From Design to Product: A Maker's Inspiration

With the maker movement in full swing there has been no shortage of great stories about craft, skill, and process. I love checking out videos and maker stories on sites like Maker's Market, BRIKA, and Madesmith. It's important to know where our goods come from and I love learning the stories behind what makers do everyday. While I have shared my own story on various sites and publications, I always feel like there is a missing piece. What remains one of the great mysteries of creativity is inspiration. How an idea, image, color, or pattern goes from a figment of the imagination to a concrete product. I've been at this whole fine arts + maker business for a while now and while I am often surprised by what inspires me, I can usually make sense of how an idea becomes a Zelma Rose design. Most of my inspiration comes from the visual. Color, pattern, and texture. Whether it comes in the form of a painting at a museum, a bird's nest, a mountain summit, or a $6,000 dress at Neiman Marcus, it's all fuel for the fire. With our recent move to the mountains, a good deal of my inspiration has come from the surrounding flora + fauna. I'm always finding incredible petals, branches, nuts, nests, and feathers around our property. With fox, deer, eagles, and lizards making daily appearances, looking out my studio windows can seem like my own private wilderness. To share this part of my inspiration with you I have embarked on a new project! I'm so excited to announce the launch of #storyofthestitch. Story of the Stitch is a visual journey of Zelma Rose designs from inspiration to finished product. I invite you to follow along with me on Instagram at @zelmarose. This week I will be posting images of inspiration of a single design from beginning to end. I invite you to take a look and join in by using the hashtag #storyofthestitch to include your own images of inspiration and process. I want to see what you are up to! Below is the first image, a pine cone that I found in the property outside my studio. The color will come into play later when we approach the design process. Stay tuned!

Original photography, art direction + styling for Zelma Rose by Lisa Anderson Shaffer