Using Pinterest as a Source of Inspiration

Creativity is something that ebbs and flows throughout our lives. There are times when I'm boiling over with ideas, sketching on any piece of paper I can find and scrapbooking away into the wee hours of the night. Yet, there are other times when the well turns dry and I can't seem to get excited to make a thing. When those times hit I use Pinterest to jump-start my creative juices.

If you don't have a Pinterest account, I encourage you to go and sign up now. It's free and allows you to "pin" anything on the web you want to revisit later, along with adding a graphic with the link. You can find my inspiration board here, conveniently titled "Inspiration Found".

I recently used my "Inspiration Found" board to inspire some of my art.

Here are some examples of how you can use Pinterest to inspire your creativity.

Inspiration Piece:

(pinned from the Silhouette Blog)

Layout: Go See Do

I turned the sketch on its side and cut the circles on my Silhouette Cameo. I tucked my journaling behind my strip of "Hello Life, Photo and the Plane." I used the sketch as a starting point and then created on my own from that point on.

Here's another look at how to use Pinterest to inspire:

(pinned from Scrapbook.com gallery, Blue Star Designs)

Card inspired by the layout:

I used the grid idea to create this card for a friend. The grid allows for the eye to move freely and gives balance. I love this color scheme and the My Mind's Eye collection was perfect for creating cards.

Here is a third example:

And my card inspired by the doilies and kraft paper:

I used the My Mind's Eye Collection again and an Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday stamp to create this card. Inspired by the doilies, I put this card together with ease.

Pinning projects that catch your eye allows you to return to them later and use them for inspiration. As you can see, I didn't copy them in their entirety, but I did use them to create my projects.

I encourage you to use Pinterest to help you when the creativity is hard to come by and frustration sets it. It's a great tool when you just don't know where to turn to get your creative juices flowing again.

Products used:

• Sn@p! Life Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers (Simple Stories)
• Sn@p! Life Flash Cards (Simple Stories)
• 9 to 5 Tin Pins (October Afternoon)
• Miss Caroline Dilly Dally "Curious" Petals Paper (My Mind's Eye)
• 9 to 5 Tidbits (October Afternoon)
• My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 3

Remember to use Scrapjazz for all your scrapbooking supply needs.