Quotes to Inspire Your Passion

Something that I knew I wanted to focus on when I rebranded my blog a few weeks ago was passion. For awhile, I worked really hard trying to figure out how I could identify with people reading my blog. After some thought, I realized that it comes down to passion. I might not have the same history or interests as you...but as soon as you let out what you are passionate about, I can identify with you since I know what it's like to be passionate. 

I'm passionate about living the best life possible and helping other people do the same. I'm passionate about agriculture and plants and the intensely complex world that I study. I'm passionate about being fearless and bold and becoming a better, happier version of myself every day.

And so, to inspire your passion, here are a few quotes that remind me to bring more excitement and fun and enthusiasm into my life.

"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you." -Oprah Winfrey

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." -Anthony D'Angelo

"There is no passion to be found playing small--in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." -Nelson Mandela>

"You can't fake passion." -Barbara Corcoran

What are you passionate about? 

How to Create Patterned Text in Photoshop

Things have gotten a bit calmer around these parts + I've had some oh-so-appreciated time to sit down + design, just for fun. I'm always a fan of word art + I've been combining that with my major inspiration as of late: patterns. 

I really fell in love with bright, vibrant patterns about a year ago, when I bought this beautiful skirt from the Liberty London line at J.Crew in Boston. Lately, I've been especially inspired by these bright patterns + using photoshop to create patterned text quotes (which I'll teach you how to do below!)

And with one really simple tool in Photoshop, you can make one of those patterns into this:

Isn't that cool? And it's really, really easy. Open up a new Photoshop file, with the dimensions that you want. I set 760 as the width (because that's the width of my blog) and 300 pixels as the height. You can always crop it down later! Press 'T' or the Text Button on the left hand command dock (it's a capital letter T). Click anywhere on your page and type out your quote, fixing the size to look all nice. Then, go to your 'layers' panel, click the little arrow at the top right and click "New Layer". In this layer, insert your pattern and click the little check at the top if it pops up. Then, all you have left to do is right-click on that layer with the pattern in it + click 'create clipping mask'.

That's all there is to it! I hope you have fun with this tutorial! If you make anything using this tutorial, I'd love if you'd send me a link, either in the comments or via email.

What inspires you to make art?