The Creative Spirit . . .

I like to design blog headers. I do it for fun. I can spend hours in Adobe Illustrator, as I fiddle around with my computer mouse and keyboard. I draw everything by hand . . . just my mouse and me. It's a bit archaic (as I understand there are cool little tablets and computer pen thingamajigs out there), but I often think, "If it's not broke, why fix it?"  

Inspiration comes at the strangest times for me . . . usually late at night, after the kids (PG included) are all tucked in and gentle snores are heard from the floor above. Then, the creative juices start to flow and before I know it, hours have passed.

I thought I would share some of my recent creative projects with you.

The above image is my very first attempt at a digital scrapbook page. My friends Cindi and Peggy are brilliant at this digital stuff . . . me, not so much. Cindi told me that I needed to sit and watch a tutorial on the whole process, and work a page side by side. She was right (of course she was!!!) So the above page was a product of a 1/2 hour video tutorial and late night of "I can master this!" thinking.

I also have been working on a cool little inspirational book for Katie and Ella. I won't share all of it with you until it is finished, but here is a little peek . . .

The whole purpose of this project is making something to remind my daughters that they can DO ANYTHING and BE ANYTHING that they want to be. The little occupation bodies in the first photo above are ones that I have doodled on illustrator here or there, and I finally found something to do with them! I am LOVING this project, and can't wait to finish it. I'll be sure to post more photos when I am done . . . because I think it's one of my best yet!

But there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to complete all that I want to do. My dear friend, Leslie from {Words of Me} Project, is doing an awesome "31 Days" creative project. I had such high hopes to join in her journey this month . . . but the spirits have guided me in other directions. So, while I am able to find some time in my day to be creative, the spirit doesn't always answer back. And that . . . is a bummer.

Take, for example, my sister. She is waiting for a blog header from me. You may know her . . . she can be found in blogland over at "The Adventures of Mr. CT and Me". I want to create something awesome for her for Spring . . . unfortunately, it's just not working right now. I have sat down at least 10 times, trying to design a fun header for her blog home . . . each time I have stopped working on it because I just didn't "feel" it. This is what I have so far . . .

Aside from the fact that CT (my dearest brother-in-law) needs legs . . . that's not the only problem . . . it needs something else.

But what?

Augh.

So, while there are days (and nights) when I can sit down and bat out a design . . . sometimes, it takes a little bit longer. Maybe I need to stop and start fresh.

Who knows.

I'm always amazed at how some days the creative spirit is overflowing . . . but other days . . . not so much.

How does your creative spirit work? Have any cool projects going on in your life? How do you inspire yourself to create? Leave me a comment . . . I'd love to know!