The sky's the limit!

Did you ever look at a blank page, and wonder what the heck you were going to write on it? Creativity seemed to leave the building, as your brain froze in terror! Think back to the teenage years? Remember the horror? Similar things can happen, when you’re looking at a pile of beads, or other supplies like empty bezels, white dominos, glass tiles, or metal pieces. What to do, what to do?

The beads can be shuffled around, until you find something pleasing to the eye, but what about the rest of those blank promises? Clues, I know clues! Lots and lots of clues! Wouldn’t that help to fan your sparks of creativity?

Colour and texture are obvious, but how will you use them, and what form will they take? It certainly helps if you’re a magpie like me, and collect all sorts of bits and pieces. But if not, it’s never too late to start your own creativity box &/or idea file! Flip through your magazines, and cut or tear out anything that interest you! Old letters, photographs (copies, not originals), ledger paper, handwritten notes, cancelled stamps, security envelopes, children’s drawings, free or purchased images, commercial papers, fancy napkins, and colouring book pages, should all be fodder for your creativity! Focus on colour, shapes, textures, fonts, and just about anything else! Build yourself a nice, fat, file, and then take some time to sit down and play with your papers! You’ll be amazed at how soon the juices start flowing!

If the muse agrees, create a collage! Then audition parts of your collage, as a background for your piece (perhaps in a bezel, or even a domino). Do you like it? What if you decided to tart the collage up a little with some paint? How about framing it with a narrow layer of Iced Enamels, glitter, or even another collage? What if you included a charm, bead, or some type of natural element? Or how about shrinking a photograph to size? Do you see where I’m going? I’ve started you off with a basic background, and then I’m leading you into building a composition, by suggesting other possible elements.

But wait! You don’t need to limit yourself to paper! How about building a metal or fabric collage? You could even make a stitched fabric & paper collage! The extra texture would be fabulous and the principles are the same! As a self-professed, mixed up media person, I certainly wouldn’t complain! But then again, what about painting or printing (monoprinting, such as Gelli printing) your own backgrounds? Try it with either acrylic paints, watercolour, inks, or even alcohol inks. That would be totally cool and creative!

Play, experiment, and build your composition! Conquer the freeze, open your mind, and explore the possibilities. The skies will open up, your muse will be happy, and creativity will bloom!

Creativity Abounds!

As an instructor, I'm always amazed how many students claim they're not inventive and can't make creative decisions about their projects. Trust me, you don't need to re-invent the wheel, but inspiration is all around you. Use what you already have, look around you for inspiration and make your jewellery your own.

Here are three places you can look for inspiration:

1. Hardware Store
A lot of people are stymied by colour. Trust me, if you can pick colour for your clothes, you can pick beads! It doesn't matter if the colour is on you, the walls of your home, or in jewellery - it all works the same way. A great way to help you pick colours is by using paint chips found in any hardware store. All paint producers have the single colour chips, as well as suggested combinations for room decor. I've put together a small photo album for myself in which I have room combinations and suggestions. You may not find the exact bead/crystal colour or combination but it gives you a good foundation.

2. Fashion magazines
Fashion magazines, such as Flare, Elle and Vogue, are full of jewellery ideas. I go through the magazines and pull the pages of the jewellery that speaks to me. In almost all of the cases, the jewellery has been fabricated and may not translate directly to your own medium but you can still use it for inspiration.

My Bombay Cuff was inspired by a fabricated piece of jewellery in the November 2013 issue of Flare. I liked the general shape and texture of the Hermés cuff but I don't work in metal or wood. Using the only paper available (a serviette in the restaurant where I was reading the magazine) I wrote down some notes. Here is the result:

3. Beading magazines
There is a plethora of beading and jewellery-making magazines available both in printed and digital formats from around the world! If you're into seed beading, you're probably quite familiar with Beadwork and Bead and Button (both American magazines) but check out Australian Beading, Beads and Beyond (Great Britain), and Perlen Posie (Germany). Each magazine has their own look and so do the projects they feature. Go ahead and substitute your beads and colours and make the jewellery your own. If you're in the Toronto area, you can come into the store and peruse our back issues of magazines and books.

Take a look around you with new eyes and play. Rip pages out of magazines; take photos; collect paint chips and soak in all the inspiration! You can do it!

Designing your way out of a paper bag!

Doesn't it just drive you crazy, when you try to think up a new design, but then find that you're in a total creative slump?  You have the time, you have the materials,  a deadline is looming, and then nothing!! So what the heck do you do? Tearing your hair out, isn't productive, nor is shutting yourself away in the dark, wailing out your misery!   So, let's explore some techniques, to unlock your ideas.....

1.  Go for a walk!  Use your camera, to take shots of anything that inspires you.  When you return home, relax, indulge in a snack, and your beverage of choice.   Then choose one photo!  Check out the colours, rustle through your stash, and see if you have anything that "tickles your fancy"! If not, visit BeadFX for a little shopping therapy.  Pull together a simple piece, out of the items you have chosen.   Don't worry about the end result, just focus on the colours.   You might be surprised at the results!!

2.  If I have a few leftover beads (the larger ones), miscellaneous bits and chain, I literally throw them in a paper bag.  I use these for in-between, or "rainy day" projects, but you can also use them, when your muse abandons you. Open the bag....fondle the bits....and let your creativity flow....

3.   Sleep on it!   I'm serious....if you go to bed, thinking about a problem, your sub-conscious mind will often solve it overnight.   Just remember to leave a pen and paper on your nightstand, and jot down your brilliant ideas, before they escape you!.

4.  Stop stressing! I promise the ideas will come.

5.  Forget about it!  Do you have any other hobbies?   Try working on something else for a while.

6. Meditate, exercise or take a yoga class..  Clear your mind!

7.  Give yourself permission to postpone the project.

8.  Clean up your table or workroom!   That's always good for a little creative procrastination!!!

9.  Fall down the Pinterest rabbit hole, for a while. Or google beads and beading (or whatever else you're trying to work on).

10. Make a date with yourself, for some uninterrupted time.

11.  Visit the museum or an art gallery, for tons of eye candy!

12.  Take a workshop....learn a new techique.....and did I say, go shopping?

13.   Check out the "Inspirations" section on the BeadFX website.

14.  But most of all, stop worrying!  The blockage is only temporary.......and you'll be back to your beading obsession soon.......very, very soon!

Shopping, talking and observing other beaders, is a great way to get the juices flowing again!  Form a support group with your friends &/or join a Bead Society.  You could also make a date to attend either the Wednesday evening, or Thursday afternoon, free beading sessions, at BeadFX.  Just give the store a call first, to reserve your place!

Finally, come visit our booth at the CreativFestival (North Building, Downtown Convention Centre - Booth #927), this Thursday, Friday and Saturday!   We'll have demos, make & takes, and enough goodies to spark a ton of creativity!

Finding inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing!  Always present in your dreams, but once awake, disappears like smoke! How can we corral something that ephemeral?   Why is it so hard?

Let's start with the definition, according to Google:  

"1. the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

2. the drawing in of breathe; inhalation."

In other words, inspiration is a mental stimulation of your creativity, and is as natural as a breath of fresh air!

I'm often asked, where I get my ideas?! While seldom stuck for an answer, I find this one a little difficult to answer.   My current theory is that they come out of thin air!   Probably too broad a response, so I'll expand it to say, that inspiration is a product of your environment, and is often triggered by images and emotions!  It could be a colour, photograph, walk in the park, life event, beauty, or even some of the horrors viewed on the evening news.  Take a walk in the park....spot a brilliant reflection....flash to an inspiration!

  I once noticed a simple SuperDuo bangle on someone's wrist, told her that I was going to "steal" her idea (she didn't mind), then went home and made a bunch of them.  I was working on these bracelets in both the Thursday afternoon, Bead Tea, and the Wednesday, Open Beading Night (both free - at BeadFX) and BAM! Others noticed my stolen idea, started buying up SuperDuos, and making bracelets of their own.  Last week, I spotted someone, showing yet another person, how to make the bangle.  Where will it end?  Inspiration, obviously never dies!

Now how about that fabulous selection of stones, pearls and crystals at BeadFX?  Surely we can all find inspiration in those beauties?

Just prior to the Swarovski Launch, I spotted some of the new green Scarabaeus pearls, inspiration struck, and I knew I had to have them! I purchased a couple of strings, and quickly threw together a necklace!  Of course that was not exactly the end, as soon after, I noticed the new Oval Pendant in Crystal Light Chrome, and my muse insisted on another necklace!   Unfortunately, I'm not able to show them to you right now, because they'll be featured as BeadFX "Inspirations", in the coming weeks.   Remember, patience is a virtue!

People think that it's always easy for creative people to find inspiration, but in reality it's not! We need to work at it, just the same as everyone else. The only real difference is that we seem to have trained ourselves, to observe and act on our visual, emotional and environmental clues.  So the message in this blog post, is to open your eyes and your heart to the creativity that surrounds you, allow that knowledge to flow freely, and let it influence your jewellery projects.  Also, don't forget to take your camera with you on your strolls!  You never know when you'll find the perfect inspiration, to translate into fabulous jewellery!  After all, nobody does it better than nature....but we do try!