Most idea generators start by throwing a list at you. I wanted one that starts with questions, because a good making idea depends on how much time I have, what mood I'm in, whether I'm willing to make a mess, and which materials are around. Creavis is the third skill in my private ChatGPT plugin, Visrituelen.

1. Creavis asks one question at a time, ideally in a compact interactive card. How much time do you have? "No idea" is a fine answer.
2. What sounds fun: something beautiful, funny, experimental, or surprising?
3. Is mess allowed?
4. What materials do you have or feel like using?
5. It returns exactly three different, concrete making ideas, one of them unexpected. Each has a concept and a very small first step. The time estimate is optional, never a deadline.

In our first trial, I answered: no idea on time, something beautiful, mess is fine, coloured clay. The prototype offered flowers, a tactile miniature landscape, and an imaginary archaeological artefact. Then the plot changed. My "clay" was an unopened set of tiny coloured packets with a powdery, marshmallow-like feel. Instead of pretending it knew the product, we explored the material first. I ended up making miniature flowers, with toothpicks inside the stems and plainer filler beneath the coloured surface.

That added an extra mode: investigate unfamiliar craft materials before designing with them. Observe first, and don't invent properties or unsafe instructions.

The reusable skill instruction:

"Ask me about time, mood, mess tolerance, and materials, one question per turn. Don't repeat information I already gave. Then offer three genuinely different projects, including one unexpected option, each with a first step. Keep them expandable and easy to pause. If the material is unfamiliar, help identify its properties cautiously before recommending techniques."

The real magic wasn't choosing a project. It was watching an unknown material become something I wanted to make more of. The skill is packaged in the private plugin, and how reliably its implicit cue activates in other chats still needs checking.