Inspiration???

This is a common question we ask ourselves in the world of scrapbooking. Where does one find inspiration? I find it in the oddest places... and in some not so odd ones, too! I love to browse the bookstore at graphic design books, aisles at Target for color combos and patterns, magazines for ads, catalogs to note trends... it's all good!

I do look at traditional idea books, but in my quest to stay origninal, I rarely buy one. It's what I call the Yanni philosophy. OK, I don't listen to his music, but I saw an interview with him on a news magazine type show. He stated that he never listens to anyone else's music but his so he can stay original. Interesting. For me, half the fun is seeing what other designers can create, but I hesitate to buy the book unless it is heavily technique driven. I fear that I may accidentally scraplift!! If I look at the book and put it down, then an idea I saw may morph into something original by the time any idea ends up on paper. At least, that's my intent, anyway!

The layout above was inspired by a room featured in a Pottery Barn Kids catalog. They had used circles as a border around the room around chair rail height. This was my interpretation of that circle theme!