We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vera Yates. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vera below.
Vera, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
I have love being creative ever since I was a kid. I love making things. When I am creating, I feel happy. Mostly I love working with paper and pictures. My main thing is card making follow by scrapbooking. Of course every now and then I experience creative block. Whenever I experience this, I have learned the best way is to take some times off and just walk away from whatever it is I am working on. I might pick up a book to distract myself and give myself the break I need. Or, if I am under deadline, I still force myself to walk away and start browsing for other unrelated craft to get myself excited. Whenever I see a cool or neat projects I could feel a tingle of excitement and slowly my mind start thinking of stuff I could do or find inspiration to incorporate what I just saw to my project. It could be the color combination or the arrangement of florals, basically I just keep browsing till I feel myself feel excited to create again. And, surrounding myself with other creative people. I have a group of creative girlfriends and whenever we get together, it helps me to get out of my creative slump. Basically I keep my creativity alive by giving myself grace to walk away and just do something else. Forcing myself to create would often means I end up with a result that I am not happy with. So, take a break and do something else.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am mainly a paper crafter who mainly do card making. I started my journey in paper crafting as scrapbooker and soon after branch out to card making. I used to teach classes for both and now only do classes if someone requested it. I love making cards because I feel I can get result pretty instantaneously and I can send them out to brighten other people’s day. Since I have pretty big stash of cards, in the past few months I’ve been selling my cards through my church’s coffee house. So, anyone interested to getmy cards you can find them at West End Coffee House on Washington. And all the proceed from the cards sales goes to the church charity fund. Knowing my card could reach more people definitely make me happy and inspire me to get even more creative. And, as someone who loves trying out new craft, a friend of mine convinced me to get into laser cutting & engraving where we make personalized ornament and home décor gift, So, we started Sunshine By Design TX and we focus on creating personalized wooden ornament with your pet pictures, monogram cheese tray with your family name, etc. It’s still really new and we currently getting order based on word of mouth. You can find us on Instagram under SunshinebydesignTX or if you’re interested to learn more on what we offer you can email us at: [email protected]
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
My mom is definitely the person who has the biggest influences in my life. And her own attitude to never stop learning is one of the quality that I apply to myself as well. No matter how old you get, no matter how good you become in your field of work, never stop learning. There’s always new technique to learn, other crafts to try, etc. Second, I believe in surrounding myself with good, positive people who lift you up. When you surround yourself with people who believes in your talent and encourage you in keep going, that definitely make a big different. I might have given up early on because at one point I thought I wasn’t creative enough and yet I have people who are super talented and told me that I am good at what I do and I should even pursue a career in it, that change my course. If those who I considered as talented and really good think I could do it, I should totally listen to them. And, third, I believe in keep exploring. As much as I love paper crafting, I don’t limit myself to just paper crafting. If I catch any product or project that I think are neat, I’d go ahead and find information about it. You never know when you could end up combining it with what you already doing. For example I started doing cross stitching and embroidery and now I used stitching on my card making as well. Or when I found laser cutting intriguing and started learning about it and now I start selling laser cut project as well. There are so many things out there that could enrich your life or your creativity. Keep exploring!
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
Most impactful thing my parents did for me was the fact that they never compare me to anyone, not even to my own siblings. They never say look at so and so and how well they’re doing or how good they are. Instead when I, myself compare myself to others, my parents would say stop comparing yourself to others. I am who I am and I don’t have to be like anyone else. They truly show me and my siblings that we all have our own uniqueness and to appreciate and keep building on that. Their attitude always as long as you work hard and do everything to the best of your ability, that’s what matter. No need to compare yourself to others because then you’ll never feel enough. This impact me in every aspect of my life.
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