Layout by Tami Taylor.
by Tami Taylor
Charles Dickens said, “Change begets change. Nothing propagates so fast.”
The same is true of inspiration. When other artists are inspired enough to write and share their work it can only inspire others. As I read articles and blog posts, watch tutorials and listen to podcasts, I bookmark, ‘pin’ and flat-out print the details of things I find inspiring. Some ideas I use right away, and some I let germinate until I know in what direction to take the inspiration.
This past year was an amazing year of inspiration. Since I love lists, here’s one of places I found inspiration this past year (in no particular order):
1. One Month at a Time – Yes, yes I realize this is my own column, and, no, I’m not just throwing it out there to toot my own horn. Quite the opposite. It is in the comments posted by readers that I found inspiration. When readers shared that they were caught up–or nearly caught up–it inspired me to stay on target with my scrapbooking. When someone shares a link to the layout they did, well, that puts me over the moon.
2. Tell a Story with Vintage Ephemera | Caroline Preston’s Scrapbook Novel – Maybe it’s my ongoing love for classic movies or the HBO show Boardwalk Empire, but this interview made me want to save evidence of what’s going on now in our world in hopes that one day, when my grandkids scrapbook, they have access to this personal ephemera.
3. Pinterest – I know this is a pretty broad place, but I find just viewing the home page inspiring. Some of the most unique color schemes and compositions can be found in the pins people post. I especially love the prints and posters section. The designs can be used for inspiration for layouts, and the words and expressions can be used for titles and/or journaling on pages.
4. Craft Gossip – Francine Clouden is a super nice person. I worked with her at Masterful Scrapbook Design in August, and that’s when I learned that she was the power behind Craft Gossip. And I do mean power. She’s amazing. She scours the internet for all kinds of crafty information. What I love about this site is that it’s like having a filter of your RSS feeds. She categorizes ideas by craft and gives a short snippet with a link to the full article. But the best part is her Inspiration De Jour, some of the most spectacular layouts appear here. You have to check it out.
5. Emily Pitts – I met Emily this year, and we hit it off right away. I think she’s the bees knees, most likely because at one point I jokingly threatened to beat her with a wet noodle and her response was to tell me to turn off the water because she found what I was asking her for. I love a gal with a sense of humor and she has a wonderful one. She also has a great knack for scrapbooking. Her style is fun, and I love fun.
6. Write.Click.Scrapbook – I will say I think it’s because a lot of people I call Scrappy-Friends write for this site but I love the things they come up with. I like that they have a team just like here at Get It Scrapped. You get many different perspectives on all things scrapbooking.
7. Paula Gilarde – She’s back with ad inspiration! I was so excited when she started doing this again! I love the ads she finds they are always inspiring to me. The latest inspiration piece that made me run for my paper and the layout above is my take on it.
8. The Patterned Paper Seminar at Masterful Scrapbook Design. Debbie is amazing and everyone knows how much I love her and everything she does. This particular month featured Wilna Furstenberg, Cindy Liebel, Celeste Smith and Emily Pitts, and it was extraordinary. I do think it was my favorite of the year. I am a kit lover and, as such, I get a lot of patterned paper. I loved all the different takes on this topic and tried many of the ideas on pages for months to come.
9. Amy Kingsford – First I’ll admit I love her and am biased. If you get to know Amy, you’ll feel exactly the same way: promise. She writes quite a bit here at Get It Scrapped. She also makes the most gorgeous layouts. She’s the mom of two boys and yet makes time to fit in scrapbooking, helping out at Get It Scrapped and Masterful Scrapbook Design plus launch her own site! She reminds me it’s important to make time for myself and the things that are important to me. (She also made me jealous of her new site so I decided this new year I’m going to relaunch my blog, how fun!)
10. Get It Scrapped – Not shocking that Get It Scrapped is my ‘go-to’ place for inspiration. I do want to share that my favorite article this year was about using Journaling Strips. After reading it and applying the ideas, I was reminded how wonderful it is to use journaling strips, especially when you’re prone to thinking faster than you write. I tend to skip words because I get so caught up in the idea I want to express, journaling strips make it easy to fix the mistakes – one line at a time!
11. Somerset Memories Magazine – It is a must-have (as is their Art Journaling Magazine). In my house I do not dare open a new issue until all the kids are in bed. I love devoting my undivided attention to each page and looking for ways to apply the beauty that I see on the layouts to the pages I have in my mind. I also like looking up the contributors online and finding more inspiration on their blogs.
Now that I’ve shared where I found inspiration I do hope you share. Where did you find inspiration this past year? What were some of your favorite articles that had you running for your crafty supplies?
[ttaylor]
