The creative process

I read other blogs and lots of women schedule time to stamp. They carve out time in their day to do it so they can actually get it done, and I decided to try it. I said "This is the time I will stamp - Dylan is playing video games, the older boys are busy, too. I'm by myself. Stamp!" Alas, my creative process doesn't work that way. I try to stamp in those situations, and I never can.

I take Lunesta at night. My favorite time to stamp is now, about half an hour after the Lunesta has had time to kick in, but before I'm sleepy enough to actually fall asleep. I'm relaxed. I get ideas. Anyone who has said that sleep disorders are nothing but negative hasn't actually explored the bonuses one can get from them. Good pills to keep you awake so you don't spend days being zombified, and then pills at night to get to sleep that make you feel creative and give you a window (a short window) where you can't stop the flow if you wanted to.

So I was in the bath and got a brilliant idea to make an inspiration book. I have a Bind It All (fab gadget!!), and I grabbed my 9 x 12 watercolor paper and started cutting and punching to make a book that will be 8.5 x 4.5. I'll spend my time filling it with things that inspire me - images, colors, songs, the way my son looks as his head is on my pillow for the 10th time in a night (we co-sleep, my pillow is his favorite place to be). All of those moments that often get lost because we worry too much about being perfect or about pleasing someone but ourselves.

Here are some pictures of what I am doing to my inspiration book. I'm painting the pages with Gesso (the greatest stuff on earth, I'm convinced), then I will paint them with different techniques using gouache (pronounced goo-wash) and ink and doodling. I want to put anything in there that inspires me and I'm pretty sure it should fill quickly. The top two images are the paper drying. Wooo, I'm sure that just thrills the pants right off y'all! The bottom images are the mess I made of my fingers. This stuff doesn't come off easily, so I am guessing everyone at work tomorrow will know what I was doing tonight.