What to do when you have no inspiration?

I have been having an awful time finding the desire to write.  What’s even worse is the lost need to crochet!  I do not know what is wrong with me as of late. It may be that I am more focused right now on my children and getting my house in order (spring cleaning/organizing anyone?) Or maybe, my wonderful muse is just on a vacation.  Whatever the case may be, I need to kick myself in the pants to get going!

So, here are some ideas to bring back your motivation when you are in a rut (for whatever reason)!

Discover an Artist of your craft.  Every craft has a few people who have taken that craft to the level of “mastermind artist“.  You know the ones, they create marvelous master pieces that can sell for hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars a piece.  The best way to start your search is to go to google:images, and type in “{craft} artist”, like I would type in “crochet artist” and be bombarded byyarn bombing images, or Olek (who does some pretty incredible stuff).  Even if you don’t find a famous artist from your craft, I can guarantee you will be inspired to become great!

Create something for yourself, or just because.  You’ve been focusing your craft on your business for the past however long…you might be getting tired of creating creating creating, and then sending all of your hard work right out the door.  You earn something from all of your hard work, but you don’t really get to appreciate what you have made.  So, take a break and make something for yourself.  You can admire it for a long time because it is all yours.

Go on a vacation.  I’m not talking about getting plane tickets and going to Florida.  Just take a break from creating.  Don’t set any time-limits, just decide that you are going to stop selling until you are motivated to go at it again.  This is ok to do.  Yes, your business will lose momentum, but in the end, it might’ve died out completely because you were burned out.  Take a break until your muse returns and you are rearing to go again.

Get some new ideas.  A lot of the time, we slide into a *routine rut*.  In every-day-life, it could be just doing the exact same thing every single day with little to no variation.  Same thing can happen in your craft-selling.  You make the same thing over and over and over again.  And sure, it doesn’t bother you a whole lot (you wouldn’t be selling if you didn’t like making the same thing multiple times), but after so many times, you just lose the desire to keep doing it.  It isn’t fun anymore.  Try adding new items to your inventory. Do some research, get some ideas.

Try mixing crafts.  One of my personal favorites is quickly becoming crocheting right into fabric.  There are so many different applications this can have, and it can add a whole new level of *creative* to your work.  Don’t be afraid to mix paint with tapestry, or sewing with card-making, origami with scrap booking.  There’s a lot of different ways you could go with this.

Purchase different materials.  This is one of the easiest ways I can think of to find some motivation.  If you usually work with acrylic, go for cotton or oil based.  You don’t have to change the color scheme, or make any huge changes to your product, but a lot of times just having the opportunity to work with a different type of the same medium, it can bring some excitement back.

Simple things.  Sometimes it can be a simple act or experience that can re-motivate you to create.  Try taking a walk, reading a book, watching the sunrise, calling up an old friend…

Write about how to become motivated.  Hahaha, that’s what I’m doing right now, and it seems to be working!

(Read more at FamilyBugs)