Learning how others get inspired to make & create things is, well, very inspiring to me. Reading & discovering blogs is a way to delve deep into someone's creative mind. Discovering how they share in the process we call creativity really unites me with those I consider to be artists. (We all search for those like us & blogging is a way to find them!) Sharing DIY's & inspiration boards with in the giant blogging community give me so much inspiration it's hard to contain it all in my head!
Online boards like Pinterest offer a great way to socially share your inspiration. I am not quite sure if you remember wists.com, but it was back before the amazing Pinterest & was my first exposure to social bookmarking. In fact I just logged in (after a few attempts) & found that I had a few pages of things saved. It wasn't as gorgeous as Pinterest but it did the trick.
So what am I getting at? I am getting at the fact that we pull inspiration from everywhere & most of the time it's hard to keep track. So when I find myself hard up on DIY's to do or things to blog about, I pull out my trusty Blog Book, open my Pinterest & click through the things I've pinned.
I jot down ideas that the images inspire & even to follow step by step some tutorials. Pinterest has a wonderful way to categorize your finds that Wists did not. The only downfall is not being able to give credit where credit is due. My suggestion, as I struggle with this too, is to give it your best shot. Give credit where you can & mention you found it on Pinterest if you'd like. I think the blogging community is well aware of how things can get lost on social pin boards. I try not to stress too much over it. Just don't outright steal! That's just not nice.
Putting my pins in my blog book helps me to visually & tangibly organize inspiration for the making & blogging. Sometimes all Pinterest helps me do is take up a bit of net space & I don't ever do anything with it. By filling in ideas in my Blog Book I find I have more chance to actually do it. Seeing the ideas as I flip to find a clean page also puts the inspiration further in my creative brain!
A lot of what I find inspiring for DIYing I list under a Handmade Inspiration title because I've discovered that pinning an image of an original creation under the caption "I can totally DIY this" isn't very nice. Others have worked so hard to share with you what they've created that we shouldn't dismiss their work by claiming we are more crafty or that we can make something similar or let alone, better. This is another reason why I like to share the inspiration behind what I make, especially if I am inspired by a place like Pinterest. Pretty much this quote that I randomly stole from the internet sums it up:
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to.”
― Jim Jarmusch
We are all in a community here so it's great to be supportive & I know that I'd love to know who took some inspiration from something I've shared!
Some important things to remember:
- when you pin something, make sure you are pinning from the original post, not just the front page (or one page) of the blog/website. That way the next Pinner & can find the very post the pin is on.
- Don't tag art or other original creations as "I totally can do this!" cuz it's just not nice.
- If at all possible, include the web address in the tag section.
- If you follow the person on pinterest whose site you grabbed something from, tag them too.
- Remember to have fun & try not to take it crazy seriously. Just be as honest & genuine as possible!
ps. read about creating a blog book here!
How to do you organize your ideas? Do you ever pull your ideas off of Pinterest & put them to paper?
This is an amzing post :) Thank you! I have started keeping a blog book very recently and I still have to get the hang of it. I write down all my inspirations and ideas but I just seem to have too many for one blog! I'll read your post about how to start a blog book too... Maybe it can help me! x
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