Breaking thru the Creative Block

While I love to stamp & create, I often find myself with a fear of starting a project. Maybe I don't have a clear idea of what I want to do, or I think I don't have a large enough block of time to work, or I really need to clean up my work area. I am trying to come up with ways to get past the block and spend time doing what I love instead of procrastinating! I thought I'd share some of that with you in a sort of diary format - maybe that will help me discover the processes that work for me in overcoming my creative block.

Last night I had the whole evening in front of me. Mike was out with the guys, so once I had dinner and walked the dog, the evening was mine. But where to start! My work area was a mess and I didn't know what to work on. So I pulled out a magazine (Stampington Take Ten in this case) - and starting at the back I looked over samples I had previously marked as being of interest. Some I rejected as being too involved from a time standpoint. But soon I found a simple idea I wanted to try - stamping images on patterned paper. I had recently created some cards using a stamp I'd had for a while but hadn't used. I thought that image would be a good one to start with. So then it was time to look thru my papers. In order to prevent becoming overwhelmed (I love papers and have a large supply), I limited myself to my 'scrap' paper stash - any papers that have been used or cut and are no longer 12 x 12. I found some papers I thought would work and started stamping. I decided not to put any pressure on myself to actually finish anything - just play around with the stamps and paper to find some combinations I liked. I could come back another night to work on finished projects.

All in all I was pleased with my progress last night. I didn't turn out any finished projects, but at least I did something! I'll post again with finished projects from this 'experiment', along with photos of the process along the way.