Doing Me

This week found me returning to the workshop in a brainstorming session.  I had some pieces laying around that have been previously cut.  They resemble a diamond shape but with a curvature.  Imagine a very upturned surfboard.  I made flowers out of this shape some time ago by arranging five pieces into a circular pattern resembling a flower.  There is an old blog with photos of the flowers which were made into hair scrunches for a natural hair expo I participated in .  This week I wondered what I could do that I haven't done before.  I was looking for some way to create a new shape.  Many of my silhouettes for earrings have been done by me over and over.  I usually choose a disc, rectangle or hearts, maybe even flowers.  I came up with the notion that I wished I could flatten them so they would hang in a more appealing fashion.  I have seen YouTube videos of people bending bamboo but I have never been able to accomplish this feat.  Well I stuck with it for about a week trying out a couple of methods and the second one worked.  I was successful and so ecstatic about the possibilities with accomplishing this new silhouette.  The first one looked great.  Only thing is you gotta make two, especially if they are going to be earrings.  The second one cracked in two places as I overzealously held it flat.  DarNitt!!!  Ok, back to the drawing board.  Next was to try a couple of smaller pieces.  The jury is still out on the small ones.  After the first flat spear dried (I think the new shapes will be spears. African Spears) it was the next day and I noticed that as nature would have it, it tried to curl back up.   But I will not be discouraged.  The holiday season is fast approaching and I think I will have some new pieces to add to the collection if I stay the course.  I think one of my problems is always changing and innovating.  Maybe if I made the same shape and changed little, like the size and colors I could do more.  Maybe focusing on one thing and one thing only could take me somewhere.  I get bored with doing the same thing over and over.  I get new ideas and inevitably have to try it out.  Then I get another idea while working on the last idea and before you know it the ink is drying on this while I am creating the next thing.  Sporadic attention span is on Maxx overload.  I think I have several winners and top sellers to choose from if I ever decide to settle down and date one design.  But until then I will be ever expanding my creative horizons.  Trying new ideas and putting new spins on the ideas that worked so well in the past.   I'll be a designer and not a cookie cutting human press.