Nurture your creativity and be reminded of your motivations with an inspirational mood board
By Sarah Heeringa. Photography Amanda Reelick
Mood boards collect beautiful thought provoking and motivating images together. They’re an effective way of developing creative concepts and teasing out our unspoken ideas, hopes and dreams. There’s something extra special about a physical arrangement of images, textures, materials and text.
Real world inspiration is all around. Try photographing things you see – a new blossom, a child’s sticky face, quirky typography, or the texture of a brick wall. The photos don’t have to be perfect – it’s about capturing impressions and feelings. Scan images and quotes from favourite magazines and download others. Print them out to enjoy placing them on your new 3D mood wall.
You need
· A 1mm sheet of plywood or recycled pallet timber sheets suitable for cutting into squares from 15mm x15mm through to 35mm x 45mm. (Ask your local hardware supplier for offcuts or packing sheets which are cheaper and smaller than new full sheets).
· A jigsaw or skill saw and an electric sander or sheets of sandpaper.
· Beeswax-based furniture oil and old cloths
· Small nails, hammer, twine, double-sided foam mounting tape, BluTack, scissors, picture-hanging mounts.
· Printer, we used a Brother MFCJ4620DW.
Step one Cut your plywood sheet or pallet wood into a range of small and large squares.
Step two Sand off any rough edges and the front surface of each board, following the wood grain. Wipe off any dust and give boards a light rub with oil or natural furniture polish. For layered boards, lay a large board on top of a smaller one and nail through the back of a large board into a smaller one positioned in front.
Step three Larger boards: Nail two tacks into the upper back edges of the board and tie a length of twine tightly between the two nails. Flatten the nails down a little enabling you to hang the board flat to the wall.
Smaller boards: Attach to the wall using a strip of double-sided foam mounting tape.
Step four Print selected photos and quotes and attach to boards using BluTack so you can change or move them as you wish.
Click here to view and download the images.
Prop credits: Model Letitia Jones, Dress Elk Marle Panel Dress, Black Pot Plant Stand and White Planter, Gold Shadow Box, Karlsson Wall Clock Vintage Round and Concrete houses all from Crave Home. Copper drinking cup, star paper weight, cream and spotted notepads all from TradeAid. Gold and brown Frank diary from Askew. Wall colour Resene Chill Out.
