cut & paste.
i am an addict…magazines are my drug. i can’t get enough of design magazines. and with so many of out favorites disappearing (boo, hoo domino, i’ll never get over you), i am really glad i save them, and i tear my favorite pages out to paste into design journals. my little brother used to think i was mad – “what are you doing tearing up those stacks and stacks of magazines? get a life!”. ah, go on and mock me, but I find them invaluable inspiration. even the old journals, from many years ago, bring me so much pleasure to look through. i like seeing how my tastes evolves, and also stays quite the eclectic same.
so i keep these design journals*, cutting and pasting my favorite bits into collages, and colorful pages that i never tire of turning. i save mostly interior decor, but also quotes that inspire me, and wardrobe styling ideas. pretty much anything that strikes my fancy. got stacks of magazines, or tear sheets you don’t know what to do with? i highly recommend a little cut & pasting. (*tip: i use these).
Thought I was the only one!
oh how i wish i have saved all of my favorites like this. Great idea.
I still have stacks of magazines, i should go thru what I have left and do this.
Thanks so much for the inspiration
I love finding other people who do this! I’ve been creating my inspiration books since high school. It’s always so much fun to flip back through them over the years.
Love doing this! Just started compiling vintage home photos — found a stack of better homes and gardens from the 1940s at an auction. I’m almost certain my boyfriend thinks I’m insane — good thing he hasn’t found my wedding idea book ;)
Ahhh… this is why I lament the loss of so many great magazines too. Bookmarking will never beat a real life cut and paste! I still make my design scrap books and go so far as printing pics off the web to have something tangible to look back on in 20 years. Thanks for sharing : )
I do the same thing. Same books too. I love it. I’ll post mine this week. I love that I can look back and see that I’m still attracted to some of the same things.
I’m feeling very inspired by all of your clippings! I use to clip out and put them in a folder, I wish I had pasted them! From now on I may have to follow in your footsteps. Thanks for the inspiration!
I’ve done this, too, since I was a teen! I keep my pages in thick 3 ring binders (labeled “World’s Best”- of course!) tucked into handy clear sleeves. My family thinks I’m the only one infatuated enough with design to do this- can’t wait to share the news that I have partners in my addiction!
I do the same thing! But I don’t have the heart to cut up my old Domino magazines. I will save them forever *sigh*
Wow! How I would love to get my hands on those to peek at your design inspiration files.
Just wanted to say I love what you have been doing on the blog lately, lots of original content is making me smile!
glad to hear i am not the only ‘addict’. :)
thank you bekka! that means a lot…it’s sometimes challenging to always keep it fresh and original!
I love the idea of design journals! I have stacks and stacks of magazines in my house, but I don’t love everything in them, so, instead of keeping the stacks, I could just cut and paste like you do! Thanks for the tip!
I’m exactly the same way:) I have been hoarding design and style magazines for as long as I can remember, despite living in a tiny apartment. I, too, really miss Domino, Met Home…so many great shelter mags have folded. I know a lot of back issues have been scanned and pages can be found around the internet, but it’s just not the same as having big glossy pages in your hands.
It’s an artists way! Keep them good posts/cuts & pastes coming!
This is fantastic Victoria… and that quote on yellow? I need to replicate it and get it up in my office right this minute :)
Love your blog, found you via Door Sixteen and have now become addicted. I do this too!. I have loads of sketchbooks full of pics. Do you have to rip stuff out even when you know you shouldn’t?, like in a waiting room or cafe?, when its not your mag?. Its like a sickness!
Great moodboard!!!!!it’s essential to be an artist….Love it
leslie – it’s a good motto. :)
sara – thank you for reading! i have, i must admit, torn things from waiting room magazines. or just taken the whole magazine. bad, huh?
I find them such valuable sources of inspiration! I started one, but never got the chance to regularly update it, but oh, how I’d love to do it. Precious little things, no?
What a fun thing to do! I just collect them….
What a great idea! You have inspired me to try this! I also love the quotation – does anyone know who wrote it?
I do this as well – but mostly because i have an addiction to collecting pictures, quotes, and recipes. So I save things digitally from the internet, but i also have notebooks full of pictures, quotes, ideas, and miscellaneous fortune cookie slips that i get. :)
You know, I never thought to put my magazine clippings in a book. DUH. That’s a good idea!
Awesome idea! I have stacks and stacks and stacks of fashion and design mags that take up major space on shelves. Hello, weekend project!
Christine
i used to do this all the time and then slowly stopped- but you’re making me itch to do it again! thanks for sharing little bits with all of us :)
This post is SO timely for me.
Just last night, I was counting my stacks of Cote Sud, Marie Claire Maison, Elle Decoration (France and UK editions),old issues of Domino (only 20), Cote Est, Cote Ouest, Vogue Living Australia…
I have over 400 issues (!!!), neatly cataloged by title in my living room. I wouldn’t dream of cutting or ripping pages out of them, although I like the idea of inspiration books.
And I can say from experience that my collection is a HUGE pain to move when relocating.
Nice to know so many others share this passion!!
Nic
I hoard magazines (we’re relocating from Hawaii to California and I agree with Nic that it’ll be a pain to move them all) and love the idea of design journals but just don’t know if I have the heart to cut and tear through any of them! :)
Can I trouble you for your favorites? Or have you posted this information elsewhere on your blog? I would love to know if there are any I’m missing . . . I would love to subscribe to 101 Woonideeen (which I’ve never personally seen but have heard recommendations) but can’t find a way to do so that doesn’t cost $120 per year.
These are lovely. Thanks for sharing!
I thought I was the only one who did this…. and we must be soul sisters, I use the same journal books as you! I love how they get all fat!!
xx
callie
i soo do this too! plus i have a hug stash loose sheets that i still have to insert.
i can’t part with them.
thanks for sharing this lovely quirk!!!!
This is, really, one of my favorite post from you.
I am totally a magazine addict too, and I don’t want to go in rehab! Haha!
For long, I thought it was too much money spent on pieces of paper, but now, I think it is food for my eyes!
I would like so much a post about your favorites magazines! I cross my fingers!
Gorgeous! Design journals are the essence of life ;) I too love looking back to see how my style has evolved throughout the years…..
Thanks for sharing Victoria! I’m a magazine addict too and had to start doing inspiration books mainly for storage purposes. But now I love them and refer to them all the time. I did a posting on my blog a while ago. Check it out http://tinyurl.com/6e6epzl
Victoria, I love it. The B.F. the G.B.F and everyone else I know calls me magazine hoarder. Now, the majority are hidden under the bed and at the moment I have two neat piles next to my guitar amp. So, hoarder, not sure I am quite there yet (at least I hope not). And yeah, miss domino and I also miss Blueprint too!
Cheers!!
I do the same thing. I love going back over my old journals. My grandmother calls them my ‘book of words’ Back in the day she used to do the same with newspaper cuttings from film stars and fashion plates. Its in the genes, so we cant help it, is my excuse. Love the pics as always.
I have the same obsession with design magazines:), it is nice to hear from people who are on the same boat:)
I would love to sit an hour or what to look in your books. And I would love to do the same But! I love my magazines to much to torn pages out of them.
Totally understand your addiction…. I nearly never read books but I can look hours in my magazined ( VT wonen is my favorite. I made some post with the highlights from 2010.
Do you feel sometimes (really occasionally LOL) a ittle bit embarrassed to if people ask you what books you read and you can only answer ;I do not read books I only look at magazines haha
I have a valentines give away running and another really exciting one next week! Come over and play ;)
desiree
I love keeping journals like this, it was actually required for half my classes when I was in college. But I always seem to find pages that I want to be able to see both sides so then I end up adding in new pages to the book. Anyway, love seeing that other people do this too!
What a great idea!!!, I am also a magazine addict and I also miss domino, I still have domino magazines in my living room. Have a great day : ) .
judging from all the comments we are all kindred spirits when it comes to this obsession! i must admit yours are a lot more tidy than mine and in such great books! mine are in folders, note books, stacks… you get my drift! a total mess, here and there! would love to know where you get your books so i can get them all into one place!
thanks victoria!
I love these! Lately I have been contemplating decluttering my interiors magazines but I just can’t bear to part with them. I also don’t want to become a crazy hoarder either so maybe it’s time I give this a try and save the best of the best!!
i love seeing other people’s scrapbooks! i’ve been doing this for years as well, and it’s so fun to go back and look at such lovely things.
one of mine is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/misskelsey/sets/72157605589341544/
Once again I am truly inspired. :-)
I love to peek into my husbands old journals…I feel like I can get a sense of who he was before we met. It is fun. Design journals, sketch books…love looking at anything nostalgic like that.
What a wonderful idea! I have a huge stash of tear sheets that I have been collecting in a folder since I was 13. Organizing that stash may have to be on my priority list this weekend.
I do the same thing…and I get funny looks from family and friends. It’s nice to know I’m not alone.
This is so great to see! I have my own little inspiration book that I spend hours at a time cutting and pasting into. I like seeing your style in this book and it inspires me to evolve my own style w/ my book! thanks for sharing!
it’s nice that you made your clips into journals. I just have huge, over-stuffed folders and every once in a while, I look through clips that seem entirely dated and throw a bunch of pages out, then add more from stacks of magazines I just flipped through. The internet has changed the way I hold onto inspiring design ideas and I definitely pull pages from magazines less.
looks like heaven to me!! have always been a magazine addict too. i keep my ‘pieces’ in a clear folder tho, so that i can access them for my collages. can’t say how many years i’ve held onto some of those bits!
How wonderful and inspiring to see how many others do this too! I love collecting images, especially interior design images and scrapbooking/journaling them.
That is a great idea! I love your design journals! So inspiring.
True. They are a great source of inspiration. I do the same. :)
Wonderful idea!
I have done this for years as well. I call them “flip books” as I can flip through them for inspiration. Wouldn’t it be fun for all of us who keep our magazine tears to get together and peruse?
I’m so glad to see I’m not the only one that has done this for years and years! I love to look through the beautiful things I’ve found over the years and my collections really do come in handy as I design for my clients and my own home! It’s so validating to hear that you do it too! Great collages, by the way!
I have been saving some of my ‘cut outs’ like this since i was in my 20’s. I too use a large black sketchbook with thick watercolor paper.
They’re my personal catalogues. Everything from decor to hair cuts goes into them.
love this post!!! thanks for sharing!
Ah!! A cut and paste kindred spirit!! My friend Sabrina sent me this link because a small group of us regularly gather to throw all our old magazines into a pile and we attack it with our scissors, glue sticks and creative inspiration. Oh, I wish you lived in the Pacific Northwest so you could join our cut paper sessions! Keep up the fantastic creative work!
Love yours, and I do the same thing. It is especially nice to refer to my journals when I’m feeling lost…I’m working on putting together a large wall inspiration board in my home office for a quick visual reference in the mornings. Thanks for sharing! :)
This is such an inspiring post! I have gone through phases where I cut and paste for a while and then stop, start, stop…you get the drift. Here’s my question- what glue/ paste/ cement do you long time design journal keepers recommend? I hate going back to old entries and see them falling out because the glue failed. Any advice? Thanks!
wow there’s a lot of cutter & pasters! yay! :)
kim – i just use a glue stick. not too messy and convenient! mine seem fine, if not a little worn, but that adds to the charm.
one of my favorite pass times as well!
I Love to cut and Paste!!!!
Love this idea! I tried doing this with my Dwell magazines in clear page protectors but I like your cut and paste look much better! It turns into a work of art!
Oh how I wish I had saved all my inspirations from years ago!! I love this idea!!! I will do it from now on. Thank you!
Wow! you replied!!
Loving the blog. I still have plenty of ‘back issues’ to go through.
Re the procuring of pages that are not mine!, I give a gift back and take another mag (minus all the bits I have ripped out) and place it in there as a peace offering for stealing a page !
I can’t help it…..
oh wow! keep on doing this!! i have myself a collection of pages from home decor magazine since 12 years or so, but not on scrapbook as you do.. just holding together with paper clips! but it’s always a pleasure to look at it sometimes…
(now i have most of them in my computer too!)
I was doing this for years…With cheap spiral bound scrapbooks. I went to college for Textile studies and brought them in to show my inspirations for the last few years. The next day all were gone…Someone had liked them too I guess. :(
Yours look much nicer with those hard covers…Perhaps I should start again…
Thanks for the inspiration as always.
xo
Andrea
andrea – i can’t believe someone stole your journals. heartbreaking! i hope they inspired something good. and you should start again – i’m sure we’d love to see them. this time you can share online, to be safe!
Okay. You’ve inspired me. This is what I’m doing tonight. :)
Oh I love your journal! I’ve been jonesing for some good design magazines and think you’ve just inspired me to go buy a bunch and sit in the park with a cup of coffee! Life is good! Thanks Victoria!
I love these! I have been doing almost the same thing for years now. Just started my “home decor” journal recently. Yours are great!