I feel like if you just tinker around enough with what you already have, eventually something worthwhile will come out of it.
I actually just did my first fully frame by frame animation earlier this year. Before, I'd try to get by with tweening as much as I possibly could and still have it look natural enough. It's rough.
I do all my creative stuff on the side as well, and while it's not my ideal situation, I still feel like if I did have a job where I was always having to do design work for clients I probably wouldn't do anything for myself because I'd be so burnt out by the time I got home. I think it's all about getting into a mindset where you just set aside a bit of time to work on "something" for yourself at least a couple nights a week.
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My arts- http://gopherguy.deviantart.com/