How to Be Creative Art Journal Page and Creativity Tip
Can I be honest with you?Even though I am constantly writing and talking about creativity, there are times when I don't feel creative.I recently went through a couple of days of it.I have systems in place for times like this. I have sketchbooks and note cards full of ideas and inspiration. (And I show you and tell you about those tips specifically as some of the bonus content in Rediscover Your Creativity & Make Jewelry eCourse.)I have ideas and inspirational materials coming out my ears.But sometimes I just don't feel it.I'm telling you this not so you feel sorry for me, but so that you know that EVERYONE feels this way sometimes. If you feel this way sometimes (or even often) you are not alone. I am right there with you.No matter how much you read, no matter how much research you do, no matter how many things you pin, no matter how many journals full of ideas and inspiration you have, no matter how many inspiring things you do, you only create art (jewelry, art journals, etc.) if you CREATE ART.Doing is doing.Research, planning, all of that is important, but only doing is doing.I think it's fine to go through periods of gathering inspiration and ideas and looking at beautiful things on Pinterest. Maybe you watch my videos or read these blogposts and get inspired, but then stop there.Sometimes you need time of reflection and information or inspiration gathering.But then at some point you have to actually do something to start feeling more creative.Yesterday I was feeling kind of crappy. I have this book of ideas for jewelry designs and several things I want to make right now. If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen my post about going to BeadFest. I got super inspired and sketched out some jewelry design ideas.But then I didn't actually make any jewelry.
But then I got out some art journal supplies and gave myself 60 minutes of time to play around. Honestly, I didn't feel like it when I first decided to do it.But then as I was looking through some supplies I found this scrapbook paper that was all about being artsy and creative. And I found an image of a pile of beads that I cut out of a bead catalog or magazine.So I pulled out my paints and started painting and started gluing a few things down on my page.
After that I made a bracelet with some of my new beads from BeadFest and then a necklace as well that I really love.I feel like I'm out of my creative block. (For now!)Creativity Tip: just pick something and do it even if you don't feel like it. Put time parameters around it if you especially don't feel like it. If at the end of that time you still don't feel creative, stop.Maybe you want to watch one of my video tutorials and then actually make a piece of jewelry. Perhaps you could try working in an art journal. Maybe it's something else altogether.In my case, I kept working beyond the 60 minutes. I made the art journal page, a bracelet and a necklace.And, in fact, I didn't start right in on the art journal page. I played around with some paint on a separate piece of paper for a while first.
Here's an art journal tip for you: I use makeup applicators for painting in my art journal sometimes.It happened as kind of an accident. I purchased those makeup applicators at a discount store because they were really inexpensive, so they're not my usual makeup applicators. I hated them for applying makeup. But they work great for applying paint to pages!
I hope you have a creative day! And if you're not feeling creative, that's okay, too. You can try the tip of setting a timer and just creating something anyway or maybe you need to not force yourself and just give yourself a break.Bonus Creativity Tip: read "How to Be Creative" on my art journal page for even more creativity tips.
My most popular eCourse, Rediscover Your Creativity & Make Jewelry will be open for registration again in a couple of weeks for the late spring/summer session.I only run this eCourse once or twice a year, so to make sure that you hear exactly when it opens and don't miss out, sign up for my email newsletter here.In Rediscover Your Creativity, you get creativity boosters designed to help you rediscover your creativity or boost it, jewelry making skills lessons and then jewelry making projects. It's six weeks and so much fun and you'll end up with lots of ideas and inspiration for making your own jewelry pieces (but you also get many of my step-by-step jewelry tutorials to use as well!)Registration opens May 1st for this round. (If you're reading this in the future, hi from the past! You can click here to find out more about the class and see when it's happening next or make sure you're on my newsletter to hear about it first!)
