storing inspiration.

as scrappers, we get inspiration from numerous sources - magazines, clothing, websites - anything! so how do you store all that inspiration?

i mainly get my inspiration from websites - blogs, manufacturer websites, home decor websites and kit clubs. for the most part, i rotate between the same few websites so i usually remembered where i saw a particular image. but a few months ago, i decided to give tumblr a try to help me store all these websites anyway. tumblr is a blogging tool that enables you to post text, images, URLs, videos, etc. to your blog. you can then follow other tumblr sites and repost any images, etc. you see on other blogs, to your blog.


now, i fancy myself as being pretty technologically savvy, but for some reason, i could never get the hang of it. i tried and tried and tried, but for some reason, i could never get things to show up the way i wanted them to. so i reverted back to just bookmarking websites.

until a few days ago.

pinterest started popping up on scrapbooking websites as another website like tumblr. the difference between pinterest and tumblr is that you can sort your links on different boards - kind of like different bulletin boards. so you can have one for scrapbooking, one for home decor, one for recipes, etc. which for an organizational nut like me, is heaven. like tumblr, you can follow other people's boards and repin anything you see on their boards to yours.


the way it works is simple - once you get started, drag the bookmarklet to your toolbar. (don't worry, if what i said makes no sense, it's one of the steps in the set up process!). as you're browsing the web, simply hit the bookmarklet on any image you'd like to 'pin'. it will then ask what board you want to pin it to, and voila! it's stored for future reference.

one of the best features though, is the search function. you can type it anything - say, gift wrap - and up pops other people's gift wrap boards, or pins. you can then look through their links to see if anything appeals to you. for example, when i typed in scrapbooking, i got 1,309 pins and 401 boards. talk about inspiration!

the only catch with pinterest is that you need an invitation to get started. so if you're interested, shoot me a pm and i'll hook you up. i only have a limited amount of invites, though! oh, and if you want to see my pinterest site, check it out here.

how do you store your inspiration? a binder? bookmarking? a blog? i'm interested to hear!