To grow, artists suggest you create everyday.  Everyday.  Every single one.  Which is all well and good, until it isn’t.  Cause there are just some days that creating is harder than others.  There are days that your family needs you to focus more on them, or days that fatigue from life is more than normal, or days you find your brain is just on strike.

And on these days, the days that moving ink around a page just seems too much, these are the days I reach for one of my challenges.  I find that these challenges that can be found all over the internet, be they a paper piecing, card crafting or art journal challenge helps me reach over the wall of block.

I throughly recommend recommend every crafter find a  few challenges that they invest time in each week.  Beyond just using them when finding an idea when none are coming, they are great for pushing you to try new things.

For me, yesterday was one of those days that I had a creating block.  So I reached for one of my challenges.  I reached to the The Friday Mashup! which is a weekly card making challenge.  This group takes two different ideas and mashes them up together making a fun card for any occasion.

I throughly recommend every artist have some kind of online group they work with in any medium to find a way to stretch themselves.