What motivates you to create?

I think a lot of those things interact! Seeing projects and tutorials and then buying the new things can be pretty motivating if they come quickly enough Although deadlines can be helpful to a point they can also be stifling - I think I do better with time and space to play.

My motivation is the finished product. 
Looking at my finished scrapbooks. Looking through older scrapbooks, remembering and reminicing a moment, day, evening out, time spent with friends or a family member, etc.... inspires me to get the years(and years, ummm... decade-ish....so behind! ) worth of photographs out of their "patiently waiting to be scrapbooked photo boxes" and into the scrapbooks.

My motivation is my life. Sometimes I think or feel like my life is going by quickly and I've not really done anything. Then I look through all my scrapbooks and think >> I've done, I've experienced, I've went, I enjoyed so much more than I thought.

My scrapbooks help me remember all the things I've forgotten. Being able to look back on my memories is my motivation.

You are so right, and on most days this describes why I started scrapbooking and what gives me the most satisfaction.
(That, and the pretty colours and supplies.)

I answered the poll based on what helps me when my mojo wanes, and the stories aren't as interesting. What keeps me scrapping when it doesn't feel easy. Or what puts an extra pep in my scrappy step!

I chose 3 answers, but really, others here nailed what motivates me:

Like honeypea , I just have a desire to create. It’s built in me.

ScrapbookMyLife mentioned another motivator for me: the finished product. I often get an idea that I want to bring to life, but sometimes I just start creating and see what the result is. There is such incredible satisfaction in seeing a finished product, especially when it is entirely my own creation rather than a copy of something done by someone else. Projects done by others may spark an idea, but my finished product rarely looks like the one that the idea was born from. I enjoy card making, jewelry making, and a variety of crafts, but what gives me the most satisfaction is scrapbooking, bringing the stories of me and my family to life. I haven’t done any for awhile, but hopefully that is about to change.

Like LavenderLayoutLady , it’s also my therapy. I’m the sole caregiver for my husband. He had a disc that deteriorated last year, resulting in a lower lumbar fusion right before Christmas, then he had a heart attack in March. Life has changed very dramatically for us, and not just because of COVID. We’ve both been vaccinated, but because he has both diabetes and heart failure, if he gets COVID, he still has an extremely high risk of dying. Creating something, even if it’s just a card, keeps me sane, and gives me something else to think about than possible worst case scenarios in my future.

Some of the reasons listed in the poll may send me to my craft room for one reason or another, but these are the real reasons that I create.

What motivates me, is the desire to create first and foremost. I've been a crafter my whole life. Photos and stories usually get the mojo going if I've been in a dry spell.

Next would be the time and space to play, new supplies and crafting with others either online or IRL. There's something about setting aside time with others, blocking out that time, that can bring the mojo back and get me inspired. 

My primary motivation is my desire to have photos scrapped to pass on to others. I want to get the photos out of boxes and tell the stories.

Time and a clean scrap space before I begin.

I need the promise of uninterrupted time. So I can relax. It's the stress free mindset that's the important factor for me.

I'm with you here. I also selected deadlines, time/space and crafting with others but during this pandemic my state of mind has been so low it's hard for me to motivate and create anything. On the other hand, when I was a host during the Sketchtember challenges that really helped me get stuff done that month. The deadline helped me and also the thought of letting people down if I flaked kept me motivated to get them done.