Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

As a small business creative, I am always looking for inspiration. Every two months I create a box of stationery that has a theme attached to it. It takes time (about two months!) to put the bits and pieces for letter writing together, and there’s always a discussion with Lew, my son, and the artist behind the watercolour illustrations I use to design all of the stationery, at the beginning of each creation.

The inspiration for those themes and discussion come from lots of places. The By the Seaside box came from inspiration that my surrounding local environment brings. Deep blues and turquoise of the ocean, chocolate brown and rust cliff faces, golden sand, rolling green hills.

The Cosy box was inspired by the feelings I get from the cooler seasons here in our valley. Crackling fires, wooly jumpers, fluffy socks, freshly brewed tea, sweet treats straight from the oven, a good book, scented candles … the list goes on.

The Betty box was in honour of my Nan. It was all things Nanna-ish. Knitting, sewing, baking, memories, nostalgia, a box full of love. It goes without saying, my Nan inspired me.

The next box (out in mid-October) is called Bloom, and we all know where the inspiration for that one has come from;)

Of course, it’s my garden. I would have to say out of all of the places and things in the world, the majority of my inspiration comes from the garden. In amongst the plants there are the obvious things - beauty, tranquility, wonder, growth, life, quiet. There’s a connection with the natural world that ignites my senses and helps me experience things with far more clarity.

But the inspiration comes from more than the obvious, and if you are a gardener, you will know exactly what I’m saying. The garden is one of the main places where I become lost in thought, and this is the thing that causes inspiration to happen. It’s quite magical, really.

Time seems to stand still when I’m hands in the dirt, bum to the sky. Perhaps it’s that position that helps the energy flow? Oooh, I wonder if that’s a thing? Yoga peeps? What do you say? Next minute, I find my mind quietens. Things begin to slow down, and I become more aware of my surroundings. The soil between my fingers. The twittering of fairy wrens in the berries. The gentle breeze on my skin. The sun on my back. The smell of jasmine in the air. And before I know it my mind begins to wander but not in the usual racy, noisy, frantic way. No, in the garden the thoughts are drifty, more of a gentle meander. They waft in and out. Each one stays a little while, simmering and percolating, and then another one comes along.

It’s this that I wanted to capture in the Bloom box. Yes, the flowers. My goodness, it’s all about the flowers. It’s the connection with nature, in all its splendor and it is more than anything, the inspiration that helps thoughts rise to the surface - pondered and nurtured. I have tried to capture all of that, and pour it into writing paper, and cards, and stickers and goodies so that subscribers might just feel even a tiny bit of it all when they are writing letters to loved ones. Fingers, and toes, and everything crossed that it works:)

The Bloom Tea + Toast Box will be out in mid-October. There are only 7 spaces left for this box so if you’d like one, you can grab one here.

Oh, and if you’d like to join in on our monthly snail mail exchange, and get back into the loveliness that is writing and receiving letters, then please join The Lovely Letters Project with a gorgeous bunch of women from all over the world!

It’s so much fun and it really does bring a sparkle to your day when you peak inside that mail box and find a letter addressed to you!

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The latest Dear Nan post was a recipe from Nan’s old recipe books. It’s a recipe for Ginger Nut biscuits. They were such a favourite of that generation, weren’t they? There is something about ginger that Nan loved. For me, ginger goes with Christmas and warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and when I put them together like that I get a warm fuzzy. Such comforting smells and tastes and memories associated with them. My Nan loved crystalised ginger, which is not to my personal liking but whenever I see a packet of it I think of her and smile.

If you haven’t subscribed to Dear Nan but you’d like to check it out, you are more than welcome to use your ‘free read’ option to check out the Ginger Nut biscuits, or to read anything else you’d like. You get one free read to give it a try so please don’t be shy to use that.

The last goodie that will be going into the Dear Nan subscription for September is a piece of printable writing paper for subscribers. Each month there will be a different one to add to a collection of flowery papers that can be printed as many times as you like.

If you’d like to subscribe to Dear Nan, you can do that here:

Okey doke, well after a walk on the beach this morning and a surprise spotting of a mother and baby humpback quite close to the shoreline, I’m off to get this very late letter off to you!

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Check out my website and the stationery goodies over there | Join The Lovely Letters Project a free snail mail exchange | Sticky beak at The Tea + Toast Club for your stationery hoarding delight! | Follow me on Instagram for lots of photos and videos |
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