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While I adore pinterest (an understatement!), I am almost as equally in love with real tangible inspiration boards. Since I mention inspiration boards quite a bit on A Beautiful Ripple Effect, I think it’s time to share a bit more about the many wonders of creating your own boards. Let’s get started with a visual feast for your eyes that is sure to excite your inner creative.

images: 1. liz caan interiors (via made by girl) | 2. leslie shewring (via decor8) | 3. le dans la (via hanna’s room) | push pins: glitter, silver, fabric pinwheel | 4. found via emmadime | 5. the coveteur | 6. sweetjessie (flickr) | 7. original source unknown

… more of my favorite inspiration boards

Do you have an inspiration board? If so, what do you like to put on it? If not, is it something you would like to create?

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Today’s Color Me Happy mood board feels a bit disjointed, but I’m going to let go of my perfectionistic ways and share it anyway! I focused on cool summer blues (think: aqua, tiffany blue, turquoise). This color is one of my go to colors for accessories—especially during the summer months!

What color do you associate with summer?

sources: ombre aqua print (retro menagerie) | clutch (anthropologie) | photo (tick tock vintage) | aqua earrings (via all things girly & beautiful)

p.s. more color me happy inspiration

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After last week’s craziness (update to come soon), I needed to focus on something cheerful. What better way to add a little cheer to your day than by getting a bit stripe happy. Colorful stripes can be seen literally everywhere—it’s fun to find them in the least expected of places :).

Have you found an unexpected burst of color in your day?

sources: carrie bradshaw in striped skirt (original source: phoebebrookes.wordpress.com—no longer active)| envelope liner (plurabella calligraphy) | bangle (kate spade) | mug (eat drink chic, photo by amy moss) pillows (original source: unknown)

p.s. thank you for your support last week (virtual thank you note above!). i am so grateful for the positive thoughts!

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I have officially caught the neon bug. Neon is everywhere! I’m absolutely in love with the Hunter neon pink boots below, but don’t know if I would have the guts to wear them. Would you?

What color has been inspiring you recently?

sources: hunter boots photograph (liv fashionably, photographer: carrie coleman) |  knot & bow heart stickers (knot & bow) | stay classy pencils (earmark) | be present print (jess lc)

more color inspiration: color me happy on pinterest

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To be completely honest, I didn’t think I was going to continue creating Color Me Happy mood boards. After being sucked into the world of pinterest, I noticed that these boards were the least pinned of anything I post. And, of course, I continuously compared my mood boards with those of full time graphic designers. I became my worst critic. Finally, I decided to take a step back and make a decision: to stop or to continue creating these Color Me Happy posts.

To make this decision, I asked myself what I hope others are taking away from these boards. How do these mood boards align with my overarching themes on A Beautiful Ripple Effect?

I quickly realized that these boards are not about the actual boards themselves. The boards simply signify showing up. They represent a weekly action taken towards fulfilling a goal of stretching my creativity, learning photoshop, and celebrating the art of trying regardless of how the end product is received by others.

My life is filled with logic and reason, research and data. I’ve never taken an art class and am learning photoshop one layer at a time. I don’t consider myself to be “creative” and yet it’s an adjective I’m learning to infuse little by little into my life. My goal is not to become a mood board expert or graphic designer. If that were my goal, I may approach these boards a bit differently.

Rather, each board I post represents a tiny leap outside my comfort zone. With each leap, I learn more and more about myself—a wonderful byproduct of being a beginner! I hope that by sharing these leaps someone else will feel inspired to try something new, to embrace the role of being a beginner, and to continue this process of life-long learning.

sources: fringe garland (potter and butler) | floral photograph (kristybee) | bag (starbags)

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