You know that feeling when all of your creative energy has gone? Maybe a negative comment scared it away or work is taking up so much of your time and energy you have nothing left to give. You may be one of the many who compare their talents with others online and feel inadequate. Whatever the reason we can all have times where we feel blocked or like we are in a rut.

Time and time again I see people posting on social media that they are feeling this way and it can be difficult to help via a reply comment. I wanted to create this blog and video for all of you wonderful crafters who are struggling. I will be sharing five techniques that have helped me overcome a block.

I find that the simple act of creating, rolling up your sleeves and getting into things, and having the satisfaction of a completed project does wonders for your creative mind. So here I have five go to techniques that you can alter and change to get you creating over and over.

To watch the video version click on the thumbnail below or keep scrolling for the written version. All supplies are linked at the end of this blog post.

1. Masked Stencil Ink Blending

For this technique you will blend ink through a stencil with a section masked off. You can mix up the colours, orientation and stencil used to get many different looks. A bold sentiment is perfect to finish off this design.

2. Messy background + Topper

This technique is a great way to experiment with a new background technique. You could use distress ink smooshing like I have or alcohol inks, a background stamp, watercolour or even a pattern paper. Once you have your background in place you just need to finish off the card with a topper such as my croc and a sentiment stamp.

 

3. Clean and Simple – Grey Ground

Clean and simple cards can be a great way to practice colouring and to make a card really quickly. To avoid having your images looking like they are floating around on your card add a light grey ground underneath them. Stamp on a sentiment and you are good to go, a beautiful card in no time at all

4. Repetitive stamping + focal image

Repetitive stamping to create a background can be a great way to use up smaller images from your stamp set. If you use a light ink and then highlight one of your stamps with a darker ink or heat embossing it can provide a really striking look. For this card I’ve use a large image in the background and foreground. Again a bold sentiment finishes this design.

5. Card Sketches

The best thing about following a card sketch is that sights such as card challenges.com have new sketches for you to follow all the time. You can also browse other crafters designs using the sketch to really get the most of the inspiration.

I hope you have found this useful – if you give one of these techniques a try i’d love to see – be sure to tag me on instagram @craftynotshifty