I am forever trying to find ways to keep myself happy, motivated, and always and forever dreaming! Hello my name is May Flaum and I love being my own cheerleader and finding ways to inspire my future self. Today it is my pleasure to share with you some ideas and thoughts on one of my favorite journal styles - the inspiration book. This can be anything from mood boards to color palettes, home décor ideas to sketches and everything in between. There are endless materials you can use, and fun to be had!

Supplies

One of my favorite parts about journaling is how few supplies you need, and how much is open to personal preference! For this specific journal I am using an Archer & Olive Watercolor paper notebook, however the standard A&O paper in your choice of size will also work. I make mention of the specific paper as you will see me using watercolors, and the beautiful effects are specific to watercolor paper.

Other supplies you may want include double sided tape, old magazines, brochures, or catalogues; stickers, photos, color mediums of your choice, and possibly stamps or stencils if you’re feeling an artsy vibe! There is no shortage of visuals including printing your own from the internet to inspire your pages. 

I have a dream.

One of my favorite things to get into a book like this are big dreams. Wanting to travel to a place, wishing to manifest your dream house, learning a new skill or hobby - there are no end to dreams and no limits. The idea behind this page is to capture the idea of a dream, why you dream about it, what is so cool about the idea. It doesn’t have to be realistic or even possible - this is just a wide open, big dreams welcome kind of a space.

Places I want to be.

Sometimes life can be hard, you’re having a rough day- or you’re just in a darker place in general. Filling a page with images, words, or doodles relating to that place is not only fun, it helps you visualize and focus on a place you’d like to be whether that is at peace, healthy - or if it’s more of a travel destination you are wishing you could spend a week or more visiting. This could also extend to your dream home!

Color Love

I’m such a color fan - but then I go to combine colors in my sewing or jewelry making and I can’t ever remember what the heck that combo was! My solution? Here in my happy little inspiration book I add color swatches - or better yet pics + swatch with whatever color medium I happen to have on hand. Sometimes I’ll do an entry about a single color, sometimes a whole palette idea there is no answer here - just colors that spark tremendous joy in my creative soul.

Home Sweet Home

This is another favorite of mine - jotting inspiration and ideas for home decor, paint, landscaping and more. Curating ideas that I’d like to - or simply want to consider for my now or future home. It’s a great way to develop and see what is my style, as well as being visually lovely to turn a page of lovely things for my home. Aside from my home itself, entries in this category may also be about myself, my wellness, or perhaps a new look I’m considering.

Project Vision

Have you ever been wholly overwhelmed by a project? That’s me and my studio curtains. I’ve battled these things for years and never gotten even so far as to cut fabric. What’s the hold up? I’ve written about my thoughts about it, and really I think it’s simply that the project overwhelms me. So that’s where this book comes in handy! I’ll sketch out, add images if I see fit, and otherwise work out my ideas on paper before I get into fabrics and trims.

I have also had projects I simply do not have time for but they are eating up my brain power! So I’ll get them out in detail here, spend some time - then the plans are there for me when I’m ready, and my mind can relax better knowing that I’ve got the plans all laid out on paper, and I’ve processed my creative vision.

It’s a whole Mood!

Another favorite - just having a mental vision of a ‘vibe’, a mood if you will and creating a collage piece with photos, magazine cut outs, stickers, or whatever else I have that fits the bill. This tends to be a bigger undertaking and take me a lot more time. Sometimes I will work on one for multiple sessions and add to it as I find more that fits with it.

Here is a video walk thru of several of the pages I’ve shared in this article, as well as more about my vision for this notebook of mine.

In the end every one of these ideas is a jumping off point for its own whole notebook (or series!) if you would like. For me, committing to a whole book on one of the topic feels daunting, and I find that I enjoy the experience of flipping through my more random approach where any given page could be a number of things, but they all have one thing in common: I’ve made the page from a place of happiness, joy, and dreaming.

This book is my brainstorm, my place to spend creative time enjoying the process but also working out things I want to manifest. This book is a place where all the hopes and wishes come to land - where I can check back in on them and bring them to life!

I am always here to support you! Please feel free to reach out to me @craftwithmay on social media like Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok! I love chatting and am always happy to root for you and cheer you on as well as help you troubleshoot. If you try any ideas from this article and post to social media I encourage you to tag @archerandolive, @archerandolive.community and use hashtags #AOShare and #archerandolive so that the community can see your work as well.