Scraplog

Scrapbooking Inspiration

Today I would like to talk about inspiration. Where does it come from? How do I get it? When I feel like I have run out of creativity, what do I do? How do I get past a creative block?

My favorite inspiration doesn’t come from a scrapbooking magazine or a book, my favorite comes from something completely free. My favorite source of inspiration comes from advertising. Crazy but it’s true. I love to collect those catalogs that come in the mail because they are great for inspiration and ideas. If you flip through a magazine, check out the ads. Some big shot designer has already laid out the basics for you and you just have to transform it into a scrapbooking page. How awesome and easy is that?

I have a stack of catalogs in my craft room for the times that I need a creative boost. My favorites are: Free People, Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, Fossil, the Land of Nod, Veer, White House Black Market… the list goes on. It’s so easy too, just go to their website and request a catalog; free inspiration. Below is a picture of a few of the catalogs and sources I collect.

Another source of inspiration is to go to the store. I love to go just to browse (one of my favorites is Target). Again, designers have already done the work for you, you just have to take a cool idea and convert it to scrapbooking. It’s not about copying someone. It’s about taking a concept and using it for you. I don’t take someone else’s idea and use it completely (although you could), I take an element and use it for me. So fun!

I love to go into a store and check out the colors and sometimes even the labels. One of my favorites is Fossil. The price tags they put on the clothes are so cool! Sounds strange but you should try it! If I buy something and the tag is cool, I save them and put them in a notebook for future reference. I have even taught Jason the value of this and he now saves his tags for me (thanks Babe!). Once I have a stack going then I put them in old picture album pages (the sticky kind) and they go in a notebook. I do the same thing with ads from magazines. I put them in a plastic page protector and into a notebook. Below is a picture of the two notebooks I have for this.

So there you have it, if you need inspiration, go to the store or flip through a magazine. It’s all at your fingertips and it’s free! My favorite kind! A couple more shots up close of things I’ve collected:

Enjoy and go create something inspiring!