Craft a Creative Life You Love

Memory KeepingCreative InspirationReading

May 13

Craft a Creative Life You Love

I read Craft a Life You Love by Amy Tangerine back in 2019. I decided to pick it back up again this month since it is such a great fit with the theme of creativity. I’ve followed Amy’s work for several years, but I didn’t know much about her background or how she got started in the scrapbooking industry. Her story is fascinating and her philosophy on crafting is so refreshing. I felt so inspired after I read this book that I ordered another copy and sent it to my daughter.

I marked several quotes in the book that I wanted to remember and I decided that the best way to incorporate these into my life would be to do something creative with them. So I turned these thoughts into pieces of word art.

It’s the Ideas You Make Happen

I love that her emphasis is the ideas that you make happen. I think the greatest enemy of creativity is perfectionism. When we feel like we have to be perfect, we are afraid to create. Also, you do not need a perfectly styled craft room, expensive supplies, or hours of free time to live creatively. Most creativity happens in small pockets of everyday life.

Colorful abstract creativity quote graphic with the quote “It’s not how many ideas you have, it’s how many you make happen” by Amy Tangerine.

The Lessons You Have Learned

I had never thought about blame being a roadblock to creativity until I read this book. It’s not productive and the blame game robs us of focusing on what we are really capable of. There are plenty of excuses to let the bad people and circumstances in our life bring us down. I like her focus on turning these into learning opportunities and actually being grateful for the blessing we received from the lesson of what we DON’T want to be.

Blue and teal abstract quote graphic about learning from people and life lessons by Amy Tangerine.

Proof of a Good Life

This might be my most favorite quote of the entire book. This is why I love to scrapbook! This quote is also a good reminder that creativity has value beyond the finished project. We are not just making pages. We are preserving proof that there was joy, connection, growth, and beauty in our everyday lives.

Measure Success by the Distance You Have Traveled

It is very easy to measure success by unfinished goals. The projects still sitting on your desk, or the photos you still want to organize. When we only look ahead, it can feel like we are constantly behind. Creativity, and life in general, are built one small step at a time. When you stop and look backward for a moment, you usually realize there is more progress than you thought. Your skills have improved. You have learned new things. You have made progress!

I also think this quote fits memory keeping in a meaningful way. Scrapbooking, journaling, and photography help us see the distance we have already traveled. They give us proof of growth that is easy to forget in everyday life. Success is not only the big finish line. Sometimes it is simply continuing to show up, keep creating, and keep moving forward.