enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

how cool is it that all the cards my girls have sent match?

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Had a really good talk with Paul last night.

We talked about this problem I have with, for lack of better cliche, "sweating the small stuff." I let the lamest things (like bad food court Chinese) make me angry. One theory could be that these occasional bursts are how I regenerate positive energy most of the time, but they are still very annoying. They still must calm down. They are very difficult to deal with, especially for those around me.

And I am working on it. I am blessed with Paul’s patience.

We also talked about inspiration. About teaching creativity. I cannot figure out how you could be a workshop teacher and communicate your own thoughts. I do not have a process in making something – I just stop when it "looks good" although I cannot even pinpoint why. Sometimes it is balance. Sometimes it is lack of it. Sometimes it is harmony of color. Sometimes it is the clash of color. I have no idea how you can explain art – as it is so subjective.

I think a powerful workshop would teach how to notice your own design "turn-ons." Paul had the idea that I write down the things that inspire me about designs that I am drawn to. I love this plan. I love the thought of "collecting" inspiration and then looking through it to find the parallels. Right now – just saved in my bloglines – I have this laptop case (poppytalk link), this envelope (Ali’s blog), this image (Sarah’s blog), and this tutorial (Kal’s blog). They are all similar in that I saw them and thought "YES!" and different in that THEY ARE NOT AT ALL THE SAME.

I do not expect to solve the puzzle to what turns me on to a design, but I am looking forward to exploring it.

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2 responses to “how cool is it that all the cards my girls have sent match?”

  1. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Have fun exploring Elise….
    And about the small stuff, I constantly have to tell myself to shake it off. I use to take the smallest things to heart but as I get older, I realize that there are more important things to direct my energy towards.
    Have a good weekend-
    Tina

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  2. Breanne Crawford Avatar
    Breanne Crawford

    i think this is such an interesting post because i really identify with what you are saying…
    it is why i actually hated when i was teaching… because it is very hard to explain to someone how something came to you or why you did something exactly the way you did it. you just did. some people are just naturally artists (and i use this term lightly because i believe anyone who creates is an artist in their own accord). i could never teach a theory class or a how to do it class. but i learned that a lot of people didn’t want that. they just wanted a finished project complete with exact measurements of every tiny little strip (which again is not my strongest point…)
    anyways, i am glad you have someone as patient as Paul… i sweat the small stuff too 😉

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