, while the music of the water sets me free and let's me get lost in the moment. Together they wash away my worries, and cleanse my soul. 
  • Nothing is more perfect or inspiring then natural light. The way the sun (or even the moon) can dance across a surface, and play with the air, makes me strive to stretch my creativity in order to capture it, and its essence. 
  • My pets inspire me to pursue my love of photography. Even though animals can not talk and can not smile, they can love. They can love unconditionally, and without expectations, and my camera allows me to capture this love. 
  • My mom, my Mummy, inspires me in ways I can not even express. She continually offers me never ending love and support, and is truly my best friend. She is always there for me when I need her, whether it is to celebrate in joy and happiness, or it is to pick up the pieces of my broken heart, and attempt to mend them back together. She is always inspiring me to be a better version of myself. 
  • With his Top Chef worthy skills and passion, my dad inspires me to cook... when nobody is looking. He inspires me to stretch my DIY wings, and allows me to explore my every artistic whim and fancy. He influences my passions in ways that he doesn't even know, or realize. 
  • Project Runway inspires me to whip out my sewing machine. It only takes me viewing one episode for me to think that I can be the next sewing genius... forget what a whole marathon can do to me! Sewing aside though, and this show is forever inspiring me to whip up something fun and crafty.
  • The kiddos in my life (not my own... I was a nanny) are a constant reminder to me at how quickly time passes. They inspire me to enjoy all the small things in life, stopping every now and again to take it all in, and allowing my heart to fill up with love. {In addition to the kiddos, my friend Wendy is also very good at inspiring me to have this same attitude, and her words always make such a lovely lasting impression on me.} 
  • The people I care about inspire me to write, by fueling the emotions that allow my words to come to life with such passion and meaning.
Inspiration is different for everyone, and even though many of us are inspired by the same types of things, it is the way that we each personally see them that makes them unique, and makes them special to us. Now in the spirit of the mashup, and the blogging community, please be sure to check out the other wonderful posts that will be inspiring the blogosphere today (A Diary of Lovely, Bread of Many, Darcy Rogers, Green Chair Studio, La Dolce Vita, Mocking Bird, Paper and Thread, Seek & Find Design and The Yellow House in The U), and don't forget to check out Sycamore Street Press when she blogs it forward tomorrow! AND I also just want to send out a HUGE thank you to everyone for stopping by today, and for reading about what inspires me. I hope you all have a lovely and inspiration filled day!!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Oh And P.S.

I have totally failed to mention that the "Blog it Forward" mashup starts TOMORROW!! Be sure to check out the schedule, and be prepared for plenty of inspiring posts! Since there is a total of 300 (yup 300!) bloggers participating in this crazy adventure it will be kicking off on 10 different blogs (Creature Comforts, Design for Mankind, Heart Fish, Hula Seventy, ink on my fingers, oh, hello friend, the paper pony, Poppytalk, sfgirlbybay and Smile and Wave). My post will be coming to you on Monday the 15th, and you should also be sure to check out my friend Elizabeth's post (of Beer Barn fame!) when it hits on Wednesday the 24th... it will be featured on her new craftalicious blog Button & Bean!


And p.s. sorry for all the link madness in this post! I just needed to make sure everyone got credit where credit was due!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Blog Mashup

Ugh... sigh... hmph. So unfortunately the babysitting job that I had set up for this week fell through at the last moment, as the family decided to cancel, and have some friend watch their children instead. Again, ugh... sigh... hmph. With that said, I do get to bring you the details of the special blog project (the one I hinted at on Friday) all that much earlier!


Before I give you the details though, let me quickly give you the back story as to how this project was born (this is my favorite part!). I happened to be cruising through Twitter-land when I stumbled upon sfgirlbybay's brainstorming session on how to spread the blog love. She and some friends of hers were throwing ideas back and forth on how to incorporate each other's blogs in a new and fresh way. Immediately thoughts of music mashups and crossover TV shows popped into my head. I mustered up 140 characters of courage, and replied to her tweet for help with this:  "a sort of blog mashup! Or like when TV shows collide, you could start a post on one blog, only to have it end on another..." Somehow this was immediately responded to, people clapped, and the "Blog it Forward" mashup was born. It all happened rather fast (thanks social media!), and now I can't wait to read all the posts that will be gracing the blogosphere in the upcoming months. 

And now for the actual "Blog it Forward" mashup details! Be sure to check out sfgirlbybay's post, because she is the amazing lady in charge of this huge project (not to mention she has graciously taken on all the organizing). But basically, if you blog, you are more than welcome to join the mashup! We are all going to be writing about what inspires us, so no matter what type of blog you have the theme will remain consistent. Should you choose to join, just be sure to email Victoria at sfgirlbybay no later then Friday of this week. After that just sit back and take it all in!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Stay Tuned

So I'm not quite sure where exactly this day has gone, and I truly need to go be more productive, because quite honestly the only "real" things I've accomplished thus far have been: showering, moving my car to a new space and back again for street cleaning, and successfully securing a temporary babysitting job for Monday-Thursday of next week. However, I wanted to quickly introduce you all to a fun new project that's brewing out in blog land. The lovely Victoria over at sfgirlbybay is organizing this whole BIG event, and she'll be kicking off the project on her blog sometime in February. It will be a way for ANY and ALL bloggers to come together and really embrace each other, and the blogging community (so my fellow blogger friends, if the fancy strikes you once you hear the details, be sure to sign up)! I am SUPER EXCITED about this project, so be sure to check back next week when I'll reveal to you all the real details! In the meantime I will leave you with this AMAZING mashup by DJ Earworm (which may or may not be a small clue to the new blog project)!


United State of Pop 2009 Mashup - "Blame it on the Pop," and be sure to check out the original from 2007, it's my personal fave!