inspired by: inpiration pages

I'm often asked "what inspires your designs?" That is such a difficult question to answer since anything and everything inspires me. Fabulous window displays, swoon-worthy place settings, adorable kids clothes, spectacular art exhibits ... and mundane things like tree branches, sugar packets, rain boots all inspire me.

I do enjoy seeing what inspires other people and reading how they answer that age old question. Anthropologie has devoted an entire new(ish) website to inspiration. Kate Spade has a cool "behind the curtain" section on their site. Dwell Studio allows their visitors to take a peek at what inspires them with a special section, too. Our inspiration section on the Delphine site has photos of "stuff we love, admire and treasure." I haven't updated it in a while, mostly because I put a lot of what inspires me here on this blog. I also keep a giant sketchbook/journal, where I paste in bits of inspirational ephemera (like cool hang tags, interesting receipts, tear sheets from magazines and ads).

Just because "everything" inspires me, that does not mean that I never suffer from creative block. Having this blog and my sketchbook/journal is invaluable! Whenever I feel stuck I often take a break, go for a walk or a drive, run errands. And when I get back if I'm still stuck I peek through old sketchbooks ... and soon I'm sketching new ideas. On my recent trip to New York I accidentally left my book behind and I felt completely lost! What works for you?