Design Hunter's Journal

It recently dawned on me that there is a pattern to my behavior as a creative entrepreneur. Whenever I am making jewelry or engaged in any other creative work, I tend to go through five distinct steps:

The 5 Steps of Any Creative Project

1. Get an idea for a creative project.
2. Work like mad to realize your idea.
3. Take a good, hard look at the finished product, and realize it isn’t as great as you imagined.
4. Decide to look for a real job.
5. Repeat.

There is some variation to the above steps: Sometimes the creative product actually stands up to scrutiny, so it is photographed and listed on Etsy and social media. Where it is then promptly ignored by almost everyone.

In my jewelry studio, I have been going through these five steps, with variations, nearly every day for the past year. When will I learn, you might ask? In my defense, I have been searching diligently on LinkedIn and Indeed for jobs. But then… I get an idea for a new jewelry design, and it seems so cool that I just have to pursue it. The ideas I come up with are much more interesting than any of the job descriptions I have seen so far.

Does this sound familiar? I wonder if I am alone in my obsession with creative work, only to have the finished product ignored by just about everyone.

Am I in the grip of a delusional obsession? Probably. And what possessed me to choose jewelry making of all things, one of the most oversaturated categories on Etsy and the web as a whole?

But I can’t seem to stop. Here is the necklace I made today, which actually did turn out well:

And now I have this blog, so I have yet another way to keep reality away. I started it to share the amazing artisan finds I kept discovering while exploring Etsy and other sites for design inspiration. There also seemed to be a lack of good journalism in the field of DIY and artisan crafts, so I thought this blog might help to fill that gap.  

Creative work can be lonely at times, and I am hoping this blog can reach other creatives. Let’s face it, by profession I am a journalist, not an artist, so perhaps my contributions might lie in that direction… especially after seeing the wealth of impressive products made by real artists that already exist on Etsy. I admire your talent, skills, and perseverance, and hope to feature your amazing products on this site!

-Louise Hunter Burton