Make an Inspiration Station

It's great to keep inspiration handy and magazines and blogs are a great way to get inspired so I've put the two ideas together to make an 'Inspiration Station'. I've got a stack of notebooks that I regularly use for jotting down ideas and pasting in pictures and magazine cuttings then the idea hit me to have a combination of a notebook and an easel that I can keep on my desk and fill with inspirational ideas I find each day. I put together this idea that's kind of like a standing up notebook. If you want to make your own have a go using the instructions bellow. Have fun!

Instructions
Gather together some supplies. You'll need something to make your pages with like sheets of scrap paper or card, (I've also used envelopes and 4x6 page protectors). You'll also need a piece of greyboard or thick cardboard and a Bind-it-all with a wire or something similar to bind your project together.

First cut your piece of greyboard to 11.5 inches x 6 inches. Score two lines 4.75" in from each end so you end up with a 2 inch space in the middle which should look like this.

Fold the two sides up so you have a triangle shape like this.

Using a Bind-it-All tool punch the holes along the top using the cover setting (c) for the first punch and then continuous setting (b) for the remaining holes. If you've not got a bind it all use something similar to punch your holes in the top for your binding. You should end up with this.

Paint the card or cover it with patterned paper.

Next make the pages. You can make as may pages as you like but they need to be the same size as the front of your triangle shape, (or smaller) so if you've used the above measurements that's 4.75x6 inches. Include some pockets and/or envelopes so you can store extra bits of information, scribbled notes, photos etc. Punch holes along the top of your pages as you make them in the same way as you did before. The mini page protectors I'm using here are by Teresa Collins they're already the right size and pre-punched to use with the bind it all. I'm also using card, notecards and paper from the Resolutions Quirky Kit.

Thread all your pages together on a wire that's the right size for the thickness of your pages. Here I'm using a 3/4 size, depending on how many pages you have made you might need to go larger or smaller.

Take your decorated board piece you cut out earlier and fold it up in to the triangle shape and thread the two top punched sides on to the wire. Keep hold of the whole piece and then bind the wire together.

Your Inspiration Station is now finished and ready to decorate and fill with ideas! Treat  it like a mini easel and keep it in your workspace to inspire you. Add torn out pages from magazines, snaps of things you see out and about, quick notes, sketches and anything else you find inspirational.

Have fun!

xx Leo