Decades of scrap books

I've said it before and I'll say it again: my mum is my biggest inspiration. She is the reason I am creatively confident—she instilled a strong sense of self-belief in me from an early age, which has become my superpower. She is the reason I never doubted deciding to start an embroidery business having only stitched for 3 months. All I am trying to do with The Fabled Thread is pass on that level of creative self-belief to those who haven't had the same level of encouragement. While I can't share my mum with everyone (there simply isn't enough of her to go around), I can offer you the next best thing: a glimpse into her creative mind through highlights from her decades of scrapbooking!

Mum has been an avid scrapbooker for as long as I can remember. Our house is filled with old magazines, each with the top corner of the cover cut off—an indicator that the magazine has been ransacked. You'll be reading along and suddenly find a gaping hole where she has cut out an inspiring image. Although it can be frustrating at times (especially if you were engrossed in an article that needed the accompanying images), it has resulted in the most magnificent resource: years and years of scrapbooks. Her scrapbooks cover everything from artists and interiors to gardens and objets d'art, showcasing how trends come and go. Therefore not to follow the masses, or to feel the pressure of creating something completely ground-breaking. Just follow your instincts of what you like, as inevitably it won't be too long before your suddenly bang on trend.

While my approach to collecting inspiration differs (I use a folder and mix-up method, which I explain here and in our virtual course), these scrapbooks are my go-to when I'm feeling creatively barren. There is always a section that grabs my attention and leads me down a new rabbit hole.

So, while I can't give you my mum, here is the next best thing: extracts from some of my favorite pages of her scrapbooks!

(Note: Being a personal creative record, some of the pages may be a bit rough around the edges and there are no credits or references, but they are a treasure trove of inspiration. If you do want to try find out about who created a certain image, then do try google reverse image search)