My Creative Process

At the start of February, myself and 2 other Stampin’ Up! Demo’s ran a crafty event over a weekend for 42 ladies called Let’s Get Creative, and the one question I was asked more than any other was “How do you come up with ideas?”

 

So today I’m going to attempt to answer that question for you in the hope that it may give some of you a helping hand if you are ever stuck. This is just my way of doing things. There is no right or wrong in the creative process. You need to find what works for you.

 

 

1.  When I get a new stamp set / stamp and die set / stamp and punch set, the first thing I do is take a piece of Whisper White cardstock, a random ink pad (usually a Bright or Regal colour) and I stamp every image in that stamp set. I than take some coloured cardstock and I punch / die cut all of the coordinating shapes. Then I know exactly what I have to play with. Sometimes by just looking at the packaging, it’s not always obvious what you have in a set so I would always recommend stamping the lot first.

 

2.  Next I’ll do a little research, then I’ll plan, then I’ll make. My research consists of my Stampin’ Up! catalogues, Pinterest, YouTube or photos I may have saved on my phone from things that have caught my eye as I’ve been browsing online.  My research will also involve thinking about the recipient of my project, or the event that I am making my project for.

 

3.  My planning happens in one of 2 ways. I either gather supplies on my craft table because I have an idea in my head, or I sit down with a notebook and pencil and jot down as many things I can think of to do with that set.

 

4.  My making often starts with a direct CASE (copy and selectively edit / copy and share everything) of something I’ve seen that I liked. Then I might change up the colour. Then I might change up the layout. And before you know it, I’ve created something unique to me.

 

5.  Sometimes I start with a technique in mind. I have always kept a notebook of techniques and as I learn new ones, I add them to my list. I especially like to include techniques in my card classes so that everyone goes away with something new that they can try at home.

 

6.  Sometimes I start with a colour combination in mind. I was recently watching Frozen with my Grandaughter and jotted down the Stampin’ Up! version of the costume colours as I loved them and I wanted to create something with them.

 

I have to admit, I’m finding explaining this harder than I thought I would. I guess a lot of my creativity just happens and flows out of my head and onto the paper because I have been doing it for a number of years. But if I try and take myself back to when I first started, I think much of what I did was heavily based on the work of others. I would look and try to work out how they created something then I would try and copy with the materials that I had available to me. So it might end up a different theme or different colours, but that is what makes it your own.

 

Sometimes it’s good to walk away from something for a while if you’re not quite happy with it. Or take a photo of it and look at it from an alternative perspective.

 

And finally, never be afraid to throw it in the bin if it just isn’t working out how you’d like. It’s not worth losing any sleep over. It just a piece of cardstock and you can start again and you’ll probably love it.