Improvisational Creativity...

I'm home from a wonderful weekend of fellowship and cross stitch, but I did learn that sometimes, you have to improvise your creativity when you don't have all the pieces you need.

I’d fully intended to give away the Perforated Paper Castle ornament that I taught in Toronto, but the more people asked to see it and exclaimed over it, the more I decided it needed to stay on MY tree.  Stitchers will be able to get that pattern after December 1st on PatternsOnline.com , so hang in there!  Luckily, Jeannie had brought along some colours of perforated paper for me to play with.  Unfortunately, after a full day of teaching, picking up Bethany from volleyball practice, Nick from school and then rushing to get to retreat in bad weather, I forgot the sheets of blank graph paper that I usually bring along with me...

So I made my own.

Next year, I will remember to put that on my packing list, slow down and check what I have before I race out the door or end up bringing an entire ream of graph paper along just so I don't have to make grids like this again. At least I know I can make one without a computer!

FIrst, I sketched out the letters for JOY and stitched them in overdyed threads on the white paper.  Then, I flipped the paper over, borrowed a pencil from Mom and began to figure out how to create a geometric snowflake shape around the word.

I am not the most math gifted person.  There was much erasing and slightly colourful language used when I realized that I couldn't get things to work out PERFECTLY... but I took my own posts about perfection to heart.  So what if I had to fudge things a tiny bit near the end... I know where the glitch is, but I'm not going to point it out!   Eventually,  the snowflake shape was ready for me to cut out.  I LOVE perforated paper!!!

When I flipped the design to the right side, I discovered that one section had a bit too much white space for my liking, so I added a holly button from the shop.  I also thought it might be nice to add some braid and beads to catch the lights from the tree.

Then I made my own cording for the top then hung it on the tree for the ornament exchange!!

INHALE:  If we wait for the perfect moment when we have all our supplies around us and everything is just right, then we will have far less moments in which to be creative.  This is what I was trying to find more of during my year long adventure... ways of just jumping into the deep end and mucking about to see what I could come up with.  No, I didn't have everything I needed or hoped to have with me, but the Creativity didn't need them.  It just needed me to be willing to try and work with what I had on hand.  How many missed moments go by because we tell ourselves "Wait, I'm not ready!!" ??

EXHALE: Find another crafter that you trust.  Decide to try this challenge together and see what happens.  Set a date when the two of you can get together for some uninterrupted creativity time.  Mark it on the calendar and then get ready with this homework before hand.  Each of you should choose a variety of interesting craft items or items related to the hobby you both enjoy.  Limit it to less than 10.  Put the items in a bag that you cannot see through.  When you get together, exchange bags, settle down and see what each of you can create with these mystery items within an agreed upon time limit.  It doesn't have to be perfect or beautiful or even something you keep.  You just have to be wiling to try... and laugh... and enjoy each other's company while you see where your Creativity takes you.  I can't wait to see what some of you come up with!

Surrounded by Creativity...

It’s been hard to blog, even though I had to add Internet access to the room in order to get Teresa’s files up here safely and ask her the occasional question as she gets over the nasty flu that kept her from coming to the show in Toronto.  While everyone REALLY misses her, they are a wee bit glad that she kept her germs at her house!

I’d forgotten what a huge city Toronto is compared to Moncton.  I’d also forgotten just how small the CN tower makes me feel!

This festival is the most INCREDIBLE experience because you are literally surrounded by Creativity for the whole day!  I’ve seen the most amazing beaded, knitted and quilted outfits that I’ve been longing to go up and touch, half drying or half completed class projects being carried carefully by their creators as they head to their next adventure and enough craft supplies to send me into fits of “I need to have that!”  I’ve been good actually... I’ve also been teaching most of the time!  The only purchase that I did justify yesterday between classes and my lecture was this yarn.  It’s been REALLY cold here in Toronto and the taxi showed up just early enough in Moncton that I forgot to grab one of my scarves to bring with me. Yeah... that sounds like a convincing excuse...

Despite having to juggle things, change things and adapt, all of my presentations have gone well so far.  I’ve spent time with amazing, creative people and also had fun just playing.  Yesterday was the joint “Tiny Dragon” class where Teresa and I both designed little dragons over one to “torture” them with. 

One creative stitcher even brought along some of my Gemstone Dragons that she’d stitched OVER ONE  backstitched with BLENDING FILAMENT!

They looked amazing and I felt so honoured that someone loved those dragons enough to work on them that small.

I did a lecture called The Perfection Trap that reminded stitchers not to point out all their mistakes to others or strive for impossible standards and then went on to teach my Hoarding Your Creativity class.  What fun we had!! I’d made a bunch of Inspiration tags before leaving home with the ShrinkyDinks film (I just LOVED this stuff as a kid!). If you haven’t played with it recently, go find some at a craft store and tuck it away for a day when you want to play.

That was really what made the last class go by so quickly.  I was inspiring them and sharing why it was important for Creative people to have a book or box in which to hoard things they find that spark their creativity from quotes to scraps, images to ideas and photos to textures.  Everyone got so caught up in playing on that deep level that children know instinctively that the time just flew by. Before we knew it, we were cleaning up and I was heading back to the hotel to snip more floss and chase beads around on the carpet. That’s another entry.

INHALE:  We sometimes forget how important it is to surround ourselves with other creative people.  They may not all create the same things that you do, the same types of objects or crafts that you like, but when you are with other creative people, it recharges you in a special way because you don’t feel as alone.  We cannot create in a vacuum.

EXHALE: Whatever craft you love most or whatever creativity you have just discovered, find out if there is a gathering, a special day, a class or a retreat that you could attend in the next few months so that you could take a large block of time to spend not only doing something creative but also surround yourself with other creative people.  I know that even though this festival can be tiring, it is also way more INSPIRING!!

Surrounded by Creativity...

It’s been hard to blog, even though I had to add Internet access to the room in order to get Teresa’s files up here safely and ask her the occasional question as she gets over the nasty flu that kept her from coming to the show in Toronto.  While everyone REALLY misses her, they are a wee bit glad that she kept her germs at her house!

I’d forgotten what a huge city Toronto is compared to Moncton.  I’d also forgotten just how small the CN tower makes me feel!

This festival is the most INCREDIBLE experience because you are literally surrounded by Creativity for the whole day!  I’ve seen the most amazing beaded, knitted and quilted outfits that I’ve been longing to go up and touch, half drying or half completed class projects being carried carefully by their creators as they head to their next adventure and enough craft supplies to send me into fits of “I need to have that!”  I’ve been good actually... I’ve also been teaching most of the time!  The only purchase that I did justify yesterday between classes and my lecture was this yarn.  It’s been REALLY cold here in Toronto and the taxi showed up just early enough in Moncton that I forgot to grab one of my scarves to bring with me. Yeah... that sounds like a convincing excuse...

Despite having to juggle things, change things and adapt, all of my presentations have gone well so far.  I’ve spent time with amazing, creative people and also had fun just playing.  Yesterday was the joint “Tiny Dragon” class where Teresa and I both designed little dragons over one to “torture” them with. 

One creative stitcher even brought along some of my Gemstone Dragons  that she’d stitched OVER ONE  backstitched with BLENDING FILAMENT!

They looked amazing and I felt so honoured that someone loved those dragons enough to work on them that small.

I did a lecture called The Perfection Trap that reminded stitchers not to point out all their mistakes to others or strive for impossible standards and then went on to teach my Hoarding Your Creativity class.  What fun we had!! I’d made a bunch of Inspiration tags before leaving home with the ShrinkyDinks film. If you haven’t played with it recently, go find some at a craft store and tuck it away for a day when you want to play.

That was really what made the last class go by so quickly.  I was inspiring them and sharing why it was important for Creative people to have a book or box in which to hoard things they find that spark their creativity from quotes to scraps, images to ideas and photos to textures.  Everyone got so caught up in playing on that deep level that children know instinctively that the time just flew by. Before we knew it, we were cleaning up and I was heading back to the hotel to snip more floss and chase beads around on the carpet. That’s another entry.

INHALE:  We sometimes forget how important it is to surround ourselves with other creative people.  They may not all create the same things that you do, the same types of objects or crafts that you like, but when you are with other creative people, it recharges you in a special way because you don’t feel as alone.  We cannot create in a vacuum.

EXHALE: Whatever craft you love most or whatever creativity you have just discovered, find out if there is a gathering, a special day, a class or a retreat that you could attend in the next few months so that you could take a large block of time to spend not only doing something creative but also surround yourself with other creative people.  I know that even though this festival can be tiring, it is also way more INSPIRING!!

Contagious Creativity

I kept thinking about my experience at the Toyota dealership yesterday...how so many people started conversations with me as I sat there stitching.  They either asked what I was doing, shared stories about people they knew who did cross stitch or told me which crafts they loved to do.  It made me start to wonder if being creative could be contagious.

Oddly enough, Nick came home after a really rough day at school and wanted to show me a link he’d found on you tube from Oprah’s 24th season kickoff featuring the Black Eyed Peas .  Watch how the one person they had dancing sets off the entire crowd.  Even Oprah was astounded! Now my girls like this song even more than before!

Sometimes Creativity can also be a way of making your point or getting even.  If you’ve never seen this astounding video shot by Halifax native Dave Carroll, you really need to check it out.  After almost a year of trying to get United Airlines to admit that they’d mishandled his luggage and broken his guitar, he wrote this song as a Creative way of showing his side of the story. He posted it to You Tube and after 3 days, it had over a million hits!  Needless to say, United began to notice the negative publicity buzz.  There is even a second song that almost rivals this first one, but I will let you go hunting for that one on your own if you want to.

Both of these video clips show that when faced with apathy, indifference or injustice, Creativity will always triumph!

INHALE:  We cannot control what life throws at us.  We can choose, however, to try to react as Creatively as possible.  Today, a bunch of football players tried to play computer games in Office Tech class because all their work was done and the typing tutorial was too boring. I went over to the bookcase, grabbed a few dictionaries, opened it to the page with the word FOOTBALL on it and told each one of them to type in the entire page as practice if their typing skills were so advanced.  All of them were back working on their projects within a few minutes.  The next time you are confronted with a problem, take a deep breath and try to find a Creative solution.

EXHALE:  When the going gets tough, we all need a little inspiration.  Today’s exhalation is to sit down with old magazines, fabric swatches,  paper scraps, stickers or anything else FLAT that inspires you.  Collage them down in your book in a random or orderly fashion (depending on which soothes your creative soul today) so that the next time you are feeling down, you can open your book to this page.  As the weather grows a bit colder, I already feel the urge to put in pictures from this summer or colours that will make me feel warmer on a blustery winter night.  If you are a knitter, beader or more tactile Creative soul, don’t worry... there are lots of three-dimensional challenges rattling around in my brain for later.  Just get in the habit of working flat for now...

By the way, if you’ve been enjoying this blog or find it WAY off base, please feel free to comment or share.

Learning to Wait, Sharing the Joy and Encouraging the Dance.

When I started this journey, I thought I would be the one mapping out the topics and that Life would just fall into place.  I imagined that I would be the one imposing my new Creative order on the world around me.

Go ahead and laugh!

I am now discovering that Life offers me topics to muse about all the time, sometimes so many of them in a single day that I am torn between which one to focus on first.

The van had to go in for servicing today and since I’d booked the day off, we agreed that I would take it down to our Toyota dealership.  Once the girls got on the bus, I drove down and told them that I would WAIT while the 32,000 km servicing was being done.  Stitching in hand, I headed for the large, comfy couches in the waiting area then settled in to get some work done.  It was amazing to see how many people came over to see what I was working on!  Knitters and quilters, stitchers or people who knew someone who crafted struck up conversations about what I was working on.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to ask some of them what crafts they enjoyed, creating a cascade of stories about fabric stashes, the feel of yarn in your hands, hiding places for craft supplies and the number of stitches per inch in a quilt.  These conversations just confirmed my philosophy that Creativity lies within us all and that sharing that Joy binds us all together as human beings.

The time flew by and I got lots of stitching done.  I plan to volunteer to take the van down again... those are great, comfy seats to stitch in!

Bethany also headed off to her first Middle school dance tonight, full of enthusiasm and excitement.  My two girls are so different.  Erin hated going to dances but Bethany just loved dancing to the music tonight.  She pointed out that it isn’t so much about who is the best dancer, but who is able to just let go and have fun.  She’s absolutely right!  It isn’t always about how much talent we have, but how well we are willing to give ourselves over to the moment and the act of being Creative, whatever it may be.

It also makes long waits infinitely more bearable...

INHALE:  Most of us have very little patience for waiting.  We grumble when we have to wait in lines, children wiggle and whine when the service at a restaurant is slow, some honk at people in front of them who do not move quickly enough etc.  Today, I discovered that waiting can actually be very peaceful and productive.  Dozens of other people were dropping off their vehicles and complaining that the shuttles weren’t running often enough to get them to work.  Each time a harried driver appeared to ask who was waiting for a ride, eight or nine people surged forward.  I sat there, stitching contentedly for an hour and a half until the van was ready. Having something creative to do instead of reading a magazine or glancing at my watch made the time fly by instead of drag.

EXHALE:  Go through your favourite craft stashes. See if there are any tiny projects that could travel with you the next time you have to go to a meeting, to the doctor’s office or anywhere you might have to wait.  Ziplock freezer bags are sturdy enough to keep your projects safe and even let you label them on the outside. Many crafters are already experts at taking stuff with them.  I’ve seen them knitting and stitching in airports and hospital waiting rooms.  But taking the time to sort and prepare means that creativity will be at your fingertips the next time you need something to make the waiting a joy instead of an annoyance.