That is a fabulous way to put that and great advice!!!

I find I need to be inspired to create as well but I think it's very helpful to make it a daily practice for whatever you want to get better at.  Even if you don't have a fabulous idea waiting to burst out, sometimes if you just show up and do something, anything then the inspiration comes.  Plus then you have refined your skills just a bit more.

i like the sound of that .

I've learned from many great builders, but found a good deal of their methods to be too technical and difficult for someone like me.  So I simplified their ideas and came up with a method which works for me. I believe one needs to do that, .. find what works for you.  But don't lessen the quality of what you are trying to achieve in the end.  Less can be more sometimes  .

That's great advice. 

I have found myself that I have already changed a couple of the ways that I do things that I think work better for me.  I started with the Simple Sock Pattern from Project Puppet and quickly changed a couple of the steps so that they worked better for me. 

I've been able to translate those changes to the other patterns that I have used with good success. 

I find that taking a class to learn the basics often helps. I did not do that with puppets, but have with many other things. You learn a lot of techniques that you don't get in written instructions (or don't know if you try it on your own).