Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

POTD inspiration

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

First of all,  I’m excited to share a POTD idea that I just implemented into our Project Life book yesterday. It was kind of an exciting a-ha! moment for me in my little quest to document life.

{ POTD idea }: Take a screenshot of a satellite view or map of your neighborhood.

Totally a worthy POTD, don’t you think? So what that you didn’t actually take the picture? We can thank crazy-expensive technology for that. Just head over to GoogleMaps and plug in your address. Click on Map or Satellite for options. Zoom in & out to see if you want a wider angle or a close-up view. Then get a screenshot (I use SnapNDrag on our Mac) or a snapshot (with an actual camera) … and there you go!

(No, this isn’t our neighborhood. I just picked a random suburb in the middle of the U.S. to illustrate.)

Where you live is very much a part of your story. Including a birds-eye view is just one more angle from which to document our life. Then journal about why you love the area, or what makes it hard to live there, or whatever you want to write about.

…………….

If your approach to Project Life is documenting a little piece of life every day, you may find yourself wanting a little inspiration from time to time. A few ways to get POTD ideas:

1. If you type “POTD” in the search field here on my blog,  a list of blog posts will come up that have POTD inspiration in some way. I will continue to share POTD ideas on my blog from time to time.

2. If you click on the Photography category here on my blog, you can scroll and scroll and scroll some more to find more ideas — from me and also from awesome fellow blog readers.

3. The Project Life Community always has the latest & greatest in idea-sharing among fellow Project Lifers.

4. Check out other favorite blogs of those participating in Project Life or any type of 365 project. For example, I’m recently inspired by Susan Weinroth’s approach, which is to use her iPhone for their family’s daily shots. No fancy camera, no editing.

And now … I’m pleased to announce yet another way to get life-documenting-picture-taking inspiration! As most of you know, I use the platforms of facebook & twitter to share ideas, links, tips, and even an occasional POTD idea.

5. Now — moving forward — you can expect even more consistent POTD idea-sharing on facebook & twitter. Yippee! Not necessarily every single day but pretty close.

It’s simple: Just click HERE if you want to “like” my facebook page so you automatically get my feed. Or click HERE if you want to get see how to get my twitter feed. I’ll share the same ideas in both places. No reason to follow me in both places.

{ This is the fun part }

I’ll share plenty of my own POTD ideas, sure. But I also want to share the very best reader ideas too. Variety is the spice of life. Have you got a knack for taking great pictures? Have an inspiring POTD idea that most people can relate to or find inspiration from? Here’s the scoop:

1. Email your POTD idea(s) to submissions@beckyhiggins.com anytime. Subject line: POTD.

2. JPG format. Full or medium size.

3. Be sure your picture is already edited, if needed.

4. No deadline. I’m always interested to see what you’re photographing!

5. Must include your first name … and it’d be great to know which state or country you call home.

6. Please include just one quick sentence that describes the concept or idea behind your POTD. Remember, ideas I’ll be passing along via twitter & facebook have to be very short & sweet.

7. By submitting your picture(s), you automatically grant permission for me share/use your picture. Just because you submit a picture doesn’t mean it will be shared or used. If I do share or use it, I’ll let you know. Did you catch all that?  : )

what inspired me.

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Not every picture I want to share warrants its own blog post. But I’m sharing some random photos of a few things that inspired me on our recent trip, on facebook and twitter. You don’t have to sign up or sign in to view.

Of course I will be blogging some pictures too. Oh, and it’s not too late to leave a comment in the last post if you want to be in the drawing for that purse. I’ll announce the winner tomorrow – Friday.

weekend inspiration

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

I was creatively fed over the weekend.

(Seriously, how amazing is this door? This color?)

Thanks to a super supportive hubby, I was able to spend the entire Saturday with some girlfriends as we enjoyed GIRLS DAY OUT. I am immensely blessed to be surrounded by amazing women in my life – near and far. Obviously we were looking forward to spending time with each other … shopping, eating, gabbing about life and just enjoying a break from kiddos and housework and jobs. Such a healthy thing to prioritize once in a while. I recommend it.

But I was also looking forward to being inspired. I was planning to be inspired. I felt it coming. You see, I am perfectly content in my little bubble of local retail. Besides, all I really need is Target and Costco, right? But on Saturday, I was so looking forward to bursting my bubble and heading to places I haven’t been before, seeing things I hadn’t seen before.

We started with the always-creative experience of digging, digging, digging that is called Last Chance (1919 E Camelback Rd, Ste 1 in Phoenix, AZ; (602) 248-2843). You’d think we were outside the Apple store on the day the iPad becomes available. Not quite that exciting. Just bargain clothes shopping. We walked in those doors at 10:00 on the dot. Right when they opened.

I am grateful my friend Karolyn forces me to go to Last Chance once in a while. Because I am usually not in the digging mood. But I geared up for that on Saturday and totally scored the best deals. My favorite find? Yummy. I feel like I’m walking on sunshine in these shoes (and they were $19 – yay!).

I promise I won’t go over the play-by-play of our day, but I have to tell you that it was so fun running into Allison Tyler Jones at her photography studio! Totally random, actually. We were next door at Domestic Bliss in downtown Mesa and Allison happened to be next door and happened to be wrapping up a photo shoot. You do know who she is, right?

First of all, how fun to see Allison! I first met her years ago (it must’ve been about 1998-ish?) when I walked into Memory Lane, her scrapbook store. I was overwhelmed with her store’s coolness and she was just genuinely kind and I felt support from her as I shared thoughts on wanting to publish a book about creative lettering (which did happen and it was my very first book). Allison was one of the early “scrapbooking pioneers” for sure.

Anyway. Super to see Allison and even more super to see her in this environment of where she evolved to be. Her style and vision and talent, combined with her sister’s interior design expertise makes for an amazing studio space. All of it. The studio. The offices. Even the bathroom. Amazing.

This is just outside her studio:

This is inside her studio:

No space was left un-touched. Check out this wall in the bathroom:

Amazing, amazing, ah-may-ZING. Thanks for the impromptu tour, Allison! Such a treat. You can see Allison’s photography here.

Moving on. More boutiques and home decor stores and fun, fun eye candy.

And let’s be honest. Some things just couldn’t remain as eye candy. Some things had a little voice that said, Becky, I am yours. Take me home. And so I did. Oh man, does this piece EVER have potential! I can’t wait to play.

Found that piece at The Crowded House in Mesa, by the way. I don’t think they have a website, but their address is 1927 N Gilbert Rd Ste 1, Mesa, AZ. Tel: 480-834-3002.

Speaking of playing … and last but not least … I can’t wait to get to work on this collection of happy colors!

The vision is there. It’s been in my mind for months and it’s just taken this long to make time for it. And thanks to Designer Blvd., my friends and I pulled together a mad collection of yumminess. It’s been probably 10 years since I last put together a real floral arrangement. Watch out. I am so ready.