Unexpected Treasure Hunting...

Sometimes adventures just jump into our paths. Like mine did last night. And most of my adventures happen via the lovely interweb, but they're still exciting to me!

So, here I am...in this relatively decent hotel whose floors are for some odd reason always damp...and I'm just itching to create but I'm running out of materials...
I have been thinking and dreaming and sketching and more thinking and just a touch more dreaming of what I can do to entertain my creativity addiction.
My husband's Army gear overflows the trunk area of our SUV and we decided to reorganize it yesterday evening. And YO HO!!! TREASURE!! My art bag of acrylic paints was buried underneath his Army stuff. Apparently, moving companies can't move paint of any kind and I had forgotten that we had to travel with it.
And I have heard of it before, so I thought this was a sign to look into the crafting technique of...

FABRIC PAINTING!!

Sure, I have done it before but terribly failed. I was young and just messing with whatever I could find to make T-shirts. But I'm more skilled now and have a better sense of neatness and visual appeal.

I now have tons of links saved to look into more thoroughly later.

But here my friends are the gems I found...the possibilities are endless with fabric painting! As I perused the Internet for images of this art form, I have stumbled across pages of artists that made me squeal with glee out of sheer amazement and awe they brought to me.

And let me take a moment to further explain something about myself and my appreciation for art. Art can literally bring me to tears or give me chills or make me laugh or make me angry or make me completely stunned...If it doesn't do that for you, I don't think you are properly taking the time to truly appreciate what's before you. It's not your fault though. It may even be an unofficial 7th sense a person can have.
But I just wanted to include that art is emotional for me and the artwork I'm about to showcase to you from brilliant talent may bring you to tears or make you jump into the air with your fist raised high like the end of most 80s movies. So maybe you should stretch first and limber up before you proceed...

I first came across this wonderful artistic duo, Cart Before The Horse. Read their info, read their individual blogs, and go to their website...They're just interesting people and their art is very interesting. I love art that can make you uncontrollably come up with stories for the characters they create.

Here's a few of their pieces I love and they're fabric painters:

And then there's another fabric painter, who's stuff I just love. I'm a huge skeleton fan and of De Los Muertos art! So Kat Brunnegraff has become one of my loves! I actually didn't find her last night. I have been a fan for awhile, but when I thought of trying out fabric painting, I immediately thought of her work!
Here's just a few of her Sugar Skellies that will surely delight your imagination!

One bad thing about finding this sort of amazing talent is that I second guess myself. I tell myself these people obviously have this field covered. There's no way I could match or even top their talent! But I refuse to not at least give myself the opportunity to amaze myself. Sometimes that happens and makes me all warm & fuzzy inside. Kind of like this whole plushie experience I've had...

I had no idea I'd grow up to be a toy maker.

AND LOOK AT ME NOW!

Wish me luck on my fabric painting mission. It will definitely be messy. I better fashion a trash bag poncho for this voyage!

*********************************************************************

And lastly, a very fun Owenism!

My daughter and I going to the restroom at a restaurant....

Our conversation from separate stalls:

Owen: "I stole a french fry."

Me: "You carried a fry with you to the bathroom?"

Owen: "AW, C'MON! I get hungry on adventures."

My daughter is a comedic, witty 5-year-old genius!

xoxo

<3 Jess

Inspiration Seed

That's all it takes to create something...like a plant or tree starts from a seed...an idea has the same concept.

Inspired by the abundance of talent on the interweb...my inspiration seed has sparked my desire to dedicate this blog post to what inspires me. I hope it evokes a jumpstart for your current projects or life in general.

I try to be inspired by everything because really everything has a purpose.

I am just astounded by the amount of talent that's on facebook! I love seeing the little creatures that other plushie makers are making. And even sometimes I honestly get angry that I didn't think of some of them first! Not in a hateful way of course...just so impressed that I blame myself for a moment. I don't think that I have reached my full potential. And I doubt I ever will because if I do, does that mean I'll have nothing more to offer?! GASP!

Here's a few of my finds...

The Feltery

Love Bunny!

Lorena Alvarez ^

Pink Cheeks Studios v

I find it strange that I've mostly been doing animals. I love animals, I really do. But I've always sketched the unusual and the unreal critters since I was young. I always used to draw these imaginary lands that I wish I lived in.

I admire Pink Cheeks Studios imaginary creatures so much to the point, I may be obsessed with them. Seeing all of them, made me think to myself...I'm making a lot of things that I think will sell and not spending more time making the creatures that I want to exist. No one has forced me to, but in these two months I've been doing what I'm doing...I just got caught up in a whirlwind and I'm trying to slow things down, take what I've learned, and refocus everything into the right direction.

I'm honestly not doing this biz to make money.

I do it to keep me sane and happy.

This is healthy me time! No boozing. No drama.

Just me and my imagination.

Whew, got side-tracked... lol

Back to inspiration...

MUSIC! I know, I know...generic, right? But it's true.

Music is so inspiring to me.

I'm going to start showcasing artists that I adore and you may like too. I'm an indie/alternative girl.

I like chill music with awesome lyrics and/or folky, uptempo happy sounds.

So let me showcase a song that might amuse you...

Hey Rosetta! - "Welcome"

There's more that inspires me but those are the two big ones and I realize this is getting lengthy :)

So we'll end with an Owenism:

"Maybe since you've been outside, the dirty has come back for revenge. Muahahahaha!"

This came from Drew saying out loud to no one in particular that he needed to take a shower.
Owen said to him, "Yeah you stink"

He said I took a shower this morning.

And this Owenism was her reply lol

Yes. I know what you're thinking. And you're right.

I get lots of inspiration from my family.

ESPECIALLY OWEN!