The End of an Era...

Ok so maybe not an era, but Weekly Inspiration will be taking a break!

We are going on a very extensive inspiration finding expedition in the next few months.  Please excuse our lack of posts of all kinds.

We will be posting to Instagram while we're on our creative adventure!  Follow us: @niniandthesea

If you need to get in touch with us, our email is niniandthesea@gmail.com.

We want to thank those of you who have posted to our linky party! We greatly appreciate it!!!

We hope you'll share what's been inspiring you this week!

Wishing you big waves and an artful day!

~C

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekly Inspiration Linky Party!!

Hello and happy Friday!! Where does the time go? I swear I just wrote a weekly inspiration a few days ago, but in real time, it's been two weeks!! I can't believe how time flies when you're having fun!

My inspiration this week comes from a little girl with a great big heart for fashion, art and animals! My 7 year old niece Kenadie attends second grade at an awesome elementary school with the MOST awesome art teacher, Ms. Lindsay. Ms. Lindsay curated a beautiful art show of students work made throughout the year. The art was displayed beautifully, they had white backgrounds and every piece of art was mounted and grouped by art lesson. It was fun to compare every artists interpretation of the subject. 

I was lucky enough to be invited and I'm so glad I went because I had a revelation as I roamed the halls and enjoyed all the artwork. I realized that people who love art will love and embrace the inconsistencies and deficiencies of your ability and hands just because you made something, not because it is the most skillfully executed masterpiece but because it came from your heart and hands, that you chose to take a piece of your heart out of your body and shared it with them. That is a big lesson for me, because people who know me well, know how critical I am of all my work, so yes people, I  get it...it's all good, just because you tried!! Geez, I can be so hard headed sometimes!

Kenadie had two masterpieces in the art show. I am happy to share her art and inspiration with you!

Kenadie's family in cardinal form, the girls are the lighter colored cardinals, not only gorgeous but correctly portrayed as in nature!

The artist Kenadie.

Her interpretation of vegetables...very Matisse like.

Thank you Ken Ken, for all the inspiration, and also thanx to Ms. Lindsay, for sharing your love of art with the world!

What's been inspiring you? Tell me all about it!

Nini~

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Friday everyone! 

Hope you had a great week! 

Here's what has been inspiring me:

Art Ala Carte:

Valerie has some awesome drawing tutorials that have inspired me to draw a little bit!  This is very unusual for me but I've been loving it so far.  I hope to improve my skills with some practice!  You can find Art Ala Carte on YouTube and Facebook.

I've also been doing some quilting and hope to have something to show you soon!

What's been inspiring you this week? Share it with us below!

Wishing you big waves and an artful day!

~C

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekly Inspiration Linky Party April 17, 2015

Happy Inspiration Linky Party Friday!!

Guess what's been inspiring me lately? My very own self!! Yeah, I know, how'd that happen? I have been so busy with ideas lately that I haven't had to look to the Universe for any inspiration at all(although I've been asking the Universe for inspiration a lot, so I guess it's the Universe after all!). I have been learning, learning, learning and apparently that is just what I needed to get my wheels turning. I had some fails,  and I would do some stuff different, but the best part is I learned from everything I tried, so really it's all a win! I've had a pretty awesome couple of weeks!

I took a workshop offered by my quilt guild, Camaco Quilter's Guild from Teresa Fusco who is a walking talking bunch of inspiration, I learned a technique for raw edge appliqué without using fusible stabilizer. She is a talented lady and great teacher, if you get the chance to learn from her jump on it!

This is still a work in progress, I have quilting to do in the background.

I went to a local florist with my photography club, The Photography Club of Cape May to take photos of flowers. Most of my photos were blurry, but I know why, I should've used a tripod and was too lazy to bother. That's a big lesson to learn, what a bunch of blurry, there's only one or two pics that were half way okay, no award winners here, but that's okay!!

My photography needs work, but I learn something every time I try, so I will keep on shooting!!

 I signed up for watercolor classes at my county library,  I am out of my element and it's a big ol' learning curve, but the teacher is good at step by step direction and I can handle that! This is my first try at a daffodil, it too needs work, but that's my specialty, trying again!!!

I drew the daffodil myself, not bad for a first try at watercolor!

So what's been inspiring you? I want to hear all about it!

Go make something! Nini~

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekly Inspiration Linky Party April 3rd

Happy Friday, wether it's a Good Friday or just plain ol' Friday for you! 

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it!

We're preparing for our Easter celebration around here! This past week my sister Sherrie and I decided to try silk egg dyeing. It's an easy process, it just takes some time to wrap the raw eggs in silk, a secondary layer of fabric and then secure with a tie of some kind, then you boil them with some vinegar in the water. We had mixed results and realized the the wrapping/creasing of the fabric pulls the fabric from the egg and leaves gaps in color on the shells, even with this learning curve we got some great results and would definitely do it again next year, we even saved our silk to use again next year. You need 100% silk ties, which I collect, so I had plenty of material to use, and they say you can use them more than once, so you don't need a ton of them, I cut up about 8 ties.

We used this tutorial from the blog Our Best Bites for silk dyeing our easter eggs. 

Here are our results, we are thrilled with our first attempt. Pretty good huh?!?! It was fun and a great way to repurpose old ties.

My other inspiration and obsession this week has been Roz Stendahl, she's a journaling artist. She has a great sense of humor, love of nature, especially dogs and birds and is a great sharer of inspiration. I am going to use her enthusiasm as a catalyst to start journaling regularly. I have been wanting to journal for years and always think, I'm no good at drawing and sketching so I'm not gonna do it, BUT I've realized it all takes practice. SOOOOO, like quilting, I'm going to put my effort towards PRACTICE and NOT being perfect. 

This page is from Roz Stendahl's blog. 

She uses color and absence of color so well, I just love her art journaling. She's started a International Fake Journal Month, where you take on a journal for the month of April and pretend to be a fake person keeping a journal...it's a way to silence your inner critic, because it's not really your journaling and art work, it's your fake person doing  it...I like this psychology...it speaks to me!!!

I've also been watching Design Recharge an interview with artists and designer's. Diane Gibb is a designer who is the host and although I don't consider myself a designer, I seem to find lots of inspiration from her guests, there's always something I can learn and use in my own work from creative people. It's where I found Roz!

Show us your inspiration this week!

Nini~

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekly Inspiration

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Let's get into the weekend!

Here's what's inspiring me this week!

1.  Hipster Cat Quilt from Schwin and Schwin

Can we say adorbs?!?! And free pattern!  I would love to try this!  Get it here.

2.  It Suddenly Dawned Quilt by Elena Stokes

This is just beautiful and get my inspiration wheels turning!

3.  Tidal Wave Rug

Can't you see a quilt in there???  I've never done curves before but I'm thinking I would love to try something like this in a quilt!

We are headed to the Empire Quilt Show in NYC this weekend!  Can't wait to see what inspiration awaits there!

Show us what's been inspiring you by linking up below!

Wishing you big waves and an artful day!

~C

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekly Inspiration Linky Party!

This has been one of the best weeks of my life, I am so inspired, astounded and overwhelmed by the events of the last two days. I hope to be able to write about it here soon, but I need to digest what has happened, figure out how to relay my feelings about it and decide where I need to go from here. I am still speechless and grinning from ear to ear.  Stay tuned for more of an explanation of this crazy talk!

What's been inspiring me lately? The Universe!

I've been reading Pam Grout's book E2 (Squared) . You may have guessed that it has something to do with the above and you will have guessed right! Awesome stuff, I'd check it out if I were you!

I'm a member of the Jersey Shore Modern Quilt Guild in Ocean Grove NJ, they are very generous with their enthusiasm and inspiration. I am always amazed at the beautiful work they create. You can take a peak at what they're making on the blog!  

This beauty was made by Eileen, member of the Jersey Shore MQG.

Oh, I almost forgot......happy Spring!!! Yahoooo, I'm so happy it's finally here! Although we're getting rainy slushy weather here today, I have hope that it's going to get warmer next week and soon we'll be outside............

 doing this!

Many generations of our fun family crabbing!

Crabbing and enjoying the sunshine!

Go make something!

Nini~

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekly Inspiration March 13, 2015

Happy Friday the 13th!

Hope this Friday is treating you well!

I picked up a new machine at Quiltcon...

My New Machine!!!

You may have noticed that that is not a sewing machine.  It's my new Brother Scan N Cut and it is amazing!  I've been trying to learn the machine and see all of its capabilities and that has been what's inspiring me this week!

I love that I can make my own art and then use that to make cuts in paper, vinyl, fabric, or felt...your imagination is the limit!

I've also been contemplating how the Brother machine and screen printing will go together and I am working on incorporating the 2!

What's been inspiring you this week?  Leave your link below!

Wishing you big waves and an artful day!

~C

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekly Inspiration Linky Party March 6, 2015

March is finally here! And so is more SNOW. I think I need some sunshine on my face and some fresh air in my lungs! This grayness has got to go!

 I'm seeking out C O L O R for inspiration, do you have any to cheer me up?  

Karenika has color for me! I found her website on pinterest and I love her art journaling. She likes lots of things I like. I love her style, I feel better already! 

ao life is a lifestyle hub that has lots of tips for every aspect of life. I am planning to redocorate my living room, I am going with grey walls, their bright accents have inspired me to use a little more BRIGHT than I originally planned! What an inspiring place to visit!

This lil beauty I found on the internet! I've been using lips in my art and when I saw this I thought it just about sums up my week! Lips and color are on my mind!!

I'm feeling better, I've got some valentine decorations to take down and I believe I'm going to pull all my spring tchotchkes out of the attic and Spring it up in here!! And if they aren't bright enough they're getting the spray paint treatment to brighten them up!!!

What colors have you played with this week, please show me the colors!

Go make something colorful!
Nini~

An InLinkz Link-up

QuiltCon 2015, Goodtimes!

What can we say about QuiltCon and Austin, Texas? It was the biggest ball of inspiration and love! The restaurants and food were amazing! Everyone we met was oozing inspiration and everything we saw was colorful, eyecatching and beautifully executed. Thank you for all the inspiration and encouragement we will try to put it all to good use!

Chelsey and I took some classes and learned lots of techniques for making our own fabric designs. Being in class with others is such a good experience: you learn so much not only from the teacher but from the other students as well.

Chelsey pulling paint over a screen.

Screen printing with Celina Mancurti

Mod Corage with Anna Maria Horner

Block Printing with Lizzy House

My carved block and test prints.

The lectures were abundant and the speakers were well prepared. The topics were relevant and every lecture we attended were full of great information. What a bonus and surprise to get so much encouragement and ideas for future projects.

The Art Of Teaching With Jacqui Gering

Social Media Lecture with Christen Barber

The vendor booths were full of inspiration, we love how the fabric houses draw you in with color and style!

Windham Booth

Cloud 9 Booth (NYC Metro Mod Guild made the HST Quilt!!!)

The quilts were so imaginative and unusual, I submitted a quilt that didn't make it in.  It was good to see exactly what got in, learn from what was hanging, and how to make the next quilt one they will accept!

We were lucky enough to travel with Helen at Till We Quilt Again! We had so much fun eating and learning our way through Austin. There was a (real)tattoo booth and plenty of tattooing going on!! We opted for the fake tats from C&T Publishing's booth and had tons of fun taking pics!

As you can see we had a great time. We even got to share what we learned in class with each other after delicious dinners out. So glad I got the opportunity to experience QuiltCon in Austin.

Go make something!

Nini~

Weekly Inspiration Linky Party

We're back and brimming with ideas and inspiration from QuiltCon! We can't wait to share what we ate and what we learned in Autsin, but that is a whole bunch of info for another post!

Here's what's inspiring me since I've been home, I arrived home to an invitation for a party that requires a special gift be made. I've looked up some inspiration I'd love to share with you!! Nini~

Half Square Triangles

Coopcrafts shared an awesome tutorial for a hst quilt with a gradient effect! I love it and am going to use this as my inspiration for a gift for someone special!

Amy Smart at Diary of a Quilter has a blog post about making hst's easier to cut and square up. I am soaking up her tips and will use her techniques for getting my hst's made!

What's inspiring you? Please share it with us!! Now go make something! 

Nini~

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekly Inspiration February's Friday the 13th 2015!

Happy Weekly Inspiration!!

We're late and discombobulated, but without further ado, here's what's inspiring me lately! Nini~

Big Block Quilts

I like the idea of one LARGE block to make the entire quilt, I'm not a fan of making 50 of the same thing! This works for those with ADD!

You can get more info on Sunny in Cal's blog and first pattern here. I love the colors and the giant block!!

Half Square Triangles!!

This is just as good as a giant block quilt...it makes an overall BIG design within the whole quilt, it is like one big block! I've been struggling with making large quilts lately but this may convince me to make just one more! See One Shabby Chick's version of Katie Did's half square triangle quilt here.

Find Katie Did's value quilt tutorial here!

What's been inspiring you lately? Please share it here!

Happy Valentine Day, wising you all lots of love in your life.

Nini~

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekly Inspiration 1/30

Happy Friday!  Hope this week has treated you well!

Let's get into the Weekly Inspiration!

1.  Yo-Yo Owl

I can't decide if these are awesome or terrifying!  Can they be terrisome?  Is it the eyes that are a little scary?  I love the inspiration here though.  I just keep thinking about what other animals could be made!  The pattern is available here.  I am going to be thinking about these for awhile, maybe trying to make them cuter/less terrifying?

Picture from Annie's Craft Store

2.  Stella Weekender

I LOVE THIS BAG!  I definitely want to take my time and make a nice weekender for myself and I'm really loving this pattern.  You can find it at Swoon Sewing Patterns.  Let the fabric choosing begin!  Let's see how long this takes for me to actually produce a bag!

Picture from Swoon Sewing Patterns

3.  Miniature Beach Necklace

This necklace is freakin' adorable.  I want one but I also want to make myself one.  I'm definitely inspired to explore my jewelry making supplies!  You can buy one for yourself at KitschyKooDesign on Etsy.

Picture from Kitschy Koo Design

What's been inspiring you lately? Link up below!

Wishing you big waves and an artful day!

~C

An InLinkz Link-up