Tag, You're It!

      It's good as an artist to always remember to see things in a new, weird way.
Tim Burton

                           

                      

Hey there from  Nannyland,                                                                                                                                                             

I experienced a game-changing epiphany recently while watching a YouTube video of one of my favorite artistic superstars, Lort Holt.  I'm a dedicated groupie of this quilt designer extraordinaire and I love learning about her intriguing creative process.  She was asked whether she ever loses her "sewjo" and,  surprisingly, her answer was absolutely NEVER.  What???  I was stunned until she explained that the secret to this satisfying state of mind  is having a panoply of projects at her finger tips so she can switch when she needs a new burst of enthusiasm.  As I pondered this, I started mentally listing several of my favorite pursuits in addition to my usual quilting and card making.  Among them are machine embroidery, art journaling, crochet, genealogy, photography...and the list goes on.  As creators, I think we all have these varied and never ending lists. 

So, why am I posting pictures of tags while chattering on about tons of different crafting hobbies?  Well, here's the thing.  I got a little bleary-eyed this weekend making Valentine cards and just couldn't get excited about cutting hearts on my Cricut.  My left-brained  conscience scolded my right-brained creativity and whispered to me that I needed to finish the task I had started before going on to another. I know lots of people have oodles of UFO's in their craft spaces, but not me.  That would be very lackadaisical. 😀  But then I spied a box of paper scraps I had saved from a recent Graphic 45 purge. I decided to do as Lori suggested and take an inspired detour. I thought it might be fun to zhuzhe up one of these vintage cuties and make a tag to tie on my bff's birthday gift bag.  

I actually felt a little guilty working on something as frivolous as tags when I had so many Valentines to make, especially since all my supplies were strewn around the room,  openly mocking me. But then I thought...why not?  I'm just energizing my brain with some new artsy synapses.

So,  this is what happened when I allowed myself to throw caution to the wind and drift where my creative whim led me. I turned on an audio book and got out my glitter glue, some long deserted lace trim, sparkly sheer ribbon, metallic washi tape, my trusty gold and silver leafing pens and assorted gems.  I became reacquainted with my Crop-a-Dile that I haven't used for so long I forgot how to use it.  I had to scour my craft room to find eyelets and, in the process, I found some buried treasures I had long forgotten.  I didn't need to be stingy about using my abundant crafty stash.  It felt good to use my hoard for something useful.

I ended up doing some organizing with my Julie Nutting paper doll stamps and pads, as I was reminded how much I love making cards and tags with these darling dolls. I put all my doll-making supplies together and plan to have some stamped images on hand for coloring.  Then I'll have one finished and  waiting when I get ready to dress her for her card debut.  I also plan to cut out a quilt (or two) for some sewing diversion when I get in the mood for stitching complicated (and delightful) designs rather than gluing them.

                                            

I guess I've always been a believer in changing things up to light a spark of creativity when the flame starts to flicker out. How else would I have so many interests competing with each other?  I just need to give my disciplined self permission to come out and play, and allow some of my ducks to dance a little jig if they want to. It's possible to be organized and flexible at the same time.  Now I'm determined to  have some projects ready to go when my creative mojo wants to careen down a new uncharted path. One of the best parts of my weekend departure into La La Land was that I' found an unfinished project that I like much better for my husband's Valentine than the one I was going to cut out on my Cricut! I hope you will be inspired to expand your crafty horizons also, if you tend to get a little too stodgy and stuck like I do. I'm bursting with new ideas for future projects and all because I allowed myself to relax and mix it up a bit. And I have some schmancy new tags. to boot.  Thanks, Lori!

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit.  

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply