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Creativity is a fascinating thing. Sometimes we’re on fire – our creative spark ignites easily, our creative juices overflow, and idea after idea bursts out of nowhere. Other times, the flame flickers – the gush trickles and sputters – and we make one false start after another – assuming we make it off the starting block at all.
It took a very long time to complete today’s card. Days, not hours. Weeks if I’m brutally honest. All of this for what, on the surface, appears to be a very simple, easily designed card.
Have you ever had that experience – you start out with an idea, but your vision is incomplete, and you’re not quite sure what to do next?
What do you do when that happens – do you rush through the process or are you willing to sit it out and see the process through, no matter how long it takes?
Are you willing to trust your instincts and wait for the right pieces to appear, for everything to fall in place?
The initial idea for this card came from this paper, which I received in a 6 x 6 paper swap. The unusual polka dot design and the colors caught my eye and I thought it would be fun to play with. The base design came easily to me – I used paper tearing as my technique – and then – I got stuck. I had no clue what to do next. Initially I thought about mounting and stamping a sentiment and placing it in the bottom right corner of the card, but that didn’t feel right, so then I decided to look for the right embellishments to go with the card – and that is when the hunt began. It took a long time to find just the right pieces for this card. In the end, it’s an intuitive thing – you have to be willing to wait for the right pieces to appear. But boy, how exciting it is when everything comes together and you’re able to see the end result!
The two cool buttons are from Making Memories Vintage Hip buttons Gracen collection. The fern image is from K & Company.
I understand what you mean about inspiration, times when it flows and times when a creative idea is hard to find. I am a beader and I have had times where my vision doesn't turn out the way I had hoped. Beads can be stubborn and not want to cooperate. Sometimes I persever other times I set it aside. And there are even times when my project actually turn out better than my vision. If you ever have trouble like I do selecting colors for your cards, I have a blog post all about color inspiration and where to find it. I enjoyed your blog and I am going to sign up as a follower. ~Brenda.~
Welcome aboard Brenda – what a beautiful name (Eclectic Gypsy!) 🙂 I'd love to read your color inspiration article – please post the link so that we can check it out! Beads are beautiful but I could imagine they could be tricky to work with – you do some beautiful work btw! Thanks for following; I look forward to reading more of your comments in the future! 🙂
Great post and terrific blog! I like the graphics and layout very much. I certainly can relate to those times when the creative juices don't flow….I work with polymer clay, and so many times I get 'stuck' at a certain point and can't move forward. I have boxes of polymer clay canes waiting to be made into beads, bags of beads waiting to be turned into jewelry, etc.
Thank you so much for sharing, Dora – I appreciate your support! 🙂
I just visited your blog and I love it – so much beautiful candy for the eye! I am looking forward to returning to your blog when I have some free time and reading more of your posts!
I'm also so glad that your beautiful cat Lulu has returned – I have 2 beautiful Maine Coon cats and would be absolutely heartbroken if anything ever happened to them! I'm sorry for your other losses.
I hope you'll follow and become a part of the wonderful community that is developing here! 🙂
This blog looks great!! Loved reading your post on mojo and losing it LOL!!! I can so relate to that. Keep it up, your posts are great.
Love the card, that paper is so fun!
Thanks, Sarah, for your encouragement – I appreciate it so much! I wish I knew whose line the paper is from – if I find out, I will let you know! 🙂
I know what you mean about taking days to do a card. I go through that quite often myself. The card came out beautifully for as long as it took.
Thanks Christina – I'm glad I stuck it out – and it's good to know that I'm not the only one who goes through those dry cycles! 🙂