So I made the entire thing from scratch, chocolate with chocolate cream cheese frosting and berries and I even made TWO.

It was a two day project, buying equipment and selecting very carefully the recipes I would try for the frosting and the cake, and how would I decorate it? My kitchen was soaked in butter and cocoa and dusted with a snowfall of powdered sugar. (Sounds kind of divine when I put it that way…in other words, it was a mess.)

Coming out with the finished product, though, I felt insanely proud.

What I didn’t expect: I felt creatively refreshed, recharged, ready to tackle again the problems in my craft and my business.

Try something new is not revolutionary advice.

But add creativity to that and splash bang shazam. It’s a fabulous way to move outside your comfort zone and refresh your perspective on your particular creative line of work.

It was exhilarating to try to sprinkle juuust the right amount of powdered sugar atop my cakes, and even figuring out how to transport and store (cream cheese frosting can’t just be left out on the counter apparently, whooops) and cut my cake creation was pure fun.

When you push yourself to create something outside your usual, your eyes are opened to the nuances of someone else’s craft–and you know what’s comin next is a sentence about applyin’ those discoveries to your own art.

It doesn’t have to be a science, the application part. I’m not going to pretend like I made a chart of comparison–oh, sifting the powdered sugar on top was like editing in Photoshop–noo no no. Just the exercise of trying something new but still creative is in itself enough to expand you as an artist.

Some people might advise you to start small, and don’t try to do everything from scratch and from recipes you’ve never known anyone who’s tried and for a huge crowd your first time, for Pete’s sake.

But I am kind of all about rule breaking. Intentional or not.

So if it feels most comfortable (but exciting!) to start small, and you’re mostly scared spitless, go that path. But if you want to go big, whatever that looks like, oh mah goodness, you have my blessing.

Whether you’re baking a few cakes or wanting to try professional video, if you’re heart is itching for it, let’s give ourselves permission to do. Even if you don’t know the first thing about frosting or focusing. Even if your new creative avenue goes absolutely nowhere. Just because you try something and it works out doesn’t bind you to any next step. And of course, if it’s a royal mess that doesn’t mean your dreams of adding video to your wedding photography offerings are dashed forever.

This idea of branching out creatively is to:

1. Refresh your love for your main squeeze

2. Give you new perspective and creativity in dealing with problems in your business

3. Give you permission to try new things that may or may not show up in your business down the road.

Has there been something creative floating around that you’re anxious to try? A new blog, basket weaving, baby hair bows custom gift wrapping flower arranging calligraphy a memoir of your childhood? I’d be tickled to hear about it, in the comments or an email at brookebschultz @ gmail.com

Keep living your wildly creative life, mlove!

And, just in case you’re interested, the recipe for my cake here, and the frosting here. (The frosting was like whoa. Best I’ve ever had probs. just bein real. The cake, a little too crumbly for my liking but still really good.)

Brooke Schultz is a Salt Lake City based Utah wedding photographer who is completely crazy for authentic love stories, beautiful food, and any ocean she can get her hands on. She’s the mom of a bright-eyed baby girl and the queen of hot fudge making.

You can find her work in Martha Stewart Weddings, Style Me Pretty, Ruffled blog, and some other pretty exciting places she can’t quite tell you about yet. You can see the details about getting your lovely self in front of her camera here.