Musings of an Unfinished Woman: Creativity and my first attempts

I woke up with sore throat, fever, etc. so I’m staying in my jammies today. We had a great weekend at home – spent lots of time in the craft room. It’s no secret that I’m a scrapbooker but other than that, I don’t feel like I’m a “creative” person. The definition of creative according to Dictionary.com is: cre·a·tive: (1) having the quality or power of creating. (2) resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative: creative writing. (3) originative; productive (usually followed by of). One of my fondest memories is sitting down and coloring with my Mom...even as adults, when we would go to my Aunt Donna’s cabin, we would take markers and coloring books with us. I’m a very linear, organized person as evidenced by my scrapbook pages, which are more often than not, in a grid format. I want to be more than a “stay in the lines” kind of woman.

Each of us has God-given creative talents, but oftentimes we don’t use those talents or don’t believe we are good enough. There are all kinds of creativity: glass-blowing, photography, sculpting, painting, drawing, flower-arranging, etc. I think anyone who can cook a beautiful meal and make it look like gorgeous on a plate is artistic. I’ve been so incredibly inspired by BonnieRose (A Life Unrehearsed) and after reading her blog for months, decided to try my hand. In January, I wrote a personal journal entry that said in part: “I’ve had this wild artistic urge coming at me for awhile and finally, after ignoring it, I looked, researched and finally gave into the urge. Bought a cheap set of acrylic paints at Walmart, a couple of artist tablets, paint brushes, etc. from Michaels and then...some water crayons and markers from Dick Blick.”

It’s been over three weeks since I got my new artist supplies and they’ve been quietly residing in my craft room drawers and cabinets...waiting. So Friday night, I decided to give this artistic thing a try...so after covering my craft table with freezer paper (my research told me freezer paper was better than newspaper and would withstand water, etc.), and donning my apron (the one I use when I do messy cooking), I referenced several of the acrylic paint books that I checked out from the library (you know...to find out how to do this)! Below is what I created. I made section divider pages for a lined journal and this is how they look.

I did two “free form” paintings too and then added crayon and marker accents. The first one is still quite “linear” (no overlapping) but the second one, is more creative and free-flowing. I’m thrilled with my first attempts at being “artistic” and loved the process.

Once I got past the idea that there’s no right or wrong, no rules, I had fun. Can’t wait to get out my stuff and create again. A big thank you to BonnieRose for all the fabulous inspiration. I hope to take your “Color Your World” class someday...in the meantime, I am coloring my world and having a good time. I used acrylic stamps for the designs...anyone know where to find some affordable stamps in a variety of patterns and designs? My preference is clear acrylic stamps...

Just a quick note...thanks for your prayers on behalf of Shanna. Her tattoo removal surgery went well last week. Now she just has to recover and hopefully, not lose her job at UPS. The surgery was about 90 minutes and she has three layers of stitches...two of the inside layers will be permanent and the top layer will be removed in a week. I’ll post pictures when it’s a little less gory looking.

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