The Overwhelming Crush of Creativity

If there were 27 hours in each day, I might be able to get all the ideas out of my brain and into creation. There's a craft show in less than three weeks. There's an etsy shop to stock and tend. There's a home to clean and tend. There are so many things that I would love to decorate, create and design, but there are just so many hours in each day. Sigh...

We live in an age where creative ideas are at our fingertips - literally. We can flip through magazines and mark things we'd like to try. We can type a few words into a search engine and be given thousands of pages to browse. We can even channel surf for a few minutes and discover entire stations devoted to crafts and decorating.

I don't know if you're like me, but after all that input I get mental and visual overload. The ideas and enthusiasm to try something new start to trip over each other in my head and that leads to...that overwhelming shutdown.

Instead of actually utilizing and following through with these countless, wonderful suggestions, I end up not being able to comprehend it all. I would love to make the card in that idea book, but look at that web site over there. There are great patterns there that I want to try, but that pretty paper I just bought calls my name. I'm piled under too much fabulous stuff and I can't focus long enough to complete a project!

So what is the answer? How can we claw our way back to the top and actually enjoy the bursts of creativity that we're blessed with? I tuck away the magazines and idea books that scream at me, "Look at this! Don't you want to try this?" They come back out one at a time as I play my way through them. Then they get recycled or passed on to someone else.

The Internet browsing gets limited to my free time, or else there won't be any free time. When I'm stuck creatively, I know there are great places I can go look and get recharged. But that time is spent in moderation or I'm right back where I started.

God has blessed us with creative minds and willing hands to create beautiful things for His honor and glory. We can decorate beautiful homes that bring peace and comfort to all who enter. We can craft treasures that offer the joy of God's love. Those are the calming effects of coming out from underneath the crush of creativity and rediscovering the passion behind why we do what we do.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet...
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee...
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit...
Read more