pitcher me this.

I KNOW, RIGHT?

But, wait, it gets better.


Don't be grabby.


Okay:



A MATCHING PITCHER.

So summery.
So...checkery.
So perfect.
{so happy}

more decaf, honey?

and fries.

with cream and a little honey.

creation/anticipation

It's rare that an idea springs to my mind fully formed.
Usually a shape is drawn in a sketchbook, redrawn, rotated, enlarged, bisected, repeated. Even after the sheet or wire has been cut, the pieces may fall into shapes I'd not even thought of, and the original idea is scrapped.
But this idea sort of crept in from the bottom up, and in a few minutes I was picturing it on myself. It didn't come to me in some amazing explosion of creative (*cough*) genius.
It actually sort of spread...from the longest portion of the necklace upward - a fringe of shapes (that have haunted me for weeks...) swinging freely from a stone in a very specific shape. Attachments there, also, and two strands of chain snaking towards the back of the neck, connecting somewhere along the line via tiny, embellished rings.

The stone has been picked out. The drawing sketched from memory. Tomorrow I may do a sample layout, though I'm a bit sad to do it without the stone. But I know myself. It will be too hard to wait. My spare table will house the skeleton of the piece until the stone makes it whole. It's a yellow agate. It's a gorgeous shape. And I'm so excited that I'm writing about without even proffering a picture, which is near-certain death for a blog post these days, They say.

And that's all
I have to say
about that.

Things you cannot do while nursing a flesh wound.

1. Your favorite yoga pose. (fantastic.)

2. Dishes. (no, seriously, fantastic.)

Twenty things (for the burnt out and under-inspired)

I remember when I first started making a living making things. I was certain that eventually my ideas would run out, and I'd be left, bereft, with a resume that was utterly void of any 'real' accomplishment (uncertain as i was how to quantify the true value of how I managed to, say, make pancakes while patinating pounds of brass and not poison myself, or know the exact location of any given item in my studio even though, to anyone else, it looked as if I walked through it every day windmill like, creating chaos with every arm-sweep) and my mother would have to tell her friends her eldest daughter was still unhappily nannying her life away.

GOOD NEWS.

Didn't happen.

New ideas build off old ones. Current ideas lead to new ones, working out one design leads to a better one. Usually. Occasionally, it doesn't, and it's easy for the panic mentioned up-post to set in. You know a new idea will come, but when? What will keep your hands busy until then, because you MUST make things. It is painful not to. (and sometimes, after having made things for so long, i feel like a bit of the soul is missing, and i get a little sad, a little defeated. this is not what i intended, these thirty minute necklaces! that feeling's as un-fun as idea drought.)

Here are twenty tips, in no particular order, straight from my (100% imaginary) book of Important Things to Remember When You're Flipping the Eff Out.

1. Do your dishes.

Or, take inspiration from shapes and patterns around you. I noticed the pattern within the circles on this cup a few days ago, and it sparked an earring design. This leads directly to:

2. Take your camera/iphone/etc. with you EVERYWHERE. Get an inexpensive point and shoot and keep it in your pocket or purse. You can't count on remembering that fabulous whatever you saw when you were out shopping. So, bring your camera and USE IT. It only takes a second to take a photo - and a second to shrug off that 'oh, I really like that shape!' instinct. Don't do it! Capture the image, and the idea.

3. Actually use your sketches, torn out magazine pages, and photos. Sketch your little heart out, and then paste it up on a wall, or tack it to a corkboard. In your studio. Where you can see it. Edit it every few weeks. I guarantee you'll find at least one or two (fab) designs that got shuffled to the back that are definitely make-worthy. And sketch often, I might add! I always have my phone, and I Always Always have at least two sketchpads (my clinging obsession to paper products will be discussed in a future post.). I will be going through the most mundane processes of my day, and I'll have a breakthrough on an especially tough design (oh, THAT'S how I could put those two pieces together), or an idea for a tweak to a current piece, or, on some infrequent but glorious days (...and the heavens broke wide open, AND THE ANGELS SANG....ahem.) an idea for an entire series will spring fully formed from my tired little brain, and I am so, so glad to have my sketchbook right there, waiting for me to lay it out.

4. To go along with the last point: invest a little in lovely things for your studio. I buy so many things in bulk - steel wool and bubble envelopes, bags upon bags of baggies. Practical things. Necessary things. (Boring things.) I like to buy things that make my studio experience happier: cotton tape for posting my sketches on my studio walls, thrifted vintage teacups for clustering on shelves and storing various things, an old old plastic measuring tape from Japan that has the most fabulous typeface. Things I see and use every day, that make making things much less mundane.

5. Revisit old work.

Remember when you thought super easy paste solder and a lighter was the Very Best Way to solder things? I DO. Remember when you had no idea what you were doing but you did it anyway? Go check out your ambitious first works. You had a vision, an idea - you'd finally begun, and you were going to bust out every crazy idea in your head, whether you had the chops or not. The picture above is ATROCIOUS - look at those solder seams. The wire is torqued! But the idea is quite lovely - very graceful and pleasing to look at. Check out photos of your old work and see if any of your fabulous first designs can be remade with the skillset you have now. Or, at the very least, go have another look at them and remember that you're a badass with amazing ideas.

5. Create something fun. Production work isn't the most exciting. There are days when I love lining up two dozen jump rings and soldering them all in a row, but most days I don't. When I'm feeling burnt out - or to keep myself from getting that way - I start an elaborate, fabulous project. One that I might sell or might not. Maybe something for myself. Maybe the crazy ring I've been meaning to make (for two years now). I know it can seem like EVERY project is 'your' project - because most of us can't make something we don't love. But, for many artists/artisans, once you've worked out the what's what of a project and made it through to completion, you're 'done' - the amazingness that is the original act of bringing what's in your brain to fruition is not the same when recreating a piece. You may still love it, but it's not as exciting. So - take a break from production. You don't have to finish it in one hour, or one afternoon. It's your project. Enjoy it.

6. And here's where I give completely contrary advice! If you're lacking ideas that make you feel compelled to create - do some production work! Keep your hands and mind busy. This is a good time to get.stuff.done, whether it's hands on in the studio or finally organizing 6 months worth of Flickr photos. You'll still be working, and you'll have a ton of pieces stored up for when your Next Big Idea makes the idea of production work as appealing as...reorganizing 6 months worth of Flickr photos?

7. Clean your studio! Pick up that box that's been sitting underneath your workbench for the last year and a half and go through it. Chances are you'll find something begging to be used, or, at the very least, some old work or sketches that you can use when employing the tactics described above. Oh, yes, see what I did there?

I found the above screenprint when cleaning out a box this afternoon, and those little arrows will soon be making their debut on a rad necklace that I'm going to (No. 5!) make next week.

8. Buckle down. Lacking inspiration? Go back to basics and run through the projects in a book on your craft.

Don't think about whether you love stone setting or riveting or making hinges. Just work through the book, picking up or brushing up on your basic skils, and gaining some confidence, and hopefully ideas, along the way.

9. Take a break. Don't do production work, don't do fun work, don't do anything I mentioned in the past 8 bits of advice. Do something else. For an entire day, even. No work. Seriously.

10. Buy a spectacular book about your craft, or one you're interested in. Use it as a reminder of what's possible.

11. Shake it up, buckle down: nothing like committing to a craft show or wanting to have your piece published to get your head in the right spot. You can do it!

12. Buy a $5 fashion mag and design for the girl represented there. As mentioned above, cut out pages that inspire you - but not just pages of jewelry, or clothing, or housewares - cut out photos of the person, place, or object you're designing for. Make pieces with a purpose - for this outfit, for that design style, for this type of _____.

13. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. We (f)artsy folk seem to have our fingers in more than one crafty pie. I sew, screenprint, paint, and dye things (mostly my sinks and countertops...alas). Sometimes I'm fed up and burnt out, and I don't want to solder ANYTHING EVER AGAIN. I find that a good sewing session gets some of this out, and I often return to my studio and utter a small apology to my torch, grateful to be back in the swing of things (and with new cloth napkins, as well.).

14. DON'T FREAK OUT IF YOU FORGET SOMETHING...like number 14 in a list of tips on creativity and inspiration (blush). /self deprecating moment to distract from last minute realization of accidental omission

15. Supply swap! Belong to a crafty group? Try arranging a small swap between members! Be sure to send out things that are of good quality, and that you think others would appreciate. Remember - just because you no longer wish to use it in your work doesn't mean someone else will feel the same. Everyone (seriously, everyone. I've asked them.) likes new things, and everyone especially likes new things via surprise package in the mail.

16. Go out with friends who appreciate your work. Well, go out with friends, period. Artists tend towards hermitage, I think, but the need for outside stimuli is still there. An eternal struggle. Where was I? Friends! Friends who think what you do is fab. (Because it is.) When I've gotten a bit down on myself, I find that simply answering friends' questions about my work is enough to make me realize that I do do interesting things, and my work is worthwhile, and interesting - and worth it.

17. Make your significant other sing you this song. Why? Why NOT?

18. Ban buying new beads/fabric/wire/whathaveyou until you've used what you have. I've employed this tactic before, when confronted with a dearth of ideas and approximately 8,000 pounds of stones and metal. It forces you to be creative, to use supplies you have in a new way. Pick a set amount of time and stick to it. You'll be glad you did.

19. Take a class. No brainer, right? Can't afford it? Most art centers have work study programs that you can participate in in exchange for a portion or all of your tuition. A weeklong workshop in a setting that is not your studio, along with other artists who are excited to learn something new, is incredibly invigorating. Try it, you'll like it!

20. Lastly. Don't sweat it. DON'T SWEAT IT. You'll get back into it. You wont be burnt out forever. Your ideas will come back. Enjoy the respite from the idea flood while you can!

14 of my friends also wrote on this very same topic today - be sure to check out the links below for 280 more ways to work out the kinks. (and share some ideas of your own!)

1. http://www.chris-parry.blogspot.com/

2. http://www.sarawestermark.blogspot.com/

3. http://www.kmjewelrystudio.blogspot.com/

4. http://annhartleystudio.blogspot.com/

5. http://www.amandaconley.blogspot.com/

6. http://wildflowerdesigns.blogspot.com

7. http://www.evemmetalsmith.blogspot.com

8. http://www.jewelrytutorial.blogspot.com/-

9.http://www.fluxplay.blogspot.com

10. http://cosmosmoonjewelry.blogspot.com

11. http://vtakahashi.blogspot.com/

12. http://lunatic-art.blogspot.com

14. http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com

15. http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com