What to do with that creative experiment?

Do you make time for creative play? In my experience this is a vital component. Now it doesn’t have to be big or fancy! It could simply be putting some ink to paper, playing in a journal, or doodling on scrap paper.

I made a YouTube video showing the creative process for the watercolor image above – you can see that here if you’d like. Today though I want to focus on “what do you do once you’ve got something you want to turn into a project?”

There are a few obvious answers:

• mount onto journal cover
• create canvas mixed media piece
• turn into a card
• chop up/die cut/punch for parts
• use in a scrapbook or pocket page

I’m sure there are lots more ideas – feel free to share yours! Those are my main “go-to” ideas and with good reason. They really work so well. Which one I pick depends on what the creative experiment was, how much I love it, and what projects I can use it on!

In this case, I noticed my stash of cards is woefully low, and I decided to turn this into a happy card. I picked a plain cardstock base (often the best bet for a wild experiment!) and a sentiment sticker. Once this was done, well, I could be done!

Of course being me, I couldn’t just leave it like that! I added some fun sequins just to add a few little fun touches. I love the results, and that it can be as simple as “stitch to cardstock, add a word, be done” and doesn’t have to be super time consuming.

What do I do with the experiments that don’t work? They stay put if in art journal, or get recycled if possible. I have no problem with creative fail, because I’ve learned some of my most valuable lessons through failure! In fact, the “dot” technique that is shown in my YouTube video? That got it’s start from a failed experiment when I was working on my guest projects for Make It Artsy TV show. If you want to see some projects that did work out – ha!- you can check out projects + episodes on the website here.