Saturday, September 1, 2012

Tales of a Craft Class Junkie: Finding Inspiration



The Inspiration workshop is wrapping up over at Masterful Scrapbook Design. During this month's seminar, the designers shared where and how they acquire their inspiration. So I thought that today, I would share a little about how I find and use it for my layouts.

Before I do that though,I think there is something very important for everyone to understand. Using inspiration is often easier than it looks.The more you do it, the more easily it comes to you. I exercise a creative habit every day. It means that, when I look at the world around me, I can turn on my creative eye and find inspiration all around me. From the texture of a sofa to the pattern in wallpaper, I can see how to translate what I find onto my layouts.

Magazine Ads: Sometimes I am just sitting in a waiting room and I see the perfect one. Other times, I get stuck,so I do a google image search and find just the right one to work for a page. Magazine ads provide me with layout ideas in much the same way as a sketch would.With practice, you can see a magazine ad as a sketch complete with spots for your photos, title, journaling and embellishments.

Paula Gilarde's ad challenge

Color Palettes: I get tired of using the same old colors again and again.So from time to time,I cruise the internet for unusual color palettes. It helps keep my pages fun and fresh. I also get inspired to use patterned papers I might never have mixed together.

The Scrapbook News and Review Blog shares a sketch, inspiration piece and color palette every week.

Challenges: I love to use challenge prompts. It really gets you outside your box sometimes.

Monthly challenges at Club CK.
Amy Kingsford'sInspiration Station
at the JBS mercantile:  I subscribe to their kit club. Many kit clubs host monthly challenges with their products which is a great way to learn how to use your kit to it's fullest potential.

Music Lyrics: Stuck for a title?No problem.Songs lyrics are chock full of title ideas. Even if the theme of the song has nothing to do with the theme of your page, you can find a catchy title.

Scrappin the Music's monthly challenge

Taking a class: New techniques are a great way to get you going creatively. If you don't have time to search for new techniques on the web, a class is a perfect option. Classes are organized for you.So there is no thinking about what to do next or when. It's more about deciding what photo works best with the new technique you just learned.

The Art Studio
Get It Scrapped
Creative Passions

Scraplifting: You can learn a lot about page design and your own creative process by scraplifting someone's layout. As I work, I take note of what I like about the page I am scraplifting.

Easy Scrapbook Pages is a great place to start

Using inspiration every day helps develop your own creative muscle. I hope you will make it a habit to exercise your creativity, just as I have.






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