Archive for Creative Breakthroughs
Make Art This September 11th
Posted by: | CommentsThis Sunday is the 10th anniversary of September 11th.
Come create with me.
I am officially inviting you to come make collages with me Sunday, September 11th at 3pm EDT when I run this month’s Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-Class.
Whether you’d like to create a collage that commemorates our country’s victims and heroes, reflect on your own experiences from that terrible day, or if you’d just like to honor life by doing something positive, uplifting, and life-affirming, The Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-Class allows it all.
I teach the class using a simple but powerful technique that guides and supports you through creating several collages while simultaneously freeing you to express yourself and experiment however you wish.
This tele-class gives you complete privacy (we’re on the phone) and helps you focus on your own artistic voice–not mine. It lets you play, try something new, and just re-connect to your creative self–it’s as simple as that.
And if you’d like to take the class for FREE, you just need to subscribe to my email newsletter.
You can do that by going to http://makegreatstuff.com and filling out the sign up form in the top right corner.
Once you’ve done that and you receive your coupon code (check your spam folder if you don’t get it very soon after signing up), just visit this page to sign up for the class: http://makegreatstuff.com/CBCTsignup/form.php
If you want to get a little more info about how it all works, click on the 2 links below:
- Detailed Description and Testimonials About the Class Here:
http://makegreatstuff.com/classes/
- See How Few Supplies You Need:
http://makegreatstuff.com/suggested-supply-list/
Once again, just click here to join me this Sunday, September 11th at 3pm EDT to create and connect.
Hope to see you there.
Hugs, -Sarah
P.S. And please pass this invitation to anyone else you think would like to make art together this coming Sunday, September 11, 2011 by tweeting this URL, sharing this page as a link on Facebook, or forwarding this email. Thank you!
What You REALLY Want
Posted by: | CommentsYou want to make artwork you feel proud of and love to look at. Work you think is really good.
You may also want other people to buy your work–your paintings, your beaded jewelry, your silk scarves, your stories, your songs–whatever art or craft work you’re passionate about creating.
You want to sell your work because it feels like a great way to do what you love doing all the time.
However, the other reason you might want to sell your work is that if your creative endeavor makes money, it will be considered legitimate in the larger culture.
Because in our culture, making money equals being successful. If you make money at it, then you’re a “real” whatever it is you are–artist/crafter/singer/writer.
And because the favorite introductory question in our society is “What do you do (for a living)?”, naturally you want to give the answer that reflects your true calling: “I’m an artist.”
Now, whether or not you can make money making your art (whatever that may be) is actually not the point.
The point is that the goal of making a living making your art often creates a serious confusion that muddies your creative goals and ruins the pleasure of the creative process.
It’s the cart that’s sitting in front of your horse.
Your horse is your artwork. It’s the doing, the creativity itself, it’s even the quest to make something great.
But instead of concentrating on creating great work, you’re concentrating instead on how to make a living being creative–and all your work gets tainted by this other, (very difficult, btw) making-a-living goal.
And ironically, this goal is secondary.
What you really want is to make things that are deeply satisfying, work you love to look at–work that you’re proud of.
You want to make your best stuff.
Concentrate on that, and address the money/making a living aspect later.
Don’t ask your art to solve the problem of hating your job or fixing your financial woes. Your art doesn’t deserve that pressure and it spoils your relationship with it.
Solve that problem a different way (at least for now).
Instead, focus on making work you love.
Making a Date with Your Creativity
In order to make work you love, you must make a lot of work. You’ll like some of it, hate some of it, and love some of it. But you have to make a lot.
And that has its own challenges–finding the time, facing your inner critic, honing your skills, etc.
So you need a structure in place to help you make a lot of work.
And one simple, structured way to do that is to make a regular date with your creativity. Which is why I created the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class.
I created this class to provide a structure for you to lean on. To make it easier to show up every week for your art because
- It can be hard to muster that energy on your own–even when you want it.
- Because showing up every week is how you eventually start showing up several times a week.
- And showing up several times a week is how you create a lot of work.
- And creating a lot of work is the path to creating work you love.
It’s not easy, but it’s simple.
Making collages with me every week will help all your creative endeavors–regardless of your preferred medium. And making a weekly date with your creativity will genuinely help you build a creative momentum which, in turn, will enable you to make work you love.
And even though I talk about the Creative Breakthroughs Technique, it’s not something to learn and master, it’s more of an avenue in to your own aesthetic journey–a way to explore and consider both the formal aspects of creating–like light, color, balance, and scale–as well as the more expressive considerations–like mood, emotion, memory, and intuition.
So it’s a technique in the way that meditation is a technique: it’s simple enough to learn how and understand the point of it, but the reward is all in the regular practice. It’s a lifetime’s work play.
So create work you love by creating a lot of work. Create a lot of work by connecting it to your life. Connect it to your life by regularly making time to create.
Make time to create by signing up for the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class. I teach it every Wednesday at two different times–1:30 EST and 7:30 EST. Sign up for the one that’s best for you.
And jeepers, the first one is free so what are you waiting for?
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What Do You GIVE Yourself?
Posted by: | CommentsLast week, I mentioned that I was teaching The Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class as part of the delightful Jennifer Hoffman’s January-A Call to Nourish program at Inspired Home Office.
Well, class was yesterday and we had a great time. And as I was talking to the class participants about the benefits of carving out a creative time for yourself on a regular basis, I realized how much I was needing this class myself.
Because lately, I’ve been stretching myself tthhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnn-thin-thin. I’ve been doing the juggling act of a lifetime, and some days, I think my head’s going to fall off.
And yesterday afternoon, teaching the class, I could feel the benefits of being creative–it genuinely lifted me out and up from my stress. And the relief I experienced–both physical and mental–felt like a nothing short of a godsend.
I love teaching this class, and I love living the benefits of the class. In the past several weeks, this has been the only art-making I’ve been squeezing in amid my myriad obligations and challenges–and frankly, I was grateful to have it.
There was a time when my creativity would have simply gone out the window with the kind of schedule I’m trying to maintain right now.
And yet, ironically, it’s exactly what I need in order to be able to continue to keep all my balls in the air.
I talk so often about how much this class helps you get unstuck, lets you explore and experiment, helps you build a creative momentum so that you can live your life as the true artist you are–so you can regularly enjoy that feeling of being immersed in aesthetic decisions and artistic expression.
And as artistic people wanting to create artwork, that’s huge.
But in the context of Jennifer’s program, I fully appreciated, maybe even for the first time, the fundamental role in self-care that making a date with your creativity can have. It does nothing less than maintain your sanity and renew your energy.
Creativity feeds our human spirits. We need it. Tapping into your non-verbal mind, moving away from logic and planning, allowing yourself to feel your way along–all these things are essential to your well-being.
Like meditation and exercise, taking the time to be creative regularly will:
- help you perform better at work,
- improve your relationships,
- return you to your child’s mind,
- insert more FUN in your life and
- connect you to your spirit and your wordless understanding of the world.
So please think of the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class as part of your self-care regimen.
What? You mean you don’t have a self-care regimen? 
No time like the New Year to get started! Making a weekly date with your creativity can be the first step in creating one.
And while I believe carving out time to be creative is truly beneficial for everyone, it’s absolutely critical for creative people like us. Your very soul requires it.
So. It’s a new year. 2011! What’s your commitment to your creativity and self-care going to be?
And when I ask that, what I ‘m really saying is:
What are you going to give yourself this year?
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Is Inspiration Like a Butterfly?
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I was at a networking event chatting with someone who studied creativity–the academic, scientificky stuff, the parts of the brain, the naming of the parts.
Does your Creative Breakthroughs Collage tele-class use the “blah blah blah” thing with the brain?
No idea.
But he also didn’t make things. And then when I said to him, “you know, you don’t need to be inspired to be creative,” he looked so disappointed.
I said, “I’ve made things for a living on a deadline for a long time which means that I had to regularly create things whether I was inspired or not. The difference between my inspired work and my un-inspired work is pretty much nil.”
Since this is a favorite topic of mine, (poor guy!) I continued:
“But that’s not a bad thing, it’s a great thing” I said, “because I know my creative abilities are available to me all the time.”
He still looked a little disappointed.
Ah, Romance
Our romantic ideas about inspiration are powerful and sexy and well, romantic.
We love inspiration because it feels good–it feels real and special and different from everyday life, and we ALL love that.
But inspiration is also like a butterfly or a hummingbird–who knows when she’s going visit, let alone land long enough to get a good look at her and breathe in her delicate beauty.
So if you wait to be inspired before you start creating, well, you could wait a long time.
But in the same way a gardener can plant a a butterfly bush to draw butterflies into her world, you can plant the seeds that will invite inspiration into your life more regularly.
Well really, it’s just one seed.
And that seed is? Yep, you guessed it.
Create.
Don’t wait to be inspired to create. Start creating and you’ll get inspired.
That’s how it works. I promise this is true.
It doesn’t matter how simple you keep it. 20 Minutes here, 20 Minutes there is fantastic.
Go be by yourself, or sit in front of the TV with the whole fam, it really doesn’t matter.
Oh, and another helpful thing! Either
- do something really important to you
- or try something where you feel less emotionally invested in the outcome
Just do whichever one lets you feel safe enough or motivated enough to get started–it’s usually one or the other.
Be Kind
It does help if you can be gentle and generous with yourself and your creative attempts because everyone, everyone, everyone makes bad stuff sometimes.
Which also means it’s okay to make bad stuff because everyone does it and, THEREFORE, it’s not damning evidence proving that you suck.
And you know, the mean voices keep inspiration away, not the other way around.
Inspiration can’t get rid of the mean voices.
In fact, when you start pulling the mean-voice-weeds out of your creative garden, inspiration will actually start to flutter in more often because it’s safe and you’ve been tending things and making a welcoming atmosphere.
Doesn’t that sound nice?
Now I also know the mean voices can be hard to get rid of, so next week I’ll talk about a meditation or two you might do to make room for other more positive voices.
In the meantime, remember–don’t wait to get inspired to create. Start creating and you’ll feel inspired.
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What do you think? Have you been waiting to be inspired or do you already create regularly and find what I’m saying here to be true yourself? Wherever you are in the creative process, please share your thoughts, I’d love to hear from you!
In the Mood-or Not
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If you’ve gotten your FREE coupon for the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class, but haven’t used it yet, I just want to remind you that you don’t have to wait until you’re in the “right mood” or “feel ready” to jump in and take your class.
Because if you’re feeling stuck or it’s been a long time since you made anything, you probably aren’t going to suddenly “feel ready” anyway–and that’s okay.
Conversely, you might feel like you’re “in the mood” and have lots of cool ideas often–but not when it’s convenient to create.
And in those moments, you might also feel certain that later you’ll definitely create what’s in your head right now, because you feel so darn in-the-mood and ready right now, you can’t imagine not feeling in-the-mood and ready later.
But then later comes, and that “ready” feeling is gone and nothing gets made. And that can feel frustrating.
But this “feeling-ready-at-the-wrong-time” thing happens partly because it feels safe to be “ready” at those wrong times because, well, it’s the wrong time.
When you’re feeling stuck, the scared part of your brain (that wants to protect you) lets you feel “ready” in those oddball moments because it knows it’s safe to do that because nothing can actually happen right then.
So it keeps things safe by keeping things hypothetical. To make matters worse, it also likes to make sure that you think you’re “not in the mood” or are “too tired” when you do have time to create, so that things remain safe and hypothetical.
And to top it all off, it also makes sure that you love that cool, buzzy feeling you get when you’re in the mood or feel-ready-to create-but-can’t, in order to trick you into thinking that you must wait for that feeling again before you can get started.
See how your brain is? Such a slippery little she-devil! How do we outsmart that little vixen?
Mood/Schmood
The truth of the matter is that your mood really has nothing to do with your creativity.
I learned this when I was designing products for a living, Your job as a designer is to create day in and day out–no one cares what your mood is or how ready you feel.
(Except for the fact that everyone else in the company thinks the entire design department is moody and hypersensitive, which is usually true. )
But moody or not, they still expect you to meet deadlines, so you do.
And when you do, you learn that your creativity and your moods don’t really have much to do with each other.
This revelation is very liberating.
Because if you want to wedge some artmaking into your busy life, chances are high that you might not be in the mood when the available time actually arises.
Maybe it’s after work when you’re very tired (and not in the mood). Or maybe it’s before work when you’re very tired (and not in the mood) . You get my drift.
But here’s the secret–the thing that will put you in the mood to create is……creating.
So if you set your timer for 20 minutes in those “not ready” times and promise yourself you can stop as soon as it dings, you might find that your mood has actually shifted in that short space of time–and you’re actually feeling a little more energized and arty–more like your real self.
You know, the one that gets buried beneath the gigantic to-do list of your life.
Which is also why you don’t have to wait to be “in the mood” or “ready” to take your free Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class.
It’s okay to come crashing in at the last second unsure if you have all the supplies that you need, filling your water container with one hand as you shove the headset plug into your phone at 7:30 and a half with the other with no idea how class is going to play out.
Because the rest of us are doing the same!
That’s why I have a nice guided meditation at the beginning of the call to help us transition from the crazy-busy-ness of our overstuffed routines and turn to the illogical, mysterious act of creating.
After that, the technique pulls you through and 90 minutes of creativity fly by.
Free
It’s simple structured actions like these that make it possible to build a creative momentum and start making art regularly.
And when you find out that you can change your mood simply by engaging in the activities that nourish your soul and make you feel connected to the world, well, then lookout!
You’re no longer at the mercy of those moods.
You realize your creativity can be unleashed anytime.
Now you’re a little bit…..dangerous…because you’re a lot more FREE.
And how cool is that?
20 Minute Holidays
Posted by: | CommentsEvery 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 about the process is a great way to figure things out and increase your creativity.
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Brain Wave!
It’s almost November. The holidays are right around the corner.
Wouldn’t a great use of the 20 Minute Technique be to use it to work on making some holiday cards or gifts?
Heck Yes!
You know you wish you made (at least some) of your gifts–and finding the time is always the big challenge. But this way, we can make it actually happen together–20 Minutes at a time.
So what do you say we all try to carve out 20 minutes 3x a week to create handmade bits for the holidays?
Are you in?
The trick is to keep it manageable and fun for yourself. Remember, small, handmade gestures go a long way–don’t let your brain turn this idea into such a gigantic project that you end up doing nothing.
With that in mind, I thought I’d create an do-able idea list to inspire your imagination–so after you read this, if you don’t have a timer yet, head over to local electronics store and get one already.
You’ll be amazed at what you can get done–20 minutes at a time!
Handmade Holidays Idea List
- Stamp & Emboss
- Still give books to those book lovers, but stamp & emboss them each a special bookmark that’s tucked inside.
- I wrote about the benefits of making small gifts or parts of gifts last holiday season, and I think this is a perfect example of adding a wonderful handmade touch to a larger gift.
- I’ve got great links to online stamping resources in this post.
- If you’ve never stamped and embossed, get great tips and watch my short how-to video here.
- If you need supplies to get started stamping & embossing, click here or here.
- Still give books to those book lovers, but stamp & emboss them each a special bookmark that’s tucked inside.
- Handmade Gift Tags or Holiday Cards
- For another easy, handmade touch, buy your gifts but make your own fabulous gift tags or greeting cards.
- These could also be stamped and embossed–You could make classic “From/To” tags, or use ribbon and tie your tags around a wine bottle for a cute hostess gift, or send your 10 favorite people a handmade card.
- Decorate Holiday Gift Bags:
- Rather than create wrapping paper, it’s simpler to decorate plain bags.
- Just cut strips of decorative paper and/or use paper punches to create repeat patterns that you can glue onto plain gift bags. to make it feel festive, use lots and lots of curly ribbon around the handle.
- I made this one on the right for a crafting store one season. (You can get often get pre-cut strips and shapes that make this super easy.)
- Also, here’s a cute, simple Hanukkah gift pail example I also made just using stickers.
- Fabulous, Fast & Easy Decoupage Vase:
- Get a cheap vase on sale at a big box discounter–look for an elegant, simple shape and don’t worry about the color or design on the surface–it’s even better if you hate it–and transform it with decoupage.
- My Fast & Easy Decoupage Vase video shows you how. People really love this technique–it’s very do-able.
- Or, use all the same techniques I show on the vase, but on a simple frame or box instead. Make a set if you’re feeling ambitious.
- Earrings:
- Earrings are great gifts and perfect for the 20 Minute Club–they’re great gifts and you can make them while watching TV. It’s also a fun way to enjoy using a variety of exciting, special beads without breaking the bank because you don’t need that many.
- If you want to get started beading or learn about some great online bead resources, click here, here, and here.
- Frame Your Artwork:
- Use your coupon for a FREE trial of the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-Class and give a work of art or three. I LOVE this idea and may do this myself with some of the collages I created that I’ve really liked.
- Make it really special with a gallery mat and get an inexpensive metal or wood frame from a big box craft supplies store–they’re always having sales.
- You’ll be surprised how much matting and framing will take your collage to the next level.
- A Tele-class session could also be a great way to create the design for your holiday card this season–all you need is a color theme to give your image holiday feeling–blue and white, red and green, metallics, you name it!
- Make Pretty Ornaments!
- My Glitter Decoupage Ornaments are pretty, inexpensive, and super fast and easy to make. Great teacher and co-worker gifts.
- My Byzantine Baubles Ornament kit is my personal favorite and also great for the 20 minute technique because you’ll probably work on it in stages and it looks GORGEOUS when you’re done.
- (Buy any 2 kits and the shipping is FREE.)
- Sew, knit or crochet a gift:
- It probably helps if you already know how to sew, knit or crochet, but making a gift can also be an incredible incentive to learn, so if you’ve always wanted to ___________(fill in the blank) maybe now is the time?
- If threading your sewing machine often stops your sewing efforts, watch my clear how-to video.
- If you’re looking for inspiring sewing projects for the holidays, I noticed Threads Magazine just released gift project issue.
I’ll keep adding to this list as I think of more ideas.
And if you’ve got some good, do-able ideas as well, please share them in the comments!
Just remember, your handmade gift ideas don’t have to be big. It’s important to keep things doable.
I’ll share my 20 Minute Club gift making efforts with you here each week this holiday season, and I’d really love it if you joined me so you can find yourself adding a wonderful handmade element to your holiday season.
Appreciation
Appreciating yourself is an important part of the 20 Minute Club because it helps you keep your creative momentum going.
Carving out the time to create is important of course, but it’s not enough. 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.
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.
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Here are my five self-appreciations for this week:
1. I appreciate that I took a photo of my latest incarnation in the evolution of my digital collages because I was so struck by how seeing a photo of it hanging up in a room made me feel–so resolved finally–after 6 months of problem solving!
2. I appreciate how much my life in product design has taught me the patience to hang in there through difficult design problems. It took me ages to figure out how to offer my collages big and still have them look the way I wanted them to look, but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, (often 20 minutes here and 20 minutes there, no lie.) until it worked itself out.
3. I appreciate a shift in my thinking this week where I’m no longer questioning whether things I’m trying are going to work, and instead, just working on making them work.
4. I appreciate that I nervously bought professional lights for my videos and photos a couple of months ago. Owning them is really benefiting me and my projects now, even though I’m still a novice. The right tools help!
5. I appreciate that I’m getting better and better and not letting the quest for perfect get in the way of the good. It’s very helpful. I hope I keep it up.
Your Turn
What do you think? Are you up for creating gifts using your timer and the 20 Minute Technique? Or have you already started on some holiday projects? Please share your thoughts in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!
No Pressure
Posted by: | CommentsLast week I launched my latest offer–a FREE trial of the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class for anyone who subscribes to my site.
(If you subscribe and haven’t received your coupon, just fill out that box in the top of the right hand sidebar of my site (underneath my picture) and you’ll get one!)
Yay, so excited.
And then a friend who hasn’t made work in a long time, but went to art school back in the day called me up. “I got that free trial offer yesterday and I panicked….and then I closed my email as fast as I could.”
“Oh my.” I said. “Did you watch the video?”
“No,” she said, “I was too freaked out.”
OH!
Yes, Of course. So excited by my launch, I forgot to talk about the best part of this tele-class because I say it in the video.
But if you panicked and didn’t see the video, then you don’t know.
And that best thing is that it’s SAFE, SAFE, SAFE!
Not a Test
If you haven’t made anything in a long time, perhaps you’re reading this blog to get yourself warmed up to the idea.
This is an important, legitimate step in the process of getting unstuck.
But then suddenly, this free trial pops up out of nowhere and maybe you suddenly feel… PRESSURE. As if I’m saying, “Now, you have to make something–ready or not!”
Or you might feel afraid because you’re worried that if you take the class and make something “terrible,” it’ll prove that those cherished beliefs you hold about yourself–that you’re creative and artistic–aren’t true. That you’re not the creative artistic soul you feel like you are.
And that somehow, if this happens, you’ll be forced to let that go. And you don’t want to.
Of course you don’t. Because you ARE a creative artistic soul with plenty of art inside you.
The part of you that doesn’t want to let that go is the smart part that knows the truth of who you are.
The part of you that thinks you’ll have to let go of this essential part of who you are if you make something “bad” is the harsh, critical, societal, inner critic ego part that twists your creativity into a big knot and turns it into a pressured test.
Strangely, it does this to protect you–by stopping you from starting.
Sigh.
But this freaked out inner critic is deeply misinformed.
Attention: Mean Inner Critic Secretly Trying to Protect You by Keeping You Paralyzed:
Under NO circumstances must you surrender this essential definition of who you are. No matter what you make or don’t make. No matter how rusty you are, no matter how long it’s been, no matter how “bad” something might be that you create.
Triple Safe!
In the meantime, you might still be feeling pretty vulnerable. That’s totally normal.
It can take a while to undo our unhelpful beliefs, because, like everyone else, they like existing and do everything they can to maintain their status quo.
Which is why my favorite part of the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class is that it’s safe.
You not only get to be supported by being in a class, and feel less isolated by creating with other artistic people, but you also have COMPLETE PRIVACY at the same time because we’re on the phone.
Yes!
Not having to try in front of other people can be a huge relief because you can take risks without feeling exposed.
It’s hard to feel exposed if you’re feeling super vulnerable.
That’s why I designed this as a tele-class. Because I know those terrible fears of exposure. Of feeling rusty. I know that yuck.
And I wanted to create a class that could work around that problem–to help you feel supported, freed up, and safe to create. To provide a time to play and experiment.
Will you make something you love? I don’t know. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t.
I just know that when I don’t, it doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to create. No one makes me hand in my artist card.
And no one will make you hand in yours either.
It might be hard, but that’s okay, it’s a supportive atmosphere and the technique I use is designed to make the hard easier.
I must say, though, that mostly, this tele-class is just SO MUCH FUN!
So if you haven’t watched the video–watch it now and see what you think. If you like what you see, sign up to get your free coupon.
And if you already have your free coupon, sign up for the next class and let’s get this party started!
