blog Archives - Pam Winters Studio

Day One: Instagram Illustrations

Day 100 (I made it!)
Day 99
Day 98
Day 97
Day 96
Day 95
Day 94
Day 93
Day 92
Day 91
Day 90
Day 89
Day 88
Day 87
Day 86
Day 85
Day 84
Day 83
Day 82
Day 81
Day 80
Day 79
Day 78
Day 77
Day 76
Day 75
Day 74
Day 73
Day 72
Day 71
Day 70
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Day 66
Day 65
Day 64
Day 63
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Day 56
Day 55
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Day 53
Day 52
Day 51
Day 50
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Day 4
Day 3
Day 2
Day 1
The pledge!

Recently, I started participating in the 100 Day Project on Instagram, a creative challenge originally begun by artist and author Elle Luna and the print publication and online magazine The Great Discontent. It was easy for me to choose my theme and accompanying (unique) hashtag, which is #100DaysofEarlyChristmas. My main creative business goal this year is to create a line of holiday products based on my designs and drawings. Doing these daily drawings and posts for the challenge will keep me on track to have a sizable collection of ideas ready to develop into finished holiday-themed illustrations that will then be turned into cards, gift wrap and whatever else I can dream up. Having made it just over a third of the way through my journey in the challenge, this is the perfect time to gather up my ideas so far and post them here. This is a figurative high five to myself and everyone else participating, for not only taking on the challenge, but also for sticking with it.

One key part of the 100 Day Project is the fact that one publicly commits on Instagram to doing it, no matter when you actually join the challenge. It’s a daily exercise in which you have pledged to participate, and once you do that, you are now voluntarily connected to a group of people who have made the same pledge. You instantly feel the connection with everyone by way of common hashtags such as #The100DayProject. Each participant also has the option to choose their own, unique hashtag to coincide with their chosen theme, so that there is an instant showcase of their work on Instagram (when you click on their hashtag). Participants can create and post whatever strikes their fancy, each project being a distinct personal journey of some sort or other. I’ve seen posts by people working on improving a particular skill, getting back to doing an activity they love, sharing inspiration and daily rituals, and so on. The possibilities with this challenge are literally endless. For me, I’ve noticed that it’s gotten easier to just posting something, even if I’m not crazy about the piece, for the sake of keeping up with the challenge and my commitment to the daily practice of getting my ideas down on paper. The 100 Day Project brings into sharp focus how important it is to simply begin. Day One already seems like a long time ago, but if I had never started the journey, Day One wouldn’t even exist.

Related links:
#100DaysofEarlyChristmas (My project)
#The100DayProject (All projects)
#100DaysOfFutureMemoriesByElleLuna (Elle Luna’s project)
The 100 Day Project (History + details)

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Small Wins

By Pam Winters

I’ll admit it: I’m not a very consistent blog writer, or reader, for that matter. I’ve come to the conclusion that it has more to do with overwhelm than a lack of desire to write, or read. In my mind, I see too many options in the way of topics, ideas and blogs to check out. Other times, I see a blank page, and I don’t want to face it. I started a blog last year, thinking it would be a good addition to my website as yet another creative outlet for my mind and hands. I’ve started thinking recently about the reasons why consistently writing for a blog seems to elude me, when I’ve literally written my thoughts down my entire life, in the way of journal entries, pieces of art, letters to friends, personal reminders and more. Upon reflection, I think part of the reason has something to do with a piece of advice I heard this week while watching Chase Jarvis’ interview with Tim Ferriss on CreativeLive’s 30 Days of Genius series: when approaching a new or existing project, Tim Ferriss recommended asking oneself, “What would this look like if it were easy?” In other words, how can we start accumulating and celebrating the “small wins,” as opposed to putting our efforts off for one more day, thinking perfection is the only option? When I apply this logic to the activity of blogging, I can clearly see the obstacles I’ve been unwittingly placing in my own path. These include thoughts such as, “What am I going to fill my blog with?” and “What if I can’t think of anything interesting to put on my blog?” and “It’s been over a month since I posted anything on my blog! I need to write something amazing right now!” Surely, I can manage to document one thought at a time (such as this one), posting highlights that readers will hopefully enjoy and find useful and/or entertaining. So, I’ve decided to take the expectation of the word “blog” off of my shoulders for now, and adopt a new goal that is within my grasp: one small win at a time.

Related links:
Chase Jarvis
CreativeLive
30 Days of Genius series (CreativeLive)
Tim Ferriss

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Pineapple Expression

By Pam Winters

Inspired by the tools at hand, I let the project unfold. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
The journey began with a pencil sketch and quickly evolved from there. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
In order to “color in” the pineapple, I created shapes in Illustrator (left) and cut them on a CAMEO using special stamp material (right). (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
The stamp pieces made by the CAMEO are mounted onto acrylic blocks, then inked. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Once the colors are stamped, the pineapple image is inked and stamped on top. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
I started creating lots of gift wrap, cards and prints! (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
I then decided to turn the image into digital art using Illustrator. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Once the digital art was complete, I created a pattern and ordered custom gift wrap from Spoonflower! (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
This project required a few tools and lots of patience! (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Pineapples have been dancing through our minds and hearts in recent years. Based on this trend, I had pineapples on the brain when I met with some coworkers for a craft night. Before long, while chatting with my friends, I found myself sketching a pineapple, and then began hand carving a stamp using the supplies I had with me. As we wrapped up for the evening, sharing our projects with one another, I tested out the pineapple stamp on a piece of scrap paper. Not bad, I thought. Someone suggested the possibility of making pineapple gift wrap with the stamp, so I decided then and there that was exactly what I would do! I mean, even at the height of the pineapple’s popularity, it’s not every day you see pineapple gift wrap, right?

I came home that night, and stamped it again using darker ink. I could see my pineapple vision taking shape. Within the next day or two, I got the image carved the way I wanted, and that’s when the process of surface pattern experimentation really began for me. The pineapple looked good stamped on its own, but it needed something—a bit of color to fill it in. I started with colored pencils, making a few cards for friends that way, before gradually expanding my reach to other tools, including the Silhouette CAMEO and special stamp material for the CAMEO to cut. I now had shapes I could stamp first for the color portions of the pineapple, with the pineapple stamp being layered in a darker (chocolate) color on top. This was happening!

There is something unmistakably special about handmade gift wrap, but it’s also quite a challenge. Encouraged to keep going, I decided it was time to take my art to the professionals for the production side of things. So, I digitally traced a scan of the stamped pineapple image in Adobe Illustrator, for the purpose of creating a pattern to upload to Spoonflower’s website. Soon, my first roll of custom gift wrap made with the pineapple pattern arrived in the mail, and it was literally just what I had imagined!

It’s fun to look back and see how this project unfolded, one bit of inspiration at a time. How many things inspire us every day that we could potentially turn into something we only dream of right now? Please take a moment to let me know what’s inspiring YOU these days in the comments section!

Workshop: Stamp Carving

By Pam Winters

Isabella transfers her sketch to the stamp block with a bone folder. (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Donna prepares to start carving her first stamp: a tree silhouette. (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Dawn plans to make holiday gift tags with her snowman stamp! (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Last year, I made a goal for myself: offer an independent creative workshop for a small group of willing participants. I would not only teach and provide supplies, but also, create a fun, inspiring event in which everyone there could be creative and social while making something new that they could take home, share and enjoy. Being a creative person and having solid workshop teaching experience under my belt, I felt ready to take this next step to offer my very own workshop on something I love to do: stamp carving. The idea was great, but I soon realized that creating interest in and promoting a unique workshop experience is a more challenging task than one might think. The initial effort, while it taught me valuable things about booking a venue, marketing a workshop (in person and online) and finding resources for promotion, it did not result in enough sign-ups to run the event. Disappointed, I brainstormed with those I trust, and came to the conclusion that it was an even better idea to host a workshop closer to home, with people who already know and support me. So, that is exactly what I did. I am very fortunate to be a part of a wonderful network of family and friends, and the workshop I envisioned came to be last year because of a special group of ladies who love getting together and doing creative projects; they were excited to try their hand at carving stamps. We all had such a great time together! In order to keep the creativity flowing this year, I plan to offer more workshops in the near future. I hope to see some of you there!

Summertime Favorite: Blueberry Buckle

By Pam Winters

Butter and sugar, mixed until light and fluffy, are the beginnings of Blueberry Buckle (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)
Adding an egg to the butter mixture, which will become the batter (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)
Peeling fresh orange zest with a special tool is the best way to infuse a little citrus flavor into the recipe (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)
Mixing the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, before adding them to the wet batter ingredients (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)
Getting ready to mix the nectarine slices with freshly-squeezed lemon juice (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)
Mixing fresh fruit together, including the citrus flavoring from the lemon juice (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)
Combined blueberries and nectarines are gently mixed into the batter bowl (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)
A handheld pastry blender mixes the topping ingredients: flour, butter, cinnamon and sugars (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)
Blended topping ingredients are sprinkled to cover the batter, which fills a square baking pan (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)
The cooked dessert is removed from the oven and tested with a toothpick in the center (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)
Just out of the oven, the dessert is set aside to cool for 15 minutes on a baking rack (Photos by Stacey Winters Photography, © 2015 by Pam Winters)

Blueberry + Nectarine Heart Digital Illustration

During the summer of 1986, I found myself standing in a grocery store line with my mom. I remember perusing the magazines at the checkout stand, a habit I continue to have to this day. I’m sure I scanned the usual fare: TV Guide, Cosmopolitan, etc. Suddenly, a new item caught my undivided attention: Good Food Magazine. The cover displayed the headline “Star-Spangled Desserts,” placed just above a close-up shot of fresh berries mingled together in a perfect balance of red and blackish blue. I remember picking up the small booklet-sized magazine, intent on finding out what was meant by “Star-Spangled Desserts.” Whatever it was, it sounded right up my alley. The Good Food issue in my hands, I quickly turned the pages of the article in question, whereby I found not one, but an entire collection of colorful desserts. Even as a teenager, I was quite a baker, and I knew something good when I saw it. The thought came to my mind: did I hit the jackpot or what?

Well, as it turns out, there was one recipe in particular that would emerge as my true love from that article swimming with delicious summertime desserts. That recipe is Blueberry Buckle. Just the name itself was enough to close the deal. Who eats “buckle”? Sounds like fun! Looking at the article today, which contains a photo of all the desserts (yes, I saved the original cover and article pages from the magazine), I can see why I picked Blueberry Buckle as the one to make. First of all: blueberries and nectarines; need I say more? In the photo, Blueberry Buckle is cut into square pieces, which are stacked on one another, looking moist and dense—like the best kind of coffee cake—and showcasing clusters of baked fruit; each piece is adorned with a blanket of golden crumble topping. One of the best things about this recipe, besides its good looks and taste, is its versatility. Blueberry Buckle can be served warm or cold, and is equally delicious. It can be eaten for breakfast or for afternoon/evening dessert, along with coffee or tea; in the latter instance, a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream when the dessert is fresh out of the oven truly completes it.

Baking remains one of my all-time favorite culinary activities to this day. And thanks to Blueberry Buckle, I am never lacking for a summertime recipe to make for family and friends. Sadly, for the other recipes in that Good Food article, I have never had the heart–or perhaps more accurately, the willpower–to tear myself away from making Blueberry Buckle long enough to give them a try. That’s how good this recipe is, and why I continue to make it for all the special and wonderful people in my life. I love nothing more than seeing their eyes light up in anticipation of the infamous “buckle.” These moments, filled with joy, laughter and conversation, shared over a homemade treat, are a true gift. And I realize that, yet again, I’ve hit the jackpot.

Click here to view the complete Blueberry Buckle recipe, as it originally appeared in Good Food Magazine. Bon appétit!

Day One: Instagram Illustrations

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Small Wins

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Pineapple Expression

Summertime Favorite: Blueberry Buckle

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