My design studio is BEAUTIFUL!  It has tons of space, sunlight, storage and a rockin’ sound system. It has a big inspiration board and a full year calendar for me to plan a year’s worth of designs.  And in this house full of boys, it’s unmistakable girl!! Yep.  That’s my studio. Ummm…  But it’s not the one I have now. It’s the one I’m planning! 🙂

We are in the process of moving the boys to “bigger guy” rooms- which means one room is now free for me to claim as ALL MINE!  I’ve been going through magazines, clicking around online and reading tons of inspirational pieces on creative spaces- and while I am sure the final product will be terrific- I got to thinking.

It’s not really all that different than what I have now. Right now, I’m kind of like Captain Kirk in the Enterprise.  Everything is close at hand- and while it’s not breathtaking, it’s very functional.  I have little pockets of pretty, which you may not see at first glance- but I know where each one is.  The beautiful butterfly paper weights and bright colored notebooks. The rainbow display of paints.  The Vintage books that are really storage boxes for all my bits and pieces.

Truth told, as a designer, I have a hard time creating something pretty if I am in a cluttered, messy or colorless space.  I need pretty. Every workday, I start out my clearing off my desk, fixing up my inspiration board,  putting on some beautiful music and having a big mug of warm coffee to wrap my hands around as I review my planner.

Quite simply, I create my own pretty.  Bloom where you are planted.  That’s my advice for you today. Whether your scrap space is a dedicated room, a separate little corner, or your laptop do all you can to make it pretty.  It’s subliminal rocket fuel for creativity.  pretty is as pretty does.  Even if all you can do is put some of your favorite music on Pandora and have a girly notebook next to you to write out your ideas- you can create your own beautiful scrap space.

Here is a peek at where I am working today-

• 1. A little basket I collect my “Signs of Life”.  Memorabilia of our everyday that I use in my 365ish books and layouts.
• 2. My no frills Kodak printer where I print out journaling.  It’s crazy cheap to use – and I hoard my good ink on the Epson printer for photo printing.
• 3.  My little sketch pad I use to doodle out new ideas and collect inspirational photos. It’s like my mojo pantry. (More on that in next weeks post)
• 4.  My index card box that I catalog ideas for designs. Some have a song title, some have a poem- I carry around index cards all the time- because if I don’t write down my ideas right away I forget them.
• 5.  My cuppa.  In the morning- it’s straight-up Joe.  In the afternoon- I add a little hot chocolate to it and make my own “Mocha Latte”.
• 6. My little inspiration board.  Here is where I pin up photo of color inspiration to keep my focused on present projects.  And pieces of artwork from the kids.  Instant smiles.
• 7.  My favorite photo of me and my Dad. I miss him so much. Looking at his photo reminds me of what a terrific guy he was- and how very lucky I am to have Mom with me.
• 8.  Pretty boxes filled with scrapping bits that may qualify me for an episode of Hoarders.
• 9.  My paints.  I use them on almost every layout.  Their colors just make me happy- and sometimes i will rearrange the bottles and come up with ideas for new designs.  I guess none of us ever grow out of having fun with paint!
• 10.  My albums.  All are 3 ring.   none are chronological- but there is some order to them.  Some are dedicated to each boy- some are all about Family, some are seasonal based.  Many are “Everyday Stories”.
• 11. My crayons.  My hubby bought me this “Collector set” almost 20 years ago- and it never fails to inspire.  The points are a little worn down because I let the kids play with them on very special occasions (like when I have a big deadline and they have incurable ants in their pants!)- but they are still in beautiful rainbow order and still make me oh- so happy when i lift up the cover and ah! smell that crayon smell!

So.  That’s my little space.  Small space where BIG things happen.  Embrace your small space.  Focus on it’s little bits of pretty and let your creativity Bloom!

Beam me up Scotty- I feel the mojo coming on!