Rainbows

01 April 2015


I have long been fascinated by creativity and how to define it.  When I first started to read blogs I was left feeling woefully inadequate by the amazing things that I was reading about.  Things that I would have never thought of doing or making, and I have now come to realise that I never will.  Not so long ago I posted about my realisation that creativity is so much more that just producing amazing objects to share on your blog.  It encompasses so many areas of our lives and what it means to each of us is completely different.  What is most important though is that we make room for it in our lives, in whatever form it needs to take for us as individuals, and we own it.

I am fond of making the presents that I gift.  I recently made some fabric baskets for a friend, the pattern came from a book that I have on my shelves.  She asked to look at the book as she wanted to make some herself to give as gifts.  When she saw the pages in the book she looked at me and said, I would never have thought have making them at all looking at those pictures.  It was the perfect compliment to me.  But when you really look at all the things that people make and share pictures of, are they often as not fairly similar.  That is not to say that we are dull, boring and repetitive, far from it, but that as we all view the potential for something differently we make it slightly different or add our own twist.  But if it is something that we are new to and need to follow some instructions to gain confidence isn't it great that someone has been there before and made them up for you?


Last year I made a story sack for a friends child.  I actually made this for her eldest child, but it has become a favourite of her youngest.  Sadly the wee owls have not proved themselves to be sturdy enough and most of the babies have missing wings.  I wanted to make another story sack, with sturdier contents this time, but I was struggling with inspiration.  I often see projects which I would really love to make, this is itself is not a good enough reason for me to do so.  I have to need it or be able to gift it.  When I saw this delightful gnome I knew that it would be the perfect addition, it was sturdy and adorable.  But I needed to work out how it would make its way into a story sack.  I mulled it over for some time..............gnome stories? colour stories? rainbows!


A rainbow of gnomes, in a rainbow bag, with a delightful story about the colours of a rainbow.  I just hope that book doesn't get destroyed this time.........


So I took two patterns created by others put them together and made something out of them, inspired by a blogger showing me what she had made.  What I created was totally different, yet the same, I am not more or less creative, just given my own twist to an idea.

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Pattern for gnomes is a combination of here and here
Tutorial for bag is here


36 comments:

  1. the gnomes are so adorable and in such fun colors! When I look at other blogs I get inspired to make new and different projects that I would otherwise pass on. That is what makes the blogging community fun and innovative for me.

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    1. Thank you Karen. I think I have finally reached that stage of being inspired rather than feeling inadequate. There are so many amazing projects shared on blogs!

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  2. The little gnomes are so cute and I love how you put it all together! Looking at different blogs is always an inspiration. Not always to make what they made, but to be creative in general or add my little twist. Thanks for this great post!

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    1. We are lucky that we get to share them with likeminded people through blogging.

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  3. Brilliant and you can't buy that in a shop! I think that we inspire each other so that our creations are not the same but the idea has been made according to each person's creative instincts - this is why blogging is such fun and inspirational.

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    1. You are right you cannot buy it in a shop, that is part of what inspires me. I could never make things to sell, I love making them once but to be under the pressure to make them again and again would be a negative experience for me.

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  4. What a great idea...I love this! I just bought a couple of books for a friend's baby and this has inspired me to think about how I could make one of them into a story sack (good ideas are contagious!!). And I love this: "creativity is so much more that just producing amazing objects to share on your blog." So true!!

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    1. Have fun Andrea! Good ideas are contagious that's what's so great about blogging :)

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  5. The creativity has to spring from within, inspired perhaps by a book, person, poem, weather, building etc, but always with heart and soul, like your adorable bag. X

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    1. Thank you Penny, you are right it does have to come from within :)

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  6. I love those gnomes!!! I love your twist :)

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  7. This is such a beautiful gift. I really love every part of it. I think inspiration is everywhere, all around us, we just need to train ourselves to find the right kind of each of us, do you know what I mean? I also think it's easy as a blogger to fall into the trap of playing to an audience, so to speak. The longer I blog, the more confident I become in finding and sharing the things that make MY heart happy.

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    1. I know exactly what you mean. I think it is easy to fall into that trap and then what you are writing is not genuine and is much harder to write about. I get what you are saying about blogging and confidence too, it takes time but I am getting there!

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  8. I really like the gnomes, they are really very well done, but what I love the most is that you make the gifts you give, soooo good of you!

    Lluisa xoxo

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  9. What child, what mother of a child, wouldn't think that the perfect gift ... it is lovely, and speaks of both skill and (more importantly in my view) careful, creative, thought for another.

    I'm very wary of the way creativity is often conflated with the ability to make 'arty crafty' things. I'm sometimes asked why I don't make more things, given that I'm nominally an 'arty/crafty' type - having studied art textiles and print/photography at university, and taught art textiles on and off since - and I always answer that just because I know how to make nice stuff doesn't mean that more nice stuff is needed. There are so many 'things' in the world already ... creative thinking and acting - as you demonstrate here - is much more important methinks than making per se.

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    1. You have nailed what was troubling me for so long. The mixing up of creativity and the ability to make arty crafty things. I never felt the two were one and the same and then I became confused when I was led to believe that they were.

      Thank you for your lovely comment :)

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  10. Fabulous. I remember your post last year about the story sack and thought it was a brilliant idea then. What a shame the last one got destroyed, I'm sure it was because it was so well loved and used.

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    1. It is a shame that the last one I made was damaged however it was never intended to be used by s child so young. I am just so happy that he loves it so much, he bought it over to me to read last time a visited!

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  11. What a great project and such a beautiful, cheery gift x

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  12. such a lovely gift. and I love what Annie wrote x

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    1. Thank you. Annie's comment is just lovely and thought provoking too.

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  13. What a fantastic gift, thanks for sharing the links,I think I might try the bag.....

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    1. You're welcome. Your sharing of the gnome sparked my inspiration! I hope you do manage to make the bag, and share it when you have made one!

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  14. Great post and great gift! Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Thank you Sarah, I hope it is well received :)

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  15. What a fantastic gift and so creative - I love this idea!

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  16. Oh, what a beautiful gift! And a fantastic idea. Wonderful example of putting your own twist on things. x

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    1. Thank you, the personal touch with a difference!

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  17. Adorable! I love the little gnomes. A great gift idea

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  18. You are so right - creativity comes in a million different forms and it really matters most what we make of it. The gnomes are a delight and the idea about the story book is beautiful!

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    1. Thank you, I am happy about where my creativity path is taking me these days :)

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