Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Musing . . . . for creative projects?

Needing a new project to work on?  Wondering what to do with that stash, whether it is paper, ephemera, or fabric? 

Often, I look at my stash of fabric, sort and resort trying to put colors together, patterns and what not, in order to spark my creativity!  I find pieces that will go together--a child's crayon carrier in two fabrics;  I find fabrics that will make a nice apron; I find pieces in similar colors that I set aside for a future quilt.  Some of these projects even get cut out for later construction.  I stack these probable projects together, separate from my general stash, for future use.  My stack of future projects gets larger and larger.  I also make a list of these projects with an empty check box beside them.  That way, I can check off the projects as I complete them and keep track of what still needs to be done.  I post this list on my inspiration bulletin board. 

When will I get to the projects?  On those days that I am stuck for creativity, I look thru these preset stacks for a short project that I can complete to encourage myself.

This worked for me just lately, as I created several children's crayon carriers in one day, just because they were already planned and pre-cut!  One of them I made wrong-- I forgot the cotton batting for cushioning, so I made it into a colored pencil carrier, which obviously does not need as much cushioning as crayons do.  I gave this particular one to my eight year old grandson, Indy, who likes to draw and is getting a little big for crayons.  He has three little sisters.  Now he can have his pencils put away separate from their art supplies and have them at hand to work with when he pleases. This pleases me also, not just because I gave it as a gift, but because creativity reigned and a new use for my handiwork was created!  Yay!!

Hope this gives you some new ideas for your creativity! 

2 comments:

Saffron Road said...

LOL, had to search for the "comment" button. I am smiling for you, and for the tilting baby in the background of the pic w/Indy... cute name!

Memories for Life said...

That's a great idea to keep a running list of projects. Mine get put away in tubs and forgotten about all too often!