inspiration from a different source

I thought I'd share a different source of inspiration today.  One of the best parts about creating any kind of art is that you can find inspiration just about anywhere.  It doesn't have to be when you're looking at other art or at anything else related to your field.

One of my favorite catalogs is the Crate and Barrel catalog.  We registered there for our wedding so we got their mailings for a while, but they lost track of us in Iowa, probably because there are no Crate and Barrels in Iowa.  Now that we're in Milwaukee and are only about 15 minutes away from the closest one, we're getting catalogs and coupons.  I haven't bought anything...yet, but there are lots of inspiration selections in the latest catalog.  Here are a few of my favorites.  Hopefully they'll get you inspired, too.

You can actually order a mixed set with all of the colors!  How much fun is that?

Perfect colors for fall.

Of course I love some of their leafy items.

Great dotted picks.

And finally, some awesome stripes.

Friday feature: yellow dotted

I'm sure that many of you already know how much I love dotted items.  I thought it would be fun to mix it up this week and feature yellow dotted items.  Yellow is a great summer color and not one that I visit often.  Enjoy!

Summer Party Minibook Kit by waveney

Yellow dotty change purse with matryoshka motif by Angharad

Polka dot yellow cork bulletin Board by cdmdesign

Little Miss Sunshine: Ceramic Coasters by campbellandco

Lemon Drop Boutique Pinwheel Bow Interchangeable by CharliesHalo

Colorful polka dot teacup adjustable rings by rawrcakes

Yellow Buttons with white polka dots by TheWickedPotter

sneak peaks, EtsyBloggers treasury curated by me

Here's my newest bargello design in progress.  As you may remember, I beaded a green version of Carol's design for myself this winter.  I actually took this picture yesterday and meant to post it then but I forgot.  Better late than never, right?

It doesn't look so garishly bright in more natural lighting.  For some reason, that shade of red delicas really pops and seems to pull the other colors with it.  I based the colors off of this set of bowls, and it does match them pretty closely.  I'm going to embellish it with coordinating cube beads...eventually.

I took a picture of my leafy necklace custom order beads this morning before I started putting it together.

It's still in the very early stages of development.  I'm planning to work on it more after I post here tonight.  I'm only going to use the three lamp work beads that are in the middle.  I almost always use four for my leafy bracelets, but I think that three will create a nice focus without too much extra weight.  The four beads in the corner are in case I decide to make a new Indian Summer bracelet after I finish the necklace since I sold the original bracelet at the Arts Festival.  I'm going to have to get some more yellow leaf beads if I decide to do that.

I signed up to curate an EtsyBloggers treasury for this Friday.  I finished it today, so I'm going to go ahead and shared it.  I decided to theme it Dots.

You can view this treasury live by CLICKING HERE.  Please spread the word fellow EtsyBloggers. :)

remake (with blue dots!)

I listed a remake today of a design that I put together over the summer. I sold the original before I could even list it on Etsy. I'm happy to have another version in my inventory and now listed on Etsy.



I will be listing a couple other new items over the next few days, too.