Tuesday Tutorials: Gathering Inspiration

As a crafter I often look for inspiration in various places and forms. Sometimes it comes from what I am eating, sometimes it comes from a picture, sometimes the color of a certain article of clothing and other times it comes from what I am reading. As I have mentioned before, I read many blogs and lately they have been a great source of inspiration but, more often than not, it is the magazines that I read which provide me with the most inspiration. One of my latest acquisitions, Marie Claire Idees, has given me a great new French inspiration for crafting and even decorating. I purchased a copy from January of this year at a bookstore here in Caracas called Las Novedades.

At Las Novedades I have always found interesting magazines ranging from decorating to crafting to cuisine, all very good and slightly different from the magazines we get in the US. I like to have a mixture of things from different parts of the world so it is nice to be able to get magazines from France, Italy, Spain, Colombia, Mexico, England, Germany and even the US. Another magazine which greatly inspires me is ReadyMade which has a great many DIY projects and tips for the creative person to enjoy. I have two copies from last year and really wish I could get a subscription to the magazine, I am working on figuring that out. In the meantime I check out Ready Made's webpage for the latest projects and news.

Beyond Ready Made and Marie Claire Idees, my other source of inspiration comes from within my e-mails. Nothing like the daily dose of inspiration I receive from Martha Stewart. One of my favorites from last week was the Organizing Tip of the Day: Bookcase Armoire. I've been looking for some room decor inspiration and lo and behold I found that link in my e-mail! I just love the look and feel of the armoire and the fact that it is in itself a craft makes it all the more fun and intriguing! The armoire calls my attention because it is such a space saver and the room I am going to be living in for the next few years is such that while it is somewhat spacious it would work better to have something similar to be able to better organize my things.

So, now you see more or less where I get my crating and decorating inspiration, where do you get yours?

Cheers!