Aezine challenge - Personal Creative Manifesto

For this weeks’ Aezine challenge, Ali wanted us to play around with some words & phrases that will help us to write our very own Personal Creative Manifestos!!!!
Yep! I thought What!! When I first read the email, but having spent the whole week giving it some serious though (lets face it, I can do precious little else with little or no heat!!)
Now she did say not to take it too seriously, but I wanted to do this right first time & get down the essentials of my personal thoughts.
So I now feel I am at a stage where I can lay down my manifesto.

Happy - is the main achievement. I must feel happy doing the craft. If for what ever reason I am down & unwell, I leave well alone for fear of doing something to a page that can’t be mended!! Crafting for me is therapy. It is relaxing & gives me immense pleasure. I also feel intense excitement when working on a page that gels. I see the latest challenge or sketch & I "buzz". Crafting is sexy for me.

Plan - Take time out to plan what I am trying to say. Choose a subject & select what I will use to showcase it to best effect. Draw sketches & more sketches of the finished page to get a feel for it. If I’m am using a sketch for a base (e.g. pencil lines) I still plan out a design brief. I will lay out all the items on the page & leave them. Each time I walk up to it, I move them about until I am completely happy with it before sticking down anything.

Experiment - Try out new ideas. Don’t write myself off as unable to use a product until I have tried. Use waste paper & keep at it until I can achieve the look I want.

Enjoy – Carry on enjoying myself playing with the products & papers. Enjoy the whole process right through to the final photo of the done page. Just have fun, touch & feel these thinks & let them work for me.

Inspire – Take inspiration from other people & from daily life. Adverts, programs & books are full of images & ideas. Inspire others with the pages but don’t be afraid to stick to a format that works for me.

Criticise – Be critical of my work, but not in a derogatory way. Look at a finished piece & say to myself that I like it but perhaps items could have been well placed elsewhere. Make notes on this & try it out on the next design.

Since beginning my quest for "HAPPY",this year, I have thought about precious little else. Happy has invaded my life, let me say in a very good way. It has certainly helped me to remain positive through this latest testing time.
I think just crafting in general is making me very happy & the very positive responses & feedback I am getting is helping me to grow.
I do feel I am growing daily & it helps to have camaraderie.
I have my UKS team mates for great support. We share our work & trials daily with each other & gain confidence in knowing they give constructive criticism & also if they truly love something they will say so. They are none of them, gushing folk who say stuff to please you.
Also I am involved with the Emily Falconbridge 52 week, Art Journal challenge & it is great swapping ideas with the ladies doing it also.