In all my years of blogging and teaching paper crafting – in speaking with and teaching thousands of card makers and mixed media artists around the world – the #1 thing that I hear, over and over again is this:
“I am not creative”, “I am not artistic”, “I can’t come up with my own ideas”, “I don’t know how to take an idea and make it my own”.
Different ways of saying it – but ultimately all saying the same thing. “I am not creative!”
I am here to tell you that this belief is absolutely, unequivocaly NOT TRUE!
There is a wide-spread misconception about creativity that is perpetuated almost everywhere we turn.
The first definition of creativity you see when you look at the Merriam-Webster online dictionary is “the ability to make new things or think of new ideas.”
Below that, it lists the “Full Definition of Creativity” as the quality of being creative, the ability to create. If you dig further and look at “create,” the dictionary states that to create is “to make or produce something, to cause something new to exist”
Most people mistakenly interpret “new” as “original”. They are NOT the same thing.
When something is “original” it is “the first of it’s kind”
Whereas when you make (i.e. create) something – you are making something new. “New” meaning – you brought it to life, so to speak. It was not in existence, in EXACTLY the same way before you made it.
Think about it for a minute. As far back as 180-450 BCE Solomon said “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
In the grand scheme of humanity and the billions of humans that populate the earth – there are relatively few things that are truly unique and original.
Let’s bring this a little closer to home. Let’s look at this in the context of crafting. Almost all of our “hottest trends” today – right now – are things that have been trendy in the past – either in exactly the same form, or in a slightly different form. Sometimes from within the same industry, other times from another industry.
Look at Multi-layered stamping which is so hot right now (I talk about it in this FB post) – it used to be called 2-step stamping.
Or look at watercoloring or other mixed media techniques – they have taken the paper crafting world by storm in the last few years – but these products and techniques have been around forever in the art industry.
Remember paisley and plaid? First we saw them incorporated into fashions. Then they made their way into papers and stamps. Then they disappeared, now they’re emerging in clothing again.
None of these things are “original” or “unique”. Does that mean they are not creative? Or that they are not being used creatively?
Absolutely not!
What most people don’t understand about creativity is that YOU are your own creative barrier – your thoughts, your perceptions, your beliefs, what you tell yourself.
Creativity is not a talent. It’s not a gift. It is an element of every thing that you do.
It is a part of who you are.
Creativity is not something you learn.
Look at a child. Give them crayons, color pencils, markers, scissors, glue and paper, and they create with abandon.
Certainly you have to teach them how to hold a pencil and how to use a pair of scissors safely, you have to teach them to color on paper instead of a wall. You may even have to teach them a few techniques (how to draw a circle, a square a triangle).
What you do not have to teach them is how to express themselves creatively. They just do.
It’s when people come along and starting giving opinions, critiquing, maybe even criticizing – not necessarily maliciously – perhaps with total love and intent to help. But it’s when that begins to happen that they start doubting themselves and what they are creating.
Over time, that child becomes the adult, who no longer “feels” or believes they are creative.
You ARE creative. Believe it, wholeheartedly.
It is there – inside you – you just need to learn how to release your creativity.
That’s what I am here for.
I have been where you may be now. Believing that I didn’t have a creative bone in my body.
Look at where I am now – embracing my creativity, and continuing to grow and develop creatively.
How did I get to where I am now? Trial, error and experimentation, learning, trying, reflecting and then starting over as many times as necessary. Eventually I created a process for myself.
It’s not one step, or two steps, it can’t be accomplished in one day, a week or even a month. It’s ongoing and ever-evolving.
But it can be done, and I will be showing you how.
In the meantime though – this is the truth I want you to embrace – you are creative.
Tell yourself this: “I am Creative”
Every day. Write it out, type it out or stamp it out using some fun fonts and colors. Create multiple copies. Stick it up everywhere you spend time – stick it to your bathroom mirror, in the kitchen, place it on your night table, or frame it and hang it up above your bed.
As many times as it takes – until you stop telling yourself (or others) that you are not creative.
Now go and do it.
Right now!
*If this post resonates with you, please leave me a comment and share it with your friends.
Last week, in this post, I promised you that when my Sunny Stampin’ FB page hit 250 “likes” I would share with you a profound truth about creativity that is key to breaking through your creative barriers – if, and ONLY if – you allow it to.
We’ve actually hit over 320 likes in less than 1 week – so thank you!
I was initially going to share this post on the Sunny Stampin’ FB page – but decided that this was too big and too important to limit to Facebook – especially because I know that there are many of you that are not on Facebook.
So I decided to share this truth here.
Very nicely and lovingly written, Andrea, and encouraging. Yes, this is my struggle…. Thank you for taking the time to do the survey and to reply as you have; you are wonderful as is the summation of the results! Thanks so much! Now to start a new day… 🙂 Thank you and, cheers! 🙂
A very truthful statement and my problem for years. Thank you for expressing it so eloquently. I do have to tell myself that. Cause you are correct I’ve made some very unique to me scrap book pages and a few cards. But I always just that I took it from someone. And YES I Did At THE beginning.
Thank you
I love your inspirational message. Thanks for the energizer!!!
Andrea you are right on the money. I keep telling my people “Yes you can” just like the Little Engine That Could. Once you get them to try they are amazed. I tell them it is 1 step at a time, actually it’s layering! Thank you sooooo much for saying this so eloquently! May I please share this with my people? I will put it in quotes and put your name by it. Thanks again Andea
Hi Deb – you may absolutely share this! I hope more people do because the message needs to get out.
I often (usually) use someone’s blog card as an inspiration and feel that I’m copying.
Now I will think of it as creating because they never really look alike.
Thanks
Donna, Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Don’t feel you’re copying. Instead think of it as paying a compliment.
Mary (aka Muffin’s Mama)
Hi Donna – my personal belief is that copying a card is when you re-create it down to the last detail. Any time you make a change you are taking a step towards making it your own. So yes – you can absolutely think of it as creating. That said – the only caveat is that I do always believe in giving credit when an idea inspired my creation (and thankfully most people do this anyways).
That was just what I needed. Sometimes I wonder if I have an ounce of creativity. Deep down I know it is some kind of insecurity left over from school days when I would get straight A’s and a C in art. I have actually loved some of the cards I have turned out. I am going to save your blog and re-read it often. Thank you. Nancy
You’re not the first person to talk about a bad art class experience that has left you filled with doubts about your own creative ability. While I understand the need to give “marks” – how a person views a finished creation is so subjective. What is a C to one person is very likely an A+ for another.
Very true. We program ourselves from what we perceive as criticism and thus stop or limit our creative juices. How many times do we all create the same card or project and each one is unique to that person doing it. Let us praise the small and large differences and everyone in between. Thanks Andrea for wise words.
I love that Shona “Let us praise the small and large differences” – that is very profound and spot on!
Very thoughtful and insightful words, Andrea. Thank you.
So true! Thanks for the reminder Andrea:)
Thank you so much Andrea I needed that confidence boost. I am creative!
Your the best Andrea.
Thank you Andrea! This is certainly the boost that I need as I sit here trying to come up with some swap ideas! This sure gives me a new outlook on my creativeness!
Thanks for the reminder Andrea. I know I block my own creativity with negative thoughts at times and what a silly thing to do. If you just look around you there is inspiration everywhere. And it amazes me to see all the different paper artists out there creating every day and posting on blogs, Pinterest, FB, and You Tube. Some I am not drawn to and still I respect the artistic and creative energy that exists. All of us can do this and we can inspire others to find their inner creative artist.
Thanks for the Quote, I am going to place it where I can see it often.
Sher
Andrea,
I find myself falling, at times, into a lazy slump and calling it a lack of creativity, when really, if I focused on the right things, I’d demonstrate the creativity I know is inside me. I’ve experienced it, and with practice it would become much more second nature to me, I believe. Thank you for your encouragement!
Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration. What you are saying is so true!! I look forward to bringing my “creative self” to the forefront.
Bianca
I’ve tried to make a promise to myself that I wouldn’t buy any more stamps. To use only the stamps I’ve been collecting for way over 20 years. As soon as I tried to stick to that it seemed my ideas just dried up!! you have helped me to overcome my self imposed block. Thanks so much for the creative boost
Thanks for doing the survey now I know I’m not the only one that gets stuck! Now I think I can….
You must have read my mind! I placed an order with a fellow stamper and she kindly sent me some of her cards! I looked at them and said to myself “why can’t I come up with great ideas too”! I was in the florist business years ago and was creative but now wondering where it went! Inspiration comes in many forms and your article was heartfelt and so very on in today’s terms! I am sharing it with my up line and down line! We all need to feel we are special and have different talents that sometimes are not recognized! Crafting is an ageless art and never seems to get the credit it deserves until it becomes mass produced! We are all one of a kind and our art is too! God-made and hand made, very much the same!
Thank you for encouraging us all to create and be proud of our one of a kinds that blend into beautiful creations!
Thank you for your beautiful words Brenda. Your comment about being creative as a florist yet not feeling creative as a card maker is the same experience I had when I finally felt creative as a card maker but then felt like I had lost that creativity when it came to my mixed media art.
Wow, I never thought that there were so many of us
non-creative people. I will definitely be posting a sign that reads “I Am Creative!” Thanks for understanding, encouraging, and teaching us!
Hi Deb – not “non-creative people”, instead people who perceived themselves as non-creative 😉
Yes, you caught that bad phrase. I will work on removing that from my vocabulary. “I am creative.”
Well said, Andrea – love the philosophy lesson applied to papercrafting!
That is the best definition I’ve ever heard! Having been an art major in college, I thought the creativity would roll right out – not so. Thanks so much Andrea, for the “different way of looking at it”; that in itself has reduced a lot of stress I’ve imposed on myself.
I am so glad to hear that Lisa – thank you. Being creative should inspire joy, not stress LOL
Andrea,
I think a lot of what you have said in this post is most definitely the truth. As we grow older and have gotten away from just letting go and enjoying what we love, we have become blocked (non-creative). I believe we create something everyday and although it may not be a card, a layout, or a specific craft, we have created something.
I love these segments and hope they continue.
Thank you so much for taking the time to give encouraging words and helping us to see the talents we have beneath the many layers.
Hi Tiffany – you are absolutely right – every day we engage in numerous creative activities without even necessarily realizing that we are doing so.
I will definitely be continuing on with these segments!
Wow you really did a great Job doing this amazing article THAT IS COMPLETLY TRUTH! I’ll be honor to share it on my facebook (timeline) The people I know and love really deserve to have a privilege to read it and grow with it and they will turn out happier people creating what they are. Too many people have not discovered the pleasure of create at least one little thing every day and believe me when you make it you really enjoy it specially when you were having a lot of troubles to accomplish what you really want, then your day really have a new meaning, that day was worth to be alive, and sometimes you can make somebody else happy when you make an special gift just for them, thinking of them and wishing to make their day.
Thank you Andrea for all you did for us, you make my day. Keep going the world need more people like you, creating not destroying . The world will be much better with people creating what they are. Have an amazing day
Thank you for the lovely reminder 🙂
Thank you so much for posting this – I think I have said, “I’m not creative enough” a million times. I love the way you explained it so I can refer back to it again and again when I am in a creative slump. You ROCK!
Hi, Andrea,
I love your message and desperately wish it were true but, for me, it absolutely IS NOT TRUE. I AM NOT CREATIVE . Never have been and never will be. I have a wonderful craft room, hundreds of stamps, thousands of supplies and 15 years under my belt of not being creative! Honestly!
And believe me, I’ve tried EVERYTHING to change matters but to no avail. This is what happens. Let’s take stamps, for instance. When I began with SU, I used to buy stamps that appealed to me, for whatever reason. But I quickly discovered that the stamp sets that I bought would never be used. That resulted in me owning hundreds of stamps that never saw a drop of ink. I liked owning them but I didn’t have a clue what to DO with them! I’ve finally admitted to myself that I’m incapable of coming up with a single idea on my own. Not a single one.
So, I’ve had to change the way I do things. The only stamps/supplies I buy are those that I’ve seen someone else use to make a card with and am confident that I can recreate it. I make sure that I know what I’m looking at and if I’m not sure, I check to make sure I can find a complete and detailed recipe. No recipe, no stamp.
I’ve tried all the tricks too and nothing works. I can sit down with a nice clean work surface and stare at a stamp set and WILL myself to come up with an idea, ANY idea and it just doesn’t work. Ever.
I’m sorry Andrea, but I doubt there is any help for me. However, I enjoy everything that YOU do and I’ve cased dozens of your designs and am happy enough. But oh, wouldn’t it be nice to come up with my own ideas! You have no idea how lucky you are! You just keep on creating, I’ll keep on casing and the world will keep on turning! Thank God for people like you!
Thanks for everything you do, Andrea!
Thank you so much.
You are so profoundly correct! I went to art school to become a graphic designer…had no idea they were going to force me to draw! I SUCK at drawing…always have. I SUCK at painting… always have. Yet, here I went and signed up for these college level classes in art… drawing and painting. What did I learn? I learned that I suck BECAUSE I don’t practice. The more I practiced, the better I got. I am no Pablo Picasso by any means…and my skills have fallen away BECAUSE I don’t keep practicing… but I have drawings and paintings from college that show I CAN do it. I AM creative. Now, I keep pushing myself to create more and more cards. Creativity sharpens by creating more and more..
i am creative…I am creative…I am creative…I AM creative…I AM CREATIVE!!! One step at a time…
This was just what i was looking for inspiration! one of mt student brought me a dragon stamp. she wants me to make a card with it. i have been looking at it for 2 weeks. not a clue how to do it. I am not into thing like that, mostly lace, flowers etc…just while reading your advice i thought odf something i could try. hugs, and thanks
Thank you so much for these words. I keep trying to art journal. Most of my pages turn out a mess for one reason or another I am not happy with them. I was going to throw my journal away. But I will keep it now and just keep going. Maybe I will glue the bad pages together!! Or cut them out. 🙂 But I am not going to give up. Thank you for your sweet words and inspiration! God Bless.
I enjoyed reading your perceptions of creativity. It is so true that children don’t question their actions…they simply experiment and create. I think I get overwhelmed with having too many choices….papers, stamps, embellishments,ribbons, etc.!
Andrea, thanks so much for setting up this website — your projects are top-notch, and now your encouraging, upbeat words are so heartfelt and uplifting that they are a true blessing to me! I am SO GLAD I subscribed, and I am going to share this post/blog with my stamp club members and downline. God Bless!
Very well written article. Loved the clarification on “new” & original. Even when I re-create something I’ve already done, it is never quite the same. That is why it is “hand-crafted” not machine made.
There is so much truth in what you stated that it will take a while to assimilate all the points.
Thanks again