inspire me

You might be getting sick of hearing me rave about pinterest, so if you are you might want to leave now.

Before there was pinterest, there were magazines all over my floor, scissors grazing glossy pages, and glue sticks gliding across the pages of one of many sketchbooks. I haven't given up on keeping my inspiration pages; in fact, I've only gotten more adept at keeping track of the pretty pages that I love.

Collecting inspiration has become a lifelong job. Over the years I've clipped pictures of New Kids on the Block {Joey was my flavor}, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, cute tops from the Delias catalog, abercrombie models, and tips from Cosmopolitan. This led to me clipping outfits from catalogs, flyers, and magazines.

I mentioned in this post that I was going to tell you about my inspiration books and, my friends, this is the day I unearth the beast.

These are some examples of the little gems that I've found. Sorry about the terrible quality, but the lighting in my living room is TERRIBLE.

When I've finally got enough of whatever I want to paste, I organize them in one of my books. I have another book like this and a few smaller ones, too.

Until I'm ready to put everything into my books, I store them in file folders & envelopes. Organizing is a complete obsession for me. It helps that I have summers off.

I organize it just like I do my pinterest- 

crafts, fashion & style, pretty words & images, bridal stuff, beauty & hair, recipes, decor, and education. Did I mention a folder for miscellaneous things? 

Here's the funny thing- in all the time I've been saving these clippings, I haven't once finished an inspiration book. Partway through I come up with a new way to organize or I decide to write something witty to go along with each picture and then I get distracted. Part of my 101 goals is to finish one of my books. It's going to happen!