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	<title>Make Great Stuff &#187; Collage</title>
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	<link>http://makegreatstuff.com</link>
	<description>&#60;br&#62;Taking Your Creativity to the Next Level</description>
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		<title>Making Meaning</title>
		<link>http://makegreatstuff.com/making-meaning/</link>
		<comments>http://makegreatstuff.com/making-meaning/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:24:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[20 Minute Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Collage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[20 minute technique]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appreciation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[craft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creative breakthroughs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creativity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gratitude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paypal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Strategies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supplies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tele-class]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[teleseminar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://makegreatstuff.com/?p=7475</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every Friday I write the 20 Minute Club Minutes–because using a timer for what I call the 20 Minute Technique can keep your creative momentum going in your busy, time-crunched life–20 minutes at a pop. Please join in and share your 20 Minute Experiences in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair game, because sharing your experiences [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Every Friday I write the <a href="../the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20     Minute Club</a> Minutes–because <a href="../did-you-get-a-timer-yet/" target="_self">using     a timer</a> for what I call the <a href="../getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20     Minute Technique</a> can keep your creative momentum going in your     busy, time-crunched  life–20 minutes at a pop.</em></p>
<p><em>Please join in and share your <a href="../getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20     Minute  Experiences</a> in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair  game,   because sharing your       experiences about the process is a great  way to   increase your       creativity.</em></p>
<p><em>—————————————————————————————————-</em></p>
<p>The <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class</a> was once again my savior this week&#8211;the only way I managed to get a bit of creating done in my hectic schedule.</p>
<p>Which enabled me to set aside another <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20 minutes</a> to continue working on my new collages this morning as well.</p>
<p>Fresh design problems will do that because <em>creativity</em> begets <em>more</em> creativity.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s really as simple as that.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s also one of my favorite reasons for teaching this workshop every week because <em>structured support</em> really really helps make the creating happen.</p>
<p>I mean, why struggle to do it all on your own?</p>
<p>But you know, even bigger things are at stake.</p>
<h2>Universal Truths</h2>
<p>This week, I asked class participants to have copies of a few photos ready so we could play with having more overt &#8220;subject matter&#8221; in our collages.</p>
<p>Laura, one of the tele-class participants, sent me a note before class started that she was feeling unsure about using the photos she had on hand because she didn&#8217;t feel ready and they weren&#8217;t very good. Was it okay if she didn&#8217;t use photos this time?</p>
<p>Of course!</p>
<p>But I also suggested that bad or uninteresting photos might be good to use because they would allow her to &#8220;make a mess&#8221;. (Which is pretty much what I did this week with mine. <img src='http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' />  )</p>
<p>Afterward, she wrote me another note about her response to incorporating photos into one of her collages:</p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230;<em>making that collage felt very therapeutic for me. There was something  about creating images that related to myself and my parents and our  connections to the house I grew up in that made all our recent struggles feel more  universal &#8211; in spite of the fact that the collage centered on pictures  of me and other individual references.</em>..&#8221;</p>
<p>YES!</p>
<p>What an eloquent way to describe how creativity and making art can help you remember or realize the connections between your own life and the universal themes of the human condition.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s art at its best&#8211;truly impacting our <em>every day lives</em>&#8211;helping us <strong>make meaning and understand our place in the world</strong>.</p>
<p>And all this richness and possibility is <em>sitting inside of you right now as well</em>&#8211;willing to come out if you let it.</p>
<p>Thanks Laura, for letting me share that.</p>
<h2>Get &#8216;Em While They&#8217;re Hot</h2>
<p>The summer intro rate for the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class</a> will only be available for a couple more weeks, so if you&#8217;ve been thinking about joining us and want to save some money, click on the link above to sign up for a class or three.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re wondering what supplies you&#8217;ll need, check out the <a href="http://http://makegreatstuff.com/suggested-supply-list/" target="_self"><em>suggested</em> supplies list.</a></p>
<p>There&#8217;s a 100% money back guarantee, but f you&#8217;re still a bit nervous about it, or wondering if you&#8217;re a good fit, click here:<a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/creative-breakthroughs-teleclass-faqs/" target="_self"> </a></p>
<p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/creative-breakthroughs-teleclass-faqs/" target="_self">http://makegreatstuff.com/creative-breakthroughs-teleclass-faqs/</a> to read my answers to all the questions you might have.</p>
<p>And you can always call me or email me directly (all that info can be found on FAQ page above).</p>
<p>I hope you <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">join us</a>.</p>
<h2>Appreciation</h2>
<p><a href="../appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self"><em>Appreciating </em></a><em><a href="../appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self">yourself</a> is  an important part of the 20 Minute Club     because it helps you keep your  creative momentum going. </em></p>
<p><em>Carving out the time to create is important of course, but it’s    not enough.</em><em> <strong>Getting  (and eventually staying) on your own side</strong> is a critical       factor  for  helping you take bigger risks with your   work,  get       yourself out of a   creative rut, or just enjoy the process   more.</em></p>
<p><em>Taking the time to remember to appreciate yourself and all your            efforts (big or small, creative or not) is a powerful way to  make       this happen.</em></p>
<p><strong>Here are my five self-appreciations for this week:</strong></p>
<p>1. I appreciate how I hung in there with my Paypal button struggles this week and finally<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"> reached detente</span> emerged victorious.</p>
<p>2. I appreciate how much better I&#8217;m getting at <em>honoring the work</em> involved in the projects and kit ideas I conjure up which helps me <em>be on my own side</em>.</p>
<p>3. I appreciate how this <em>honoring process</em> is truly helping me do more accurate business planning. I find it so interesting how much the <em>spiritual work helps the practical work</em>.</p>
<p>4. I appreciate how much richness I receive from the often uncomfortable experience of always wanting to grow and stretch.</p>
<p>5. I appreciate every time I feel the fear and do it anyway&#8211;whatever &#8220;it&#8221; happens to be at the moment.</p>
<h2>Your Turn</h2>
<p>How was your creative week this week? Are you busy gearing up for  September? Still vacationing? Immersed in your creativity and feeling   fabulous? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!</p>
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			<wfw:commentRss>http://makegreatstuff.com/making-meaning/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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		<item>
		<title>My Knight in Shining Armor</title>
		<link>http://makegreatstuff.com/yoga-for-your-creativity/</link>
		<comments>http://makegreatstuff.com/yoga-for-your-creativity/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:33:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[20 Minute Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Collage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[20 minute technique]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[craft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creative breakthroughs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creativity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gratitude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[procrastination]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://makegreatstuff.com/?p=7047</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every Friday I write the 20 Minute Club Minutes–because using a timer for what I call the 20 Minute Technique can keep your creative momentum going in your busy, time-crunched life–20 minutes at a pop. Please join in and share your 20 Minute Experiences in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair game, because sharing your experiences [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Every Friday I write the <a href="../the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20     Minute Club</a> Minutes–because <a href="../did-you-get-a-timer-yet/" target="_self">using     a timer</a> for what I call the <a href="../getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20     Minute Technique</a> can keep your creative momentum going in your     busy, time-crunched  life–20 minutes at a pop.</em></p>
<p><em>Please join in and share your <a href="../getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20     Minute  Experiences</a> in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair  game,   because sharing your     experiences about the process is a great  way to   increase your     creativity.</em></p>
<p><em>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-</em></p>
<h2>Tele-class Saves Woman from Head Exploding..Details at 11&#8230;</h2>
<p><a href="../wp-content/uploads/2010/08/daffodil.jpg"><img class="alignleft" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;" title="daffodil" src="../wp-content/uploads/2010/08/daffodil-208x300.jpg" alt="" width="160" height="231" /></a></p>
<p>Seriously, that was me this week.</p>
<p>Wrapping my head around various technological system challenges <strong>filled</strong> my week.</p>
<p>Confusion. Dismay. Anxiety.</p>
<p>Did I mention confusion? And pretty much <em>all week</em>.</p>
<p>Giving all my creative attention to my business felt&#8230;<em>necessary</em>, but I barely had time to create any art this week.</p>
<p>No arty creativity =grumpy and out of sorts.</p>
<p>But then the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class</a> rode in on its white horse and shining armor and saved the day.</p>
<p>And I realized all over again why <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/are-you-waiting-to-be-ready/#support" target="_self"><em>structured support</em></a> is so crucial to keeping any artist&#8217;s creative momentum going.</p>
<p>This was basically the scenario:</p>
<p><strong>Wednesday 7:29pm:</strong> Tele-class starts in one minute.<br />
<strong>Mental State:</strong> Frazzled, Distracted, Worn Out. Just&#8230;want&#8230;to&#8230;lie&#8230;down.</p>
<p><strong>Wednesday 8:50pm:</strong> Tele-class is wrapping up and we&#8217;re discussing our collages.<br />
<strong>Mental State:</strong> Relaxed, Happy, Rejuvenated.</p>
<p>I felt like <em>myself</em> again.</p>
<p>I would never have made any art that night without the structured support of the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">Collage Tele-class</a>.</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re ridiculously busy and worn out by your other obligations, <strong>having a structured support mechanism outside of yourself</strong> <strong>to lean on</strong> is not only a big relief, but <em>makes sustaining a creative momentum possible.</em></p>
<p>This tele-class is designed not <em>only</em> to help blocked artists get un-stuck, but to help <em>all art-makers</em> keep their creative momentum going and guarantee a time to play, experiment, and r<em>efill the well</em>.</p>
<p>It helps me each week when I teach it&#8211;during the class, sure&#8211;but more importantly, for the rest of the week as well.</p>
<p>Because not only do I have a few new pieces to ponder for the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20 Minute Club</a>, but participating in the class also maintains and rejuvenates my creative spirit, so I don&#8217;t have to dig it out from under 6 feet of task-and-obligation dirt in order to find it again when I&#8217;m ready to work on other pieces.</p>
<p>So even if you&#8217;re not a collage artist, it doesn&#8217;t matter. This class still benefits all your other creative pursuits because basically&#8230;.<em> </em></p>
<p><em>It&#8217;s yoga for your creativity</em>.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m so convinced of this, I hope you <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/">join me</a> so we can sustain our creative momentum <em>together</em>.</p>
<h2>Appreciation</h2>
<p><a href="../appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self"><em>Appreciating </em></a><em><a href="../appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self">yourself</a> is  an important part of the 20 Minute Club     because it helps you keep your  creative momentum going. </em></p>
<p><em>Carving out the time to create is important of course, but it’s    not enough.</em><em> Getting  (and eventually staying) on your own side    is a critical     factor  for  helping you take bigger risks with your   work,  get     yourself out of a   creative rut, or just enjoy the process   more.</em></p>
<p><em>Taking the time to remember to appreciate yourself and all your          efforts (big or small, creative or not) is a powerful way to make      this happen.</em></p>
<p><strong>Here are my five self-appreciations for this week:</strong></p>
<p>1. I appreciate that I&#8217;m staying open to other solutions to meet my business goals when technological challenges make it hard to do things the way I <em>imagined</em>.</p>
<p>2. I appreciate how much I learn by teaching my class every week and that I&#8217;m helping myself honor the process more and more all the time.</p>
<p>3. I appreciate that I took time out to look at art this week even though, once again, I felt too busy to do so. And boy, it was so rejuvenating.</p>
<p>4. I appreciate that I allow myself to stop looking at art when I&#8217;ve had enough&#8211;this keeps it fun and fulfilling and prevents it from turning into a &#8220;should&#8221; type experience.</p>
<p>5. I appreciate that I followed up on some leads for showing my artwork, even though I was nervous and it felt hard to do it.</p>
<h2>Your Turn</h2>
<p>How was your creative week this week? Were you bogged down in obligations? Still vacationing? Immersed in your creativity and feeling fabulous? Leave a comment, I&#8217;d love to hear from you!</p>
<p><a href="../wp-content/uploads/2010/08/daffodil.jpg"><br />
</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>The Mother of Invention</title>
		<link>http://makegreatstuff.com/the-mother-of-invention/</link>
		<comments>http://makegreatstuff.com/the-mother-of-invention/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:41:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[20 Minute Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Collage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[craft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[craft kits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creative breakthroughs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Breakthroughs Collage Teleclass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[design solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[glitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[holiday ornaments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ornament kits]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://makegreatstuff.com/?p=6661</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every Friday I write the 20 Minute Club Minutes–because using a timer for what I call the 20 Minute Technique can keep your creative momentum going in your busy, time-crunched life–20 minutes at a pop. Please join in and share your 20 Minute Experiences in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair game, because sharing your experiences [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Every Friday I write the <a href="../the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20     Minute Club</a> Minutes–because <a href="../did-you-get-a-timer-yet/" target="_self">using     a timer</a> for what I call the <a href="../getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20     Minute Technique</a> can keep your creative momentum going in your     busy, time-crunched  life–20 minutes at a pop.</em></p>
<p><em>Please join in and share your <a href="../getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20     Minute  Experiences</a> in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair  game,   because sharing your  experiences about the process is a great  way to   increase your  creativity.</em></p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<h2>My Glitter Thang</h2>
<p>This week my creative bursts were tangled up with lots of business-y type decisions.</p>
<p>I had to figure out a budget, order supplies and work out pricing for a new holiday ornament kit I&#8217;m creating, which really meant that I had to make lots of final <em>design</em> decisions before I could do anything else.</p>
<p>Which meant that I was basically covered in glitter all week.</p>
<p>I think I made every possible holiday color combination of paint and glitter in order to figure out how to keep things affordable but doable and more importantly, still pretty&#8211;so there was lots of running back and forth between my design table and my calculator.</p>
<p>This designing on a shoestring is basically like every design job I&#8217;ve ever had so I was in familiar territory&#8211;and I like it actually.</p>
<p>I must also admit though, that when I work for myself, I am much more disciplined about sticking to my budget.</p>
<p>Which forces me to find solutions to seemingly <em>impossible</em> design conundrums so that I can actually lay the monies down for those bulk quantities without having a heart attack and still offer something special.</p>
<p>A tight budget creates a design discipline that almost always <strong>teaches great art lessons</strong> as well as provides deep satisfaction because fewer resources demand <em>way</em> more creativity than if I could just recklessly buy everything I <em>thought</em> <em>I absolutely needed</em> at the beginning of a project.</p>
<p>Necessity really <em>is</em> the mother of invention. And it makes you a better designer to boot.</p>
<h2><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/bloom.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6662" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 0px 5px;" title="bloom" src="http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/bloom-300x213.jpg" alt="" width="228" height="162" /></a>Wheels within Wheels My Friend</h2>
<p>I also had a blast this week with the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class</a>.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m starting to use some unfinished pieces from the past as fodder for my new work&#8211;so I&#8217;m collaging collages on top of collages and really enjoying the &#8220;instant depth&#8221; I get from doing that.</p>
<p>I got drawn into working on them again this morning and spent <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">20 minutes</span> an hour  I didn&#8217;t have continuing where I left off last night. It was naughty and fun.</p>
<p>My favorite piece this week was my simplest, so I thought I&#8217;d share it here. That&#8217;s it up there on the left.</p>
<p>This class is so much fun, I hope you <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">join us</a>.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a wonderfully simple way to carve out time for your creativity (lots of <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20 minutes</a>&#8216; to be had) and it&#8217;s almost dangerously easy to keep working on them for days afterwards, even when you &#8220;shouldn&#8217;t&#8221;&#8211;and isn&#8217;t that what it&#8217;s all about?</p>
<p>Getting back to your creative self? Digging deeper and letting yourself experiment?</p>
<p>Feeling seduced by your projects and consumed by your creative energy?</p>
<p>Just sayin&#8217;.</p>
<h2>Appreciation</h2>
<p><a href="../appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self"><em>Appreciating </em></a><em><a href="../appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self">yourself</a> is  an important part of the 20 Minute Club     because it helps you keep your  creative momentum going. </em></p>
<p><em>Carving out the time to create is important of course, but it’s    not enough.</em><em> Getting  (and eventually staying) on your own side    is a critical  factor  for  helping you take bigger risks with your   work,  get  yourself out of a   creative rut, or just enjoy the process   more.</em></p>
<p><em>Taking the time to remember to appreciate yourself and all your       efforts (big or small, creative or not) is a powerful way to make   this happen.</em></p>
<p><strong>Here’s my five self-appreciations for this week:</strong></p>
<p>1. I appreciate how much I got done for my kit(s), and I also appreciate how much I underestimated how much there was to get done.</p>
<p>2.I appreciate that I&#8217;m tracking my time on my worky-work (versus my art-making work) which makes me feel very grown up about my itty-biz and it&#8217;s helping me <em>plan</em>. Who knew!</p>
<p>3. I appreciate how much I&#8217;m learning about creating great systems for myself (thanks mostly to <a href="http://thirdhandworks.com/" target="_blank">Cairene at Third Hand Works</a>) and that I&#8217;m getting better at actually putting them into place. It feels really good every time I do it!</p>
<p>4. I appreciate how I am getting better at catching that hurrying-hurrying &#8220;thing&#8221; I do when I get overwhelmed which helps me to not (completely) succumb to its seductive franticness!</p>
<p>5. I appreciate that I went to the gym last night even though it felt like an impossible thing to add to my day because I&#8217;ve learned the value that just &#8220;showing up&#8221; can have for long term goals.</p>
<h2>Your Turn</h2>
<p>How about you? How did your creative week go? Are you thinking about signing up for the tele-class? Are you busy creating or are you just too damn hot to do anything but nap in the shade? Leave a comment&#8211;I&#8217;d love to hear from you!</p>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Are You Playing it Safe?</title>
		<link>http://makegreatstuff.com/are-you-playing-it-safe/</link>
		<comments>http://makegreatstuff.com/are-you-playing-it-safe/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:34:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Collage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[craft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creative breakthroughs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Drawing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[painting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[playing it safe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tele-class]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://makegreatstuff.com/?p=6598</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last week I talked about how to (re) discovering your artistic voice along with some concrete ways to start paying attention to yourself and your art-making in order to better understand and develop it. I also suggested thinking about why you chose the medium (or media) that you use&#8211;be it drawing, beading, knitting, painting, etc.&#8211;because [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last week I talked about <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/how-to-re-discover-your-artistic-voice/" target="_self">how to (re) discovering your artistic voice</a> along with some concrete ways to start paying attention to yourself and your art-making in order to better understand and develop it.</p>
<p>I also suggested thinking about why you chose the medium (or media) that you use&#8211;be it drawing, beading, knitting, painting, etc.&#8211;because these choices aren&#8217;t an accident.</p>
<p>If you work in a particular medium because it speaks to you or it makes sense to you in some visceral or emotional way, I think that&#8217;s good.</p>
<p>Because exploring your passion for this medium further can help you use that medium in a more directed, self-aware way that will in turn help you express your artistic vision.</p>
<p>Especially if you&#8217;ve never thought about it that way before.</p>
<p>But it&#8217;s also important to make sure you&#8217;re not just playing it safe.</p>
<p>You know, making things a certain way or using a certain medium because you&#8217;ve always done that, or because it feels a bit uppity to try something &#8220;bigger&#8221; or more &#8220;artistic.&#8221;</p>
<p>The old &#8220;who do you think you are&#8221; syndrome.</p>
<h2>Why You Do What You Do</h2>
<p>Do you secretly want to try a particular technique or medium but are afraid to because you might stink at it? Or because only &#8220;talented, real artists&#8221; do that particular something and you don&#8217;t qualify?</p>
<p>If this is the case, it&#8217;s okay to not change gears suddenly. You don&#8217;t have to stop what you&#8217;re doing and be braver than you&#8217;re ready to be.</p>
<p>But it is useful to pay attention to it&#8211;even as you continue to stay in familiar territory doing what you&#8217;re good at or what you&#8217;ve allowed yourself.</p>
<p>Because paying attention to it is the very first step to making room for it.</p>
<h2>You ARE Allowed</h2>
<p>In the meantime, I just want to remind you that you ARE allowed to make whatever you want. And you&#8217;ll probably be bad at it at first too. Who isn&#8217;t? It&#8217;s just important to remember the &#8220;at first&#8221; part.</p>
<p>Especially for media in the fine arts. If you&#8217;re wanting to paint or draw but feel like you&#8217;re not &#8220;artistic&#8221; or &#8220;talented&#8221; enough to try it, it&#8217;s just not true.</p>
<p><strong>Those skills can be learned like any other</strong>. And <em>everyone</em>, even those innately talented at drawing and painting still had to practice to get where they are today.</p>
<p>In fact, it&#8217;s almost not respectful to treat those skills like they don&#8217;t require work or commitment&#8211;the people you know who do them well have come out of the womb with that predeliction, but they also had to work hard at it.</p>
<p>And you can too. Or you can dabble and just enjoy it. It&#8217;s for you to decide.</p>
<p>The only rules about it are in your head.</p>
<p>And if you&#8217;re rusty, I know, it&#8217;s <strong>hard</strong> to be rusty. <em>To have been good at it before</em>, and feel like you&#8217;re not now. To face the rustiness.</p>
<p>But if you were good at it before, you can be good at it again. It&#8217;s not like hitting a fastball or running a race&#8211;it doesn&#8217;t require you to be <em>young</em>.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s just about being willing to <em>be with yourself</em> during the learning or the re-learning phase. To feel okay with yourself in the discomfort of the new or the struggle of being out of shape.</p>
<p>Even if it takes a while&#8211;because, you know, <strong>there is no hurry</strong>&#8211;even though we often feel like there is.</p>
<p>That hurry-to-be-good is just the dominant culture talking, it&#8217;s not <strong>The Truth</strong>.</p>
<h2>Join Me</h2>
<p>If you want a safe place to experiment and create using  different media, or to get yourself UN-rusty, come join me this Wednesday for the next <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class</a>.</p>
<p>No one can see you and it&#8217;s a great chance to play and think and <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/ernest-hemingways-productivity-technique/" target="_self">create a few pieces you can respond to</a> the rest of the week. We had a lot of fun last Wednesday, and it feels so good to just create and think about creating for an hour and a half.</p>
<p>And if you&#8217;ve been wanting to participate in the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20 Minute Club</a>, but have had trouble getting yourself started, this class is the solution.</p>
<p>Come make something new, something you&#8217;ve never done before.</p>
<p>(And if you&#8217;re wondering if you have the supplies you&#8217;ll need to participate, here&#8217;s the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/suggested-supply-list/" target="_self"><em>suggested</em> supply list</a>.)</p>
<h2>What Do You Think?</h2>
<p>Why do you work in your medium of choice? Are you playing it safe or is does it feel really right? Would you like to try something new?</p>
<p>Leave a comment, I&#8217;d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.</p>
<div id="ifyoulikedthat"><h3>If you liked that post, then try these...</h3><p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/bead-buying-tips-part-iii/">Bead Buying Tips--Part III</a></p><p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/stamping-and-embossing-101/">Stamping and Embossing 101</a></p><p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/paper-tips-for-rice-paper-decoupage/">Paper Tips for Rice Paper Decoupage</a></p></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Thank You Bad Drawings!</title>
		<link>http://makegreatstuff.com/thank-you-bad-drawings/</link>
		<comments>http://makegreatstuff.com/thank-you-bad-drawings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:15:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[20 Minute Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Collage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[20 minute technique]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appreciation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Breakthroughs Collage Teleclass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creativity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[digital collage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://makegreatstuff.com/?p=6562</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every Friday I write the 20 Minute Club Minutes–because using a timer for what I call the 20 Minute Technique can keep your creative momentum going in your busy, time-crunched life–20 minutes at a pop. Please join in and share your 20 Minute Experiences in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair game, because sharing your experiences [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Every Friday I write the <a href="../the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20     Minute Club</a> Minutes–because <a href="../did-you-get-a-timer-yet/" target="_self">using     a timer</a> for what I call the <a href="../getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20     Minute Technique</a> can keep your creative momentum going in your     busy, time-crunched  life–20 minutes at a pop.</em></p>
<p><em>Please join in and share your <a href="../getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20     Minute  Experiences</a> in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair  game,   because sharing your experiences about the process is a great  way to   increase your creativity.</em></p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<h2>From Bad to Good</h2>
<p>In my first 20 minute action of the week, I tackled one of my <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/" target="_self">very bad drawings from last week</a>.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s now no longer &#8220;bad&#8221;&#8211;I think I&#8217;ve inched it up to hmmm&#8230;..adequate/ordinary.</p>
<p>Ah well. Now it&#8217;s off the wall and I started something new&#8211;and I&#8217;m a lot happier with this one.</p>
<p>My latest piece is about 3&#8242; x 6&#8242; and I&#8217;m calling it <em>Cave Painting 1</em>&#8211;even though it&#8217;s really a collage/drawing and not a painting at all.</p>
<p>What makes me happy about this big piece is that it&#8217;s <em>about</em> the same theme that my terrible drawings from last week were trying to be about&#8211;but weren&#8217;t.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s like my bad drawings cleared the way for this new drawing/collage to come into existence.  So I&#8217;d like to thank those bad drawings for taking one for the team like that!</p>
<p>My new piece feels cleaner, right-er, easier. And much closer to expressing what is in my heart right now.</p>
<p>I feel relaxed and happy about what I have done so far&#8211;even while having <em>no idea</em> what I need to do next.</p>
<p>And so it goes.</p>
<h2>And LOTSA Collages</h2>
<p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/CBCTC-collages1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6564" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 0px 5px;" title="CBCTC-collages1" src="http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/CBCTC-collages1-208x300.jpg" alt="" width="147" height="213" /></a>One of my favorite things about my <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">Creative Breakthroughs Tele-class</a>, is that it gives you lots of things to work on the rest of the week&#8211;<a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20 minutes here</a> and <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/did-you-get-a-timer-yet/" target="_self">20 minutes there</a>.</p>
<p>So much <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/ernest-hemingways-productivity-technique/" target="_self">better than starting from scratch</a>!</p>
<p>And that&#8217;s what happened with this week&#8217;s class. Since I create my own collages as I teach the class, I&#8217;ve now got 3 new &#8220;almost done&#8221; pieces to think about and respond to now myself.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s great to wander by one of my pieces and immediately start thinking arty thoughts. Laying a piece of torn paper down here, an old button there&#8230;listening to each piece&#8211;asking them what they need.</p>
<p>If you take the class, you should consider keeping your pieces out in different places&#8211;in your foyer to look at right before you leave the house, by the kitchen sink, against the window in the bathroom, or next to the bed to ponder for a minute or two before you go to sleep&#8211;and then first thing when you wake up.</p>
<p>This thinking and looking is a big part of weaving your creative endeavors into the fabric of your daily routine&#8211;it gives you the artistic life you&#8217;re wanting. Makes you feel like yourself.</p>
<p>It feels good.</p>
<h2>Appreciation</h2>
<p><a href="../appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self"><em>Appreciating </em></a><em><a href="../appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self">yourself</a> is  an important part of the 20 Minute Club     because it helps you keep your  creative momentum going. </em></p>
<p><em>Carving out the time to create is important of course, but it’s    not enough.</em><em> Getting  (and eventually staying) on your own side    is a critical factor  for  helping you take bigger risks with your   work,  get yourself out of a   creative rut, or just enjoy the process   more.</em></p>
<p><em>Taking the time to remember to appreciate yourself and all your      efforts (big or small, creative or not) is a powerful way to make  this happen.</em></p>
<p><strong>Here’s my five self-appreciations for this week:</strong></p>
<p>I appreciate that I changed my plans to let myself have big fun this week&#8211;yay!</p>
<p>I appreciate that I cleaned my studio and gave myself room to work on my latest piece.</p>
<p>I appreciate that I juggled several big projects in one day with more  success than I thought I would-which gave me some added confidence for  the next time.</p>
<p>I appreciate that I came up with a system to organize my different creative projects that might actually work!</p>
<p>I appreciate that I made a vision board for my <a href="http://sarahbushartworks.com" target="_self">digital collages</a>&#8211;and one of the things I wrote on it was to have a &#8220;simple solution (that I liked) for making my pieces bigger&#8221;&#8211;and the simple solution arrived shortly thereafter.  (As soon as I made room in myself for the possibility that the solution could be <em>simple</em>&#8211;almost immediately after writing that word in fact&#8211;I could feel a shift. Very cool.)</p>
<h2>Your Turn</h2>
<p>How did your creative week go? Are you affected by the weather? Was it hard to create in the heat or do you like that? Have you gotten a<a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/did-you-get-a-timer-yet/" target="_self"> timer yet</a>? Still thinking about it? Please share, I&#8217;d love to hear from you.</p>
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		<title>The Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-Classes Are Here!</title>
		<link>http://makegreatstuff.com/the-creative-breakthroughs-collage-tele-classes-are-here/</link>
		<comments>http://makegreatstuff.com/the-creative-breakthroughs-collage-tele-classes-are-here/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:02:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[20 Minute Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Collage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Techniques & Strategies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art classes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[collage techniques]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[craft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creative breakthroughs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creativity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[getting unstuck]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tele-class]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[teleseminar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://makegreatstuff.com/?p=6367</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Finally! And they&#8217;re so affordable. I&#8217;m really excited. Read all about it and then sign up! If you have any questions write me&#8230;.or call me if you&#8217;d rather. I just want you to feel comfortable enough to give it a try. Why? Because Because Because Because Becaaaauuuuusssseeee of all the wonderful things it does! (Imagine [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Finally!</h2>
<p>And they&#8217;re so affordable. I&#8217;m really excited. <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">Read all about it</a> and then sign up!</p>
<p>If you have any questions <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/contact/" target="_self">write me</a>&#8230;.or <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/creative-breakthroughs-teleclass-faqs/" target="_self">call me</a> if you&#8217;d rather. I just want you to feel comfortable enough to give it a try.</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<h2>Because Because Because Because Becaaaauuuuusssseeee</h2>
<p>of all the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">wonderful things it does!</a> (Imagine Judy Garland singing and not me.)</p>
<p>But really, here&#8217;s why you should consider signing up:</p>
<ul>
<li>Because it&#8217;s a great way to get back to your creative self.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Because it&#8217;ll give you great fodder <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/ernest-hemingways-productivity-technique/" target="_self">to respond to during the week</a>&#8211;maybe as you use the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20 Minute Technique</a> here and there.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Because having <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/ernest-hemingways-productivity-technique/" target="_self">works-in-progress to respond to</a> is a way of <em>removing obstacles that stand between you and your creativity</em>. This builds your creative momentum which means <em>you make things more often and more easily.</em></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Because, if you feel stuck or have heavy feelings about your creativity, <em>no one can see you</em> in a tele-class, so you get lots of privacy.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Because your self-confidence builds as you start making things again or trying something new.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Or, if you ARE a busy artist, the class gives you a concrete time to play and experiment without worrying if your customers will like what you&#8217;re making or want to buy it. This in turn, helps you create freshness in the &#8220;main&#8221; artwork.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Because you can&#8217;t compare yourself to others while you work (we&#8217;re on the phone) which gives you a chance to <em>listen to your own artistic heart</em> rather than just berating yourself for not measuring up to some outside standard.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Because you don&#8217;t have to leave the house to do it!</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Because you can take one class and be done or you can take one every week&#8211;no pressure, it&#8217;s up to you.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Because it <em>can</em> be a fabulous weekly ritual (with bargains for buying more than one class) that supports and feeds your creativity&#8211;and as you do it repeatedly, you&#8217;ll see how you can create your own variations to support your particular interests.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Because the introductory summer rate is <strong><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">only 12.00 per class</a>!</strong></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Because because because because because&#8230;&#8230;.of <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/" target="_self">all the wonderful things it does</a>!</li>
</ul>
<p>The first one is on <strong>Wednesday July 14th at 7:30 EST</strong>.</p>
<p>I&#8217;d love to &#8220;see&#8221; you there.! Mwah!</p>
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		<title>Does Your Art Need a Little Support?</title>
		<link>http://makegreatstuff.com/does-your-art-need-a-little-support/</link>
		<comments>http://makegreatstuff.com/does-your-art-need-a-little-support/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[20 Minute Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Collage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Techniques & Strategies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[affordable]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[craft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creativity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[getting unstuck]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[procrastination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[support]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tele-class]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[workshop]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://makegreatstuff.com/?p=5951</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My goal is to help you give your creative soul what it needs to flourish. One of the best ways I can think of to do that is to provide structured support. Structured support is more than just cheering you on&#8211;which is great mind you, it&#8217;s just not enough in our busy, over-extended lives. Structured [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My goal is to help you give your creative soul what it needs to flourish.</p>
<p>One of the best ways I can think of to do that is to provide <em>structured support</em>.</p>
<p><em>Structured support</em> is more than just cheering you on&#8211;which is great mind you, it&#8217;s just not enough in our busy, over-extended lives.</p>
<p><em>Structured support</em> helps you to create and maintain your creative momentum because it&#8217;s a &#8220;built&#8221; something&#8211;a concrete structure&#8211;that you can rely on and lean into when you don&#8217;t have that extra energy to build something from scratch yourself.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s my logic around the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20 Minute Club</a>. To help you have a way to check in and feel connected to other artistic, creative people hunting and pecking for some time here and there to do what they love best&#8211;creating.</p>
<p>But the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20 Minute Club</a> is just one piece of a structured support system that I plan to provide for you. I&#8217;m creating lots more.</p>
<p>This summer, I&#8217;m introducing another crucial piece of my structured support system that I think you&#8217;re going to love. And I&#8217;m getting excited.</p>
<h2>Creative Breakthroughs Tele-class</h2>
<p>Once a week this summer, (starting in July) I&#8217;m going to offer my Creative Breakthroughs Tele-class at a special reduced introductory rate. With even better deals for buying a few classes at a time.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a very simple collage process, but it really allows you to let go, stop the self-censorship, and just start making.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ll make 2-3 collages on each call and even if they don&#8217;t get quite finished, they&#8217;ll become excellent fodder for the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20 Minute Club</a> because they give you <strong><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/ernest-hemingways-productivity-technique/" target="_self">something to respond to</a></strong> during your busy week&#8211;something to work on, think about, and experiment with&#8211;<em>structured support that allows you to be the artist you are</em>.</p>
<p>These tele-classes will help your creativity, build your self-confidence, and improve all your art making skills even if collage isn&#8217;t your &#8220;main thing.&#8221; Even if you&#8217;ve never made a collage in your life.</p>
<h2>A Fabulous Example</h2>
<p><a href="http://elmilagrostudio.blogspot.com/" target="_self">Anne Huskey-Lockard</a> took my collage tele-class because she thought it would be fun to make art using a method completely different from her usual approach.</p>
<p>She shares her collage and talks about her experience of my tele-class on <a href="http://elmilagrostudio.blogspot.com/2010/05/one-break-from-series.html" target="_blank">her blog here</a>.</p>
<p>Since then, she&#8217;s continued to use the technique to make <em>more</em> work (see how it works?) and now she&#8217;s doing a <a href="http://elmilagrostudio.blogspot.com/2010/06/el-milagro-100-counting-blog-give-away.html" target="_blank">fabulous give-away of two pieces</a> that she&#8217;s created using the Creative Breakthroughs Tele-class approach.</p>
<p>You can <a href="http://elmilagrostudio.blogspot.com/2010/06/el-milagro-100-counting-blog-give-away.html" target="_blank">enter to win or just visit</a> and see how she&#8217;s used the technique to expand her own creative process and provide herself with more options for her creativity.</p>
<p>(<a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/20-minute-club-minutes-the-art-of-listening/" target="_self">Here&#8217;s what I made</a> during the same tele-class that Anne took&#8211;isn&#8217;t it interesting how the <em>same</em> technique can produce such <em>different</em> results? I LOOOVVVVEEE that. It&#8217;s all about developing/nurturing your <em>own</em> voice, not copying someone else. Yes!)</p>
<h2>Who? What? When?</h2>
<p>Okay, still working out the details of the when and the how much, but it&#8217;s definitely going to be <em>ridiculously affordable</em> and available almost every week this summer starting in July.</p>
<p>Oh, and no worries, it&#8217;s all very flexible. You&#8217;ll be able to take it once, once in a while, or every week, depending on what works for you.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m thinking the class is going to be Monday evenings because most people don&#8217;t do things on Monday evenings. I also might try to offer it at couple of different times to accommodate different time zones.</p>
<p>It&#8217;ll probably run a little over an hour&#8211;maybe an hour and a half with intros and checking in afterward. (I want to make it all feel do-able and not take over your entire evening.)</p>
<p>Thoughts? Questions? Leave a comment or <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/contact/" target="_self">shoot me an email</a>.</p>
<p>In the meantime, <em>watch this space</em>!</p>
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		<title>20 Minute Club Minutes&#8211;Resolution</title>
		<link>http://makegreatstuff.com/20-minute-club-minutes-resolution/</link>
		<comments>http://makegreatstuff.com/20-minute-club-minutes-resolution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:47:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[20 Minute Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Collage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[20 minute technique]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appreciation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gratitude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[problem-solving]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://makegreatstuff.com/?p=5880</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every Friday I write the 20 Minute Club Minutes&#8211;because using a timer for what I call the 20 Minute Technique can keep your creative momentum going in your busy, time-crunched life&#8211;20 minutes at a pop. Please join in and share your 20 Minute Experiences in the Comments&#8211;good/bad, it&#8217;s all fair game. This week involved lots [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Every Friday I write the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20 Minute Club</a> Minutes&#8211;because <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/did-you-get-a-timer-yet/" target="_self">using a timer</a> for what I call the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20 Minute Technique</a> can keep your creative momentum going in your busy, time-crunched life&#8211;20 minutes at a pop.</em></p>
<p><em>Please join in and share your <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20 Minute Experiences</a> in the Comments&#8211;good/bad, it&#8217;s all fair game.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="../wp-content/uploads/2010/06/butiamfireiii.jpg"><img class="alignleft" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 0px 7px;" title="butiamfireiii" src="../wp-content/uploads/2010/06/butiamfireiii-226x300.jpg" alt="" width="226" height="300" /></a></em>This week involved lots of short spurts spent trying to resolve this 36&#8243; x 48&#8243; collage I&#8217;ve been working on slowly over the past 2 months.</p>
<p>Because it just didn&#8217;t feel right.</p>
<p>At the end of the day yesterday, I made some changes I&#8217;d been debating all week&#8211;and suddenly I felt like I&#8217;d finally <em>resolved it</em> and any further additions will be small.</p>
<p>(Click <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/20-minute-club-the-lotsa-minutes/" target="_self">here</a> and <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/20-minute-club-minutes-mod-podge-all-round/" target="_self">here</a> to see earlier versions of this piece and click on the image itself to see it bigger.)</p>
<p>I LOVE that feeling of <em>resolving a design problem</em>.</p>
<p>LOVE. IT.</p>
<p>Loving to solve design problems is <em>loving the process</em>&#8211;a much more positive, comfortable mindset than getting fixated on whether the final piece is going to be  <em>good</em> or not.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t always manage this, but it&#8217;s nice when I do.</p>
<p>So even though I wasn&#8217;t sure it would ever be a piece I looked at and I <em>liked</em>, I still wanted to hang in there with it to the end&#8211;<strong><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/the-tricky-art-of-finishing-what-you-start/" target="_self">to finish it</a></strong>&#8211;for all the <strong><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/horseshoes-and-hand-grenades/" target="_self">powerful good</a></strong> that happens from the integrity of that action.</p>
<p>And I did.</p>
<p>Being committed to the process is so liberating.</p>
<p>And it feels good to solve problems&#8211;design or otherwise. And you know, I think I do like it after all.</p>
<h2>Appreciations</h2>
<p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self"><em>Appreciating </em></a><em><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self">yourself</a> is an important part of the 20 Minute Club because it helps you keep your creative momentum going. </em></p>
<p><em>Carving out the time to create is not enough.</em><em> Getting (and eventually staying) on your own side is a critical factor for helping you take bigger risks with your work, get yourself out of a creative rut, or just enjoy the process more.</em></p>
<p><em>Taking the time to remember to appreciate yourself and your efforts (big or small) is a powerful way to make this happen.<br />
</em></p>
<p>Here&#8217;s my five self-appreciations for this week:</p>
<ol>
<li>I appreciate that I&#8217;ve been much more forgiving of myself lately&#8211;a bit unusual and frankly, a nice change of pace.</li>
<li>I appreciate that I sorted out new stuff about my tele-class and felt some confusion lifting. Phew.</li>
<li>I appreciate the <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">cool-headed</span> time-juggling I managed on Tuesday which involved running around, carrying heavy things in fancy shoes, and prepping for a network event.</li>
<li>I appreciate that I took the biggest risk with my presentation at my networking event and it went really well.</li>
<li>I appreciate how much I love to create products and how much I enjoy designing my new notecards of my <a href="http://sarahbushartworks.com" target="_self">digital collages</a>.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Your Turn!</h2>
<p>How did your creative week go? What did you work on? Are you rolling along or feeling stuck? Please share&#8211;good, bad or ugly&#8211;it&#8217;s all a part of the on-going process.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Will You Give Me Your Opinion?</title>
		<link>http://makegreatstuff.com/will-you-give-me-your-opinion/</link>
		<comments>http://makegreatstuff.com/will-you-give-me-your-opinion/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:49:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Collage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://makegreatstuff.com/?p=5780</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Several people have asked me if I sell notecards with images of my digital collages on them, so I&#8217;ve decided it&#8217;s time to do just that. I&#8217;m going to start off with 5 different cards, and I&#8217;d love it if you&#8217;d help me decide which 5 to pick! 3 Simple Steps 1. Visit http://sarahbushartworks.com 2. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/digitalcollage-range3.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5781 alignleft" style="border: 1px solid black; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;" title="digitalcollage-range3" src="http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/digitalcollage-range3-220x300.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="300" /></a>Several people have asked me if I sell notecards with images of my <a href="http://sarahbushartworks.com">digital collages</a> on them, so I&#8217;ve decided it&#8217;s time to do just that.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m going to start off with 5 different cards, and I&#8217;d love it if you&#8217;d help me decide which 5 to pick!</p>
<h2>3 Simple Steps</h2>
<p>1. Visit <a href="http://sarahbushartworks.com" target="_blank">http://sarahbushartworks.com</a></p>
<p>2. Peruse the images &amp;  jot down your 5 faves</p>
<p>3. Click on the <strong>green survey link</strong> at the top of that page. This will take you to my one question survey where you can check off your five favorites.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance&#8230;.and I can&#8217;t wait to see the results!</p>
<h2>Find Your Timer</h2>
<p>In the meantime, tomorrow&#8217;s blog post will be (of course) the <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/the-20-minute-club/" target="_self">20 Minute Club</a> Minutes, so there&#8217;s still time to grab your timer and <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/getting-jump-started/" target="_self">carve out 20 minutes</a> tonight<a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/getting-jump-started/" target="_self"> </a>to nurture your creative soul.</p>
<p>I look forward to reading your comments about how it went&#8211;and remember, <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/a-little-help-from-your-friends/" target="_self">sharing your experiences</a> helps everyone!</p>
<div id="ifyoulikedthat"><h3>If you liked that post, then try these...</h3><p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/creative-spark/">Creative Spark</a></p><p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/doing-vs-trying-whats-the-difference-why-does-it-matter/">Doing Vs. Trying: What's the Difference & Why Does it Matter?</a></p><p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/be-ready/">Be Ready</a></p></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>20 Minute Club Minutes-The Art of Listening</title>
		<link>http://makegreatstuff.com/20-minute-club-minutes-the-art-of-listening/</link>
		<comments>http://makegreatstuff.com/20-minute-club-minutes-the-art-of-listening/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 May 2010 14:37:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sarah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[20 Minute Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Collage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[20 minute technique]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appreciation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gratitude]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://makegreatstuff.com/?p=5722</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Seeking some much needed balance, I spent the last week slowing down and re-framing my definition of what = &#8220;productive enough&#8221; when it comes to my fledgling business. This involved shortening my to-do list for each day, acknowledging and respecting small victories, and making more room for the things that rejuvenate me&#8211;like making things. Having [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/still_life.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5723" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 0px 7px;" title="still_life" src="http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/still_life-217x300.jpg" alt="" width="170" height="236" /></a>Seeking some much needed balance, I spent the last week slowing down and re-framing my definition of what = &#8220;productive enough&#8221; when it comes to my fledgling business.</p>
<p>This involved shortening my to-do list for each day, acknowledging and respecting small victories, and making more room for the things that rejuvenate me&#8211;like making things.</p>
<p>Having taught my second beta test on Monday night, I had a few more almost-finished collages to work with. And feeling so tired, I was thankful to have <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/ernest-hemingways-productivity-technique/" target="_self">work to respond to</a> rather  than having to start from scratch.</p>
<p>So that&#8217;s what I did. I responded and engaged with several almost-finished pieces and actually finished a few. It felt good. I like listening to my artwork and trying to give it what it needs&#8211;to help it be what it&#8217;s supposed to be.</p>
<p>And I like how when you get close to finishing something, you often have to listen <em>over time</em>&#8211;to keep walking by your projects and wonder what they want/need in order to be &#8220;done.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/mydrunkenbutler2.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-5728" style="border: 1px solid black; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" title="mydrunkenbutler2" src="http://makegreatstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/mydrunkenbutler2-215x300.jpg" alt="" width="198" height="277" /></a>When I do that, the ideas that suddenly pop into my head are almost always surprises and feel like rewards for staying present&#8211;for stopping in on my artwork for a few minutes here and there and paying attention to it until it&#8217;s done.</p>
<p>Short visits can reap big rewards&#8211;it&#8217;s not all about the marathon sessions.</p>
<p>Did someone say <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/getting-jump-started/" target="_self">20 minutes</a>?</p>
<h2>Appreciations</h2>
<p><em>(</em>As most of you know, I like to add <a href="http://makegreatstuff.com/appreciation/#appreciation" target="_self">5 self-appreciations</a> to the 20 Minute Club Minutes each week because a critical part of keeping (or building) your creative momentum is honoring yourself, your process and getting on your own side.</p>
<p>And if you feel uncomfortable with the idea of overtly appreciating yourself, well that&#8217;s even more reason to start doing it! I hope you join me.<em>)</em></p>
<p>Here&#8217;s my five for this week:</p>
<ol>
<li>I appreciate that I allowed more balance into my week and gave myself rejuvenation I sorely needed.</li>
<li>I appreciate how I&#8217;m honing my ideas for my collage tele-class.</li>
<li>I appreciate my increased faith in my own creative problem-solving skills.</li>
<li>I appreciate my becoming more comfortable not having all the answers or solutions even when I can see the questions or weak spots in something I&#8217;m working on.</li>
<li>I appreciate how I had new glimpses/moments of greater understanding about the role of self-acceptance in the quest for self improvement.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Your Turn</h2>
<p>How about you? How was your creative week? Any plans for creativity this long weekend? If you&#8217;re traveling, can you bring something in the car with you? I&#8217;d love to hear.</p>
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