Hello everyone and happy Monday to you! I'm not so keen on Mondays but I thought to inspire myself this morning that I would drink a few cups of Mate tea for energy and then snap some photos around my home and work studio using the Instagram app on my iPhone to push me in a positive direction. Taking a few photos never ceases to get me going -- and Instagram makes it so easy that I'm using it more and more to capture stills of my life to not only share with others looking for inspiration but to, at times, inspire ME and to serve as motivation. Have you ever tried it? For me, it really works! Here are some views from my morning and a few snaps from my weekend.

If you want to follow me on Instagram (or Followgram on the web), you can simply look for 'decor8' and connect with me via the app OR if you don't use Instagram that's fine too because I post some of my better photos over on my Tumblr site, Happy Place. I'm not a big fan of Tumblr for posting others' photos because rarely can you track the original source, but I made a pact with myself that if I only use it to share my Instagram photos, ones I've taken myself, that I could use it with a clear conscience.

I hope that you had a really nice weekend. I did some decor8-related work, went to an outdoor fair, walked for miles, caught up on some reading, had a friend over, watched a film and a few episodes of SMASH (oh my gosh the dreamy Brit!) cooked, bought a few bunches of flowers and did some work around the house. It was relaxing  - no stress - this is my motto for the weekend because we need a break don't we?

What did you do this weekend? How do you inspire yourself on Monday mornings? I often wonder how you motivate yourself because sometimes it's just so hard, isn't it? Any creative routines or things in general that you do to motivate yourself to get your rear into gear??? :)

(images: holly becker)