What Inspires Me

Betsy Edwards asked me this question on my Facebook page. "What inspires you?" I have to admit that the first thing that came to mind was - a paycheck. Then came the self imposed guilt trip. I really, really, really love what I do and I would still do it even there wasn't a paycheck - some of it anyway. I've always been a crafter and no doubt, always will be. It's just part of who I am and I feel so blessed that I'm involved in industry where I've been able to develop a business around what I love to do. It wasn't easy, like most designers I gave away more than I was ever paid for, but I always believed that if "you cast bread your bread onto the waters, it will come back buttered" and sometimes it will even have jam on it! I never really understood the "bread on water" analogy, since bread sinks and gets soggy in water, but let's not split hairs at this point..............

I've been giving Betsy's question a lot of thought. Creating professionally (meaning getting paid for projects), does affect creativity. Now I create to sell a product. "Sell" may be a four-letter word, but let's face it, buying and selling is what makes the world go round. Nothing happens unless someone, somewhere, sells something. That's reality. Before I designed "professionally" I created things for fun, now it's for fun and profit. I don't mean to sound mercernary, but that's the fact of the matter. The fun part is still the most important however. Now I see creativity as a challenge to create a project other people will want to make, but....... it has to use product A, B & C and sometimes even D. And there are rules - well, not so much any more, so, for example, when scrapbooking first became popular I used all kinds of things on my pages, only to find out that this was even more than a "no, no". Was it acid free? No. Was it archival? No, then how could I do such a thing.......... Thanks goodness that - albeit 10 years later - new designers have changed "the rules" and we're now allowed to be creative. So I can pull out my paints and old supplies and re-discover what inspires me! Thanks Betsy!

Yours truly,
Julie :)