I’ve always been creative.  From a young age, I have dabbled in too many creative endeavors to count.  I have tried sewing, cross stitch, needlepoint, embroidery, chicken scratch, photography, scrapbooking, card making, painting, baking, cake decorating, party planning, home decorating and many more.  Some, like photography, have stuck.  I got my first camera when I was 8 and have owned one continuously since then.  That one lead me to start scrapbooking at a young age (much more on that later).  I never did quite develop much talent for embroidery and chicken scratch was just a passing fad.

I think that “being creative” does not just mean that you are good at arts & crafts.  It has been said that the definition of creative is “to do something in a new or different way”.  I love a chance to learn new things and stretch my creative boundaries as far as I can.  A favorite compliment given to me was when my former boss (the COO at an investment bank) said that if she was stuck on a desert island she would want to have me there “because I can figure out anything”.  I was recently inspired to re-focus on the idea of creativity when I visited a quilt show.  One of the vendors had set up a personal challenge to quilt for 1/2 hour per day.  Some were quick projects she created and others were a few minutes work on a larger project.  It got me thinking that I should do this.

Although I create much more than most people, I really have let my passion and excitement for creating things wane as I dealt with the daily tasks of being a wife and mother.  I’ve let people saying, “It is so nice you have time to do that” make me think that what I was doing was optional when in fact, I have to make things to feel fulfilled.  Some people “have to” work out, I have to create.  My family often loves the things I make, so I have recently decided to embrace that side of me again.

Here is a little something I painted last summer that perfectly sums it up…

I’ve created this blog to share those endeavors with you and hopefully inspire you to Create, Bloom & Grow!