Hi everyone! Hope that you are enjoying the blog this week — and hope you’re getting lots of inspiration!

I am inspired by tons of things — the colors of the dishes in the dishwasher, wildflowers, birds, butterflies — the list goes on. I use an inspiration journal to keep track of it all. It’s a sort of “have to do” thing for me — that way even if I don’t have time to stamp something, I can get it down in my journal and I won’t forget it. I’ve been keeping one for years — don’t know what I’d do without it. Whenever I get stumped it’s my journal to the rescue!

Since today is “Watch It Wednesday” I thought I’d take you on a tour of some recent pages — keep your eyes peeled, because there’s also some sneak peeks from the Summer Catalog…

Journal supplies:

• A notebook or sketchbook with sturdy pages. I like to use a Moleskine because it has an elastic band that keeps it closed after I fill it up.
• Photos (all photos by me)
• Magazine clippings, catalog clippings and other inspiring stuff
• Paints, colored pencils, various inks, pens

Here’s some more info about the cards that were shown in the video:

Supplies for the card:

• Clear Design Happy Hello (CL231, from the Summer Catalog)
• Bird on a Branch (K5053, from the Summer Catalog)
• Spring Art Flowers
• Summer Mixed Gemstones
• Green Apple, Strawberry and Lemon notecards
• VersaColor Baby Blue, Memories Black, Rose Petals Chalk Queue
• Other: page from an old wildflower book, glue dots, colored pencils (Prismacolor)

Quick instructions: Stamp Bird on a Branch with baby blue ink on white cardstock, cut out. Stamp owl from the Clear Design Happy Hello set, color with pencils and cut out. Stamp “what’s up?” in black and trim. Stamp the flower border (also from the Happy Hello set) with warm red on Strawberry and trim. Rub flowers with chalk inks to distress. Assemble card, then add gems and flowers.

Supplies:

• Squirrel Sketch
• Long Branch
• Sparkle Clear Love That
• Summer Art Buttons
• Memories ArtPrint Brown, Pumpkin Patch Chalk Queue, Chocolates and Blueberries Chalk Queue
• Teal Gemstones
• Other: twine, colored pencils (Prismacolor)

For more info, check out the June Stamp Craft HERE.

Supplies:

• Scroll Tree
• Sparkle Clear Love That
• VersaColor pigment inks in Canary, Marigold, Orchid and Baby Blue
• Memories Black
• Lemon, Cantaloupe, and Blossom Notecards
• Other: ribbon (Strano Designs), text paper (old wildflower book)

Quick instructions: Rub inks directly on white cardstock, then stamp Scroll Tree over the top in black. Layer to Cantaloupe. Stamp message with black on white, then assemble card.

Supplies:

• Sparkle Clear Home
• DesignBlock Flourish
• Strawberry, Green Apple notecards
• Memories Black, Rose Petals Chalk Queue
• Other: green gingham ribbon (May Arts), black marker, colored pencils (Prismacolor), rotary cutter/scoring blade (Fiskars)

Quick instructions: Cut a 2 inch by 10 inch strip of white cardstock. Score every 2 inches. Stamp door, flowers, butterfly and “hello” with black ink and color with pencils. Fold along the score lines, then adhere to an Apple Green strip. Tie with ribbon, then adhere to the front of a Strawberry Notecard that has been stamped with warm red chalk ink and the Design Block Flourish. Draw butterfly trail with a marker.

Do you keep an inspiration journal? We’d love to see a page or two and a stamping project that it inspired — you are welcome to enter it in our this week’s “Inspired by You” challenge! Submit your entry by 11:59 PM PST on Sunday to the Hero Arts Flickr Group and tag it with the code word “inspire”. (See the FAQ for more info on Flickr.)

Hope I inspired you!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 12:04 am and is filed under Watch It Wednesdays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.