Emily has put up the question a little early this time so that all those on their way to QuiltCon can put up their posts before they leave!
Well, I'm not going to QuiltCon, but even then I shall put up mine early enough!
"What is one regular thing you do for yourself to keep up your creative mind? Do you go to a guild, out for coffee with a friend? Are there people / activities you do regularly or as needed? "
This one was surprisingly a tough one...
There are so many things that I do, not consciously though, that help me keep my mind creative! I had never given it a thought before...
The first thing I do is get up early! For those who know me since childhood, will be surprised to hear that I get up at 4.30 in the morning! That gives me an hour of undisturbed time before I cook and then wake up Aadi for School! As I type this, he has moved from the bed to the sofa for "another five minutes, Mama". I was never an early riser. I still remember my mom waking me up early to study for my board exams in 10th and 12th and I used to HATE it! After that I went to Architecture College and my entire timetable changed! When we had submissions we didn't sleep at all! And other times, well to say things simply - I never had to make my bed! I got into the habit of getting up early when I was practicing architecture. My client used to come to my home-office after his morning walk - which was 6.30 am! I had to get up and make necessary changes to the drawings before that! But that was only while I was working on his project. After that I lapsed into sleeping in late! Especially during my pregnancy, I slept ALL THE TIME!
But since after Aadi was born, I have begun realizing the importance of getting up early! Don't you just love the idea of having a few minutes by yourself to do anything! You learn to appreciate it only after having a minimum of one child! LOL!
The next thing I do is follow some awesome blogs! Every morning, when I log into my Google Reader I get my dose of creativity from them! I really appreciate the openness of the online quilting community! There are so many chances that your design will be reproduced by someone, but yet, they are ready to share not just photos of the creations, but also the thoughts and process of the design of those beautiful creations! If it weren't for the online quilting community, I don't think I'd be a quilter at all!
Lastly, I carry a square line pad with me - most of the times! Even when I go away on holidays, I carry it with me! I love to get up early in the morning at the exotic locations and spend some time sketching possible quilt patterns for me to make! How many of them actually get to the sewing machine is a different story altogether! But right now, I have enough patterns to write a whole book!
I also, though sparingly, write a journal... My diary started in January 2007, is still going strong! Actually I have 2 diaries! One for my positive thoughts and one for the negative ones! That way the positive diary keeps on inspiring me without letting me down even for a moment! And the negative diary lets me vent stuff so that after that when I come back to my positive diary I feel a lot better!
There are other things I want to do too! But have never managed to... I want to be a little more organized. I want to make to-do lists AND stick to them! Most of the ones I make are perpetual to-do lists! I keep on doing stuff apart from the list and it just gets side tracked!
I have begun making a more organized approach since I'm kicking off my new business venture on 31st March 13! (31.3.13). From that day - 13 Woodhouse Road will not just be a blog, but a business dedicated to handmade goods. I will be selling patterns, quilt kits and quilts plus a whole range of handmade goods. I will also be offering people the option of selling through my store - but that will come later! Right now, I will get my etsy store going - one which has been dormant for quite some time.
What do you do to keep the creative juices flowing???
Link up to Emily's blog hop and tell us all about it!
Well, I'm not going to QuiltCon, but even then I shall put up mine early enough!
"What is one regular thing you do for yourself to keep up your creative mind? Do you go to a guild, out for coffee with a friend? Are there people / activities you do regularly or as needed? "
This one was surprisingly a tough one...
There are so many things that I do, not consciously though, that help me keep my mind creative! I had never given it a thought before...
The first thing I do is get up early! For those who know me since childhood, will be surprised to hear that I get up at 4.30 in the morning! That gives me an hour of undisturbed time before I cook and then wake up Aadi for School! As I type this, he has moved from the bed to the sofa for "another five minutes, Mama". I was never an early riser. I still remember my mom waking me up early to study for my board exams in 10th and 12th and I used to HATE it! After that I went to Architecture College and my entire timetable changed! When we had submissions we didn't sleep at all! And other times, well to say things simply - I never had to make my bed! I got into the habit of getting up early when I was practicing architecture. My client used to come to my home-office after his morning walk - which was 6.30 am! I had to get up and make necessary changes to the drawings before that! But that was only while I was working on his project. After that I lapsed into sleeping in late! Especially during my pregnancy, I slept ALL THE TIME!
But since after Aadi was born, I have begun realizing the importance of getting up early! Don't you just love the idea of having a few minutes by yourself to do anything! You learn to appreciate it only after having a minimum of one child! LOL!
The next thing I do is follow some awesome blogs! Every morning, when I log into my Google Reader I get my dose of creativity from them! I really appreciate the openness of the online quilting community! There are so many chances that your design will be reproduced by someone, but yet, they are ready to share not just photos of the creations, but also the thoughts and process of the design of those beautiful creations! If it weren't for the online quilting community, I don't think I'd be a quilter at all!
Lastly, I carry a square line pad with me - most of the times! Even when I go away on holidays, I carry it with me! I love to get up early in the morning at the exotic locations and spend some time sketching possible quilt patterns for me to make! How many of them actually get to the sewing machine is a different story altogether! But right now, I have enough patterns to write a whole book!
I also, though sparingly, write a journal... My diary started in January 2007, is still going strong! Actually I have 2 diaries! One for my positive thoughts and one for the negative ones! That way the positive diary keeps on inspiring me without letting me down even for a moment! And the negative diary lets me vent stuff so that after that when I come back to my positive diary I feel a lot better!
There are other things I want to do too! But have never managed to... I want to be a little more organized. I want to make to-do lists AND stick to them! Most of the ones I make are perpetual to-do lists! I keep on doing stuff apart from the list and it just gets side tracked!
I have begun making a more organized approach since I'm kicking off my new business venture on 31st March 13! (31.3.13). From that day - 13 Woodhouse Road will not just be a blog, but a business dedicated to handmade goods. I will be selling patterns, quilt kits and quilts plus a whole range of handmade goods. I will also be offering people the option of selling through my store - but that will come later! Right now, I will get my etsy store going - one which has been dormant for quite some time.
What do you do to keep the creative juices flowing???
Link up to Emily's blog hop and tell us all about it!
Awesome! I stay up late for the same reasons you get up early! I also love graph paper... I ran out of it in my fav notebook recently and had to search several stores to find one the right size (to fit my quilted cover of course). :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on starting the business. I wish I could get up early or stay up late, but I am a grouch with out sleep and would end up needing a nap. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of two diaries - one to inspire and one to vent!
ReplyDeletehaving the positive and negative journals is such an amazing idea!!
ReplyDeleteit is so funny that you get up early to be alone and have creative time and that is the reason i stay up late! I don't journal but i love the idea of the two journals for the moods/thoughts you have. I am interested to hear more about your new business venture soon!
ReplyDelete