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Made

The Modern Vision Board Guide

Modern Vision Board How To Guide www.trialbyinspiration.com
Modern Vision Board How To Guide www.trialbyinspiration.com

Modern Vision Board Guide www.trialbyinspiration.com

Feeling adrift my friend and I planned a girl’s night…to build vision boards. After a stop at Target for supplies, we ordered Postmates and got to work cutting, pasting and dying laughing; but as the evening progressed I began to lean into the exquisite cheesiness of combing magazines for pictures and words that reflect my aspirations. You know I LOVE a mood board so it was delicious to focus on a positive future, limitless goals, and setting my intentions, so why did stating (or in this case pinning) my desires feel greedy and uncomfortable? It was an impulse I had to push against, again and again- has my real life trained me to aim a little lower and want a little less? As young people, when we dreamt about adulting we didn’t let our aspirations get tangled up in the realities of mortgages and commitments, yet here I was tamping down each desire before I even cut it out. I began to realize that creating a vision board is an exercise in nurturing your ambitions, revisiting why you are on the path you’re on, and where you’re going. Can it also help manifest your desired destination? I’m going with yes (because my positivity has been revitalized, ideally for more than a week).
Read on for my modern vision board guide, to help you embrace your huge, unspoken, audacious vision for what your life could be.

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Inspiration

Creator Crush: Becca Jane Koehler Interview

BeccaJaneStudio Becca Koehler Ceramics and Interview
You know when you follow someone on Instagram that you are equal parts inspired by and jealous of? For me, that is Becca Jane Koehler of @beccajanestudio. I’m not an aspiring ceramicist, so I’m not sure why I’m jealous, except that her grid of sun-drenched shots of playfully painted Delft Blue and white porcelain makes me long for a strong signature style and medium. The photos of her pieces en masse are my favorite, stacks and stacks of snake entwined mugs, flat-lay collections of plates with rabbit, snake, eye, and floral motifs in her signature blue, unexpected red or muted black. I had the privilege of reaching out to Becca to find out more about inspiration, staying motivated, and finding her way.
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Inspiration•Travel

Parisian Apartment Essentials: What I Learned From Airbnb

Interior must-haves for a Parisian apartment www.trialbyinspiration.com

As I rounded hour-two of my deep dive into apartment research for our upcoming vacation, I realized: this is the fifth Milo Baughman style table I’ve seen on Airbnb Paris! Though the site provides a wide variety of different home sensibilities, prices, and arrondissement, I began playing a game at spotting the common threads.  Sate your wanderlust with these seven must-have Parisian apartment essentials.

From left to right: Built-in Plywood Bed, Gallery Wall and Puddled Drapes, Linen Dream, Attic Library, Beams and Plants, Seriously Stunning Entry, The Aforementioned Table, A Well Crafted Collection, Chic Shelfie

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Travel

Airbnb Round-Up: Paris

We’re planning a quick stop in Paris on our way to Amsterdam this Fall, and after staying in some amazing Airbnb homes on our trip to the San Juan Islands and Seattle last year, we decided to book an apartment and live like les locals. Even if you’re not thinking about Paris for your next vacation, I highly recommend browsing the apartment rentals for interior design inspiration, (it will certainly lend a little très chic to your next Le Netflix binge).

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Made

2018 Creative Wellness Resolutions

Last Fall I hit a creative wall that I’ve been attempting to push past (climb over?) the last eight months. Life with a toddler is no joke, the amount of patience, time and emotional energy it takes me to be present as a mother is humbling, challenging and sometimes overwhelming. My recent reality of traveling, working full time, and moving into and fixing up our new house has made carving out time and mental space to generate creative ideas nearly impossible. Is guilt (and wine) the only way to come to terms with the privilege of being both so blessed and so tired?
Hasn’t it been interesting to watch the once woo-woo philosophy of Wellness become such a cultural touchstone? The self-care lifestyle, meditation, juicing, jade rolling, aromatherapy and so on, proclaims to be the cure for our hustle culture. Needing a cure myself, Wellness has inspired me to come up with some (belated!) creative resolutions for 2018, and bring my focus to creative maintenance instead of artistic output.

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Made

Garden Creature Statue Rainy Day DIY

garden creature DIY www.trialbyinspiration.com

Garden statues are a tricky item. Give me pagodas for days, metal, concrete, wood, but a whimsical animal, tread carefully lest you wander into gnome territory. One has to be bold to accept a decorative animal onto the lawn, but if done right, there is no more enviable find, spied across a friend’s grill-out or poolside party: “wherrrre did you get thaatttt??” jealousy barely concealed. This project is not for everyone, which is good because it’s one of a kind and a personal reward for a decade of saving (boardering on hoarding). Read on for my super simple, slightly strange (let’s go with avant-garde?) garden statue creation.

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Inspiration

Creator Crush: Molly Egan Interview

Instagram Crush Illustrator Molly Egan www.trialbyinspiration.com

Are you ever mindlessly scrolling your Insta feed and suddenly a post makes you do the digital equivalent of a double-take, the fast scroll back- wait, what was that amazingness?? That’s what happened to me when I added illustrator Molly Egan’s Instagram account to my feed and time after time circled back to like, heart eye and ogle the back history. I love Molly’s bold use of color, unexpected cut-outs and layering and graphic shapes, but most of all I love how ebullient and seemingly effortless her illustrations are. @Mollytheillustrator makes me smile, think “I wish I did that,” and feel newly inspired, and after reading her unpretentious, glowy interview, I think you will too.

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Made

Monday Mood Board – Coconut Court

Coconut Court Mood Board www.trialbyinspiration.com

With the whole city officially back-to-school today and an unprecedented cold front in Dallas this weekend, for the first time all summer I find myself mourning summer.

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Travel

Thailand Travel- My Hindsight Advice

Grand Palace Bangkok Thailand Travel www.trialbyinspiration.com

This week I have been planning our last minute getaway to Napa Valley, so much planning goes into each of our trips, but none more than last year’s trip to Thailand.  As I wrote in last week’s post reviewing our two beachside resorts, one budget, and one luxe, my mind kept wandering to the shoulda-woulda-coulda of our vacation.

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found

Etsy Crush- August

Etsy Crush Metamorphoza Kaftans and Tunics www. trialbyinspiration.com

When I stumbled upon this Bulgarian Etsy shop six months ago, (Etsy search: Kaftan, it’s always gooood) I never knew I would find some of my most crowd-pleasing ensembles ever…

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loving the photoshop mask mode on these florals ❤️
In case you missed it 6:29 a.m. 🌅 We’ve been In case you missed it 6:29 a.m. 🌅
We’ve been up soooo early lately, I remember when I was a teenager, seeing the sunrise quarterly at best, and now I see it every.day. with the kids. We’ve been up since 5:15 (our alarm is for 5:30 😑) wondering how springing forward will change our schedules around here… trying out #procreate for my #procreatesunrise
I had to take the day off to have a procedure done I had to take the day off to have a procedure done (not interesting at all, everything is fine) but I got to squeeze in an hour of Zoom figure drawing with @therenaissanceworkshop before hand- what a dream!!
Just found this one from last week, pretty storm t Just found this one from last week, pretty storm tossed shell against that beautiful brown Gulf water 🤎🤩
🧡🤍🤎💚 🧡🤍🤎💚
I think you're going to LOVE my conversation with I think you're going to LOVE my conversation with fashion illustrator @gambrell_ in today's post. 👆Link in bio,  he discusses the importance of prolific sketchbooks, how he handles commissions, and how to get creatively unstuck .
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#creativelifehappylife #illustratorsoninstagram #artistinterview #artistinterviews #fashionillustration #fashionillustrator #dailyinspiration #tbinspireme #chrisgambrell
Super quick cloud study with torn paper and sharpi Super quick cloud study with torn paper and sharpie set to the shrill sounds on DanielTiger. Bring on the coffee.

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#creativelifehappylife #cloudporn #showyourwork #sketchbookart #illustratorsoninstagram #illustratorsofinstagram #makeart2021 #landscapes #landscape_lovers #mondayvibes
Did anyone else see that moon this morning? Showst Did anyone else see that moon this morning? Showstopper 🌝 I tried to memorize this cloud/sky color and rush into the office to recreate before diving into my emails. I've been trying to find more time for even a quick affair with creativity, still a challenge. Now to finish my coffee!

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#creativelifehappylife #illustratorsoninstagram #moonlovers #abmlifeisbeautiful #abmlifeiscolorful #illustratorsofinstagram #sketchbookdrawing
So as you can see, I'm completely addicted to remo So as you can see, I'm completely addicted to remote figure drawing @michelle_gibson_model 

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#creativelifehappylife #sketchbookdrawing #zoomfiguredrawing #remotelifedrawing #illustratorsoninstagram #figuredrawing #figuredrawingandchill
Looking forward to a Zoom figure drawing + take ou Looking forward to a Zoom figure drawing + take out date-night tonight. Here's 🔥@theartache from last weekend's sess

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#creativelifehappylife #illustratorsoninstagram #zoomfiguredrawing #figuredrawings #remotelifedrawing #pinupinspired #pinupillustration
🌞I wrote my 2021 creative wellness resolutions 🌞I wrote my 2021 creative wellness resolutions last night 🌟 I haven't written any since 2018 but I’m ready to set new intentions to maintain my creativity in the new year! (link in bio if you want to see what I have planned) 🤞 

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#creativelifehappylife #abmlifeiscolorful #abmlifeisbeautiful #acolorstory #artistsoninstagram #artistsofinstagram #artistresolutions2021 #creativityfound #creativityeveryday #staycreative #patternobserver
Check out my interview with one of our absolute fa Check out my interview with one of our absolute fav author/illustrators @mattforsythe in the blog today! He has so many wonderful insights into being a working artist, for me it was so motivating to here his take! Enjoy! 🌞
🐘Progress on my @melissaanddougtoys @ad_magazin 🐘Progress on my @melissaanddougtoys @ad_magazine trompe l’oeill house. This has to be my all time favorite, slowest, most meditative craft project ever. The kids are starting to notice when new decor goes in, but are not nearly as impressed as I am 🤷🏻‍♀️🤩 edited with @acolorstory
Lunch Break! I rounded up our fav kid’s books ab Lunch Break! I rounded up our fav kid’s books about Feelings today, since our house is currently the double toddler feelings zone Check out the link in bio👆👆👆👆 

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#kidsbooks #kidsbookstagram #kidsbookswelove #kidsbookshelf #picturebooksofinstagram #booksforkids #booksforchildren #feelingsbooks
🤯 Thinking about my 2021 creative wellness goal 🤯 Thinking about my 2021 creative wellness goals while listening to back episodes of Big Magic podcast @elizabeth_gilbert_writer .
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#creativelifehappylife #livecolorfully #creativeinspiration #creativewellness #livecreatively
🤩🤩The shirts are live!! 🤩🤩 link in bio 🤩🤩The shirts are live!! 🤩🤩 link in bio 🎉 a portion of your purchase will go to @thelovelandfoundation
more! more! more! Follow me

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All photos and content are the property of Trial by Inspiration and its author, Berry Thomas.