Creativity

I have been searching for another outlet to be more creative on a daily basis.

 

I  am a  passionate quilter, and I love to write and take photographs, but in the last couple of months, I have been concentrating solely on my quilting. I do have other creative pastimes like sewing, cooking and occasionally, when the weather is good, gardening. However, in an aim to become part of the “quilting community” I have been trying to focus more on my quilting, improving my skills and developing a range of quilting styles.

 

What I didn’t realize until recently, was that, by restricting my creative outlets as a means to have more time for quilting, I was in fact limiting my possibilities for creative expression.

 

For the last couple of months, maybe even as far back as the end of Autumn, I have not felt very creative. And because I haven’t felt very creative , I also have not felt fulfilled. Sure I was mostly quilting everyday, but aside from the the therapeutic benefits of quilting, I was missing my quilting drive. I was missing my passion for all things quilty.

 

I no longer had the dream to be a textile designer, and have my own quilting line, ( YES, I know, a lot for a relative beginner!) and I no longer had the energy to delve into quilting and textile history in my free (non quilting-)  time. So it became a very depressing time for me.

 

Now with the weather so good lately, and the sun shining, my creativity has blossomed and I have realized what I have been missing in my life:  a little art therapy.

 

What is that, you may ask? Well for me it is painting with watercolors, mixing paints, sketching, taking photographs with my husbands Nikon D3100 and one of my favorite things: collaging.

 

In the past, I have had good results with these creative outlets and others,  as a way to ignite my inspiration and creativity. But I never made any of these creative outlets part of my daily life.

 

So how was I going to become more creative and reach my quilty goals? Sure one can make quilts, but how does one make their own style? How does one develop a look that may one day be inspiration enough to create ones own fabric line?

 

I needed another, more routine, creative outlet, one that is flexible and free. One that I can limit to an hour a day. Painting, at least was not something I could limit to an hour a day. First their was the preparation to be done, then their was, my favorite part,  mixing paints, then the actual making, and finally the horrible part, cleaning up.

 

Recently,  I had heard a lot about Project life and wanted to know what it was, I was also intrigued by Art Journaling as well as Art Quilt Journaling, but after some research I discovered that what I needed was to brake the chains, to be less restrained in my creativity so I decided that making smash books was actually what I needed in my creative life.

So I have begun digging out all my craft and art supplies.

 

 

Along with a sketch book I bought for the purpose.

 

 

It is made by Leuchtturm a German brand similar to Moleskine.

 

 

 

Together with a small collection of my magazine cuttings and magazines for collaging, not to mention tonnes of different mementos I have been storing up, for scrapbooking one day, or saving simply because they are things that just inspire me, like calling cards from shops and small boutiques I have visited. Even this diary from last year.

 

 

 

Armed with a cup of Lady Grey tea and a dose of Pinterest, I was ready to begin.

 

But maybe just a little peak in passed, smash book like journals.

 

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it made you think about your own creativity. Stay tuned for my 1st Smash Book project.