finding some inspiration

I'm finding that this time of the year is the time of the year that I am actively seeking out some inspiration and in that, some motivation.  Maybe it's the charge ahead for a new year or that feeling of clearing out the old, in with the new.  Whatever it is, I've been busy reading about what some other people get up to to formulate some new designs and structure into their processes.

I've been a fan of Ali Edwards for a long time now, and if you're not familiar with her or her work, she's a graphic designer who has a clean and simple approach to her work.  She does a lot of paper work and posts regularly about the projects that she's been doing, both personal and for her business.

I decided again to sign up for her One Little Word year-long workshop again, to remind myself of a regular project and the reflectiveness that this project can provide.  Hopefully it'll also inject a bit of my word back into my day-to-day in the year thirteen.

I also went back and went through the blogging course from elsie & laura at a beautiful mess, which I first mentioned in a post last year about blogs I was (and still am) reading.  In their blogging ecourse, I like their mix of personal experiences and guidelines.

Whilst they proclaim throughout to be no experts (which I think there a lot of us who would decry that they are!), it is refreshing to read about what they find interesting and how they manage their own time.  I am a planner and organiser, but my own ideals don't always flow through to everything that I want them to - I don't post regularly, I don't have a lot of planned or scheduled posts, I don't take enough nor share enough photos, I don't... I don't...   I am trying to be easier on myself with running a  craft business and having an online presence, so I think that reading through these courses and articles help to both re-inspire and to remember that it's okay that I don't do all of that!