My Inspiration Wall

The Homegrown Crafts studio has been my personal wip (work in Progress) since the final coats of paint were laid. Because I needed to get straight to work building my ready made inventory, I set up the most important parts like my pressing and cutting area and my machines. When I set up my desk to work on the business aspects of my operations, I decided it too needed to be creative and inspirational. After working in environments that discouraged self expression and freedom I knew that my desk would need to be more of an anti-desk if I was going to spend any amount of time getting work done there. I decided to do this by building an inspiration wall.

To me an inspiration wall would be something that I could fill with the things that ignite my passion to create, rather than silencing it. I wanted it to have some structure. As many of my fellow artists will understand that with the freedom I also have to keep my OCD at bay by having some sense of order or purpose. It had humble beginnings, and by that I mean I was staring at a beautiful blue wall with nothing on it for some time.

The first step was hanging what I call my clothesline. It is simply a thread strung between two hooks with mini clothespins. This can be ever changing and evolving. I have embroideries I’ve done, and work by other artists who inspire me. Sometimes I hang things for their aesthetic value, other times I hang things that I really need to do. I guess my reasoning is that if it stares me down long enough eventually  I will complete the task. (I’ll let you know if this works……stop staring at me jewelry needing repair I see you). Once this was ready I realized that I had a lot more space to work with.  This was good and bad. I like possibilities and potential but I was really ready to have this space working for me.

I realized that I had a lot of business reminders piling up that I referred to often enough I didn’t want to file them away, but my desk was becoming chaos. So I decided the answer would be a pin board. Anyone who has spent any time scrolling on Pintrest has seen numerous options for DIY bulletin boards. I wish I had saved the websites I found but basically I researched until I found the directions to make embroidery hoop pin boards. It was a little investment in time and supplies, but well worth it. In fact I’ve already received my first order to make some for a clients office space in her new home.

I purchased a variety of embroidery hoops, ranging in size from 14 all the way down to 3. I was glad I had done my research because I would have assumed fabric backed with cork would be enough to hold my push pins. The third layer, which is really the key to making them, is a layer of thick foam core board behind the cork. Once all of my materials were cut I selected the fabrics for the front. I had big dreams of embroidering each hoop with a design before I hung it, but luckily in this case, my priorities won and I decided just to get these babies hung so i could dig into my real work.

The color palette inspiration came from the beach. I used some really fun fabrics from my stash that included texture and pattern as well as flowing well together as a collection. This is the fun part where you can really change the feel of your space. This would be great for a kids room or a reminder area by the front door, creating a place where you could easily change out recent art from school, or upcoming appointment reminders. For me it was all about finding not only a place to put things close at hand but also doing so in a way that it could inspire and motivate me. I guess I hoped I could trick my brain into being more willing to do the accounting, and the areas of operating a business that are a lot less fun than creating.

The bookshelves are hung with really fun bookends to keep things interesting. My ever changing pin boards are hung with their various uses. Some for business some for pleasure. I had to let a little of my nerdiness shine too so I added some art at the top just for good measure. I have room for a few more items and I think I will slowly fill these spots with art from other artists that inspires me. I already acquired a beautiful embroidered hoop of a lady with her hair in a bun. In fact many days, if you saw me from the back here at this very desk , I would look just like this.