Thank you card

Apropos Using Stamps and Masks

I love stamping; I've been doing it on and off for years. Following on from a previous post on creativity as a process that can be repeated, I'm not really that good at documenting my creations. Anyway, I thought that blogging some of my home-made cards would be a good way of documenting not just the process but the product as well!

List of items used - Tim Holtz masks; stamps by Autumn Leaves and Clear Dollar Stamps (gr8 shop), Spellbinders Nestabilities, white cardstock, chalk, stamp inks.

Shapes were cut from the cardstock using Nestabilities. For the large circle, I attached the masks U and 8 (U/8 netball). I chalked it up with pink. Then, I stamped it with the background stamp using green ink. I gently peeled off the mask to reveal the white U8. The edge was inked with pink to make it stand out a bit. This was set on the plain white scalloped circle to highlight the U8.

For the small cirlce, I simply used my 'thanks' stamp on it using pink ink. This was adhered to a scalloped circle inked in green. The small shapes were adhered to the larger shape.

The large shape was attached to the front of a hot pink card (it looks a bit red on the photo though). Voila! A home-made thank you card to hand out to one dedicated coach who gave up so much time and energy to develop netball skills and sportsmanship.

I've never used masks before and I've got to say I enjoyed it. I'll experiment some more and with some success will come more postings. :-)

Apropos Creativity

I was reading a transcript of Sir Ken Robinson's presentation about Creativity in schools. This has really got me thinking about creativity. The article is well-worth a read (hence the provision of the link) and there are a few points I'd like to mull over in this posting.

Point 1: Creativity is "schooled" out, not in

The idea of Creativity being constrained and under-valued in the educational system is not new. Perhaps this is a product of the Industrial Age - streamline, keep things the same, avoid risks. There is a sobering truth in that for a vast majority, the amount of creative spirit is diminished throughout the schooling years. I was one. The irony is that creativity is valued post-school. The onus is on the individual to pick up the pieces and make up for lost time. I've been working on this and trying to give myself more opportunities to exercise creativity at work and at home.

Point 2: Creativity means taking risks

When most of your professional life is geared around risk management (prevention and mitigation), it becomes clear how creativity is stifled. It is sad that after creativity is constrained in school, it is further constrained in the workplace. I am glad some do take risks to give us many innovations (conceptual and real) that we enjoy now.

Point 3: Creativity as a process of having original ideas that have value

I remember a previous colleague who said very few things are really original. The idea of 'value' is also arguably personal. Nevertheless, it is a handy definition because if you have created something which is valuable - even if only you think so - then it is not a waste. I particularly like the notion of 'process', harking back from my Process Management days. Processes lead to products. Processes can be honed and improved. Processes can be repeated. Processes can be shared and taught. Need I say more?

AproposAll

I've always loved the word "Apropos".

Perhaps it stems from my post-modernist view of 'everything is relative'. Perhaps it's because, in conversations, I could quickly change gears or topics and would often have to back-track and go "apropos...". Perhaps I've always been a fan of parenthetical remarks - digressions, in other words.

Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure... the word Apropos has served me well and will continue to do so. What better term to name my blog then than the word itself?

Of course, someone else has thought of it already so I've had to add a suffix of All. Appropriate again as I intend to write about a wide range of topics.

So there, the official launch of AproposAll.