s...t...r...e...t...c...h... yourself.

Percival Pencil (one of my softy creations)
He's for sale at www.etsy.com/shop/quirkified

To all of my dear quirkified friends I would like to share a bit more on our habit of creativity. We've talked about so many aspects, but what about stretching yourself?


Personally, my "thing" tends to be the artsy stuff. Time literally grows wings when I'm drawing, painting, claying little bits of cuteness, crocheting, or coming up with a visual for a word picture that is running through my brain. These are my go-to's, the things that come naturally and will continue to morph over time as I practice my creativity habit.


I would say my second love is to write silly
"dr seussy" stories and then doodle cartoons to accompany them in a variety of mediums. Yes, this has a tendency to be a companion to my artsy "go-tos" but the stories are a bit more of a stretch and time tends to grow wheels instead of wings.

Maybe you are like me in wanting to explore all sorts of areas of creativity but you head back to the familiar like a mosquito to stagnant water. Maybe we need to find what stretches us but does not frustrate us. Personally I find in order to not be frustrated I have to make sure that I'm not looking at a big picture, that it needs to be something small and doable. Something that gets me excited by the success of accomplishing it, finishing it, regardless of my need for improvement or tweakage of whatever it is I'm attempting.

Some examples;
1. Set a goal. Make it just outside of your comfort zone. Just enough so you know you'll learn something but not be overwhelmed by time or the amount of effort required. (side note, I'm working toward being in a Craft Fair the first week in December. Putting together items and thinking of how to best display and attract is a stretch for me.)

2. Do something that you might not consider to be in your creative repertoire, but you find yourself thinking about doing. For me, this is cooking! I've never been much of a food person, yet with the dawning of Pinterest and all the lovely enticements pictured on these boards I find myself wanting to attempt some of them. A small goal for someone like me would be to make a dessert or an appetizer to share with friends or family, someplace safe that will accept my meager offerings without too much teasing or critique. (a little bit of a soft landing during your stretch is more than an acceptable compromise, since you are stepping out)

I hope these stretching suggestions are something you can relate to and be encouraged to reach for, hey we're in this together..

UPDATE: When I originally wrote this entry I was busily preparing for the aforementioned craft fair that has now transpired as of this past weekend. I'm more than delighted to say that it was an exhausting blast and that I learned SO much from the experience. Displaying items that you have invested time and effort into creating can make you feel very vulnerable, but I found that it was more than worth it. Some minor successes occurred and lessons were learned so I would add this to the "plus" column in my endeavor toward the creativity habit.

Blessings on all of your heads, I will talk with y'all soon:)
xoxo
r