Since this post, our Creative Collections flickr group has grown to include some of you eager to show and tell. Here are some recent photos from the group that inspired me, each so very different from the next but all are quite well arranged and interesting I think. Check out these creative ideas...

A collection of art over the sofa in the home of flickr member ATLITW. She has a great collection of necklaces on display, too. It's smart to create a focal point out of items you actually use, don't you think?

Pretty things from Amsterdam artist, Rinske Dekker, also known on Flickr as Apple Blossom Girl. From plants to precious antiques, her arrangements make you pause and think, maybe if you were visiting Rinske you would like to ask her questions about these items? I know I would. And this is precisely why I love unique arrangements of things, maybe you can call them offbeat collections, but they stimulate the best conversations. When you wear an interesting necklace or a pin on your jacket, don't you get a few curious passerbys wanting to know more about this piece? Same goes at home. Your guests will appreciate that you've opened up your heart to them by showing things that are uniquely you. I prefer rotating "living" displays in the home because they are very present tense. They speak loudly about who you are today, what inspires you and brings you joy. Try pulling together a little collection and see what happens.

Ready for this collection? Very unique and eco-friendly. Abbey, the New York blogger behind Aesthetic Outburst and esty store owner of How Now Design, collects all sorts of delightful, some may call them odd, objects. Here you can see a collection of bread bag tags beneath a glass cloche. Clever. And cloches are still hot by the way, so give one a try.

More from Abbey over at How Now Design. This time, bundt pans in the kitchen. Abbey mentions that she still needs 1 more bundt to complete this wall. Any leads for her on something cute and unique? Here's a vintage metal pan from Germany, but I tend to think she could use another brightly colored one.

Abbey collects vintage birdies along with bundt pans and bread tags. Isn't this lady someone you'd love to know? Her collections reveal her playful side, the ability to really enjoy living in a space and decorating it according to exactly who you are. Isn't that what we're all after, and what makes our homes so wonderful? Enjoying our abode and allowing them to reflect who we are is far more interesting than copying some trend or catalog.

Amy Gross ( amyla174 on flickr) is a mixed media artist (etsy store here) and has lots of interesting collections around her home. Here are some doll heads she collects. Doll heads are right up there with clowns for me, they absolutely creep me out, so I give anyone a high five who can sleep beneath a shelf of little heads. But I appreciate her collection and still think Amy is one cool girl. It would be fun to walk through her home and ask her about all the things she loves there. I bet even these heads have a story, huh?

More collections from Amy Gross, this time, pottery arranged on a pretty shelf. No heads here, just some natural beauty this time.

Nina van de Goor is a flickr girl who lives in the Netherlands, she collects vintage modern ceramics. I like the fishy bowl in the bottom left corner in gray and mustard yellow. Nice colors and the pattern would be fun for serving something from the sea.

More on collections, how to get started, and some inspiring displays can be found here.

(images linked above to their photo bugs)