I don’t know about you, but there are days when I don’t know what to work on. My saving grace is that I’ve committed to showing up at a certain time of day, every day, to work on a creative project. This is what makes me show up all the time. If I had to wait for creativity to spark before I showed up to create, half of the time I won’t be creating anything.

It’s like when you were a child and you went out to play with the neighborhood friend. If one day, they didn’t  want to play with you for whatever reason, when you get out in the yard and start playing, they’ll be looking out the window, longing to join you. Before you know it, they’re out in the yard with you and you’re both having a blast. This week was one of those where I didn’t know what to work on – creativity was not coming out to play with me. But I decided I wasn’t going to wait for creativity. I started with one idea, spent hours on it, only to discard it. Then onto another idea and another; until finally, I decided to revisit last week’s theme. That was well… a start. I’m not totally satisfied with the sketch but I know the pursuit of perfection will only leave me perfectly unhappy. Rather, I find that having something you can work to improve is always better than waiting for the best idea and ending up with nothing at all to work on. So in the spirit of let’s just get started with something, …, anything, here’s the sketch I started with. The sketch did turn out okay but the collage and stitch part were challenging. First, I didn’t like the colors in the collage and then I couldn’t choose the right thread colors for the stitching part. Pencil Sketch

  After trying different combinations of thread colors and fabric colors here’s the resulting stitched drawing. My color choice for the steam was off because you can hardly see it on the front view

Reverse View of Stitched Drawing

The steam does show better on the reverse view, though. I’ll go back and add some more swirls in a color that will show better. VIDEO

Tips, Tools, and Techniques

1. Don’t wait for creativity. Show up to work and play even if creativity didn’t show up first. Creativity will not be able to hold out for long. Soon she’ll be joining you to play.
2. Give yourself permission to fail. This permission allows you to be more creative and daring. You’ll likely push the envelope more than you’d have otherwise done
3. Not every piece you make will become a masterpiece. The lessons learned though, will a masterpiece make in the future.

What do you do when you don’t feel inspired to work? Do you wait for creativity or are you able to start without her? Can’t wait to hear how you’re dealing with creativity lows.  Join me in the comments section. Warmest Regards,     Watch and read about the entire Stitch The Sketch series.