We are talking about the energy of spring on the blog this month. Previously, Danielle talked about spring being a time to bloom by finding ways to let yourself grow. Her post fits perfectly into what I want to talk about today.
I recently went through a creative slump, which is very uncommon for me in the springtime. The energy of nature usually directly translates to my own energy. But for some reason my mojo was lacking. I’m sure you’ve had these moments too, right? — Perhaps emerging from our long winter has left you at a creative low point. — How do you get that energy back? I wanted to cover some very proactive tips to do just that. And as Danielle says, you can let yourself bloom!
Here is the quick breakdown of my go-to items when I’m feeling a slump. Stick with me and I will give you resources and examples for each to illustrate the point.
- Use a sketch.
- Play with product.
- Take a challenge.
- Find a class.
- Scraplift yourself.
- Reach out.
One. Use a sketch
The first thing I do when I’m just not feeling “it”, is to let someone else do the creative heavy lifting for me. I find a sketch that I like and put it to good use. If you are a ScrapHappy member you may have noticed that the Circle community is filled with Sketches this month. Sara, of Sara Scraps, is posting a weekly sketch and we have our typical monthly sketch as well. If you are not a member simply google “scrapbook sketches” and you’ll find what you need. (Or you could join us and get inspiration AND community.)
I snapped up one of Sara’s sketches and went to work. By choosing some beautiful paper and this straightforward sketch, I was able to create a happy page and I didn’t have to think hard about it. We want scrapping to be fun and not hard, right? So use those sketch resources. They are there for a reason!
Two. Play with product
Oh how I love to play. And this month has been filled with play over on the ScrapHappy YouTube channel . Alice’s Happy at Home series has been all about pulling out a crafty product and just experimenting. It isn’t about creating a finished product, but about just experiencing the art at your fingertips. Now, if something you like comes out of it, of course you can turn it into a finished piece! And if not, there is always the recycle bin. I was inspired the day Alice played with alcohol inks and I ended up both with something pretty and something just okay. But I learned tips along the way to put in my creative tool box and that is a big boost for my creativity. Check out what I played with.
The right card is alcohol ink on Yupo paper and it gives very bold colors. The left example is on a glitter cardstock and it really mutes the colors. Not what I wanted, but good enough to turn into a card anyway.
Three. Take a challenge
There are lots of crafty challenges out there to use as jumping off points. In fact LOAD is coming up on May 1st and that is a daily scrapbooking challenge! Don’t know about LOAD? Find out more here.
But what if journaling is the thing that you are struggling with? LOAD has you covered there as well with an optional daily story prompt. If you already know the story you want to tell but don’t know how to tell it then you can find free, really specific tips on approaching journaling in Alice’s Write On Journaling series. She covered tips like using a text message as a jumping off point, or starting your journaling with a quote . She has plenty more journaling posts here on the blog (scroll to find the posts titled Write On Journaling), or you can sign up for the complete series via email.
I wanted to add one more journaling challenge to her list. Sometimes trying to capture all the details of an event can feel daunting. So my challenge to you is to break it down. When I have a lot of photos on a layout I will journal just the basics about each photo and number both the journaling and the matching photo to create a cohesive layout and yet keep the words in bite sized portions. I created this one during a previous LOAD challenge.
Four. Find a class
I love taking classes. Even though I’ve been scrapping for over 20 years, I can always find inspiration in what others are doing. You can find lots of classes out there, but did you know that Scrap Happy has classes too? There are sessions called Scrap Smarter where a teacher offers us lessons in a topic and helps us learn all about it. As a member access to all the past Scrap Smarter sessions are included. If you are not a member, you can get access to the most recent Scrap Smarter session for free for a limited time. If you are curious, our most recent session was all about loving your layers. Amy Myers from One Mommy Scrapping breaks down paper layering into very clear ways to help you up your layering game. While I didn’t make this layout after her class, it does show off some lovely layers. The tip of using papers that contrast each other in color is clear in my border strip.
Five. Scraplift yourself
Go to your albums and flip through them. Sometimes just this process alone will get you thinking and feeling. That may be the only boost you need to your creativity. But if you need more, choose a layout that you love and scraplift yourself. Here is a scraplift I did just for this blog post. My original layout on the left was made nearly 10 years ago! I’ve adapted it to my style today with more layers and more embellishments with a hint of mixed media. If you like process videos I have one up for this layout. Plus I turned it into a downloadable sketch if you want to follow through on tip #1
Six. Reach out
If your creative energy is on the down low, perhaps someone else is feeling the same. Sending a card to a friend can help you both out. Plus, if you are not normally a card maker, the change in canvas size can be a creative challenge and boost. April has a lovely project on the blog this month called Sheltering Tree. She shares a spring inspired card with us that can send a paper hug to someone you care about. And her cad example is another way to challenge yourself to play with product and to use her example as a sketch! Since Mother’s Day is coming up here in the US that may be a good day to reach out to any mom in your life.
I hope you are emerging from our winter time (to our Norther hemisphere readers that is) and ready to refresh and bloom this spring. If you give any of these tips a try, let us know. We love to read your comments.