i think i just fell in love.

i stumbled upon this beautiful image today on my friend jennifer's facebook page: 

the artist is a british illustrator named clare owen (clare spelled the same way as the character in the time traveler's wife, one of my favorite books!) i, of course, hurried to learn more about her and came across a lovely interview on No Country for Young Women. 

she is also featured today on Design Sponge.

this one is called Dream Bike. (of course it is!)

i think i am going to save up my dollars to buy a print. i really love all of them, but the sewing machine is  just perfection. if you want to see more of her work, take a look at her web site and etsy shop.

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i love this piece of advice she offers to aspiring female artists:

{ "And by the way, everything in life is writeable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." -- Sylvia Plath

I think this quote can apply to any creative field. For your best work, you have to be calm and confident. So try to keep your head up and believe in what you do. }

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i have never considered myself an artist, but i do see beauty in crafting, even if it is more practical than most "art." i also appreciate these words as i continue to learn how to apply creative ideas into journalistic design. so perfect.

i hope you stumble upon something just as inspiring today. 

spinning their stories.

when i think about how long it's been since i have been crafty, it makes me sad. grad school's not kidding around. it's major. i have had quite a few projects already that have kept me extremely (and surprisingly) busy. 

because hair treasures is on a forced hiatus, it seems, along with all other projects, i thought i would share some of the creative work i've been able to do in my classes. i am by no means posting my work because i think it's award-winning -- these are really my first attempts. i just thought it might be fun to share the journey as channel my crafting creativity into print design. 

assignment: create a cover and four-page magazine spread. 

programs used: Adobe InDesign & PhotoShop

disclaimer: the woman in the photos is not the actual woman interviewed in the story. all other info in the spread is true, though, if you should happen to browse the actual text.

this is my cover. i wanted it to look fall-timey so i found a picture of leaves and a fuzzy acorn. the "local spotlight" is a teaser for the rest of my project.

these are the first two pages of my four-page spread, so just imagine that this folds down the middle a la magazine. i fell in love with this giant yarn, especially the yellow, so there is yellow all over the rest of the project. 

i wrote the story for another class but wanted to use it in my design, so if you want to read about ladies who spin their own yarn, go right ahead. 

these are the last two pages of the spread. again, just imagine a line down the middle. i knew i wanted to do a spinning wheel diagram because the parts have crazy names! everything here is fairly simple, but i like the way it turned out. 

(i still need to get myself to yarns unlimited and in a yarn basket! i also still need to learn how to knit and/or crochet. oops.)

i had a wonderful time interviewing the ladies for this story. i stumbled upon them one saturday morning and spent a couple hours with them. they gave me a homemade drop spindle and some wool so i could make my own yarn. it's still sitting on my desk, but hopefully i can spin it like a pro sometime soon! 

thanks for checking up on me. hopefully i will be back soon! enjoy fall.