Got a case of creative block?
Here are a few little prompts to help you get unstuck and get making!
Seek to Make is an exploration of creativity and making. Each month, I share a monthly theme around making, showcase inspiring makers, share tips, tools and encouragement. Together let's get curious and immerse ourselves in the art of making!
OCTOBER: NOTEBOOKS
Hello makers,
Creative block. Paralysis by analysis. Overwhelm. I’m one of those people who love so many things, so many styles and colours combos and materials, that sometimes I don’t know where to start! I get stuck, so much so, that I often don’t make anything :(
And I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this. Whether it’s a flashing cursor on a blank screen or a too-perfect white canvas glaring back at us, getting starting can feel impossible. It can be intimidating, overwhelming, like there is just this limitless world of possibilities and how can we possibly choose just one idea!?! Argh!!
Oftentimes, the best way to get making is to set some boundaries, some rules that allow you to narrow your focus. I talked about putting rules and boundaries in place to help creativity in this earlier post.
So, if you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by things and struggling to get started, here are a few creative prompts to help you get unstuck and get making.
Creative Prompts:
Go blue: Or any colour for that matter! Follow in the steps of Portland illustrator Lisa Congdon who committed to spending a year painting almost entirely in blue; a project she called “Experiments in Blue”. So try picking one colour to create every part of your notebook in. No one said it has to be white!
Go seasonal: Are you in a season of the year that you can take inspiration from? Can you represent what you are seeing outside in some way, either through colour or materials? Maybe you could incorporate aspects of the current season in your notebook as a feature on the cover, or in the pages? Maybe you want to try making your own paper and incorporating flowers or leaves you can find in your environment.
Go big: Sometimes we just need to make lots of a thing to find what works and what we like. Aim for making 10 or 20 or 50 little notebooks! That way you take the pressure off trying to make one perfect notebook.
Go small: Make just one little simple notebook using a single piece of paper (google “make a notebook with a single piece of paper”). I’ve made these for my kids out of printer paper and they love them!
Go purposeful: What do you want to use your notebook for? Is it going to be a travel journal and you want to have pockets in it and cover it in old maps? Is it for painting in and needs heavy paper and an inspiring watercolour cover? Is it for ideas and sketches and so you might want a mix of lined pages and blank pages?
Go eco-warrior: Maybe you want to be zero-waste or use only found materials in your journal. You can find loads of stationary items in secondhand (thrift) stores. You can even use paper bags from the grocery store, packaging from food and drink items, or if you have kids like mine use some of their million drawings they bring home.
I hope that helps if you are struggling to get going. And I would love to hear how you are approaching this months’ makers challenge. Leave a comment below and share your journey so far in making your own notebook.
Happy making,
Esta
#seektomake
This is an interesting article and I agree that it is a good idea to make boundaries when trying to come up with new ideas. I have been making some little notebooks with a blue theme and have enjoyed the process of what I can achieve by limiting myself to mainly blue. Who would have thought I would be following Lisa Congdon's exploration of blue that she did for a year.