What Are You Working On is a community diary series for all things crafty, in a variety of mediums and techniques.
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The Care and Keeping of Ideas
Do you keep an Inspiration Journal? (I don't.) Googling "idea journal" leads to a variety of links to products, blog entries, and usage descriptions. This one looked interesting to me.
It seems this is not an online thing - it's meant to be tactile. Taping or gluing bits of this or that. Textures. At least for me.
One thing that has inspired me for years (decades) is ceramic tile. Especially ceramic tile in foreign countries. Especially Alhambra Palace. The googled images seem to be more macro-oriented. When I go to these places, I take close-ups and focus on the small details of the architectural features.
Lo and behold, a group of French quilters made 20 quilts based on the famous Moorish palace, and had an exhibition! The article is included in the current Quilters Newsletter Magazine. So far, all I can find online is this blog entry with a correction, and one photo. There is also a free pattern based on these wonderful tile quilts, and one gal already has table cover made from this pattern.
This tile floor is in the US Capitol, I think. I love the angles, the colors and contrast, and the border zipping around it and going off to the next element.
I have no new pictures today. I have a small pile of things that I find very amusing, that make me smile. One of my favorite items is 3-D of stickers of monsters. Friendly, colorful monsters.
Now, even armchair traveling can reveal a lot of inspiration. Not only the google images, but sites specific to your craft. Etsy is a large clearinghouse for buying and selling a lot of crafty items. Depending on your medium, of course, you may have other sources.
For color combination, I do like to look at nature. Also, my daughter. She is a born color expert.
What Are You Working On?