Emerald Hearts and Creativity

 This is one of my latest pairs of earrings.  I was actually quite happy with how they photographed.  The sparkly dichroic glass is visible in the picture--although not quite as sparkly as it really is.

I used to make silk flower arrangements for a local store years ago. After making arrangements for some time, I discovered that my creative inspiration would disappear.  I found this very disturbing both because the store needed me to reliably produce attractive arrangements and because my income depended on it.

When I began to make jewelry and then lampwork beads and also sell what I made, I worried that my inspiration would leave me.  And sometimes it does.  The best way I have discovered to counteract this is to do three things.  First I make something for myself.  Then I make something to give away.  And I make something for sale.  If I can manage to do all three of these I usually have more than enough inspiration (or I can revisit something I've done before).  I have the most difficulty remembering to make something for myself and I can always tell when it has been a while since I've made myself a new piece of jewelry.  That is always when it becomes hard to be motivated to finish filling my orders.  Somehow it seems so self-indulgent to just sit down and make a project for me.  I'm trying to change how I look at my own projects and view them as advertising--and not as something self-centered.  I still have a way to go...