On Creativity

(Be forewarned, this is wordy – but I promise to have some crafty goodness at the end.)

I’ve been thinking a lot about creativity lately. Specifically, what sparks my own creative muse? What does it take to not only inspire me, but to actually move me to create? In this case, I’m talking about cardmaking, but I suppose it applies to all other aspects of my creative life. And maybe yours.

I tried to remember exactly when I felt the most inspired, the most creative, and I realized that back in the very beginning of my papercrafting era, when I was a Stampin’ Up demo about 10 years ago, I used to wake up in the wee hours of the morning with an idea that I wanted to jump out of bed to create. I guess the newness was a part of it then.

I remember looking through magazines and finding cards I loved, and then trying to recreate them using the SU stamps and supplies that I had. There is something to be said for limited supplies and creativity. I got into a nice creative groove, coming up with designs that I could use in workshops and classes.

After a while, when I was no longer affiliated with SU, came design team work, which was exciting and fulfilling, and sometimes nerve-wracking. Being forced to produce on deadline brings about its own form of creativity. The blogosphere had exploded with papercrafting talent, and there was no shortage of inspiration out there. And don’t get me wrong, the demands were not heavy at all. But I felt myself slipping away from creating for the sheer pleasure of it.

And now that I am no longer on a design team, I need to find my way back to creating for the sheer pleasure of it. I confess it’s been a little rough, but I’m working through it, still looking through the 200+ stamping blogs in my Google Reader (don’t get me started on that) and the magazines that I still occasionally buy (I only subscribe to one now).

Today while I was eating my lunch, I flipped through a recent PaperCrafts issue called Stamp It! 3 Ways. I came across a beautiful birthday card on page 27, made by Laura Williams, that used a stamp set I didn’t have, but I suddenly felt the need to try to create it with what I had. It would make a perfect card for my boss’s birthday this week.

And so I’m pleased to present my version of the card, made with a few different PTI sets instead of the Gina K set used by Laura.

Hmmmm. Maybe I’m ready to hit a few sketch challenges next. Well, maybe we’ll just start with one...

Have you had any challenges to your creativity that you’d like to share? Any suggestions on overcoming them? I’d love to hear from you.