Try again tomorrow

I had intended to preceed this 'how to' with one of my random musings, you know something uplifting or insightful, possibly even vaguely interesting, but as soon as I put fingers to keyboard my thoughts turned to marshmallow and then 'foof' - nothing. Like any creative process really, sometimes it just doesn't happen.  So, rather than force yourself to make art, write poetry, sew, knit, take the next David Bailey style photograph just walk away. Don't try relentlessly for hours to create, don't punish yourself for what is not happening on the paper, with the material or in the camera, just accept that at this moment you are not in tune with your creative side. Walk away and do something else, remember the famous phrase from Gone with the Wind - 'Tomorrow is another day'.

At least I can share my step by step intructions for making the Pumpkin Bookmark featured over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team blog.

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1. Trim a piece of kraft card to 25 x 5cm and round off the top corners using a corner rounder. Ink up the cobweb stamp from the Book of Spells set with Versafine Onyx Black and then randomly stamp over the whole piece of card, re-inking as necessary.
2. Using Cut 'n Dry foam and Pitch Black Adirondack dye ink add shading around the edges of the card.
3. Punch a hole at the top and add a paper hole re-inforcer which has been sponged with Pitch Black ink. Stamp the spider in place with Onyx Black and set aside.
4. On thick white card stamp out the pumpkin from the Things that go Bump set three times. When dry paint the images with colour washes made from Brusho Crystal powders in Orange, Grey and Leaf Green. To make a colour wash put the tiniest amount of powder onto a palette and add water, a little at a time, until you achieve the shade you want.
5. When completely dry add shading to each image with coloured pencils, then cut out all three pumpkins leaving only one on the stone base.
6. Attach 3d foam pads to the first pumpkin, add one small pad at the right hand side of the second with double sided tape to the left and tape only to the third one. Stack on the card as shown and adhere one of the spare stone slab images underneath the stack.
7. Ink up the words 'midnight dreary' from the full phrase and stamp onto a small piece of Kraft car. Ink up 'Once upon a' and stamp above. Ink the cobweb again and stamp off excess ink on spare paper then very lightly stamp over the words to give the faintest image and shade around the edge with Pitch Black. Attach to base of card using foam pads.
8. Finish with some co-ordinating ribbon threaded through the top.

I won't promise to see you tomorrow, but I'll be back soon.