11 Ways To Spark Your Creativity

Have you ever sat at the table and just stared at your workspace? Just stared at a blank page or an empty word processing document or brand new canvas?

That creative spark can be an elusive little thing.

Now that I'm running our Etsy shop full time, I often feel like I need to be creative all the time and creative on command. Some days the ideas flow and the cards don't stop. A great layout for a journal pours out, followed by two bookmarks and a magnet. Those are the very good days.

But they're not all like that. Some days the fount of creativity dries up and that blank page stays that way. For a while.

Does this sound vaguely familiar? You don't to be a full-time artist to have moments of ... nothing. Absolutely nothing.

So how do you spark that creativity and get back in the groove? Start with one or two of these and see what happens.

- Walk away. Walk far away. Don't look back.

- Take a shower. For some reason the best ideas come in the shower.

- Learn a new technique. Take a class or watch an online video that teaches something about your craft that you've never seen before.

- Dig into the very back of your crafting supplies and find something you'd forgotten you had, then use it.

- Ditch the idea that you have to do what you're doing the way you're doing it.

- Look at your project like someone who's never seen it before. What might they do differently than you do after being immersed in it?

- Take one whole day to clean and organize your workspace.

- Finish just one thing. Even if it's just a sticker on a tiny gift card, complete it and put it away. Congratulate yourself.

- Pick a new project that's completely out of your comfort zone. A change in medium changes your mindset.

- Reread the oldest book or magazine about your craft that you can find. Pick one page to recreate and update with your own personal touch.

- Refuse - under any circumstances - to give up. Lay it aside for a moment, but come back to it when you're energized again.

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