Search this blog

17 January 2008

Craft Challenges

So why do a challenge?

They are a great way to try out new ideas,
themes and techniques.

When I read the details of a challenge
I start thinking about what I can do,
what I can use
& how can I pull it all together.

What technique is best?

They make me think outside my usual crafting style,
choosing colours or following themes
that I wouldn’t normally venture near.

If we’re growing,
we're always going to be
out of our comfort zone
.”
John Maxwell

When I make someone a greetings card,
I am focusing on what they like,
i.e. their hobbies
or what their favourite colour is
& I try to make them a card to their tastes.

With a challenge,
I do not feel so restricted
& I love to experiment with new techniques.

How else am I going to develop as an artist?

Experience is a wonderful thing
it enables you to recognise a mistake
when you make it again

Proverbs

Sometimes the challenge is not so much the theme,
but the physical restraints of the challenge.

If it is an inchie, then I have to think small,
very small, but with a Fat Page it’s a larger canvas,
so how do I fill the space & there are both sides of the page to consider.

Space is only dangerous
when it is between your ears


Challenges make me think about the craft supplies I have
& how I can apply them.

I have recently reorganised my stash
so can find items more quickly, but even so,
I have since completed one challenge
& then realised that I could have used something else instead.

I think failing to remember what we have applies to most of us.

There are also the time constraints as most challenges are set a deadline.

I think I am more creative when under pressure.

If I have too much time
I’ll just spending it thinking about it
rather than doing it.

If we wait for the moment when everything
absolutely everything is ready
we shall never begin
.”
Ivan Turgenev