Comments

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  fieldofbeads said:

  I can relate with your situation.  When my creative juices just won't flow, I divert my attention to something more "fun and enjoyable" - like watching a feel-good DVD movie, call or chat with my best friend, bake a cake, or cook my family's favorite pasta recipe.

  Actually, the last one usually works because I make people happy and satisfied - very inspiring indeed!  After a day or two, I'd go back to my jewelry piece.  What's rewarding is when an unfinished design, or a piece that just doesn't seem right at first, develop into something that exceeds your expectation!

  August 28, 2007 9:52 AM
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  Cam1 said:

  Yep, I second-guess (and third and fourth....)Sometimes by taking a piece apart and trying it a few other ways, I can get re-inspired. Sometimes though, I have to walk away:

  * Lounging on the couch with my two dogs, mindlessly watching a movie or show

  * Haven't been in a while, but a visit to the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art (Elmhurst, IL) can be a boost

  * Gardening (at my house this means pulling weeds)

  * Reading (British mysteries!)

  * If I'm feeling creative, but not jewelry-wise, then photography is an outlet

  I listen to Jackson Browne a lot lately while beading. My two favorite songs to play over and over are 'Sky Blue and Black 'and 'For a Dancer', though the full CD's are great.

  August 28, 2007 3:23 PM
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  PunkBeader said:

  I have been through the same thing, and it's funny because in second guessing your work, you start wondering if anyone else goes through that. All in all I find it a lot easier to design when I feel i have a purpose, and by that I mean, who/what am I designing for. A lot of times when I first started out, Ijust designed whatever I wanted and found that after a while it's hard to see all your work together. Your designs should tell a story, like a collection. I would get stuck a lot, in fact just last week I went through that slump, so heres what I did, and believe me this works amazingly:

  You should get 3 8 1/2 X 11 foam boards for this:

  1) Creat a playlist of all the songs that drive you insanely happy, calm, relaxed, and just make you fel good. Play the songs on shuffle in your ipod or stereo.

  2) Grab a bunch of magazines you have lying around and books, anything goes.

  3) Look through the magazines and books, and start ripping out or scanning anything that catches your attention, and I mean anything, don't hold back with this one, even if you like something that makes no sence to you now, it will later on. Iwas looking through some magazines and found an article on makeup for next season, now i didnt know why it caught my attention, I dont buy makeup, I'm a guy!! Anyways I trusted my instincts, later on I realized it was the combination of colors and texture, I designed my entire fall clothing and jewelry collection around that makeup article. You see where I am heading with this?

  4) Take all of your clippings and lay them out on a table. Begin to seperate them by color schemes and /or genre. when you are done with that, seperate everything into 3 or 4 groups, whatever you like. place each group on a foam board we talked about earlier.

  begin trimming your scraps, following outlines, shapes or just to make swatches for color.

  5) Next if you have any scrapbooking pages thats even better because it works as a nice background to pull all your inspiration together, I design urban, punk glam jewelry so all my boards have a brick patterned background. after you choose your background begin to glue down your scraps, Mod Podge works awesome, it is a glue and sealant.

  6) when you lay and glue everything, embelish your board with stones, finding, beads, ribbons, chain, anything you know for sure you want to work with. The findings and chains can be pinned to the boards, the stones can be glued.

  Take your time with these boards, but don't think too much about it, let your subconcious work for you.

  7) When you are done, stand your boards against something, step back, and observe, you will feel inspired instantly, you probably started feeling inspired when you were gluing things down to the boards.

  Mood boards can be a tremendous help, especialy when you are stuck again, always keep your boards within seing distance, it will remind you of who you are and what you are all about, these boards represent your mood, and your signature style.

  Here are a few clippings I like to use to help inspire me:

  Dresses - its always easier to picture my designs when I see a pic of someone whos style represents my customers.

  Paint Chips - you can get these at a hardware store, they help focus your mood boards and give you a large choice in relative colors.

  Other jewelry - When you see something you just know you can make better, this isn't copying an idea, not everything catches our attention, so when something does, it just means you have subconciously been thinking about making something like that you just didnt know how to start it.

  Scrapbook sheets - I use brick patterns, leopard, plaid, any pattern that puts you in a good mood will lock your mood board with your own signature.

  Techniques - I like to use techniques from books or magazines on my boards because they remind me to take a chance on something new, or something I have been wanting to do. I usualy scale these techniques down 50% and attach them to my boards, you can also keep a seperate board of techniques you love or would love to try, on a board it is quick easy refference, without having to rummage through all your books and stuff.

  Well I hope this helps anyone out there who is having designers block. It helps me without fail everytime.

  Good luck to everyone!!

  August 30, 2007 2:23 PM
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  Naomi Fujimoto said:

  Thank you for the support! These are fantastic ideas. Cooking is great: sometimes I'll bake cookies because the process is calming and it's reassuring to see tangible results. Also, talking to friends always helps. Cam1, I think we have similar tastes in Jackson Browne. "Sky Blue and Black" is one of my favorites (and don't the backup singers also accompany James Taylor?). And PunkBeader, I love the creativity you bring to the design process and how making the design board is inspiring in itself. I did a vision board for my goals, but it never occurred to me to make one for my jewelry. Great idea!

  August 31, 2007 9:13 AM
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  BeadStyle said:

  All of this talk about creativity — and sometimes the lack thereof — had me thinking. On Tuesday, Naomi

  August 31, 2007 10:52 AM