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How to Reignite Your Creative Spark

The year is off and running. But what if you aren’t? Do you need to reignite your creative spark? That’s where I’m at these days. So how do we fix this slump and welcome a new perspective?

I think it’s because I’d kept my fire lit at maximum level for months and then when I really needed a bit of heat, the whole thing died out. Not even a sizzle. No creative juices or new ideas what so ever.

Lots of planning and daydreaming and resting in my comfort zone, but not a lot of results…yet.

We need to chill and not feel pressured.

relax

A great way is to start with small tasks that feel fun and light – and different than your routine.

So let’s try this new creative process. Patrick recently started a painting for a class he was going to teach. However, it was WAY too complicated for a two-hours class.

It’s a street from San Miguel de Allende. He didn’t add the focal point of the painting yet. So I thought – what if we share it out and invite other creatives to add to the painting?

How I lost my creative spark (for a bit)

Photo by Tara Winstead

Once I had to pitch ideas for new Crafty Chica products to VIPS. One presentation went fabulous, another was… a fail.

Well, not even a fail because I threw in the towel. I don’t know what went wrong, no matter how hard I tried to come up with an amazing idea, no matter how many sketches, none of them had that wow factor.

I wasn’t giving up, I just didn’t have the goods. I didn’t what to do.

Who cares about a creative spark, my confidence had plummeted.

I decided I would rather turn in nothing than something that sucked. I usually don’t talk like that, but that was the situation! 2 a.m. last Sunday, I typed through teary eyes of failure as I sent off an email to my project manager. I told her I had dozens of sketches but they were a hot mess of unworthiness. 

What added to this was walking through the craft convention and seeing everyone else’s fabulous creations. My mind and confidence went off the rails in the wrong direction. I knew I had it in me, I just had to find it and FAST.

TRUTH TALK!

Seriously, I waited until the last hour of the entire show to find, confront, and apologize the project manager. As soon as our eyes met, I knew she understood. As a rockstar designer of many successful craft products herself, she told me she’d been there too. 

She gave me The Best Pep Talk Ever. She told me to relax and let myself soak up inspiration and then keep sketching and keep working. 

I now have two weeks to get my ish together!

And you know I will! 

Find the root of the issue

Meditate Daily print by Kathy Cano-Murillo, CraftyChica.com.
Meditate Daily print by Kathy Cano-Murillo, CraftyChica.com.

My first plan of action was to avoid her at the craft convention. But that made me feel even worse. I’m glad I faced my fears.

The hardest part of the experience was confronting her head on (and myself) and admitting defeat. It’s part of life. Nothing is ever going to be perfect or flow just right every time, or exactly when you want it.

You have to accept, learn, and grow. Try again. And again. and again. I learned it’s about constant recalibrating, refreshing, and plowing forward, no matter how tough!

No matter how many tears.

HOWEVER – once i thought long and hard (even though I knew the entire time) the root of my problem was *gulp* I procrastinated on working on the designs. I didn’t leave buffer room to build off of ideas. 

To make sure it didn’t happen again, I now literally schedule design sessions on my calendar so my ideas and creative have room to breathe.

Shift your energy

Once I owned up to the situation, a huge weight was lifted. My spirit felt lighter – and brighter. I chatted on the phone last night with my friend, Alexa, and came up with a list of brilliant ideas that I’m muy excited about.

I’m not quite at 100% fire yet, but I finally feel the warmth of my creative spark, it’s very close!  I’m aiming to wrap it all up this week!

What about you? How do you ignite your creative spark? Share a tip or even your story!

In the meantime, here are ideas to reignite your creative spark!

Decorate on top of paintings – free template for you

This is a popular technique that i love to watch on TikTok. You can visit a thrift shop and buy a painting and then add your own twist to it.

In this case, you can download this painting and print it or use it in your iPad and add your own focal point. For personal use only. It’s my and Patrick’s offering to reignite that creative spark!

Click here to download the hi-res of the image: san miguel-high res

san miguel de allende painting

Go deep clean something.

YouTube video

(Video by SLMissGlam) Yasssss! I spent almost two-hours cleaning off my makeup and jewelry countertop, it had been cluttered for months. I put on the Brain Food Spotify playlist and the entire time I tossed, sorted and organized, my mind chilled.

The ideas started flowing in and I ran to my desk to jot them down, then I got back to work. By the end, my counter was sorted and I had a list of notes to work from. Maybe you can organize your craft supplies – that will serve double duty!

Related content: How to go from la chillona to la chingona after a fail

Sketch, doodle, or practice lettering for 15 minutes a day.

creative spark ideas
This was one of my first illustrations when I started drawing on my iPad Pro. I draw a little each day!

 

Find a blank book and spray the pages with some inks. Use gel pens to create drawings and write phrases that come to your mind. Make a list of the words that make you happy or things you want to do.

Decorate your letters so they stand out. Just spend 15 minutes to get yourself warmed up.

I draw a little bit each day. This was one of my first attempts! Drawing sure clears your head! Even if it is just a ballpoint pen on a notepad – do it!

Make artist trading cards or mini-zines to give away.

YouTube video

Make a mini-zine, here is my tutorial! Grab some magazines, scissors, scrapbook paper and a glue stick and make mini-collages. Then you can pass them out.

Give all an uplifting theme. I’ve always felt doing something for others will change the energy, it unclogs the channels!

Hang out with creative friends.

First off – make sure your company has a positive attitude. You don’t want to sit and complain all night, you want to help each other become inspired. Inspired people can change the world!

Take a class together, maybe a ‘paint and wine’ class. Follow along and your artful instincts will click into place.

When I used to work in Fresno for a week out of each month, I would hang out with friends at a coffee shop and we all brought our journals and markers. We took turns doodling and drawing in each other’s books.

Sometimes we would just sit and talk about our favorite artists or techniques we want to try. This project is pretty cool, we doodled on mat frames!

Visit your local library

This one is a fave. Take a sketchbook or journal. Go in and check out books from the past and present. Grab a stack of them and sit at a table and enjoy. Give yourself space to indulge and then take notes.

While you are there, check out the events taking place and maybe join a group or take a class!

library shelves

Learn a new craft

Squeegee painting to disco ball art – try your hand at something new!

Take a picture and share it!

Whatever you do, don’t give up altogether. Keep the faith and keep working on something to keep you busy until that creative spark returns. it will, I promise!

Hire me as a speaker or storyteller!

How to Shorten a Cold So You Can Get Back to Crafting!

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2 thoughts on “How to Reignite Your Creative Spark”

  1. may I add one idea to the list? Go outside! Take a walk, tend to a garden, listen to the birds. I get lots of inspiration from nature and it calms me.

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