being creative – Cynthia D. Griffin

artistic, blog, blog series, Celebrating the Journey Of, creativity, inspirational, the creative process

Celebrating the Journey Of Nature Bound Design Co

Posted on January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 by Cynthia D. Griffin

One of the things that I have loved doing in the past on my blog is author interviews for books or series I have read. I’ve decided that I want to broaden that concept and start doing interviews for other people too. There are so many wonderfully talented individuals out there, and I want to celebrate at least some of them on my blog.

So I’ve created this new blog series that I hope to post on at least several times a month, celebrating the journeys of some interesting people I either know, or happen to meet along my own journey.

I’m going to get the ball rolling with Sophia who I met through this blog. She has a business creating handmade jewelry. I saw her products and decided I had to know more about her and her business. So I’m going to hand this over to Sophia, so she can tell you more about her journey.

I love your jewelry designs. I’m curious to know more about your business Nature Bound Design Co. Can you tell us how you got started?

I really got started through my love for nature and the outdoors. I was born in Germany, and I was always out and about there, exploring the beautiful forests and natural areas that my part of that country had to offer. Sometimes my family would go on long hikes as a group, and sometimes I would just spend time in the woods near my house. I was lucky enough to live at the end of a road that terminated near a large forest, so there was plenty of nature to explore right in my backyard! From that exploration grew a love of natural materials, like stones.

I have always been a creative type. From building things to painting and creating music, I have always felt an overwhelming urge to create. One day, I was exploring YouTube and noticed someone creating jewelry from polymer clay pieces that looked like colorful stones. I gave this a try myself, but I found that I didn’t like the non-authentic nature of the clay or the way it smelled when baking. So I decided to try to create with the real stones that I had adored since I was young.

Wire wrapping seemed to be one of the most popular ways to approach this, so I started devouring YouTube videos about how to wire wrap stones. After much practice, I got good enough to feel comfortable opening an Etsy shop to sell what I had created. Close friends were my first customers and support, and I am so thankful that they provided me a foundation to get started!

Tell us a little more about the products you make?

I create mostly wired wrapped jewelry, although I do some beaded pieces that are strung together without any kind of wirework. My hope is to start doing some projects with leather this year, since I just launched a men’s line, so I will be offering woven pieces soon as well!

What makes jewelry making so special to you?

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creativity, journaling, networking

Todd Cumpston’s Journaling Journey: Sketching

Posted on October 6, 2019 by Cynthia D. Griffin

A few years ago a friend and I went to Manassas, Virginia for a weekend getaway. Part of this getaway was to meetup with some of her sketching friends at a neat little coffee shop downtown. This is when I met Todd Cumpston and several other really awesome people. I was in awe of the work these people where doing, and while I did some sketching of my own, I mostly enjoyed watching what they were doing. It was a really great time, but most importantly, I walked away from that gathering with a new appreciation for how other people journal.

Recently, I contacted Todd and asked him to share a little bit about his sketching. He even agreed to send some pictures to show his amazing work. I hope his words and work will inspire you as much as it has me. So let’s get right into the interview and see what Todd has to say about his sketching journey.

Todd, I asked you specifically to talk about your sketching because I wanted to let people know that there are different kinds of journaling, and that sketching definitely fits that category. So let’s talk a little about your sketching experience.

How long have you been sketching?

Well, I’ve drawn my whole life, but I’ve been “officially” keeping sketchbooks since 2012.

What caused you to first start sketching?

As a visual thinker, it helps me process my life. I remember things much better if I sketch them- even better than if I have a photograph of the same scene.

What kinds of sketching do you do, and do you have a favorite way to sketch?

The style of sketching I do is called URBAN SKETCHING. It is an online community of sketchers, and the goal stated in its “manifesto” is to depict the ENERGY and SPACE of a location from life, to share the work online and to meet up and encourage each other sketchers in person. Wherever I am, wherever I go, there is a subject in front of me.

I start with pen and ink line work, and then add color selectively- to draw attention to the focus of the sketch. More recently, I have also started adding some text and framework/borders to some sketches, to add context as needed. I have even pasted things onto a sketch (receipts or tickets).

I post all of my sketches on Instagram (@toddpop1) and Tumblr (toddpop1.tumblr.com).

Do you sketch every day? And for how long do you have a typical sketching session?

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A Writer's Life, creativity, free writing, inspiration, inspirational, the creative process, The Writer's Toolbox, the writing journey, the writing process

The Journey of a Creative Life

Posted on August 9, 2017July 12, 2019 by Cynthia D. Griffin

It amazes me. Life. The journey we take. It takes surprising turns and we end up in locations we never thought possible. We have these big ideas of where we want to go. Sometimes we get there and we don’t even know it, because we get so wrapped up in all the craziness that is our life. Sometimes we don’t get there, but we arrived in a place that’s just as good or even better. And we think, “Wow, how did I get here?”

Living a creative life isn’t easy in this world of constant distractions and doubt. We wonder if what we are doing is right. We wonder if we should do this or do that. We fear what others might think if they find out exactly what we want or exactly how we think. We fear judgement and scorn. We fear failure. We fear success. We fear doing the wrong thing.

But even with all this tumbling in the back of our minds, we still feel the need to live our life the way we want to. That pull. That desire to just be us. It’s not just enough to live. We want to live a creative life. We want to be expressive. We want to experiment. We want to try new things. We want to do more than what we are doing. We want to be more than what we are, or maybe just a better version.

We also worry about how much we are getting done. Is our life where it should be? Shouldn’t we be doing more? Shouldn’t we be farther along than we are?

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being a child, better writing, Boosting Creativity, creativity, creativity blues, inspiration, inspirational, sparking creativity, the creative process, The Writer's Toolbox, writer's block, writing, writing advice

Want to Be More Creative? Bring Out the Inner Child

Posted on February 21, 2012July 7, 2019 by Cynthia D. Griffin

Let’s face it, creativity is the bread and butter of being a writer. It’s the spark that gets the imagination going and is an essential part of coming up with something interesting to write about. It would stand to reason, then, if a writer has trouble coming up with ideas for writing, what a person really might be having problems with is creativity. This problem can be fixed by bringing out the inner child that resides in all of us.

Be a child? Oh, yes, Be a child. Act like a child. Think like a child. Why? Because children are some of the most creative individuals out there. I know this because I have a four year old and I love watching him play because his creativity is so fresh and unencumbered by the restrictions of adulthood. If I need inspiration to write or come up with new ideas, all I have to do is spend some time with my son, and every time I come away with insights I’d never considered before.

The thing what floors me is that these insights are usually so simple and obvious, but most adults (like myself) are too busy to see the simple anymore, though, it’s not just the simple, but really the incapability of looking at things from a different point of view. Sometimes creativity can be sparked just by breaking the brittle rust from our own minds and allowing us a change of view. It’s about having an open-mindedness to embrace new ideas no matter where or how they come, just as a child is naturally programed to do.

It’s a big scary world out there and it’s full of stuff that needs to be done right away. This often has a person running like crazy, or simply consumed by the day-to-day issues that hampers all adult lives. It’s no wonder with all the bill paying, job responsibilities, laundry folding, and rushing kids back and forth to school and soccer practice that the inner child disappears all together to be replaced with a mask of constant responsibility. This mask can be difficult to take off and sometimes it’s just downright inconvenient to do so. Other times, the responsibility of adulthood has consumed a person to the point of no return and the thought of being “child like” is repulsive.

When I have creativity “issues,” I have to remind myself to stop being so serious and let the mask of responsibility be put away from time to time, allowing for something that is so incredible as letting the inner child take control. It’s a freeing and satisfying thing to let happen, and it can do wonders for a mind of stone. Letting the inner child time to play, will loosen up that stone, which will then, morph into a waterfall of ideas that may even be difficult to contain.

Need some ideas on how to access your inner child? Swing in that swing on the playground, dance in the rain, build a sandcastle, eat ice cream with gummy bears, and if you don’t have a child, then borrow one. Get down on their level and play for awhile. If you’re like me, you’ll be amazed at what you discover, and might find yourself inspired to do something never before considered. Just make sure to keep a notebook handy to write down the sparks of creativity, as you let the inner child play.