go to your happy place

I have an unmanageable collection of magazines. I admit it. I have them packed into storage boxes under my bed. I used to be the sort that would never dream of tearing out a page in the magazine. I would put a little post-it in the corner, with a little note like "love this chair!" But soon the realization hit me that I would never ever take the time to go back through those magazines again.

I started tearing out pages and putting them in file folders. These were ideas that I was collecting for the house. I had folders for each room of the house, plus the garden and what not. That seemed to work out OK for me. And I didn't feel too guilty about tearing up my magazines.
Recently, I was flipping through a magazine and realized there were certain images that made me pause my flipping. Something would catch my eye and make me smile. Sometimes there are just little things in life that make you happy. If only for a second, it brightens your day. Or sometimes, you see a certain shade of blue in a vignette, and you think about how great it would be to paint the inside of a cabinet that color.

I began clipping out these little bitty pictures and taping them into a little journal. My journal is just one of those little blank books you can buy at Borders or B&N. I am not shooting for fancy scrapbook pages. Just little arrangements that make me happy, or capture inspiration. I carry my little journal in my purse. It is nice to glance through it as a little pick-me up. It's also a nice place to tuck away paint chips (more inspiration!).

I snapped a few pictures of some favorite pages to share with you. Who knows... maybe you all will be inspired to do something similar.

How do you organize your creativity and inspiration?

This is from an ad for dog food. I like the 70s filter they used on the picture. I chopped up the text, obviously. I am weird, I just like it.

I liked the repetition of the arch and the hardware on the door. The text I got from another magazine. To the right, just knitting stuff. Reminding me - you bought the knitting stuff, maybe you should use it!

I love the pig. I just do. I labeled it "friends" as a reminder that we don't eat our friends. (That is what I tell Steven, a non-vegetarian. To which he replies, So. I didn't know this cow/pig/fish, etc.") To the right, a b&w children's illustration. Just so simple.

I liked the color of this greeting card envelope. It's in the whole robins egg, duck egg vibe. So of course it needed some ducks peeking out, right?