Trying to be Creative

This post was written earlier and scheduled to post today. I am in Costa Rica and will not have regular access to the internet. Please, DO leave comments but understand that I will not be able to respond to them immediately. Also, feel free to extend your condolences to Douglas, Kahlua and Crème, who have been left behind to guard the fort while I am away.

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This post will be published a while after it is written, but it is something that needs to be said. Today, June 10 2013, Apartment Therapy published a post on Creative Wedding Photo Ideas. Suzy8track felt the need to say, “I don’t know but it seems like everyone is trying a little to hard to be creative and cute. If it were me, I would stick with the traditional photos, mainly because I want to look at my photos years from now and not be embarrassed by them.”

This hurt my heart. Why would creativity ever be a bad thing? Why would she look at someone’s ideas and think that person had tried too hard to be creative? It seems to me that creativity should come naturally and be promoted.

I had posted a link to our zombie wedding photos, and here was my response to her, “I do not think that trying to be creative is a bad thing, but some of us do not have to try. I was constantly encouraged to be creative as a child, and as a result I now have copious amounts of wacky ideas. Not all of them turn out well, but I will never be embarrassed of any of them. I also have plenty of traditional pictures, but the ones that truly bring a smile to my face tend to be the non-traditional shots.”

Have we as a society stopped valuing creativity or is Suzy8track an aberration? I hope it is the latter.

When I look at the blogs I follow, I am given hope once again. There are a lot of people out there exercising their creativity.

When you are truly creative and do not have to try you can look at a stack of boxes and see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin III lamp like my blogger friend D’Arcy over at Our Bungalow’s 2nd Century.

If you want evidence of creativity alive and well, you just have to take the tour of A Goode House. Stacey has an amazing eye for décor both inside and out and is an artist despite her denials. Her post Pansies “Rock”! is but a small example of what she has created.

Another amazingly creative person is Alex at Northstory. She makes beautiful cards for all occasions. The only person that makes more creative cards than Alex is my sister, but she does not have a blog so I cannot attach a link to her creations. Here is a picture of some of Alex’s.

Speaking of creative people named Alex, there is another one over at Old Town Home, but this one is male and married to Wendy. They have both done a lot of amazing things, but one of my favorite projects was their recessed jewelry cabinet.

You should also check out the drawings over at Sketchy Styles. I wish that I could draw like that, but in the meantime, I will appreciate Becky’s creations. I particularly like her paint chip art.

Christine at Yellow Brick Home is also an inspiring artist. Someday, I hope to own one of her pet portraits of my fur babies.

Ali of Ali Does It Herself has inspired me so many times, like when she made deodorant, which led me to make deodorant. Besides, look what she can do with a pumpkin.

Over at Tootsie Time, there are so many examples of objects that most would throw in the trash being used objet d’art. This bicycle is a prime example.

Sometimes, being creative is just modifying something to suit your needs. Daniel at Manhattan Nest is famous for this. This little chest of his started out as trash and is now on it third transformation.

And then there is Victoria Elizabeth Barnes. She is in a league all her own. Her writing is hysterical, and just look what she did with a lot of sparkly balls.

One last example of excellent writing can be found at Sho Nuff Organics. Read “Portrait of a Knotty Headed Johnson Woman.” I also love Christienne because she created a prairie in her front yard.

These are but a few of the millions of examples from the blogosphere. I for one am going to do my best to be as creative as possible to off-set the Suzy8tracks of the world. Let Creativity Reign!

Happy Homemaking!