McCall Magazine, 1940 via Flickr
Here is a list of resources we gathered, many with exercises and tips to help you kickstart YOUR muse. Let us know if any particular tip really helped you.
Websites, Books, and Blogs
- 100 Art Therapy Exercises
- 101 Projects for Artists and Illustrators
- Creative Exercises for Artists
- Creative Exercises For Artists (Slideshow and free eBook)
- Do the Work and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- Art & Fear by by David Bayles and Ted Orland
- Design Language by Tim McCreight
- How to be Creative, Part 1 by Jen Goode (@jgoode)
- Some Deep Thoughts on Creativity by Tami (@bcre8uv)
- 10 Lessons from the World of Butt Ugly by Barbara (@penguintrax)
- Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes, by Keri Smith
- The Art Journal Workshop, by Traci Bunkers
- 365: A Daily Creativity Journal, by Noah Scalin
Tips from Craft Social Participants & Others
- Make something ugly
- Use a new (to you) material
- Use your less dominant hand to create an object
- Pick a song and use your interpretation of the song to create new work (essay, poem, fiber object, painting, etc.)
- Drop a pin on a map, then research the culture of that area of the world. Create an item based on that culture.
- Take a walk or engage in another form of exercise
- Talk to a friend, seek help to break through the barrier
- Take a shower, nap
- Engage in a less creative activity: gardening, cooking, playing with your (or borrowed!) kids
- Doodle
- Wander through a hardware, art, or craft supplies store
- Organize your supplies
- If you are feeling overwhelmed, take moment and write down all your ideas or journal them.
- Set a deadline for a project
- Finding a tutorial for a project/medium you’ve never used, and follow it exactly
- Pull out 5 random items from your stash, then see what you can make
- Visit a museum
- Visit to my local artist shop, buy a new notebook and a writing utensil
- Participate in a swap or round-robin project
- Commit to a ‘thing-a-day’ project
- Remember, “Sometimes you need to make a box so you can see how to get out of it.” via @StacieMakeDo
- Reworking a project from earlier in your crafting life