I am a winter person – I love the chill and the cooler weather and I love snow although not much of that here in South Africa. However I am also quite realistic about what the cooler weather brings. It brings a greyness over creativity, a time where things just don’t happen as quickly and passionately – it’s almost like we go into a dormant state and we need to find and discover and grow our creativity again. So how do we do that without spending too much money on things we don’t really need – but we think we do. Buying new stash doesn’t necessarily mean you will be creative – a common misconception.

One way I try and get myself to beat the winter creative blues is to shop my own stash. I stand back and just breathe for a while, to get perspective of everything around me. So this past week I took some time to dig through a pile of off-cut papers and used scraps that have been stuffed into a box under my desk, very convenient – out of sight out of mind. It’s a pile I kept after purging and giving away the rest of my scraps. And what I discovered is the most beautiful papers and scraps – the kind of scraps that really speaks to me, and they really aren’t scraps at all but rather large pieces of gorgeous papers I have used before. So I went through the pile and took out some papers and immediately I could envision a layout.

The one thing that I noticed is that it ended up being the same colour palette I have been gravitating towards for the last couple of layouts and cards – funny that. The only thing I could think of is that I am at peace, I am calm and content and in a perfect state for my own creativity. It’s a kind of peace that I always long for. The colour palette is also one that reminds me of snow and spring and beautiful moments – at the end of the day it speaks of a happy mind and soul.

We are all different, but at the end of the day we all need to find a way that we can beat the creative blues, and for me it is spending time going through all the stuff I accumulate and haven’t used. It is sorting through my space, using the things I really love and inspire me creatively; it is cleaning my work space and rearranging furniture. It is essentially wiping the dust from my creativity and making my work space pretty again with some flowers and colour – I beat the winter blues by being creative in all aspects of my life.

I bet you know a way of beating the winter blues in your own special way and we would love to hear from you!

Post by The Wholesaler’s Designer Jowilna Nolte.

We are very proud to introduce you to our first designer, Jowilna Nolte. Jowilna is a true creative and she will be sharing some of her passion and creativity with you.

Read more about Jowilna here.