Christine Evans from 52 crafts in 52 weeks project is debuting her regular guest column called Creativity Corner.  She hopes to inspire you to be make more time for creativity in your life. She put her money where her mouth is too and started her own personal challenge to try a new craft every week for 52 weeks!

Christine’s posts will appear bi-monthly on Tuesdays so make check back on Tuesdays. xoxo – jen

Hello! I’m really excited about being here and sharing my thoughts on creativity. Here’s just a little about me: I’m Christine, I live in a quiet village in the English countryside with my husband and Yorkshire Terrier and I’m trying a new craft every week for a year.

One of the most common things I’ve heard since starting my 52 crafts in 52 weeks project (after, “how do you find the time?”) is “I’m not as creative as you, I wouldn’t know where to start.”

I don’t believe I’m any more creative than the next person–we all have it in us to be creative.  A recent article on Huffington Post talked about creativity…

Indeed, Sir Ken Robinson, an educator not a neuroscientist believes we are all creative. That children, at least, are born creative and then it is pounded out of them in school. Such creativity disappears, he says, by about age seven or eight.

Maybe we all just need a little nudge to get us thinking in that child-like way again, when hours could be spent making up make-believe lands (true-life confession: I used to play schools with my china animal collection and set them homework and scold them for being naughty), time would disappear as we played with yogurt pots and cereal boxes and crayons were as precious as gems.

So, are you ready to challenge yourself?

To help you get those creative neurons firing, I thought for my inaugural column on Indie Fixx that I’d talk a little about creativity challenges and how to set your own.

By definition, a challenge should be something stretching. But remember, it should be a stretch for you.

If you never take photographs, challenging yourself to taking one a week would be a really big jump. But, someone who regularly takes snaps of their life, might find what they need to get them thinking more creatively is to take photos of something red every day.

Your challenge also needs to be something that will keep you interested. I don’t get bored with trying a new craft every week, but if I was making the same thing week in, week out I’d soon lose my momentum.

It’s also a good idea to make yourself accountable in some way to complete your challenge. I started a blog so that people all over the world could see my progress. And I always get asked, “What’s your craft this week” by my friends, family and colleagues. So there’s less chance of me abandoning it. You don’t have to start a blog–you could join like-minded people on a forum, flickr, twitter or just tell your family your plans so they support you.

Finally I just want to give you some ideas on the kinds of challenges you could set yourself. How about:

• making something different out of a single sheet of paper every week?
• knitting a different item every month?
• photographing the same view every week for a year?
• painting a different monochromatic picture every week until you reach the end of the rainbow?
• starting an art journal and working in it every day for a month?
• googling creative challenges and join an established group such as the 365Days group on Flickr?

I hope I’ve given you a few ideas on how to set your own creativity challenge. Let me know in the comments if you’re already embarking on one or if you’re inspired to set your own challenge today. Also, feel free to share any of your projects in the Indie Fixx Flikcr Group.