Inspiration - where is it, how do you find it? What to do when you lose it!

Hello, at Coffee and Cards recently I was chatting with one of my lovely ladies - we were talking about inspiration and where/how you (or it) finds you.

At the moment I have all my lovely pre order goodies to play with - I am surrounded by products.  You might say 'lucky you' (and I am, its one of the Demonstrator perks) BUT, I confess to feeling a little overwhelmed by everything - where do I start, what do I want to do first and so on.  I have so many ideas buzzing around in my head and they are all fighting to be let out!  

At the other end of the crafty scale, sometimes I completely lose my crafting MOJO - so frustrating and quite irritating too but it can happen to anyone and at anytime!

Does this ever happen to you?

It does to me, OFTEN!

I have a few tips to share with you today on how I get past this that I have picked up over almost 25 years of crafting (gulp) that I hope will be helpful.

I have a window sill in front of my desk - as soon as I get a delivery I place all my new stamp sets/dies by the window so that I can see them.  At the moment it is quite full but there is just enough room for Felix (my cat) to sit; he likes to keep an eye on what I am doing so that he can remind me when it is time for his tea! 

Once I have used a set a few times it gets moved onto my shelf (Billy CD Rack from IKEA) - I know it is a little sad but they are placed in alphabetical order too which helps me to find things (allegedly)...

I keep the current Annual Catalogue and the relevant Seasonal Catalogue by my desk.  There are some fantastic ideas in there! Remember this card - it was the make and take at my recent Catalogue Launch Party (page 152).

Pinterest - what can I say; I spend hours looking around for ideas, it is so easy to get sidetracked and go off on a wander that can lead you who knows where. I have a board for every stamp set I own and it is a good place to find inspiration generally. If you haven't seen my boards you can find them here:

Many years ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on this little book of inspiration: 

It is from Craftwork Cards in Leeds (miss it/them still after 6 years down South).  It is jam packed full of inspirational layouts and design ideas.  I used it recently as the basis for these designs - you can tell I use this layout a lot with a few minor tweaks and variations along the way!

You can find similar layout ideas in craft magazines or look at online challenges too. One of my favourite Magazines is Craft Stamper - they have some excellent tutorials for unusual techniques or, if you have been crafting for as long as I have - ones you have forgotten all about!  I came across this idea recently for creating a background and as I couldn't find my brayer at the time (if you saw my craft room you would understand) I used a SU sponge roller and I think it looks much nicer.  The 'misty' texture effect gave me the idea to stamp the trees on the horizon .... 

Have you seen the inspirational ideas showcased by the SU Artisan Design Team yet?  Such a talented group who do regular Blog Hops to inspire and amaze.  (I usually post a link on my facebook page to the most recent one).

My customers - are a never ending source of inspiration!  I have one lovely lady (you know who you are Mrs B) who regularly 'challenges' me to come up with some simple ideas for her to share with her crafty friends.  Sometimes during Coffee & Cards we have what we call 'a happy accident' - something doesn't go quite according to plan so we have to find a way to fix things ....  

Lots of my crafty ladies like to go 'off piste' - I love it when they do this (especially you Lousie)!  They get to make the card that suits them and I get to see things done differently which in turn gives me fresh ideas - what you might call a  Win:Win situation!!

Facebook.  Here is a link that will take you to the Stampin' Up! Facebook page - its full of inspiration/ideas/tips and the odd competition.

Attend a class or a Workshop. (You can find details of my current events here).  This is always a good way to find inspiration and enjoy some crafty chatter. Occasionally, I find time to attend something myself - if only I had more time!

BLOGS - I follow several International and UK SU Demonstrators, it is so inspiring to see what others are doing. Occasionally (with prior permission/credits wherever possible) I will CAS (Copy and Share)/tweak a design that I particularly admire and place a link to the original post (if possible).  SU is a great community - after all, the SU motto is Create, Share and Inspire! On occasion, my designs have also been copied by others (mostly with permission, but not always) and I take it as a HUGE compliment - thank you!

Expect the unexpected!  At a recent summer social event for the Women's Institute I was chatting to a lovely lady who was showing me some samples and ideas she had for redecorating her living room.  She had chosen a lovely selection of colours that she had seen in a friends garden.  That led on to me choosing similar colours that I used on this card recently, initially I wasn't sure about the peach but I quite like it now and so did my ladies!

TV - we are so lucky here in the UK as we have several dedicated craft channels (Hochanda, The Craft Channel and Create & Craft TV).  I do watch sometimes (SHOCK) and enjoy seeing what other companies are producing (Inkylicious, Altenew, Clarity etc) it can be another great source of inspiration.

So, if you get stumped by a crafty block - what do you do to get out of it?  Do you have any tips you can share?  I would love you to leave a comment below so that it can be shared with others.

Thank you so much for looking at my Blog today, if you don't have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator I would love to be yours!  If you don't have a catalogue and you would like one, please let me know and I will send one to you.  

Happy crafting!

Susan xx