#CultivatingCreativity: CULTIVATE GRATITUDE

Hi All! This month my friend Rachel McGough at Handmade U issued a challenge to spend July getting into the habit of cultivating your creativity. You can read her post on 5 excuses not to create here. All month she will be interviewing Creatives (here's a link to the interview with yours truly) about what excuses we struggle with and how we get beyond them.

This is a subject I've given a fair amount of thought to over the years, so I decided I would put together a few posts on the ways I fight the creativity killing excuses Rachel talks about. So let's go!

Probably the two biggest Creativity Killers for me are comparison and perfectionism. They feed off each other like parasites and create fear that kills any desire in me to create anything from paintings to pot roasts. Though comparison and perfectionism are intertwined, I want to deal with them separately so today we're going to talk about COMPARISON.

This is one of the worst traps we creatives--and all other members of the human race, near as I can tell--fall into. We compare absolutely everything we have and everything we are to other people, what they have, what they are. And invariably, we fall short because let's be honest, we almost never compare our lives with those who have less than we do, we almost always compare ourselves with those who have more. But the fact is, we don't compare our reality to the reality of others. We compare our reality with our perception of their reality. Do you see the problem? We are comparing ourselves to a lie, a dream, a mist, a PERCEPTION. We don't know what that other person has gone through to get where she is. We don't know her story, her heart, her fears. We only know our perceptions. There is no way we can win at this one.

So how do we stop killing our creativity with comparison? We cultivate gratitude! This isn't positive psychology, it's spiritual discipline. It's not about switching our focus from comparing ourselves with those who have more to comparing ourselves with those who have less. It's about developing a genuine heart of thankfulness for what we have. It's about being thankful for the talent you've been given--whatever that may be. It's about being thankful for the little things:

And the big things:

Cultivating gratitude keeps our vision clear. As Creatives we need clear vision to do what we do. When we compare ourselves with others creativity becomes a proxy for competition. When we cultivate gratitude for the life we have the privilege of living, creativity becomes an expression of the beauty of a grateful heart. Competition breeds fear--fear of losing, fear of failing. Gratitude brings joy. And it's in joy that we create, that we take risks, that we add to be beauty of our world by exercising the talents we've been given. And what's more, gratitude gives us the guts to cheer on our peers and celebrate their victories with out the petty jealousy that comes from competition.

So let's wrap this up with a little call to action: spend the next four weeks listing 5 things you're grateful for everyday. Write them in your planner, make pictograms, get a new journal to jot them in, whatever it takes. But spend the next four weeks being thankful for your life, and see if it doesn't just help open those creative flood-gates. (Or at least remove a roadblock or two!)

Have a wonderfully creative, comparison-free week!

Saturday Spotlight: Grateful for...Sangria

Hi All! So usually the Kraft-y Hearts do a Friday Focus on Close To My Heart's featured paper pack. However, we decided we wanted to give everyone a full day to enjoy the Rose Blossom Blog Hop this month, so for October, we switched it up to the Saturday Spotlight. (There's just something about alliterative titles that makes me smile....) Anyway, this month we're featuring the Sangria collection. It's the perfect collection for all your fall festivities and fiestas. If you've just stopped in from the amazingly talented Lynn Darda's Bungalow, you're in the right place. If you're starting here, make sure you hop on over to From My Bungalow and see what inspiring treat Lynn has for you today.

Now, on with the show!

For today's project, I used a retired Bracket Frame that I had in my stash, covered it in a variety of patterns from the Sangria paper pack, and inked around the edges with Eggplant ink. I used the Art Philosophy and Artistry cartridges to create the bracket shapes for the sentiment, the flower, and the leaves. The sentiment is from the Always Grateful stamp set. I stamped it in Black Archival ink on Champagne cardstock. The leaves are from the new Fallen Leaves stamp set. I stamped them in Saffron ink and then rolled the edges in Fern and Poppy inks to give them a fun, multi-color fall look. I popped up all three bracket layers with dimensional adhesive and framed them with strips of Gold Foil tape.

The leaves are cut from Poppy, Saffron, and Kraft cardstocks and inked with Fern, Poppy, and Eggplant inks respectively. I added dimension to them by folding them partially down the middle. The flower is 12 layers of Sangria paper that increase by 1/4 inch with every layer. All layers are cut from the same paper, I just turned every other one over for contrast and inked around the edges with Eggplant ink.

Finally, the bow is made from jute ribbon from my stash that I wrapped with Thick Poppy Twine. For bling, I added flowers from the Sangria assortment and popped some Bling Gems in gold in the middle of each flower.

Here are some close-ups of the project:

And here is the project again:

I hope you enjoyed this autumnal reminder of one of the benefits of gratitude. Again, don't forget to hop over to From My Bungalow and see what Lynn is up to.

Have a wonderful, creatively crafty weekend!

Thankful Thursday: Gratitude Makes It Enough....

Hi folks! Welcome to another Thankful Thursday. I usually have a Thank You note for you, but today I thought I'd share a project I made to showcase here at convention. (I'm missing my family, too, so it's nice to see a picture of them....)

This little frame is one of the unfinished ones I picked up at my local craft store for $1. I covered it with paper from the Jubilee paper Pack. I used chipboard elements from the Jubilee Compliments pack for the pennant banner, the laughter & love tag, and the gingham heart. "You're One In A Mellon" is from a Jubilee zip strip (that little 1/2 strip of paper at the top of a 12x12 inch page.) The yellow polka dot flowers are from my stash. I added bling to the center from the Rosewood Mini Medley collection, which also comes with the copper swirls. "SO blessed" is stamped in Indian Corn Blue Exclusive ink using the limited edition (retired) "You Are My Happy" stamp set. The sentiment at the bottom is from the Always Grateful stamp set and is also stamped in Indian Corn Blue. The watermelon is from the Jubilee Workshop On The Go stamp set and was stamped on White Daisy cardstock and Jubilee patterned paper in Topiary Exclusive ink.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I hope you have a long list of blessings to count. If you're struggling, start with the breath you just took, the blink that just protected your eye, the visual cortex that allows you to read this post, the fact that you can read this post, and work your way down from there. And by the way, I, for one, count you as a blessing!

Have a wonderfully thankful Thursday!

Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share: Give Thanks (part 3)

Hi All! Welcome to day 3 of the Kraft-y Hearts November Blog Share. I can't believe how quickly it has come and gone! Today we'll look at the last three pages of the gratitude mini album I created using the Close To My Heart Flip Stand Album, Artiste Cricut cartridge and the Huntington collection. 

The next page is cut from Huntington paper. I created a little library pocket from Cocoa cardstock and added a little journaling tag. The library pocket is held together with mini copper brads from my stash. I matted it with Huntington paper and added a little twill ribbon and metal slider for interest. The love sentiment is from the Remarkable Wreath stamp set and is stamped in Autumn Terracotta Exclusive ink. The journaling tag is embellished with Huntington paper, mini copper brads and a little hemp twine.

I left the back of the page very plain, adding only a Cocoa cardstock photo mat and a little tag of Huntington paper.

I love this next page because I'm a big fan of creating with file folders. This Kraft cardstock page, however, is not supposed to be a folder. The Artiste cut is actually for a longer mini album. However, since I am hanging this on a flip stand, I could fold it like a file and it worked perfectly. I matted the front with Huntington and added a little Color Ready Seam Binding, copper brad and sentiment tag for interest. The sentiment is from the retired You Are My Happy stamp set. I used a little library binder clip to hold the folder close. The inside is simply matted with Huntington paper to keep it from being too bulky.

For the back of the page, I added a little Huntington paper for interest. The sentiment tag is actually a little anchor for tucking in photos or ephemera. The sentiment (stamped in Slate Exclusive ink) is from You Are My Happy. (Big Dr. Seuss fan here!)

Finally, for the las page, I used another of the longer Artiste pages and folded about a third of it up to create a pocket. I used hemp twine to tie the pocket together. (The double-sided Huntington papers are perfect for this type of page. I tucked a little photo folder made of Kraft cardstock in the pocket that I dressed up with a bit of Huntington paper and Color Ready Seam Binding. I left the back of the page completely blank. The gray patterned paper will make a nice backdrop for a photo.

So that's it! I hope you enjoyed my little flip stand album. Don't forget to hop over and see what crafty goodness Lynn has in store for you at From My Bungalow. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share: Give Thanks (part 2)

Hi All! Welcome to day 2 of the Kraft-y Hearts November Blog Share. Today I'm sharing more pages from my gratitude mini album. For those just joining in today, this album was made using Close To My Heart's Flip Stand Album, the Artiste Cricut cartridge, and the Huntington Collection. (You can see the first part of the album here.) 

The fourth page of the mini is a bracket page cut from Artiste. I used Huntington paper instead of cardstock for the base and then layered Barn Red cardstock onto Kraft cardstock to create a little Polaroid-style photo mat. The sentiment is from the retired You Are My Happy stamp set and is stamped in Cocoa Exlcusive ink. The embellishment is a combination of a wooden element from the Huntington Assortment and an antique copper brad from my stash.

For the back of the page, I used a little glassine treat bag from my stash to create a tag pocket, which I layered over a doily (also from my stash) that I had inked with Autumn Terracotta Exclusive ink. I then created a tag from Kraft cardstock and embellished it with a bit of Huntington zip strip, hemp twine and  two more copper brads that hold the twine together. (To do this, I clipped the prongs of the brads and used mini glue dots to hold them together. I gently squeezed them together with pliers to make sure the glue had a nice strong grip. Liquid glass would be a good alternative adhesive.) I stamped the tag with numbers from the retired Trinity Alphabet stamp set and a sentiment from Count Your Blessings. The stamping and inking around the edges were all done with Autumn Terracotta Exclusive ink. I added canvas and wooden elements from the Huntington Assortment and finished it off with a little hemp bow.

I used Kraft cardstock for the base of the fifth page. (Confession: the orientation of this page makes it look like a toilet seat cover to me. I thought about changing it but it struck me as too funny, so I left it in.) I used another doily inked in Barn Red to anchor the little mini photo album to the front. This little album, which was made from Cocoa and Kraft cardstocks, will hold four Instagram-type photos. I decorated the front with a little strip of Huntington and some Brown & Tan Sparkles. The sentiment, stamped in Barn Red, is from You Are My Happy. Somehow I missed taking a picture of the back of this page. However, all I did was add a very simple photo mat.

I hope you're enjoying the album. (If you are interested in making your own flip stand album, visit me here.) We'll wrap up the album tomorrow. Until then, make sure you go over and see the beautiful creations that Lynn has for you at From My Bungalow.

It's All About Gratitude

Hi All! Happy Friday! It's time to answer another Rose Blossom Garden Challenge. Don't you just love going into the weekend with a little crafty inspiration? This months' challenge is all about Thanksgiving. Lately I've been pondering a little quote I read that says, "Gratitude makes what we have enough." Wow! That's been pretty convicting for me! Thinking about Thanksgiving, then, I wanted to do something that would be a reminder of that powerful little truth. Here's what I came up with:

For this project, I started with an unfinished wooden 12x12 inch tray that I picked up at my local craft store. I layered it with various paints and finishes to give it a distressed look. I then used Mod Podge to cover the bottom of the tray with fabric from Close To My Heart's Sarita textiles collection.  Using the Artbooking cartridge, I cut out the overlay on the "b" key from Kraft Cardstock. (I used the recommended measurement of 11 inches.) The overlay has a nice area for journaling on the right side if you're using this for a scrapbook layout. However, I wanted a lighter look, so I cut around the tree on the right side so that the background would show through, like so:

Using the negatives from the overlay cutout for templates, I cut various leaves and the tree trunk from the Sarita paper pack and did some paper piecing to add interest. I then cut "Gratitude" and "Enough" at 1 3/4 inches using Artbooking. I used both Colonial White cardstock and Sarita for the letters, and inked the edges with Goldrush Exclusive ink. The "makes what we have" phrase is stamped in Stāz-On Opaque White ink using the retired "You Are My Happy" alphabet. Since I was putting several layers of Mod Podge over everything, I wanted to make sure the white ink wouldn't fade or run. Stāz-On plays well with Mod Podge.  "Gratitude" got lost in the tree, so to make it pop, I backed it with Burlap ribbon and added some copper brads for interest. (Love mixing all the different textures!)

I decided that the edges needed something more, so I added a strip of scalloped Goldrush cardstock to the top. The little flower in the middle is cut from Burlap ribbon, bronze glitter paper (which matches the Bronze Shimmer Trim at the bottom), Sarita fabric and a button from the Rosewood mini medley collection.

For the bottom, I pleated a piece of Sarita fabric and then added the Bronze Shimmer Trim to give it a finished look.

Finally, I added antiqued copper studs (also from the Rosewood collection) in each corner for a little extra texture.

And there you have it! My little gratitude reminder. For more inspiration, be sure to go see what my fellow design team members have created in the Rose Blossom Garden.