Heather K Powers

Exciting Craft events, coming soon!

September 20, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Handmade, Inspiration & Education 2 Comments

Literally! If you live in the DC Metro area there are some exciting craft events coming soon.

First, on October 2nd is the 7th year of Crafty Bastards in Adams Morgan. I am not sure I will be able to attend this year but I’ve enjoyed all the vendors in the past several years. Here are a few shots from some of my favorite vendors over the last couple of years.
The Small Object

Carlybird Weaves

Biggs and Featherbelle

In addition to great vendors there are always some fun DIY craft projects to get your hands on as well as music, b-boy battles and other great entertainment.

The second event coming to DC in October is the “Crafting A Nation” conference at the Smithsonian American Art museum. This event is FREE and it’s in conjunction with American Craft Week 2010. There is a great lineup of speakers and discussion panels and this event will be going on over 2 days so you can attend one or both days. If you can’t make it to the conference check the website out for events in your state. This event runs October 1-10 and there seems to be something going on in practically every state.

The last event I’m going to mention is the Sugarloaf Craft Festival at the MD State Fairgrounds on October 1st-2nd and the Montgomery County Fairgrounds on October 8th-9th. This festival is always fun for me to attend (even though I won’t be going this year) because I grew up in the area and have attending this event many times and I have fond memories of dreaming of becoming a crafter one day. Dreams can come true!

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Passion and Purpose

September 16, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Inspiration & Education, Wellness & Mindset Leave a Comment

Without it life can be so hum drum! I am a very passionate person but I’ve learned over the years to channel passion in creative ways rather than let it be overwhelming. I feel

I feel passion in the seat of my belly and sometimes it is a physically overwhelming feeling. I think that in order to do something really well you have to have passion and purpose about what you are doing.

In order to do something really well, you have to have passion and purpose about what you are doing.

When I am not feeling passionate about a project, a design, a piece of artwork etc…I try and take the time to find that passion again by looking at it differently or by stepping away for awhile. Sometimes it takes looking to another area of my life I feel passionate about, like cooking and eating good food, spending time with a friend, dancing or taking a walk outdoors with my camera. When I allow myself this time to redirect and find that spark then I can return with a purposeful intent to complete what I have started.

Finding passion in something or about something isn’t always the same as feeling you are doing something purposeful. Having a purpose in life, in your career choices, in your relationships, through giving or volunteering with others, that’s what drives us to keep doing something even when we have lost that moment of passion. Passion is fleeting, purpose is permanent. I strive to live a life doing things I am passionate about while feeling they are contributing to a deeper purpose.

How do you find your passionate drive and do you know your purpose?

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Sheer joyful color!

September 9, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Art & Design, Inspiration & Education, Photography 3 Comments

Yesterday I was cleaning up a bit in the kitchen and prepping some veggies and as I cut off the top of the yellow bell pepper and set it down I was captured by its sheer joyful color and form!

I went to get my camera and came back to the kitchen and noticed the yellow sunflowers that I’d been meaning to take some photo’s of and then they were in a lovely teal vase (I collect teal pottery and ceramics) and then there were those yellow cherry tomatoes sitting inside the berry bowl by Bridgman Pottery!

All this yellow and teal together, a favorite color combination of mine (especially if you throw in a little red also).

For the next 30 or so minutes I just let myself be caught up in the beauty of the moment of sheer joyful color!

I loved the total spontaneity of this photo shoot, not planned just joyful. How can you not think joyful thoughts when looking at the warm golden tones of sunflowers and the golden veggies of late summer harvests.!

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Out with the Old~Inviting in the new

September 7, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Art & Design, Wellness & Mindset 3 Comments

Lately my mind is on de-cluttering, purging and making space for new things in life. Out with the old!

My husband and I spent the last week going from room to room gathering things that we no longer needed, loved or wanted. We decided we wanted to try something different and gathered all of these items together to head to a local flea market! Our community has a regular flea market (does yours?) and they make it pretty easy to show up just once or on a regular basis. We’ve had plenty of garage and yard sales but thought we would give this a try. There are a lot of flea market regulars and certainly a guaranteed amount of foot traffic that you may or may not get at a yard sale. Anything is worth a try when you want to get rid of a lot of stuff at once (say for an upcoming move?)!

On Saturday morning we headed out very early in order to go to a flea market and sell a bunch of stuff that’s taking up too much space in our lives. This included clothing, tools, home goods from the kitchen to linens, gardening supplies and more. Basically, anything you would sell at a yard sale. We have a 10′ pop up tent, which I highly recommend for any outdoor affair.

We had made a decision that whatever didn’t sell wasn’t coming back into the house. At the end of the day, I was left with only a few boxes of items to donate. The weather was mostly beautiful (a little am mist)! It was fun to interact with other vendors and a challenge to not be tempted, as I was, to bring something new (to you) home. I got the two antique games below because I love the charming images on them! I also found a couple small hand stitched textiles. All in all, much more went out than came back!

Making room for “new” can mean a lot of different things but in my case I am not trying so much to make room for physical things as much as new ideas and inspiration. Another area of my life that I am doing this is in the exploration of old design sketches and concepts I’ve completed to some degree over the last 10 years. I am really enjoying bringing these designs beyond concepts and sketches and into fully rendered ideas.

Moving through old stuff and ideas can help us to release them and move forward and create space for new creativity!

You can not “hoard” your own ideas, they must be released in order for the new creative ideas to move through you, the same can be said for our stuff!

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Something for nothing?

September 3, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Handmade, Wellness & Mindset Leave a Comment

Have you ever been asked to do something for a client only to find out that they can’t actually pay you? If not be prepared to be in that situation sooner or later in your creative career. As I have started this journey of self-employment I have encountered quite a few opportunities to do something for someone where I was not necessarily “paid” in monetary terms.

Depending on your situation you have to ask yourself a few questions to determine if this project is a good idea or not.

1. Is this project something I would enjoy or love doing?

2. Is the client offering me something I can truly use in return for my time and services -is it truly of VALUE to me?

3. Can this client lead me (or refer me) to other clients who can pay me?

4. Are the project and the expectations of you and your client clearly defined?

5. Is this an opportunity to expand in a new direction that you have been wanting to gain experience in?

If you answered yes to at least 3 of the questions above then you may want to consider this sort of arrangement. I am finding that I am being asked to participate in various types of projects by other entrepreneurs and when someone else is just starting out as well I am more inclined to help them out if they are serious, professional and can offer me something equally valuable (relative to the time I would spend for them).

I’ve also been approached by mid sized/large companies asking me to work a barter deal with them. Frankly, this is not as appealing to me unless they rarely have something valuable to offer me in return. We all have to earn a wage at some point, here in the US it would be virtually impossible to survive on a barter system alone.

The whole subject of “Free” is one that is continuously being discussed. I’ve participated in a few online discussions over at the former website “Make and Meaning”. You can find an archive of these discussions on the subject of free over at Crafty Pod. This subject really gets people worked up, they either love or hate the idea of sharing their ideas and services for free or for the exchange of publicity, referral or some other less monetary exchange.

Either way, be prepared to explore the possible advantages and disadvantages of doing something for “free”.

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Exciting Craft events, coming soon!

Passion and Purpose

Sheer joyful color!

Out with the Old~Inviting in the new

Something for nothing?

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