Shift Freedom

I took a drive this weekend out to Leesburg to get outta dodge for a bit. While out there I wandered a bit into some antique stores taking lots of pictures. I love these clear fall days that allow for space away from our busy days...grasping a bit of freedom. I got to linger over a coffee at Shoes, this great little cafe in Old Town Leesburg that used to be a shoe factory. Snapped lots of shots that inspired me with some new lesson ideas. It was a great day...need more of them before the weather changes and all I want to do is hibernate!

My weekend...

Good design

In a simple trip to Trader Joe's it is apparent that some company's care about good design. Part of caring beyond the obvious of aesthetics, is maintaining consistancy. These 3 package designs caught my eye for those reasons, and for a third, cleverness in title. I try to get my students to understand that someone got paid to design that package of cheese!!! (We don't discuss the beer, although equally clever~) Today, though...I am happy to just be eating some. :)

On my radar...

I am a journal FREAK! I have accumulated many over the years and always have one on me for a sketch, a bit of writing or collage. The first thing I do when I get a new journal is design the cover. The one above right has images and quotes that are inspiring and work well together.

I share this process with my students as they are learning about Visual Journals in both Studio and Photography class. Today we will be talking about Ephemera and how it can be used as a medium in collage.

I love these new SMASHbooks for journaling. They're a good place to start experimenting with journaling if you are new to it since each page has a background and/or a prompt to get you thinking. Just got myself a SMASH stick yesterday :)

For a bit of inspiration check out this blog and watch the video on how to SMASH~