Ideas for Inspiration

Posted by Mary Welling-Bonney May 22, 2008

Ideas can come from anywhere. You would be surprised how many ideas you can come up with for quilting from a magazine that has nothing to do with quilting. Want to decorate a cake? Check out the latest stamping catalogs.

It is easy to look at quilting books for quilting ideas and cake decorating ideas for cake decorating. That is where everyone else looks too. That limits the original ideas possible.

If you want to really come up with something different go to another medium. You will be amazed at how you can find ways to push your craft past the boundaries you have established subconsciously. We all have the self made boundaries and it is important for your creativity to find ways to go beyond them.

One of the simplist ways is to try techniques or designs for one craft and take them to another. That is one way you can come up with a truly original idea and a totally new concept for your crafting.

Many companies are happy to send you their catalogs. Create a file of catalogs without labeling them for a specific craft. Then when you are looking for an idea, pull out all of the catalogs and see what you come up with.

Include in the file any magazines that inspired you. You will also want to keep a notebook in the file. Whenever you see an idea in nature or in any environment, write it down. Even if you won't be using it anytime soon. It might be a year from now that you look at that book and the idea you wrote down triggers a masterpiece.