Hi there! It’s September, it’s the 10th… And it’s time for a new Inspired by post!

How are you?!

Autumn snuck up on me, and now it’s here to stay. Summer was hot and dry, but halfway through August moisture came in out of nowhere: it started quite innocently with me dunking my Stencilfied Journal in tea (on purpose) and intense workouts in new surroundings which caused a bucketload of sweat.

But by the end of August, it was flowing. There were tears of grief, I dunked my MacBook in tea (not on purpose) and then last week, on top of that, it poured rain not only outside, but also inside of our house.

And yes, I freaked out. But at the same time, I tried my best to keep calm. Because what else could I do.

My aunt is never coming back, but I’m grateful for the memories and the fact that she was a part of my life for such a long time.

My MacBook was rescued. I’m ecstatic to be typing on it as we speak and I’m super thankful that I had my old laptop and my husband’s laptop as a backup to meet my deadlines while this computer was away for repairs.

The jury is still out on the dormer on our roof and the damage inside. The culprit was a blockage in the drain, and it looks like it has wreaked havoc for a considerable amount of time because we weren’t aware of it.

We think the dormer is beyond repair, but thankfully it doesn’t look like it’s going to cause any more immediate damage inside now that the blockage is gone.

So… was I inspired by anything while all of this was going on?

In short: I was. But it wasn’t necessarily the kind of inspiration that contributes to creative output. I just had a lot to contemplate (again). And I think it’s time I made some (more) changes going forward.

But let’s see what got me creating first.

Paula Modersohn-Becker
I think this may have been the day the accidents started to happen. My mom hurt her hand in the morning we went to see the Paula Modersohn-Becker exhibition at the Rijksmuseum Twenthe together, and we ended up seeing a doctor after our visit there.

Modersohn-Becker’s work is mesmerising and walking through the exhibition I wondered a lot about how her style would have developed had she lived a longer life.

It also makes you think about what other women artists would have painted had they been taken seriously and given the same chances as male painters. Because Modesohn-Becker’s approach was so different from that of the men in her community at the time and they didn’t speak very highly of it. Even her own husband criticised her painting style!

I would love to see more of her work and to see if I can learn more about her.

I documented this day for prompt 10 of the Stencilfied Journal, and you can see the girl with the hand (that also fitted the story of my mom’s injury) on the page:

The Stencilfied Journal
The Stencilfied Journal is currently at prompt #15, but I’m still stuck at prompt #13. Which is the one that involves stencilling on/with the sole of a shoe and that was something I just could not deal with at the time. I will catch up soon though!

From June through September fellow StencilGirl® Columnist Tina Walker is posting one prompt a week (16 in total, but there are more to come!), and we’re creating a ‘Wreck this Journal’-esque journal StencilGirl® style.

Check Tina’s Instagram or Facebook feed to find out more!

A Facebook notification
Facebook sent me a message saying that someone had suggested I change my website URL to my Linktree bio link. Which is ridiculous, because Linktree isn’t a website, nor is it mine and, although you can find all the relevant links there, it’s obviously never going to replace my site.

That said, I kind of got the point this person was making. Because I haven’t been as active in updating my website in the same way I’ve been updating my Linktree bio link. So I took this nudge to do better, and I spent a couple of days on a long overdue website update.

It isn’t done yet, for the obvious reasons I mentioned at the top of this post, and the website still may need a more significant overhaul at some point, but I’m happy with the solutions I came up with for now.

Please let me know what you think! I would love to hear from you, especially if there is something you feel is missing from the site!

The September issues
Of course, I was inspired to buy a couple of fashion magazines! Just to forget all about them until now… LOL!

I also asked my Instagram friends about their favourite home decor magazines because I couldn’t find one I liked. All of my Dutch friends answered that they miss ‘101 Woonideeën’ terribly, which is a Dutch magazine that unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore.

The other suggestions were of British or American magazines that I can’t buy locally, but that I might be able to find at Schiphol or in an international bookstore in Amsterdam. I will look into those soon, so… To be continued!

Stop-motion filmmaking
Wes Anderson’s ‘Isle of Dogs’ wasn’t part of my inspiration this month, but it has to be mentioned because it was the primary source of inspiration for my most recent column for StencilGirl® Products.

I approached this column as I would do an oldfashioned Inspired by post: I went all the way in, researched everything I could think of and even watched Japanese anime in the process.

Stop-motion filmmaking also came up in a chat I had with Marieke Blokland, and she mentioned the stop-motion filmmaker Trisha Zemp to me. And while I was searching for her videos on YouTube, I also came across videos that featured Terry Gilliam. So very inspiring!!!

Instagram accounts
@the.flo.show This is the account of Flore Vallery-Radot. Her Insta Stories are such a pleasure to watch. Flore is currently in Greece, and before that, she spent a couple of weeks in Paris. In her stories, she takes you along on her on her daily walks and errands and shows you all of her favourite shops, foods, views, cinemas and restaurants.

@lerenvankunst.nl This account is run by a Dutch lady called Roumayne, who goes live every weekday to share a quick creativity exercise that you can do at home. I’ve watched the daily ‘show’ each day of last week, and it was super fun to play along.

@plasticdieet / @hetzerowasteproject These accounts do not fall into the ‘fun’ category, but they are inspiring. Both focus on low impact, zero waste and plastic-free living. The first one is currently hosting a challenge called ‘the plastic diet’ and the second one is by two local ladies that have a book on zero waste coming out this week.

Thinking about plastic makes me sick to my stomach. Simply go into a supermarket and try to find anything that isn’t packaged in plastic. It’s a challenge. Even most of the produce is covered with it! And don’t get me started on how much plastic I have in my craft room alone…

There is so much I can do to reduce the plastic in my household. Being aware of it is only the first step. 

That’s a wrap!
OK, that’s it for this month’s edition of Inspired by!

Hop on over to Paperiliitin to see what has inspired Riikka this month!

Inspired by is a blog series by my friend Riikka and I.

On the 10th of each month, we share what inspired us that month with you and each other.

It can be anything from a person, a film, a book, a painting, to an item, something found in nature or in the city, a colour scheme or some materials we bought or discovered.

We will also share how the source of inspiration affects our work. Consider it a window into our creative minds!