Monday Morning Joy : Naturayarte

AMAZING!

I’m thinking the week ahead is going to be as full of creativity, patterns and amazement as these leaf cuts…. You?

See more amazing work HERE.

5 steps to success

Do you ever wonder how some people always seem to make things work — no matter how situations change they just seem to roll with it?

The one-word reason behind their success is EVOLUTION : The ability to adapt to a changing environment.

And the steps necessary to do this are pretty simple:

Make a plan

•     What are you going to do and how?

Execute your plan

•     Put it into ACTION

Evaluate your success

• Did what you think was going to happen, happen? What didn’t happen? or What happened differently than you expected?

Modify

• Change the original plan to address what you learned during evaluation

Repeat

• Over and over and over again.

I started this blog originally as a way of making my artwork more accessible to a wider audience.

I quickly realized how much more it is, how much I enjoy sharing my perspective with all of you and hearing yours in return. I am also so appreciative of how writing this blog has increased my awareness of the small moments in my life that make it beautiful but that are so easy to take for granted. This was a completely unexpected outcome.

Being here, sharing my world has become a responsibility that I do not take lightly, a responsibility I am honored to have. I’m trying to work on how to make it a better fit in my busy life — how to keep sharing honestly and creatively without over-filling my time or neglecting other responsibilities.

Up to this point I’ve written very organically without planning too much — writing a post when something pops into my head. As the business grows and my graduate project continues and the sun shines, there are more and more claims to my time. I’m having a harder time feeling good about what and how often (or not) I post.

So I’m getting organized. I’ve evaluated and now I’m modifying my original plan.

I also have so much I want to share that I don’t feel like it all will fit into this blog without making it burst at the seams.

SO. Here’s the plan:

• I will continue to post 2-3 times a week on artists that inspire me, my weekly adventures in Montana, on fun projects and recipes that you might enjoy and on my creative endevors.

• On the sidebar to your right you will notice there is a newsletter signup form. If you are interested in receiving a monthly update — the best blog posts from the month, new work that I’ve listed in my shop, upcoming news, interesting tidbits, a photo or two of Montana life and an occasional coupon or free download, sign up!

• And finally, I have gotten some comments and emails lately about creativity, about how to start projects and  how to stay motivated. These are all topics that I run into frequently in my own life and my thoughts have been percolating over the past year as I exercise my creative muscles more and more. I’m interested in your ideas and I’d like to have a place here to address these subjects more directly and more indeptly.

To talk about process and inspiration.

To push and stretch ourselves.

So, I’m starting a second newsletter that focuses on tapping into your own creativity.

It will be a place to read my thoughts on the subject and share your own, to get inspired, to get tips and tasks and a free gift or two. If you’re interested, sign up below:

Subscribe to the Paper Route Designs Creativity Bonanza Newsletter!

Monday Morning Joy : Thereza Rowe

How are you this morning?

Ready for some lovely, colorful artwork to start off the day?

If so, keep looking! You won’t be disappointed.

To see more of her prolific work, visit her website .

{via MAIYA}

Do you lead an artful life?

I shamefully can’t remember where I saw this:

But I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately: that creativity is so much more than being able to draw and that choices and intention are powerful tools in creating (CREATING!) the life you want to lead.

My thoughts are shaping into a new project that I’m eager to share with you…

But I’d love to hear your thoughts: Do you think that you’re creative? Do you, or others, tell you that you are not? Do you make choices, aware of how they contribute to the artfulness of your life?

Tell me what you think, and in return, I’ll fill you in on my plans!

Happy Friday! I hope it is sunny where you are and that you have lovely plans for the weekend.

The root of my work

It began in the spring, with a flower. Actually many flowers.

Every summer day that I take my dogs into the wilds we are surrounded by a sea of blooms of every shape and color. It would be impossible to NOT be inspired in some way… and so I began.

First with these three. Enchanted by their form – the shapes composing each very different flower, the positive and negative spaces in each photograph – I challenged myself to capture in paper the shapes that so appeal to me in life :

Encouraged by the challenge and fun of the first three I tackled more of the meadow, watching my skill and confidence grow as I went  :

And now I have even more to offer you!

Now available in the shop: Montana Meadow silhouette prints in four styles, each with its own unique story.

AND for a limited time, four Montana Meadow original papercuts. With the originals you are able to clearly see that each flower is cut by hand from one piece of black paper — capturing the delicacy and intricacies of the blooms. Tissue paper is used behind the image to create a colorful stained-glass effect and each is mounted with complementing colors.

Closer:

Prints and originals are signed and dated and ready to move into your home!

Surrounding yourself with art is one of the best ways to turn a house into a home and to create a sanctuary that you can thrive in.

Treat yourself!

For more photos and information, click HERE, or on the shop tab at the top of the page.

Monday Morning Joy : Tahiti Pehrson

Beautiful, ethereal paper cuts to start the week off on a peaceful note.

See more work here  

{via My Love For You is a Stampede of Horses}

Friday morning funnies

Since I missed this weeks Monday Morning post, I thought I’d liven up your Friday with this New Yorker cartoon caption contestant (try saying THAT five times fast!). It tickled me.

Dan Wineman, found via The Mavenist (also fun reading!)

It is, of course, taking me SO much longer to get all my new work into my etsy shop than I expected. I’m working away and in the meantime, have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Finding treasures in the forest

Every year I envy my dogs drinking the spring runoff . Bright, cold water that I imagine tastes like pine and soil and growth. Like spring.

They look at me smiling through the shafts of sunlight, water dripping from their chin.

Monday morning we went up a trail I haven’t visited in years. Alone in the woods, with only the sounds of birds, bright against the rushing creek.

After a steep climb we came around a bend to find an ephemeral spring bubbling from the earth. Filtered by its passage through rock and gravel, it tasted of summits and snow. Of distance. Of spring.

It is good to remember that treasures take many forms. That by merely having eyes open to the world around you can bring unexpected gifts.

A recipe for the Fourth

Do you have big plans for this weekend?

In this northern climate, the 4th of July weekend is the unofficial start of barbeque season. Sure, we’ve been grilling since February, but I’m talkin’ spontaneous, build-a-campfire-in-the-backyard, invite-all-your-friends, stay-up-late-on-a-week-night summer barbecues.

If you have any fun barbecues in your future and are looking for something new to contribute to the meal, try this:

Sun-dried Tomato Dip

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes (I get a big jar from Costco, but you could use reconstituted dried sun-dried tomatoes or homemade oven roasted tomatoes)

1 garlic clove

2 T olive oil

1 T red wine vinegar

1 package SOFT silken tofu

salt and pepper to taste

a hearty shake or pinch of Italian herbs

Put all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Scoop into a pretty bowl and serve with fresh veggies or tortilla chips. Stand back and watch your friends devour it and heap you with complements.

(If you are concerned about the reception of tofu in your social circle, I’ve been serving this for a couple of years to a crew of confirmed carnivores and when they hear that it’s tofu they blink once or twice and reach for another chip.)

For dessert, check out this post on POPSICLES from Design Crush. I need more popsicle makers!

Have a lovely, lovely long weekend.

JULY!