Top Secret Inspiration

I'm working on a new project that has me thumbing through the illustrations and photos I loved as a child and some of the imagery that has really impacted me over the years.  I don't do Pinterest boards (I see the point, but loath the photo "sharing" policy and attitudes of most pinners) but I do make my own inspiration boards for big projects.  I often gravitate toward things I can physically interact with, especially in the early stages, and I'll often touch, feel, and smell things before photographing them and adding them to my personal inspiration board/thing.  Here are just of the few things that are currently lighting my fire, in order of appearance:

1. My typewriter, which holds such a special place in my heart! It's an Olympia from the 1960s with a script font and color scheme that makes me weak in the knees.
2. Stamped letters (hand stamped with watercolor paint by moi).
3. Chris Ware's witty cover illustrations for the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Voltaire's Candide.
4. A random photo I cut out of a magazine (or something?) while in college. I have a major soft spot for rose prints.  THEY'RE JUST SO PRETTY!
5. A couple notecards from Henry Horenstein's stunning Animalia collection that I bought at the Harvard Museum of Natural History once upon a time.  I've been obsessed with that jellyfish print for years!
6. Quentin Blake's images for Roald Dahl.  His style is simple yet masterfully expressive. 
7. As a girl, Mary Poppins was everything I wanted to be when I grew up and still to this day I try my best to be practically perfect in every way. These simple line drawings by Mary Shepard take me right back to the ginormous plaid armchair I spent so many days nestled in reading as a child.  I love Mary Poppin's gangly figure and always-rosy cheeks.  Perfection, indeed!

As this project moves forward, I'll be sure to share more inspiration and snippets with you. Until that day comes, I will be laboring away like a madwoman!