Lateral thinking versus linear thinking and the creative process

Lateral thinking versus linear thinking.
If Linear Thinking is nose-down, get it done, then Lateral Thinking is taking a step back to look at the Big Picture.  To paraphrase a famous Chinese poem, Linear Thinking sees trees and Lateral Thinking sees the forest.Ever wonder what inspires people.  I like to create, the process, the planning the execution and trying to make the elements of the project do what I want them to. Solving problems in the creation process is fun too. 
If I end up with what I tried to create, well that is icing on the cake.
I tend to have multiple projects going on at once. They often can influence each other. For instance I have some beautiful small pieces of wood that have been finished into geometric shapes. Originally I just strung them on a chain to have a necklace. Now I'm thinking of linking them with leather to make a hat band.


Hats hats hats currently I'm working on some Fedora style hats in panama straw. I was hung up on how I wanted to finish the brims, what size brims to make etc. Well I decided to keep the brims larger and to simply bind the edges with Petersham and make the head bands classic Petersham bow or tie. Sometimes doing less on a hat is more. The texture of the straw and the colors are enough I don't need any fancy hat band or trim.
So you can see that my thinking style isnt necessarily linear or lateral but perhaps horizontal. I jump back an forth from projects. When I get stuck on one project I change direction and work on another only to come back to the original project usually with a new solution. How do you create what is your thinking process?  And while I ponder all of this you can see me on Not Dead Yet Style 





 

Day six for the 30-30 challenge

 Oops my slip is showing. Do people still wear slips? I do it makes the knit fabrics skim my body better. Today I wore a animal print blouse underneath my brown knit dress. I like the pattern with the jacket. I added purple shoes because the blouse has touches of purple in the animal print. Even though you can't see them in these pictures my earrings are purple stones on gold as well. This is a basic outfit nothing special just another way to wear a dress with a jacket.

Day Five, 30-30 challenge Brown with orange

 I have a cold boo hoo hoo!! I hate having colds. I don't get them that often but when I do I look like ... NOT GOOD. 
But I have to keep my challenge going so here is my jacket with an orange sweater underneath and my golden khaki jeans tucked into my boots because of all the slush outside. I had to go to the store to get some soup and cold medication. The blouse which is under the sweater has a quasi-animal print which obviously the hat has as well.

I am not smiling in this picture because I just don't feel like it. I didn't want anyone out there in blog land to think I am some sort of superhuman that smiles no matter how they feel.

It's snowing Day 4 of the 30-30 challenge

It's snowing of course we have reserved tickets to see Les Miserable. Well I will be Plus Miserable if we cant get there...

I'm wearing my snow boots which I never got to wear last year. My husband laughed when he saw me put them on. We only have an inch or so of snow.


I layered my vest over the brown jacket. I have a tunic top over my brown leggings If nothing else I'll be warm without the bulk at the theater. Navy Beret and gloves complete the outfit.

red with red with brown day 3, 30-30

Merry Christmas! 
Today I wore my red skirt, red sweater and brown metallic jacket. I added a red scarf because it tis the season. I added metallic flat shoes today because I was doing the cooking.
The skirt and sweater look like a different red in this picture than the scarf but in person they look very similar.
I think the proportions are okay again in this outfit. The shoulder to hip length of the jacket is shorter than the hip to hem length of the skirt so I am not cut in half.
I hope you all ate well today and made merry with friends and family. 

30-30 day two: Metallic denim with paisley

Who says you can't wear a jacket with a dress?? 
Color:I believe that this jacket works with this dress because the colors in the print of the dress are of the same muted brown tone of the jacket.
Proportion:The length of the jacket is ever so slightly longer than the length of the dress showing below the bottom of the jacket so it doesn't cut me in half. 
Shoes: They are a peep toe pump with a 2 1/2 inch heel. They bookend my hair color so it functions to bring the eye back up to my face.
Accessories: Brown pearls combined with turquoise stones. Earrings match but I dont mind being matchy-matchy when everything else is different.  

30/30 ChallengeThe Jacket: Vogue 1036

The Jacket is finished! What a long project this ended up being top stitching and top stitching galore lots of aggravation. This was a project that I wanted to put in my best effort. I made several muslin versions just to get the fit I wanted. I still think that the sleeved shoulder area was too roomy. The pattern called for both a header and shoulder pads. I would have preferred a simpler treatment. I did like the sleeve detail even though it took a lot of time to sew it and top stitch it. I used buttons instead of snaps and I am happy with that choice. I never have much success with snaps they always seem to come loose from the fabric.

So now that I have finished it I decided I need to wear it. So I'm going to try to come up with as many outfits as I can incorporating this jacket. Why not 30/30 challenge. In the next 30 days I will wear the jacket incorporated into the outfit. I think this will be fun to see what I can come up with.