A Culture of Creativity

fall afternoon, wooden books, mama's quilt, a little shut-eye

You people rock. Thank you so much for the time and thoughtfulness you put into responding to my contest question, about how to nurture a culture of creativity in the home, especially as relates to children. I am so inspired and encouraged by your great ideas, and I hope to be doing some blogging in response to some of what was written. If you haven't gotten a chance yet to read through the whole list of responses, do yourself a favor and read them. I'm really honored that so many of you so thoroughly engaged the question.

I don't want the conversation to end. I've started a flickr group, Culture of Creativity, with the hope that you (and others) will post photos (and discussion) related to the issue of nurturing creativity - in our communities, our homes, our families, our personal lives. I'd love to see how people interpret this concept photographically - whether it's a picture of a child engaged in some sort of art or craft, or of some creative community venture (festivals, fairy doors), or something that you personally simply find inspiring.

I also want to say thanks for all the quilty-love. You guys make me feel so good. I really have to give some credit to a few folks who have inspired me in that particular venture. Sarah's was the first incarnation of the Easy Lap Quilt that I saw this summer, and I adored it (actually way more than the one pictures in the book). Ashley's quilts have all blown me away with their beauty and freshness and craftswomanship. And it was this post of Rebekah's that finally encouraged me to take the leap. (When I found out that it was only a little over a year ago that she had done her first quilt, I was floored. I've been stalking her blog for almost that whole length of time, and had no idea the first quilt of hers I ever saw was the first one she'd ever made). Thanks again, craftblog community, for inspiring me and encouraging me to try something I don't think I would've attempted otherwise.

Okay, enough of that, I know what you're here for. Who won the contest? I did this great little photo shoot this afternoon, with Little Buddha drawing a name out of hat (followed by a shot of him putting the hat on, promptly dumping the all the other little strips of paper on his head)*. But my ridiculous Mac problems continue and suddenly my computer will not read my camera disk. So without further buildup, the winner is:

dickie

Yay for guy knitbloggers. And y'all, dickie is hardcore about Malabrigo, so you know it'll be in good hands. (If you haven't checked out his blog before, you really must - his fab photography makes knitgoods look edible). Thank you again, all of you, for participating in my contest. And please join me over in the Culture of Creativity group!


*For the record, I do try - and regularly - to get shots of Tiny Dancer, but he refuses to be photographed these days.