Imaginary Friends

In my determined quest to overcome my creative block I impulsively signed up for an online class called Visual Journaling based on this simple sentence: "Have you ever wanted to create a story using your own images or ideas but were too afraid to begin or didn’t know where to start??" This was a bit risky because I find it extremely difficult (often impossible) to follow instructions whether its Ikea furniture or something more academic.
But surprise! It's working. I'm suspecting that I was just boring myself and needed a companion on this creative journey. But I'm not talking about the other cool people in the class or the terrific teacher. We were assigned to create a character based on a collage journal. Mine is an alien who happens to be an shape shifter and time traveller. It's like having an imaginary friend who shares many of the same interests but isn't limited by the constraints of reality. I think we're going to have a very interesting day.

Craft Hoarder Goes Digital

It’s easy for me to get inspired by random objects like other people’s family photos, broken toys and old sweaters (to name just a few of perhaps thousands of things in my cluttered storage area).  But sometimes having a room full of recycled materials can feel like a burden. Its nearly impossible to find what I’m looking for, I make one hell of a mess and have to clean it all up. It’s been difficult to summon up the courage to start a new project lately. But then I got an iPad mini for Xmas and found a way to temporarily avoid the whole mess.

I downloaded an app called Paper. I rarely draw or paint but I thought why not? Paper gives me an opportunity to work quickly with very little commitment and minimal effort. Its fun!  

My friend John uses Procreate and does some amazing sketches  I can see that Procreate offers great features like undo and layers, as well as many more options. But right now the minimalist approach is exactly what I’m looking for. When I see photos of beautiful, simple, organized interiors in magazines I think “Looks cool, but I could never live like that”. With the Paper app I can see what it might be like to live a more minimal and organized life. My brushes never dry out and I always know where to find the colors and tools.  Amazing! And my hoarder craft mess will still be there waiting for me when I'm looking for a more challenging option.