Five Beautiful Books That Are Inspiring Me During The Creative Retreat

Sun streams in through the window and I curl up on a comfy chair in my studio, a book balanced on my lap.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

In reality…

Sips of Inspiration: an Interview with Karen Lowry Reed

Today’s Sips of Inspiration conversation is with my long-time blogging friend Karen Lowry Reed.

Sips of Inspiration: an Interview with Laura Bray

Today’s Sips of Inspiration chat is with Laura Bray. Laura is an embroidery artist living in the Pacific Northwest.

inspiration, Sips of InspirationAnne ButeraOctober 16, 2020Sips of Inspiration, inspiring women, inspiring people, inspiring links, inspiration, Laura Bray, Laura K. Bray, embroidery, creativity, creative women, embroidery artist Comments

Why Sharing Encouragement and Inspiration is So Important

Today marks the half-year point for Sips of Inspiration, but instead of going ahead with my next interview, I wanted to do two things.

First I want to revisit my WHY. And second I want to check in with you, my dear readers.

I am so grateful you are here!

Sips of Inspiration: an Interview with Laura Watson

This month’s Sips of Inspiration interview was really fun for me. Today I’m chatting with Laura Ashton who is also a gardener and botanical illustrator.

inspiration, Sips of InspirationAnne ButeraJuly 17, 2020Laura Ashton, watercolor artist, botanical watercolor, botanical illustration, inspiration, inspiring people, inspiring women, interviews, artist interviews, Sips of Inspiration, Laura Watson Comments

Sips of Inspiration: an Interview with Ishrat Khawja

I’m delighted to be sharing another Sips of Inspiration interview with you today. This month’s conversation is with Ishrat Khawja. Ishrat hand-dyes beautiful yarns in her home in the UK.

Sips of Inspiration, joy, inspirationAnne ButeraJune 19, 2020inspiring women, inspiring people, yarn, yarn dyeing, interviews, Sips of Inspiration, joy, handmade joy exchange, inspiration, creating connections, creative community, blogging Comments

Sips of Inspiration: an Interview with Melanie April

I’m back with another interview, the second in my monthly Sips of Inspiration series.

Today I’m chatting with Melanie April Houten.

Sips of Inspiration, creativity, inspirationAnne ButeraApril 17, 2020Sips of Inspiration, inspiring people, inspiring women, interviews, what you can do to support artists, Melanie April, inspiration Comments

Books Bring Inspiration and Joy (and Support Artists)

How are you holding up? What a week it’s been over here. You, too?

My feelings are up and down. My energy is up and down. I’m giving myself leeway and taking things one day (sometimes one moment) at a time. It’s all we can do, I think.

Escaping into the world of a book always seems to help.

Sips of Inspiration: An Interview with Jenny Blair

A couple weeks ago I announced I would be interviewing artists in a new monthly series. And today I’ve released the first installment!

Sips of Inspiration, creativity, inspirationAnne ButeraMarch 20, 2020Sips of Inspiration, Jenny Blair, inspiring women, inspiring people, inspiration, Inspiration, embroidery, embroidery patterns, embroidery kits, Jenny Blair Kits, artist interviews, interviews, creative business, creativity Comments

Sips of Inspiration

I am so excited to finally be sharing a project I’ve been working on for a while. First in the dreaming stage, more recently in the DOing stage.

And today with an official announcement.

creativity, inspiration, gratitude, Sips of InspirationAnne ButeraMarch 6, 2020interviews, Sips of Inspiration, A new interview series, Youtube, artist interviews, inspiring women, inspiring people, inspiration, creativity Comments

This and That

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a hodgepodge sort of post. Most of the time I only share inspiring links in my monthly Joy Letters*, but there’s no reason not to share some here once in a while, too (like Dana does with her Lovely Things posts).

a bit of this and that, finding inspiration (and joy!) everywhere

I’ve been feeling so inspired lately. My garden is providing me with abundant painting ideas, but more than that, it seems everywhere I look I see beauty and find encouragement from people who are living authentic, creative lives.

inspiration, joy, life, artAnne ButeraJune 28, 2019inspiring women, inspiring people, inspiration, finding inspiration in the little things, being open to inspiration, joy, adding joy to the world, art, Lisa Estabrook, Amy Butler, painting from the garden, Flow Magazine, Flow Tear Off Calendar, word of the year, grow, Franziska Meiners, Angie Noll, Doodle Journal, Dana Barbieri, Jordan Clark, Commonplace Book, oracle cards, oracle deck, Jessica Swift, self-care, self-imposed limitations, being yourself, newsletter, links, how to break free from self-imposed limitations, Abby Glassenberg, Denise Schmidt, unplugging, summer, savoring each day, journaling, writing in my journal, Ruby Josephine Smith, focus, focus on beauty, refocusing, joyletter, messages from the universe, making mistakes Comments

What does it mean to be creative?

My friend Ruby recently wrote a blog post about reclaiming the word creativity and it got me thinking. To be honest, it fired me up. I love discussions like this. I love thinking about and talking about creativity. I wrote a response to Ruby on her blog and then I thought I’d take my thoughts and craft them into a blog post of my own to extend the conversation.

Where are They Now? Catching Up with Some of the Artists I Interviewed

You may have noticed that I'm posting on a Tuesday instead of my usual Friday. I'm working on sharing some shorter posts between my regular posts. I'm not sure how often I'll do this, but it's fun to experiment and try some new things in this new space.

And speaking of trying new things, I've been contemplating starting up another interview series. What do you think? Do you enjoy reading interviews with creative women who are living their dreams?

inspirationAnne ButeraAugust 14, 2018inspiration, inspiring people, inspiring women, creative women, creativity, dreams, creative dreams, living your dream, interviews, Sarah Venema, Jayme Marie Henderson, The Storm Cellar Vineyard and Winery, Under a Tin Roof, Kayla Haupt, Jill HauptComment

On Blogs, Blogging and Being a Little Rebellious

Starting this new blog has been so energizing. Although a fresh start wasn't my intention when I moved to blogging on my website, it's been a surprising consequence. The thought of having a fresh space to craft into whatever I want has filled me with ideas. I'm excited to share some new posts with you. But first I wanted to talk a bit about blogs and blogging.

notes from the studio