Tag Archives: ashley

lessons in inspiration / 13

Want to become inspired? Leave home. When we take a step outside of our doors, with our eyes and hearts open, we experience this world in a whole new way. Throughout history people have traveled; some were able to travel only as far as a neighboring city or village, and some across the seas. But what we have to our advantage is the ease of being able to visit new places. Airports, bus routes, and our own vehicles give us the means to go. We need only to take that first step out of our comfort zone.

lessons in inspiration / travel ( quote about leaving home for inspiration )

Your assignment: travel. 

rolling in inspiration

Have you guys had a chance to grab the GEOBALL template yet? It’s free in the CLC resource shop!

Last year I approached Ashley with the idea to create a “live version” of her Lessons in Inspiration column. I know most creatives get stuck sometimes – I do, for sure – so we wanted to create something that would keep you “rolling in inspiration“! It’s covered in quick and easy activities for you to do when your inspiration tank is feeling a little low.

Here’s a little demonstration of how to put it together. Grab the printable here!

Side note: This was my first go at creating a video in Photoshop so please forgive any quirks. Be expecting many, many more!

lessons in inspiration / 12

It could be the teacher in me but I really love to read. Just like movies and music, books have the ability to transport me into a different time, show me a different perspective, encourage me, and inspire me.

My bookshelf is crammed full of various literary treasures. Required readings, finance books, childhood series, and every book written by Francine Rivers can all be found in my humble bookshelf.
Here are a few of my recommended books [most of which I'm currently coveting]
lessons in inspiration / reading recommendations

1. Kinfolk | visually inspiring and full of carefully curated words which rouse my heart every single time.
2. A Year of Mornings | I just wish I had thought of this one first.
3. Love Does | this one makes me want to get up and go DO something. so encouraging & challenging.
4. Elements of Style Illustrated | an illustrated grammar book. can’t get much better.
5. My Ideal Bookshelf | a bibliophilic feast for the eye, mind, heart and soul.
6. New York Times 36 Hours: 150 Weekends in the USA & Canada | a traveler’s must-have.

Your homework: read [or browse] through some literature. Make sure you let yourself become immersed in the reading; this is where the inspiration magic happens. 

What are your most inspiring literary finds? Are you into the classics? Biographies? Cookbooks?

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►  read more lessons in inspiration posts by ashley here

design elements by CREATE LIKE CRAZY design studio

lessons in inspiration / 11

December is a busy month. Even though some things in my life are winding down, many are picking up at rapid rates. My to-do list is filled with great things, my calendar is full of places to be and people to see, and my list of goals for the coming year is building every day. Though I spend more time away from my computer during the holidays, I don’t automatically spend more time resting.

Your assignment is very simple, but completely necessary: be still.  
Take time to be. Be yourself. Be quiet. Be retrospective. Be aware. Listen to the stillness. Allow yourself to enjoy whatever season of life you’re in right now.

When I’m being still I like to knit. I’m not the greatest knitter ( hey, I’ve actually never finished anything ). But I love sitting on my couch and knitting for hours, unaware of the time, simply engaging in a task carried out completely by my own two hands.

lessons in inspiration: be still

I guarantee that putting away your computer, cell phone, to-do list, calendar, blogroll, turning off the TV and even getting away by yourself will do you more good than you might expect. So pick up a pair of knitting needles, grab your notebook to write down your thoughts/observations/goals, or go into a room by yourself and just be. Think of it as a Christmas present to yourself!

Until next year, class is dismissed!

- Ashley

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> read more lessons in inspiration posts by ashley here

design elements by CREATE LIKE CRAZY design studio

happy friday + ashley’s wish list

Home sweet home! We had a wonderful time visiting family but it’s always nice to be home.

I have a few more of the CLC girl’s wish lists to squeeze in before Christmas! Here is Ashley’s!

ashley's christmas wish list

  1. bracelet
  2. capri blue mercury glass candle
  3. biennial briefcase
  4. sewing machine
  5. ballet flats
  6. tartine bread cook book
  7. big words flashcards

That bag!! I might have to add that to my list! ;)

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> check out the other wish lists!

design elements by CREATE LIKE CRAZY design studio

lessons in inspiration / 10

As we enter into the colder months of the year, I find myself starting to watch more and more movies. It could be because my to-do list is shrinking, or it could be because there’s just something about grabbing a blanket, a cup of hot chocolate and putting on a favorite movie that can warm my soul.

Movies are powerful. They make me want to learn to cook like Julie & Julia, visit New York in the fall (thanks to When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail), and sing like Maria in The Sound of Music. Movies inspire me to think beyond my own life, my own situations, and my own world. And that’s completely worth the 2.5 hours.

A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s beyond the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later. – Stanley Kubrick

A film is a petrified fountain of thought. – Jean Cocteau

I just like movies that somehow expose the world in a way that’s different than you imagine it. – Alex Winter

No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight tour emotions, deep into the twilight of the soul.  - Ingrid Bergman

Your assignment: Watch a movie. Or two. Or ten.
Watch your favorite movies. Watch movies you’ve never seen before. Go to the theater to watch a movie. Watch them with a friend, a loved one, or by yourself. Immerse yourself in a different world, challenge your own thinking and think critically about the movie.

Here are a few of my all-time favorite movies:

lessons in inspiration / watch a movie
And some I’m itching to watch:
lessons in inspiration / watch a movie
What are your favorite movies?
Until next time! Class is dismissed.
- Ashley

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> looking for more inspiration? check out the rest of ashley’s posts right here

design elements by CREATE LIKE CRAZY design studio

DESIGN BY JORDAN OF CREATE LIKE CRAZY