Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
I've been in this huge .. I mean HUGE slump in not made a card or even wanted to try and make anything. I have done diaper cakes, yes, but, no cards.. no card making projects.
So I am just wondering what causes others to have these slumpy type times.. Illnesses? money issues? just getting tired of the craft? or the creative juices arent flowing? Craft area just isnt organized?
and when and /or IF they .. the creative juices flow back.. what did you do to start it?
The same thing happens to me - you are not alone! Visiting SCS seems to help or stamping with friends/family. Other times purchasing a stamp or stamping mag. will get the ball rolling again. It happens to the best of us!
__________________ Sharon S. "A child is not a vase to be filled, but a fire to be lit." - Rabelais My Gallery
I just came out of quite a slump and did it by reorganizing my stamp room. Mostly I worked on getting rid of all the retired SU colors I still had. I surfed the SCS gallery and while I didn't CASE any cards exactly, I used posted cards to quickly come up with ideas for designs and color combos. It saved me from sitting around for hours trying to think of what to stamp. Reorganizing and setting self-challanges seems to work for me. I stamped 167 cards in one week.
__________________ Darla
Cinderella is proof that shoes can change a girl's life!
The Stone Age didn't end because they ran out of stones.
Your diaper cake is gorgeous- clearly you've got a creative eye. Creativity seems to ebb and flow with all of us. For me feeling like I HAVE to stamp or scrapbook dries my creativity up quickly. I remind myself of that great feeling I have when I have finished a card and how much fun it is here with my SCS friends. I go to my Favorites and pick a few things I love and CASE them and that seems to get me going again. My busy work schedule prevents me from stamping as much as I'd like so that's my main problem right now. Be happy and hope to see you posting soon. Hugs.
I am working on a few health problems and have stamped very little the last few months. The mojo seems to be returning so I need to get busy and put it to good use!! Your diaper cake is cute!
If I don't stamp or color, or do something creative for more than a day or two because I go away or have too many other things to do, I have a hard time getting back into it. It might be a week or more before the juices start flowing again. I find creativity to be like a muscle, it needs to be worked regularly or it shrivels up and doesn't work well anymore.
Sometimes I go through a slump because I just get tired of doing the same thing over and over, and I try to find something new and different to try. This is the way I feel lately and I've been trying to learn how to use my Gazelle so I can use it in my paper crafting.
I go through slumps, too. Sometimes I pare down my craft studio, and that seems to help. I can often become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff this hobby requires. So for every new season, I sort through my stamps and store the ones that are not for the upcoming seasons or holidays. I'll do the same with my papers, too. And in the process of cleaning and sorting, I'll sometimes get inspired all over again, just by seeing my stuff in front of me.
At other times, I just pick up one of my other hobbies, like needle art or gardening or reading, and it will help me recharge. Participating in challenges here at SCS is another way that I can get the mojo flowing.
Sometimes there's just too much going on in our lives to be creative! I've only made a few cards lately but have done some cross stitching and lots of reading since both really relax me. I've also spent a lot of time on the forum here and looking at the gallery - other reasons why I'm not making cards. Then I see a card, get an idea, and get in the card-making mode again. Maybe the creative break helps get us recharged.
I've been on a stamping hiatus since april. At first I thought maybe I was done all together but after some time passed I realized I had burnt myself out doing so many projects at once, preloading to my blog for the summer etc. But now I'm ready ... I'm ready to start creating cards again. I can't wait for my SU order to arrive. I am, however, going to start out by casing a couple cards to get the juices flowing again. I think everyone hits a slump at some point.
Definitely go through slumps for a variety of reasons...life gets too busy, other issues or worries distract me from creativity, I just plain can't get inspired. My response is usually to reorganize my craft room, purge stuff that is weighing me down, and surf blogs and the gallery and magazines. Always works...eventually!
I haven't made a card for 2 months except at a stamp club. I've been making Garden Art now since the weather is nicer. I usually get Stamp Happy on raining days or colder weather. When the weather is nicer I like to do other things. The long winters keep me in to stamp.
I have made a hobby out of re-re-organizing my room. Sometimes it gets me back into it, and sometimes it doesn't. Maybe cards are not what's going to remotivate you. Try something new maybe.
__________________ �:*�*:�My next house won't have a kitchen. Just a bunch of vending machines and garbage cans.�:*�*:�
I just got my SU order of the medallion and doily BG stamps plus a couple of other sets too. I thought I'd be brimming with inspiration. Yet all I've done is unpack my stuff and set it out on my table. I think the extreme continued heat has just zapped my mojo....predicted 108 degree heat index today and tomorrow won't be any better. YUCK....
Have you tried participating in any of the challenges? The challenge will give you a leaping off point (technique, sketch, color) so part of the thinking gets done for you. You will also get the benefit of encouragement in the form of comments on your cards if you upload to the challenge gallery.
Sometimes I start by cleaning off my desk completely In the process, I will find pieces of cards that I rejected for whatever reason and get inspired to use them. A few times I've challenged myself to make a card using only elements that I find on my desk. I usually have plenty to work with ;)
Like you, I have been in a big slump and started a thread called something like, "have you ever decided to pack it in." That was about 5 weeks ago. I'm still not feeling the love of stamping that I once had and think it's burn out. Because I shoot tutorials for my blog and the Technique Junkie Newsletter I feel passion for that and that alone. In the last day or two I've been feeling my mojo coming back. Perhaps it was because I stayed out of my studio for two months. I even considered selling all of my stamps and supplies (it was a serious thought). So glad I didn't now.
One thing I did was to start to use a completely different style using my Stampscapes stamps. It was refreshing to stamp in a total different direction.
Every Tuesday I get together with girlfriends and we do not stamp. It is refreshing to get together with girlfriends to work on things we wouldn't do on our own. Currently, we are working on polymer clay projects.
Take as long as you need to rest. You will start stamping when you feel "the calling."
I get in slumps too, and for me personally, it's an indication that my depression is getting worse again. When my medications and my lifestyle is helping my depression, I stamp or scrapbook quite frequently. When my depression is worsening, I have zero interest in it. I haven't stamped or scrapbooked for over a month now. I've re-organized my stamp area twice in that time. After realizing it's been so long for me, I started taking my vitamins again and I dragged my butt down to the fitness center to workout. I'm feeling better and I think I'll actually do some stamping tonight.
Slump days (ok ok months) vs high days
