Daily Renewal
I have been down in the dumps the past few days! I get sick, my scrappin’mojo leaves, the kids act up, and you know- everything just seems WRONG. Bad wrong. Thankfully, after about five days of Ben and Jerry eating misery, growling at anyone who dared come to near, wondering if my bad temper was offending everyone in a two mile radius. . .I feel better.
This probably has something to do with the fact that I got a nice raise at work (go me), and I’ve been a flurry of work designing upcoming kits and getting loaded up with various design obligations. Originally I was panicking about these because, people, when I’m down, I’m down. I understand Holly Golightly’s mean reds. When you’ve got those nothing creative is going to happen. That is probably the hardest thing about my job. I am paid to be creative. It may sound like a picnic, but when you’ve lost your muse- it’s a very scary thing.
Oh, I can fake it pretty well, and I’ve had to do it on more than one occasion, but every time I do my art lacks the je ne sais quois that makes my art mine. And then I end up hating it. I’ve got art coming out in an ad in Creating Keepsakes soon- I would really like that to be some of my best work and not a crumby representation of myself going through the motions. Largest scrapbooking publication out there. . .no pressure or anything. . .
The thing that I’ve found with creativity is that you’ve got to do something creative every day. It doesn’t mean you’ve got to make something astounding on a daily basis, but you’ve got to nourish that part of you. Make a card, finger paint with your kids, read something well written, admire other’s art; it doesn’t matter, just play and feed your creative side. Our creative selves get weak and fall apart just like our physical and spiritual selves will without daily sustenance. If you want a part of you to thrive, you’ve got to practice growing it. Great faith and huge muscles don’t build themselves overnight- neither does a creative mind. And for some of us, losing that creative spark equals a very unfulfilled life.
So- what are you going to do that’s creative today?
Here’s a little peek at what I did:
Oh my goodness, Leah - that LO is marvellous!! You do realize, right?
Congrats on CK - you deserve it. You’re one of the best scrappers I’ve ever come across - and you DO have that special je ne sais quois, even in your down periods. At least to those of us looking.
Comment by Zarah — August 10, 2007 @ 12:38 am
…I’m going to look at your work! This LO is beautiful! All of your art is amazing and you definitely inspire and feed my creative side. I hope your mojo comes back soon, and I know it will. You are a natural!
Okay, really dumb question from a newby scrapper — what ink do you use on the edges and how do you apply it???
Comment by Jennifer — August 10, 2007 @ 4:57 am
You must have chosen those papers to match your cat, didn’t you?
Comment by Sanisi — August 10, 2007 @ 6:04 am
I so know what you mean about those days where you have this mind block and nothing is motivating or inspiring enough to get those creative juices flowing…then you kinda force yourself to finish off your projects but the end result is n’t as satisfying as it should be =o( I love looking at your work, it always motivates me. Keep up the great work, totally awesome
Comment by Maria — August 11, 2007 @ 6:18 pm
Hi Lou, Isn’t it funny that looking at this page in a two dimensional medium it looks very three dimensional. The layering, and the colour choices probably have something to do with that. I love the colours on this page.
I too am a great believer in Fur therapy. Prrrrrr…
Comment by Judy — August 15, 2007 @ 1:35 pm