Expand Your Creativity with This Simple Tool--and the Jane Austen Book Goes to...

I asked Sue Grafton what she was going to do when she got to the end of the alphabet. As most of you know, she's famous for her A Is For Alibi,etc., mystery series. She said, "I just hope I can make it to the end of the alphabet. It gets harder and harder to come up with new ideas and I don't want to repeat myself."

All of us creative types get stuck in ruts. Scrapbookers use the same color combinations over and over. Stampers use the same inks. Authors create characters with the same or similar personalities, physical characteristics, or backgrounds. And those who love to Zentangle use the same patterns over and over. So my Zentangle teacher came up with a brilliant idea. She created a icosahedron, a twenty-faced "polyhedron" that can be rolled like a die. On each of the faces, she put a different "tangle," or Zentangle design. Now when she gets stumped or can't decide what to draw, she simply rolls her die.

I loved the idea so much that I made a pair of dice for myself with Zentangle designs on all the sides. In fact, I think the idea is so cool and creative that I plan to make a pair or more of dice with character traits. One might have physical characteristics. One might have backgrounds--ethnic, social, religious. One might have professions, and so on.

That's another reason I love crafting. Once your creative juices start flowing, you never know what ideas will come!

Want to make your own icosahedron? Here's a pattern.

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JANE AND THE MADNESS OF LORD BYRON

Our winner of this copy of Stephanie Barron's newest book is Liz V. Liz, if you'll email me at joannaslan@aol.com with your details, we'll get the book right out to you.