Inspiration Boards ...

Happy Thursday!  I'm excited for what I have to share with you today ~ I'm hosting my first guest post!  

A few weeks back I was contacted by Michelle who hopes to help others learn how to find ways to be inspired when planning events, and working on DIY projects etc.  What she has found to be helpful and inspiring herself, are inspiration boards.

Have you heard of this yourself? This was a new concept to me, and it has definitely grown on me!  Read on to learn more, and maybe you'll become inspired along the way :)

"Inspiration can be found anywhere; 

whether or not we choose to apply it is up to us!"

Inspiration Boards

The Best Muse Available

{Written by Michelle Pino}

Michelle Pino has provided these tips in hopes to educate others on how to lead a more organized and less stressful approach to projects.  Michelle believes a more organized approach to tasks will result in more completed goals.  Her hobbies include DIY, reading and learning about healthy lifestyles.  Michelle is thankful to have had the opportunity to work with Paula and to share her ideas on “­­­­­­­­­Sincerely, Paula”.

Disappearing Muses have thwarted scores of DIY projects that require inspiration and creativity.  Luckily, these erstwhile cohorts have a replacement: Inspiration boards work equally well at inspiring creativity.  Say goodbye to feckless Muses, and employ a board to envision and complete any project.

Inspiration boards provide a surface where a mixture of colors, images or sundry embellishments that inspire creative endeavors can be tacked, replaced and removed.  Corkboards, poster papers and computer graphics each suffice to organize the treasures to be considered for current and future projects.  Often, one peek at the gem-filled board reignites the inventiveness stifled by a slacking Muse.

Unresponsive Muses, by the way, wreak havoc among professionals with jobs demanding on-call creativity; instead, professionals appoint the much more reliable inspiration board.  Architects and event planners, for example, habitually generate boards for each design project.  They tack pictures of integral features, minute details and diverse possibilities onto an inspiration board for each design job.

When adding bits to the board, architects see how various parts of a building work together, and event planners envision completed ballrooms by comparing and contrasting assorted table settings, floral arrangements, lighting options and such.  Frequently, seeing the pieces together provides inspiration for a detail not yet imagined.  

Project designers relish three 
benefits of inspiration boards 
that Muses cannot provide:

1} Organization: Designers keep organized by ordering the project’s stages according to chronology, importance or preference.

2} Budgeting: Marking each image with its price allows designers to play mix-and-match according to cost and, therefore, keep the project within budget.

3}  Shared Visualization: When they use pictures to share a concept, designers avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations that can arise when describing a vision with words.

Inspiration boards can prompt the same fire within people designing DIY projects as within professionals.  The boards lend themselves beautifully to numerous projects including planning the perfect wedding, staging the complete renovation of any room and creating a landscape that generates neighborhood envy.

DIY projects requiring any amount of creativity, minimal or extreme, need not be placed on hold during Muses’ frequent vacations.  Instead, let the former creative consorts frolic elsewhere while you give an inspiration board the opportunity to bring your artistic ingenuity out to play.

Easter is always something to look forward to: because that means springtime is here, and warm weather and sprouting flowers will also soon be here.  Easter Brunch is another fun activity.  Avoid the crowds at local restaurants and host your own!  When you think of spring what comes to mind?  Is it the pastel colored clothing? Or is it brightly colored Easter eggs and colorful candy wrappers?  

To me, tulips are the first thing that come to mind when I think of Spring.  This will be the center focus of my inspiration board.  I’ve used a photo from of a landscape sprawling tulips, that’s located right near my work.   They are a Central New York wedding venue, and host several outdoor wedding ceremonies during the warm months as you can see why!  Amazing landscape.  

Most people think coloring Easter eggs for decorations is tacky, but it doesn’t have to be.  What does one do with a dozen colored eggs? Egg salad? No thanks! Use your dyed eggs as vase filler in your centerpiece as seen below.  

I love the mint green color that’s trending this season; I’ve been seeing it pop up everywhere.  The pleated skirt and lace top dress below is from modcloth.  They’ve got a great selection of pastel dresses, which are perfect for spring.  

So to recap, I used tulips as my inspiration.  From there I could plan how I wanted to decorate, and what to wear.  I’ve also included types of goodies I’d like to serve!

photo credit: Pastel cookies | White Sangria | Centerpiece | Dress | Wedding Venue Landscape

Looking Ahead:

Be sure to stop back anytime after 12PM US EST and link up with my NO RULES Weekend Blog Party! If you haven't linked up with me before this party is a great way to network and make new friends.  You can link up anything you like because there are NO RULES!  Come link up your blogs, G+ pages, FB pages, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Etsy shops ...

Last week there were 154 entries!! I'd like to thank everyone who takes the time to stop by and link up with my party ~ it really means a lot to me, and I truly appreciate it :)

Sincerely,

Paula