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[vInTaGe VioLeT]

{i have put this in non-crafts related as i wasn't sure where to put it!}

This happens to me often - i have really lost my crafty mojo 

i don't know why it happens but when i have a deadline looming i just freeze - i'm supposed to be doing a project for the magazine and re-doing a tutorial for an e-book but i keep avoiding them - my desk is totally covered with buttons at the moment bags and bags and bags of them and i'm trying to kickstart my creativity by carding up a new set every day.
 That is all i am managing.
 I'm sure a lot of it is the time of year.

How do you re-ignite your creativity?

[Quartz]

it's the famous question, and it's always the hardest to answer.

I also struggle with creative block every now and again, normally for me, the mojo fails normally just on one or two crafts at once - so I always try then to switch to another craft if I am really itching to push myself to do something.
Switching to another craft for a quick project can unclog that block!

I also refer back to my sketchbooks, i don't sketch down projects a lot - but I always do have scraps of paper or some reminders, sketches in books of projects around in my crafty stash ...
from these, i try and pick one that doesn't look too strenouos and "make-that-thing-that-i-have-been-wanting-to-make-for-ages-and-never-got-round-to-doing-it" ... this helps, as you brain has alreadyy done the creative hard part by having the idea, now you're just the construction hands!

Also making something to an existing plan helps, as then you don't really have to think about what you are doing - so projects from a magazine is a good idea, and then you start to think constructively rather than creativly which just gets the brain matter working ... which will help jump start your own mojo.

x

[pennydog]

Pretty much exactly the same as Quartz. I burned out in jewellery and I'm getting that way with the chocolates. I have a quilt that could have been easily finished now but I got bored so I end up picking up other scraps of fabrics and doing little bits of other projects that I will eventually get round to.

I'm different though and find deadlines make me more likely to get on and do something- maybe I never lost that from the many years in the education system where most of my classes were coursework based.

You could pick up an old magazine, try a project in there you like the look of, maybe do a little bit of cross stitch from someone else's pattern so you're not playing the role of designer and craftsperson...

One thing is you can't force yourself, and sometimes a gap is good, it helps you create space in your mind for new ideas. Spring is springing, we have Easter and Mothers Day and all sorts of things coming up where you might need to make a gift, so maybe the gift angle is the best one to go in on?

[BigBlueBed]

It happens to me all that time!

Especially after a rush job - like when I made lots for a craft fair, afterwards I cannot bring myself to do anything.

I like to play with fabric and then see what happens.  But you have to be in the position to make yourself physically move .  The fabric may only be on the shelf but osmetimes that can seemto far away!

That is why I like doing challenges as they force me to do something different and sometimes it opens the creative floodgates.  It always seems that when I am making one thing all the other things I could do make pop up in my mind.

However, I deliberately stepped back this time from doing to many articles/tutorials for the magazine as last time I was really panicky and left it all very late, and did not make anything else. So I try not to overload myself.

[Seawood]

It might be worth looking at where else you're spending your energy, too. I've been quite busy getting things organised for a new teacher I'm employing. Or rather, not doing a lot but spending a lot of time thinking, worrying and planning, which takes the form of mucking about online procrastinating, reading, getting into arguments and playing scrabble rather than dealing with HMRC  So actually, there's nothing at all left for making things. I plan to cut my computer time down drastically from next week, once I've finished the projects for here and sorted out the last work bits.

[CalamityClaire]

I having this problem at the moment too, I think I feel a little disheartened about my shop and jewellery. Its hard to get sales and I don't seem to having much luck in getting any craft fairs or in any shops! I got sick of fabric and have recently been going mad for wire and have made lots of stuff with seaglass since I wrote the tutorial for the magazine!
I find myself getting quickly bored of one type of craft so I need to have lots of different crafts to try at any one time, recently I have been making some quick and simple projects for the home which make me feel like I'm getting my mojo back without over taxing myself.
I also run a craft group and yesterday we learnt to knit and I am already obsessed! going to buy lots of wool tomorrow! I think what works well for me is to not get to bogged down in the feeling of not having my mojo on any particular day, and to do something new or totally different if one particular craft isn't working. Another thing I find strangely works well for me is to have a really good sort and tidy of my crafting stuff, I then discover things I was planning to make and having everything neatly organised makes it much easier to pick something up (even if it isn't quite as organised once I'm done making!).
Hope the mojo comes back soon!
Cx

[Kitty Ballistic]

Oh dear, looks like a lot of people in the same boat. 

I often find reading craft magazines, or looking on the web can spark inspiration (and now we have Pinterest, it should be a bit easier!). Try to find something small you can make - it doesn't have to be made with your usual techniques, trying something different can often help. What Claire does also works for me - have a few different crafts you can try and if one isn't inspiring you, try another. I mostly make beads, but I also make felt toys, and I do card making. And there's always polymer clay or embroidery lurking in my craft room if I fancy that.

I find deadlines pretty much always stamp out any creative flames, so I avoid them as much as possible. Also, I think if you are making stuff to sell it can be hard to keep the ideas flowing. It's not easy, but taking a break and  looking around to see what other people are doing can sometimes motivate you to try make something. Any time I have the idea that I *must* make something, the ideas dry up.

I have the opposite problem at the moment - loads of ideas, but no time in which to make them. 

[pennydog]

Kitty- totally the same- I have several quilt ideas and I'm still trying to force myself to finish one I've nearly done. I'm flitting like a butterfly and finishing nothing. Things will change this weekend, I'm not leaving the house!

[Quartz]

I have phases liek that too .. .when there's so many handy ideas in your head ... that's when it's great to get them all out on paper initially sothen at a later date *when* you are in a creative slump ... it'll kick start your mojo again

[vInTaGe VioLeT]

thanks for all your comments 
i went out and bought a bunch of new supplies on friday - including the stuff i need for the deadlines i have to meet - and i even made a start on a new wreath 

[chickadee cards]

VV - I'm in the same boat and have been for months. In the past, I have found what Quartz said to be true. I have recently started x-stitching again and have finished off one project (nearly finished a second). I tried making some cards recently, but inspiration failed. I also bought 4 jewellery kits from OakTree Crafts, but they are still sitting ther waiting for me! X-Stitch is the only thing I am doing at the mo - I blame WW as all my boxes and stock are hiding all my lovely craft stuff.

[jaydee67]

WW means weight watchers here, does it mean the same to you? I've lost 3 stone using WW online.

I find a good sort out of materials usually has me stopping half way through to try something. Of course, this often means that the sort out is left half finished, but hey - if you get your mojo back you have to go with it, don't you?

[vInTaGe VioLeT]

i kinda tidied my desk a bit enough to work on something small 

also me and the after schoolies had a pirate session today and i sorted out a few crafts for them to do

don't want speak too soon but i feel a stirring in my creativity 

[chickadee cards]

WW means weight watchers here, does it mean the same to you? I've lost 3 stone using WW online.

I find a good sort out of materials usually has me stopping half way through to try something. Of course, this often means that the sort out is left half finished, but hey - if you get your mojo back you have to go with it, don't you?

Yes, I was a leader. Most of the stuff has gone now, so I can access all my craft goodies!