Blog Quiz

Di Hickman published this little quiz on her blog yesterday, so I thought I'd join in too!
*What is your ideal atmosphere to scrapbook in?
I am fortunate to have the biggest classroom above the store & I scrap there in the same amount of space that 8 students use. There's a store room that joins it & I keep all my stash there. The amount of light is amazing so I only use artificial lighting at night.
* What inspires you to scrapbook? (a color, a photo, certain paper, particular people or subjects, books...)
I'm gonna be predictable and say all of the above. I have to scrapbook for classes anyway (it's a tough job but someone has to do it! LOL) but I find the more I do, the more inspiration I have to do more.
* Where do you go to seek creative inspiration (websites, magazines, etc..)
My DT always inspire me, so does Di Hickman. I blog-hop a bit too & visit challenge sites - checking out the blogs of other challenge participants always throws up something inspirational - there's a lot of talent out there. Manufacturer websites are great too!
* How do you keep track of the pages or projects you want to copy? (I hate spending an hour flipping through a magazine trying to find that picture I saw 2 months ago that now I want to copy.)
I don't scraplift - apart from once, when I based a layout on one of Kirsty Wiseman's. But that was over a year ago now. I do keep a selection of A4 ring binders with altered projects etc and techniques that I want to try. I do tend to find though, that if I don't do it straight away (within a week or so) then I've forgotten about it and moved on to the next thing. The binders are one of the things likely to go in my current clean up!
* What do you do to jumpstart your creativity when you've got scrapper's block?
I do quite a lot of online challenges but that can be a double edged sword. I use a lot of sketches in challenges, so coming up with my own designs is sometimes hard. Also, you have to be careful what you use the sketches for. Some designers don't allow theirs to be used for magazine, class or DT work - others, like Di, do so long as the proper credit is given.
So when I'm stuck, I might turn to one of Di's sketches but I'll often just take a bunch of stash & play. The secret is to give yourself permission to create something really awful - you can always bin it & no-one need know! LOL. I tend to find if you work through it like that, the end results are not as bad as you think & you do get inspired to do something else. The biggest obstacle to scrappers block (or any block - I used to suffer terribly from writer's block!) is sitting thinking about what you're gonna do - you have to just get on with it, have a play & wait for it to pass - & it will pass, I promise!!