Creative Juices

If you’re a creative person, you know that when life gets in the way of doing what you love, it almost hurts. There’s this familiar itch you can’t quite scratch, a longing to sit, ponder, and simply create.

For me, the path from the swirl of ideas in my head to something tangible and meaningful is rarely a straight line. I can hardly believe it’s been several months since I began this journey I’m on. It hasn’t been smooth…but then again, life rarely is.

Today, I opened Gathered Expressions, an Etsy shop offering printable note cards and other heartfelt designs meant to lift people up. I absolutely adore the process. Pulling together elements from different places, blending them into something bold, happy, and full of life. It feels wonderful to finally have something real to share, though I know my work is far from done.

Gathered Expressions is just one piece of the Grey Clay Studio umbrella — the “sit down for a few minutes and create something joyful” part of this creative journey. The bigger picture — my Gathered Series — is more layered and demanding. It requires not just creativity, but deep focus and heart. Still, I believe it will all come together, even if that means adjusting my publishing timeline along the way.

The word gathered holds such meaning for me — it represents connection, intention, and the beauty of things coming together over time. It’s the thread that ties all my work together and keeps me moving forward.

So onward I go. I’ll pause for a moment to celebrate this first creative step… and then keep going. Because it’s not where you start that matters — it’s where you finish.