Tag Archives: inspiration

GET LIVING.

Johnny was in the midst of the Italian Market festival (attended by thousands) seemingly unchaperoned and offering $3 black and white portraits to festival goers.  There was even a $2 upsell to a color version of your portrait!

My heart swelled. I wanted to hug him, love him, wish him unending luck, pinch his cheeks, and dump $50 into his little jar of dollar bills.  Instead, I got my portrait drawn.  And made my friend get her portrait drawn.  And heckled a few passers-by into forking over the dough to get their portraits made, too.

Johnny’s out there living his dream.  He’s showing up.  He’s looking people in the eye and making art.  He’s earning money for it.  He’s a little crazy and a little fearless.

This week, let’s forget our fears, all the ‘what-if’s and reasons to give up.  Let’s go make art.  Just like Johnny.

SHOW COMMENTS HIDE COMMENTS 6 comments

Jennifer stanhope - June 11, 2010 - 1:16 pm

Once my 10 year old daughter wanted earn some money for donated a single mom who have a partly of Alzheimer’s disease..
she had her baked sale on my driveway..made over $40!!
she would sell anything to stranger! I am so proud of her.

erika - May 26, 2010 - 8:16 am

I thought it was gonna say “but instead I took him aside and told him to raise his prices…..”

=)

johnwaire | photo - May 26, 2010 - 7:32 am

i really like this one :)

Megan C. - May 25, 2010 - 10:52 am

That is awesome!!!

Karyn - May 25, 2010 - 9:57 am

Love it. =)

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Crystal Chick, Brand Camp. Brand Camp said: Johnny is my hero. He's 10. http://bit.ly/cspYSK [...]

INSPIRED BY: THE BOOKWORM

Being creative for a living means you need to be inspired.  A lot.

The more creative juice you’re putting into the world, the more lovely goodness you need to soak up and internalize.  It’s dreary February.  I long to be outside for hours at a time without turning into a popsicle.  Instead, I’m holed up with a book and a mug of tea.  No long photo walks or blooming flowers in sight.

Thus, I turn to the interwebs, home of today’s source of inspiration: the bookworm.  Enjoy the eye candy and food for thought.

The best part of My Fair Lady: the library.

It’s similar to this one…that giant ladder makes me weak in the knees.

Remember when the beast gifts the castle library to Belle? I was so jealous.

No library is complete without a tongue-in-cheek illustration or two.  I love Handy Handlebars, from Hisss Illustration.  Just $14.  Purchase here.

You may as well haul your laptop into the library and watch  Handmade Nation, a documentary film about the DIY/arts & crafts movement that’s swept the nation.  If only Netflix was into indy flicks and grassroots films, I would have seen this by now.

Modern libraries require chic magazine organization!   This vintage magazine rack on sale at Fishbone Deco.  (Feel free to purchase and ship to me.)

While you’re busy being a bookworm, you must be chic.  I love Anthropologie’s latest take on bookworm-dom.  This updated plaid dress, called Atop the Mezzanine, is off the hook.

Of course, Quiet Hours is none too shabby, either.

Each image remains the property of his or her creator, which isn’t me.  It feels kinda dirty, since I usually show off only images I’ve taken, but it’s a brave new world, baby! (Do you dig it?  The inspiration post like this? Or not so much?)

As you nod off snuggling a book, don’t forget the GloWorm.  Did anyone else fall asleep to the light of this as a kid?

Finally, share that library card goodness for Valentine’s Day.  Card shown by Card and Envelope.

SHOW COMMENTS HIDE COMMENTS 3 comments

Jay - February 18, 2010 - 12:34 pm

Did anyone else notice that library ladder has wheels but is permanently affixed at the top?

erika - February 6, 2010 - 12:00 am

i sure did love my glo worm!

Rebecca - February 4, 2010 - 11:42 am

I LOVE libraries and cozy book rooms that feel like old school cigar lounges. Belle’s library is what my heaven looks like. I hope.

THE POST THAT MADE ME CRY

This whole Brand Camp dealio started because I was seeing photographers and artists making really silly mistakes.  Good intentions can go horribly awry, and if it’s in my power to help correct ‘em, I will.  I didn’t dream that it would end up in life-changing conversations.  Or even moderately-noteworthy conversations.

This post made me cry.  A lot, and happily.  You can do this.  We can do this.

happy-tears

Copied and pasted from The Blogging Mum blog:

I asked for reality. I said I wanted reality. This morning, I got reality.

I had the best 30 minute conversation of my life this morning. I love that I have supportive family and friends, but I really needed to get some honest to goodness business advice. I want to be able to focus 100% on my work instead of having a part time job on the side just in case. I needed help in making this my reality. So I hired someone, a wonderful woman who is energetic and real and whose work I love.

It was kind of hard, in one sense, to hear her give it to me straight. She even confessed that she though I was going to cry or hang up on her. I had to laugh a little at that. Everything she told me was right on the button, though. Everything that I’ve been struggling with and feeling at odds about, bam! She nailed it. She was able to give me advice on how to do what I love for a living and still maintain my heart, and how I want to help people.

I’m going to be relaunching my business under a new brand and new name with a goal of January 2010, and I feel really set free about it all. All those things that were holding me back are now gone away. I was able to come away from the session with a very precise focus, some great advice, and kind of feeling like I’ve just been given the best present in the world.

I know I can make it work. Seriously, that was probably the best money I’ve ever spent. Ever. Do you have branding issues? You should check her out, then. Kristen, you rock!

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Amy Dungan - October 19, 2009 - 3:39 pm

Wonderful! It's nice to know you are making a difference. The post you bring us here really make me think. I agree. Your rock!

Christi Traster - October 19, 2009 - 3:00 pm

Awwww honey – so wonderful! Smiling for you – and her! :)

Erica Kree - October 19, 2009 - 2:10 pm

Bless her heart! She is so not alone…what a amazing post!!

FOCUS IS IMPORTANT

epic fail pictures

Image copyright: Amy Meek

Found in Denton, Texas.

(I am so sad to live so far from such a magnificent business.)

SHOW COMMENTS HIDE COMMENTS 3 comments

Erin - November 21, 2009 - 8:54 pm

It's actually a gay "nightclub"…Funny they don't have that on the sign.

brandcamp - October 16, 2009 - 3:54 pm

Yah — 'cause there ain't no party like a chainsaw party! ;)

Chris H. - October 16, 2009 - 3:33 pm

I get it: look good, make sure everything works properly, party. Sounds like a plan

PIMP YOUR BLOG — BUT BACK IT UP FIRST.

You may have noticed yet another round of changes to the Brand Camp Blog layout.  These were, at first, unplanned, as I was attempting to install the IntenseDebate plugin for WordPress and subsequently broke all the blog’s comments.  Of COURSE I hadn’t backed up the files before installing the plugin, so um…I broke the blog.

And instead of driving to my studio, where the original theme files lived, I installed a new template and went to pimptown on it.  The new features, ladies and gents:

IntenseDebate.  Lovely reader, you can now login to comment with your Twitter or OpenID accounts.  Oh, and you can reply to a specific comment — all threaded and civilized-like.

PSST!  There’s a WordPress plugin for this!

  1. Back up your blog.
  2. Hit up Plugins–>Add New from your WordPress dashboard.
  3. Search for ‘IntenseDebate’ in the ‘Search Plugins’ box, and it’ll pop up.
  4. Click ‘Install’ and choose ‘Install now’ from the popup that appears.
  5. Click ‘Activate plugin’ and voila!
  6. You’ll need to configure it under ‘Settings’ from your WordPress dashboard.  I totally learned about easy plugin installation like, two weeks ago, so I’m an expert.  (An expert at breaking blogs.)

RSS feed.  Yes, you diehard folks who read blog posts in a feed reader, you now have RSS fodder.

Merit Badge Mail: You can now opt in to learn about the latest Brand Camp happenings — and believe me, they’re going to be outstanding.  So sign up in the top-right , pretty please.