What I learnt in my 52 weeks challenge

June 28, 2011

If you read my blog you’ll know that I just completed my challenge of trying a new craft a week for a year (and I walked 26.2 miles in a bra but I won’t dwell on that here!). I’m really proud that I made it and I thought I’d share a few of the lessons I learnt on the way. Hopefully they’ll help you in your creative endeavours whether you’re trying a year-long challenge like mine, making a quilt or just learning something new.

Get organised

I don’t mind telling you that there was no plan for the year gone by. I didn’t have a clue what I was making on a week-by-week basis. This was good and bad. It meant I could engage with the crafty community to get ideas on what to make but not so good when it was 9pm on a Sunday and I still hadn’t made anything. If I was doing this again – which I am actually, details at the end – I’d definitely get organised, write a schedule for the year and get supplies in advance so I’m good to go.

What’s your motivation?

If you’re starting on any kind of challenge you really need to motivated. If you’re dedicating a large portion of your time to something and you don’t really care about it, it isn’t going to happen. I was motivated by several factors: the desire to learn new things, an innate love of craft and the people all over the world reading and commenting on my blog. This motivation was vital to get me through the weeks when I just wasn’t finding the crafty mojo.

Ideas and inspiration

I’ve spoken about inspiration before. You need to have lots of ideas, and surround yourself in inspiration, to get through a big project. If you’re making a quilt you might want to look at colour inspiration, patterns and tutorials. And certainly for a project that’s taking a year or more, having a rich source of inspiration to keep you going will be essential. I wouldn’t have made it without tapping into inspiration sources from the Internet, to books and my sketchbook.

Use the force…

Of the craft community to help you. As well as providing inspiration and motivation, the extensive and enthusiastic craft community have been invaluable to my project – they’ve re-tweeted, blogged and commented and helped over 4000 people find the challenge and in June alone.

And finally

At the end of your project, celebrate your big success, and do it all again! At least, that’s what I’m doing. I’m embarking on year 2 of 52 crafts in 52 weeks after a little break. If you want to join in, head over to the blog to find out more.

- Christine Evans from 52 crafts in 52 weeks project writes the column Creativity Corner, which appears bi-monthly on Tuesdays. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

A collection of Christine’s 52 Projects…

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Craft retreat in your home!

May 24, 2011

Do you dream of a place where you can craft all day with no phones to interrupt your creative reverie, no washing to hang or grimy ovens to clean? I have been lucky enough to go on two craft retreats where creativity was the order of the day along with fun, gossip, food and friends and if you ever get the chance to go on one, please don’t pass up the chance. But this week I’ve been thinking about how you can recreate that crafty bliss in your own home.

Time and space

Find a weekend, a day or even an evening where you can have complete peace and quiet in your own space. If you don’t have a craft room, commander the dining table for a while or your living room sofa.

Gather supplies and inspiration

The great thing about a retreat is you’re surrounded by other creative people who are more than willing to share their ideas and teach you new skills. When you’re at home, the internet, craft books and magazines will serve you well as a replacement – they’re not so great at conversation sadly. As a replacement for chatty people, download a crafty podcast, listen to an audio book (I’ve got Water for Elephants to accompany my crafting right now) or your favourite radio show.

What’s the plan?

So that you finish your retreat with something to show for it come up with a bit of a plan of what you’d like to achieve: learn two new techniques, finish a knitted jumper, make a hand-carved stamp, make a scrapbook of your baby’s first birthday. If you have an aim you’ll be more likely to focus and have a successful retreat.

Sustenance

Make sure you have plenty of drinks and food to keep you going through out your crafty adventure. Start the day with a hearty breakfast (homemade granola, porridge or scrambled egg), have a fruit smoothie mid-morning and a soup for lunch. Keep some snacks handy like nuts, fruit and some of your favourite chocolate (Green and Blacks was a particular favourite when I went on retreat). For dinner you don’t want to spend too long away from crafting so make a sauce or curry in advance to heat up quickly with some rice or pasta. Some homemade cake would go down a treat with a cup of tea or coffee too.

And finally

Turn off the phone, disconnect the internet (once you’ve gathered some inspiration) and definitely shun the TV. Enjoy your crafty retreat and home and indulge your crafty side.

- Christine Evans from 52 crafts in 52 weeks project writes the column Creativity Corner, which appears bi-monthly on Tuesdays. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

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From inspiration to reality

May 10, 2011

This time I thought I’d take you through my creative process that, if I’m honest, has only just started to really develop, just as I get towards the end of my 52 crafts in 52 weeks challenge. So what a fabulous benefit and legacy for me to take from my challenge – not only do I have more new craft skills than I even knew existed, but I have developed a way that works for me to generate ideas and inspiration.

So here is how I took inspiration from nature into my sketchbook and into a finished project.

It really helps to keep a sketchbook – it’s a relatively new phenomenon for me but I love sketching from nature and studying the intricacies of tulips, apple trees and herbs as I draw – I’ve tried architecture but it doesn’t give me a thrill at all.

My favourite page at the moment is one that I developed over a couple of days. I used pencil, ink and watercolour in the various sketches to explore a dried and battered poppy head that I found as I was doing a little gardening in the unseasonable heat that the UK experienced over Easter. I dropped the gardening fork, grabbed my art supplies and set up in the garden (under an umbrella, no sunburn here thank you very much).

Fast forward a little over a week. As I was using a kit to make silk paper for my week 46 craft, I realised that I could incorporate a craft I learnt back in week 2 – freehand machine embroidery. And a flick through my sketchbook generated the perfect subject to embroider on the paper: the dry poppy head.

Very shortly afterwards I had my finished piece. And it all started when I was weeding my garden.

What has fired up your creativity lately?

- Christine Evans from 52 crafts in 52 weeks project writes the column Creativity Corner, which appears bi-monthly on Tuesdays. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

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A creative space of your own

April 26, 2011

So far in my column I’ve talked about creating your own challenge, seeking inspiration and finding time to create. When I was deciding what to write about this time I was browsing Pinterest and came across this brilliant craft cupboard. I would love a cupboard like that! So this time I’m musing on creative space.

Where do you craft?

Are you lucky enough to have a whole room of your own to spread out your fabric, pen your stories and whip up crocheted blankets? Or do you have a corner of the kitchen you call your own? You can sketch at the kitchen table and pull out your sewing machine from the cupboard under the stairs when you want to make a new dress.

But what if you haven’t set up somewhere in your house to create? Can you be creative without a space to call your own? Yes, of course you can. You can create anywhere. But I do believe that having a space to be creative is important – a little haven of calm away from the distractions of life.

Create your crafty space

How about a corner of your sofa or a pretty chair in your bedroom? Just perfect for some knitting, embroidery or sketching. Don’t forget to make sure you’ve got a good light source so you’re not squinting as you stitch beyond sun-down.

Photo by Lucie Summers

Or could you install a shed or summer house in your garden to give you a space away from modern technology and the pile of dishes in the kitchen?

Photo by Jennifer Perkins, Naughty Secretary Club

If you have a spare bedroom maybe you could steal back a part of it to make a crafty space. A desk and a chair (get one that folds away to save space) needn’t take up much room and your guests will be wowed by your crafty creations when they visit. Or you could screen off a part of your living space to hide a desk behind. You can store your materials in boxes under the bed or sofa.

Photo by Lucie Summers

Make the best use of your wall space by adding a storage rack, some shelves and a mood board.

Creative space inspiration

If you need some more ideas, the Internet is awash with inspiration to help you create a crafty studio/nook/corner:

Search for crafty space inspiration on Pinterest.
Or Flickr – this group has thousands of photos.
UK Handmade has a regular studio feature.

Where do you create? Tell us about your crafty nooks, creative sheds and cosy corners in the comments.

- Christine Evans from 52 crafts in 52 weeks project writes the column Creativity Corner, which appears bi-monthly on Tuesdays. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

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Making time for creativity

April 12, 2011

I’m getting Christine’s column up a little late today. Sorry, I was out at PT (having some back issues) and then lunch and errand running. I’m really loving Christine’s bimontly contributions on adding creativity to your life though. She is a motivator for me and I hope for you too! — xoxo, jen

If you’re trying to bring more creativity into your life but struggling to make the time, I’m hoping that some of the strategies I’m talking about today will help you.

My job eats up a lot of my time and, even if I have some spare hours, often the last thing I feel like doing is being creative. However, every week without fail I find the time to make something new. Of course making the commitment to a challenge is a great motivator to find the time to create– it is for me. But here are a few more ideas to help you find the time and head space–something I bet you’re often lacking after a long day in the office–to create something new.

Get up early (or stay up later)

Depending on your daily schedule and your natural rhythms–I often feel more creative in the mornings for example–carve out a time slot in the day that you can spend creating. It may mean getting up an hour earlier. Or staying up an hour later if that works for you. If an hour seems too much try just 20 minutes earlier. If you’re serious about being creative you can make the time.

Turn off the computer

How long have you spent reading blogs today? Tweeting? Checking what your friends are up to on Facebook? And how long have you spent being creative? I don’t think I need to say anything else here apart from hold my hand up and say “guilty as charged!”. Turn off the laptop and spend your time creating something today instead.

Clear your head

I’m usually pretty tired after a day at work, so I need to create a little crafty space in my head before I get started. Pilates is my favourite thing to do to clear the corporate jargon from my brain or simply a walk in the fresh air. You could even take your craft outside.

Just do it

Do you read lots of blogs about your craft? Do you do a lot of thinking about what you’d like to produce? Today, just do it. No more procrastination and spending hours thinking and reading (thinking and reading are of course very important, but not to the detriment of producing something). Your first attempts might not live up to your expectations but keep going –it’ll all be worth it.

How do you make time to be creative? Share your tips in the comments.

- Christine Evans from 52 crafts in 52 weeks project writes the column Creativity Corner, which appears bi-monthly on Tuesdays. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

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Creativity Corner: inspiration and motivation

March 29, 2011

I hope you were inspired by my last column to create your own creativity challenge. This time, I want to talk about how to stay inspired and motivated when you’re undertaking your challenge, no matter what it is.

Over the course of the last 40 or so weeks, I’ve had many days when the last thing I’ve felt like doing is making something. As I said last time, part of overcoming this is to tell others what you’re doing. This public accountability will mean you won’t want to fail your challenge.

The other big key to keeping you going is to seek inspiration from all around you – both online and away from your computer – to guide and help you when you’re in a creativity sticky rut.

Online inspiration is everywhere…

You can seek and gather inspiration from all over the world from your computer or phone and this is certainly a valuable way to get ideas. I often use tutorials I’ve seen via blogs and websites for inspiration in my own project.

Pinterest is an excellent way to hunt down inspiring images, as well as collating your own galleries, as you can follow other people’s boards and re-pin their favourites.

A word of caution with using online inspiration. Remember that copying is never cool, unless it’s a tutorial and even then follow the author’s guidelines for using it. Make sure you fully credit any sources you use.

Read all about it…

I love craft books and magazines and I have a huge stash of them. But you could also use design, food and gardening magazines for inspiration – imagine drawing a page full of beautiful spring flowers from a magazine. You could pin up your favourite images on an inspiration board, stick them on your studio wall or save them in a journal.

Snap happy…

Get out and about with your camera (or phone) and take lots of photos of interesting flowers, plants, architecture, graffiti or anything that catches your eye. You can then use them to inspire colour schemes, patterns or full blown pieces of art. Plus it’s good to get some fresh air and away from the empty drawing board.

Sketchy…

I recommend keeping a sketchbook or journal so you can scribble or sketch down ideas and thoughts when they strike you. You can then refer back to it when you just have no idea where to start. I admit to being very bad at this so I’ve just joined an online sketchbook class run by the very talented Alisa Burke to kickstart my sketching journey.

- Christine Evans from 52 crafts in 52 weeks project writes the column Creativity Corner, which appears bi-monthly on Tuesdays. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

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