Edinburgh jeweller

Photo by Gary Ullah

'Do what you can with what you have where you are' is one of my favourite sayings. I don't always live it though! I often think, oh I need some more supplies to work on that jewellery project so I'll have to wait. So I won't be creative that day. But when I do take the time to look at what I have and play around with it I find that I make something different, have a new idea.  I was very inspired by  Phil Hansen 's TED talk which you can view below. He is an artist who developed a tremor in his hand while in art school. He was devastated and felt that this meant that he couldn't become an artist. After a long time coming to terms with this he decided to 'embrace the shake' and focus on what he could do. And the art that he continues to create  by giving himself limits is just amazing.  The talk is just ten minutes long and could give you a new perspective on creativity so have a look. 

From Chic Type

I've been teaching more business classes at the London Jewellery School this summer. I taught their   'Building a website for your jewellery business' class  for the first time this month and had some fantastic feedback. I've written about it on the London Jewellery School blog which you can find here.

I find gothic architecture very inspiring so it was fantastic to have the opportunity to visit Wells Cathedral in Somerset with my family this week. It's also very useful to go with a photographer! These are some of Gary's photos from the day. You can find more of his architectural photos here

Source

I've been playing around with a free online photo editing programme called  picmonkey . You upload your own images, play around with them and then add quotes (like the one above). It's a fantastic, easy to use tool, particularly for blogging and pinterest . This is a photo taken by Gary  in my home town. I love it and am pleased with the quote I chose. It's actually harder that you'd think to choose quotes to go with an image! My tip is that I have found it best to find the quote first and then find an image to go with it. Do have a look at picmonkey. It's free (although there is a paid option we haven't used it for this image). We've enjoyed an afternoon playing with it! Let me know what you create by adding a link to the comments section below.

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained. Marie Curie

From the brilliant Story People