Dec 29, 2010

Studio Bits: Vision Board 2011 and Swatches

Hello Friends! Is everyone getting ready for 2011? I know I am! To help me ease into the new year, I updated my vision board. I'm still very new to this concept and had a few attempts at it but failed miserably. I don't feel like I completely committed myself to it or the idea. I don't want to give up on it yet (even after many failed attempts) because I still think its a great idea. After reading other people's blogs of how these ideas manifested themselves into real things, I'm convinced that it works! I am determined to make it work for me!

This is what my studio wall currently looks like:


I'm using this particular vision board to help me develop new items and accessories for my Etsy shop. I have a vague idea of the direction I want to take this but didn't want my decisions to be so controlled. I figured that I should trust my instincts and picked images that made me go "Oooh!" and "Ahh!".

Now I am about to give you a closer look at my vision board and dissect its parts to explain why I picked these images.


This is the upper portion of my vision board. I like to rip out pages from fashion magazines because in my opinion its the most influential industry. Fashion is always changing and reinventing itself so its the fastest way to keep up with the times. Even if you're looking at older fashion photos, some elements still find a way to come back. These clippings are about two years old, but I still find these inspiring and relevant to what I'm doing. I'm hoping that they will help me to create something new.

I found that I was attracted to similar types of things. Some recurring themes are classic patterns (stripes, tartan, plaid), big bows, and earthy colors contrasted by vibrant pops of color.


This is the lower portion. This has some inspirational odds and ends that I have yet to figure out. I'm keeping them up here because I do see potential in these images. My favorite parts of this section are all the funky patterns and the ballerina tutu.

Having all of these images together is really helping me come up with ideas! I have a ton of supplies that I wasn't sure what to use for. I've collected pretty things like ribbons, plastic pearls, feathers, and faux fur. Now that my vision board is up, I think I have a better idea of what to do with them. I can't wait to get started on them so I can show you! I think you'll like them :)

My vision board comes in the form of a French memo board style. However, there are many ways to create one and make it your own. I will place some important links on the bottom of this post :)

My favorite part of my wall is finally giving my felt swatches a proper display.

I loooove my felt swatches from Benzie Bazaar! This was probably my best purchase of 2010.


I had a difficult time figuring how to assemble this at first. I knew I wanted to recycle old materials though. I went looking around my treasure chest of a basement and found a couple of picture frames. They were gold-plated and had an antique look, but it was unfortunate that they were too small for this project. I remembered that I had a dozen old paintings that never sold, so I took my least favorite and attached some clips onto it. No worries, my artwork changed a lot in five years, I don't really miss the painting and right now its being used in a better way. The cool thing about this set up is that the swatches are held on by clips so I can easily remove them. This makes it convenient in case I need to bring the swatches with me to the fabric store. I really love the simple, sleek black frame. It probably works better than my original antique idea. The frame is large enough for me to stash business cards and things I need to remember.

I'm really happy with the direction that my wall is taking. I know that it still needs to evolve as my ideas change and grow. I will be working on more visual boards for other aspects of my life. I know this will take a while because its hard to plan a year within a day. I will be updating my progress in the coming months!

Here are some sites that have helped me develop my vision board:
Craft Ideas Weekly: How to Make a Vision Board
Anna Denise: Article on Mood Boards. She also has some really cool sketchbook scans on her Flickr!
San Smith: Creating Visual Lists for 2009 and Visual Lists for 2010
The Law of Attraction
The Secret: This is a really inspiring book! A quick read too.
French memo board tutorial by me :)

If you're working on your vision boards, I would love to see them! I find that it helps to see what others are working on because it triggers excitement and ideas bounce off of each other to create great things!

Good luck everyone! Let's plan and make 2011 an amazing year!

5 comments:

Hello Again Vintage said...

Your name definitely does ring a bell.. but if I ever saw you out of the blogsphere, I probably wouldn't recognize you. :/ I have horrible 'face' memory.

Anyhow, I love this post and your board! You inspired me to create a better, more motivating workspace for myself.

♥ Grace

Dave said...

Hey Sarah. Glad to see you are doing well for yourself. I think 2011 is going to be an interesting year. I have already started a new project myself and have been working on it diligently for about three weeks now. If you are curious, check out the URL I have provided. The business is going through some restructuring but I am very excited about it. I'm leaving Englishtown in favor of evolving my product line. To kick things off, I opened up a new social network 3 weeks ago. Also, I am currently working on redesigning my website so people can purchase things from it. I'm also thinking of doing some conventions and shows this year if I can get my inventory levels up to snuff. You can check it out at the URL I have provided.

I really like your idea of a vision board. It's basically another way of posting affirmations. Positive reinforcement is always good for building a strong foundation. Manifest Destiny is a very real thing and many famous entrepreneurs have used this technique to turn their dreams into a reality. What starts out on paper can turn into a contract that you sign for yourself. When you work towards fulfilling this contract, you shape the lines that draw up your own reality.

Have a happy belated holidays and a Happy, Successful and Prosperous 2011. I'll talk to you soon :-)

- Dave

Gale said...

oOOooh! Go you! I'm so happy you posted this. I too have had many failed attempts at making a vision board. I would always quit in the middle of making it for some reason. Yea, I think I just never committed to the idea either. I felt I was wasting valuable crafting time maybe. But I believe it could work too. So many artists, crafters, actually anyone with a goal, has said the vision board really aided them to move in the direction they wanted to go. And eventually got there!

So maybe I will try it again? I won't promise myself this time haha, but you have definitely inspired me! I'll keep you posted (literally on blogger lol)

The images you chose on your vision board are really great and inspiring, can't wait to see your new creations. Also, your wall is looking AWESOME!

Sarah said...

@HelloAgainVintage Aww Grace lol, its cool, I'm pretty bad with names too (and can also be shy!) But now that we're blog friends I'll say 'Hi' if I see you in person again. Yay! I'm pretty sure we will since 2011 will be a crafty year! Best of luck Lady Grace!!

@Dave Definitely! The Law of Attraction takes on many forms. I also believe in Manifest Destiny and daily affirmations. In essence is all the same thing. Heeyyy I checked out your website! Its really cool! Good luck with your projects. Social networks never seem to be slowing down. You might be onto something there :)

@Wischer Studio It definitely seems to take a lot of time and lots of work just like most things :) If you do work on a vision board, I hope you post yours too. I'd looooove to see it!! All the best!

Monster said...

I'm glad you have these posts, just referred back to them to find some tutorials and inspiration to make my own. Start of a new life here at school, I think it might be a good idea to create a vision board to help direct the nxt few months.