Inspiration Board Completed

As part of the redesign of my scrapbooking space, I finally finished the inspiration board.

The board is supposed to be hung in my scrapbooking area and serve the purpose of inspiring me with ideas or colors that I can use in my lay outs.

From top left:
Green & Blue - the ocean, coastline. I picked up this postcard when I was 16 at an art museum down in Kyushu. I kept it all these years because I had written on the back "I will go here someday." I have no idea where this coastline is, but I imagine it's somewhere like Ireland, or even the east coast of Canada. For years, this postcards has been up on my fridge protected in a plastic frame. When I took it out to use it for the Inspiration Board, I noticed that on the backside, my husband had written, "You will someday!" I don't know when he wrote it, but it's fun to daydream about a time in the future when we actually can travel to Europe and see Ireland for ourselves. (or the East Coast of Canada, ode to Kirsten.)

People who inspire me - My mom for her quilting prowess, but also for her strength at being a working mom who went to college AFTER I started kindergarten and then quickly worked her way to the top in her career. She is just that impressive to everyone she meets, but she is also strong at home - understands her limitations, shows emotion when necessary, teaches others to develop their own strengths.
Cathy Zielske is the author of the first Scrapbooking book I read that really got my attention. My whole style changed because of her books. When I noticed her connection with Simple Scrapbooks magazine, I began subscribing to it immediately, and it opened up a whole new world for me. I love that magazine and am a big fan of all of the editors and contributors now.
Kirsten Woest, a woman I met through AFWJ, who is a fellow scrapbooker, but she is much more than that - an artist, a mother, a businesswoman, a friend. In the center is one of her displays at her home store, and I put it there to remind me to use stuff like this in my lay outs! I usually neglect to embellish my pages.

A Quote - "Creativity is love moving forward." This is a quote from Sheila McNellis Asato, the woman I met at the 2009 AFWJ Convention who specializes in Dreamwork. She used this quote for her Masters Thesis and was explaining it to me in terms of using art to express love for others. The question I have always asked myself - "Why do I scrapbook?" Well, here is the answer. Thanks, Sheila. I finally found the quote I was looking for.

The Four Seasons - Japanese often brag that they have the four seasons here. In Chiba, we don't have snow in the winter, but we do have 1 rainy season and one typhoon season. Spring and fall are gorgeous though and well worth the wait every year. And, even summer brings its share of flowers that you would never see blooming in Wisconsin. Anyway, the seasons do have a way of inspiring me with their rich colors, and since I do a chronological album for each year, seasons and seasonal activities do play a big part. I just have to find different ways of expressing them.

From the top right:
Xmas. Who doesn't feel inspired by Xmas? This was a card my husband gave me for Xmas last year. Inserted was a little white note card that read "You're a strong wife and a good mama." Xmas season is filled with inspiration for me, and I purposely go window shopping at stores where I know will have Xmas or light displays, esp home interior stores. I often find, upon closer evaluation, that the items are not well-made, but from afar, they do look spectacular, and they do bring back memories from my own childhood when Mom went all out decorating the house for her favorite holiday.

Color Combos - Some of these are recommended by Cathy Zielske in her books. The stained glass is a common theme in my house. I love stained glass.

Orange & Beige - This is a photo of the sunset from our veranda. Winters give us gorgeous sunsets and that is always something to look forward to. On clear days, we can see Mt Fuji. I love the combo of orange and beige, so I decorated our living room to reflect this.

Blue (and yellow) - the sky and the sea. I still need to add the yellow, but am leaving it blank because I may be adding something totally different to it instead.