Tag: creativity

July 26, 2016

Are you on the wrong road or the fun road?

They can be the exact same road. 🙂

This weekend I went out to dinner with my parents and their friends. We piled in their car and headed out. My parents have a river property that’s almost in the middle of nowhere and we were headed to a restaurant that was about 30 minutes from almost the middle of nowhere.

Along the way we saw a detour sign and turned off the road onto a smaller road.

At first mostly everyone was frustrated and complaining about the detour. The roads are few and far between and who knew how long it would take to get to the restaurant.

But I’m an eternal optimist and I love car drives and adventure. The road was beautiful and my dad got to show me where the rail trail that he rides on is. I was loving every second of the detour.

I shared that with the group and slowly the mood of the car turned around. I said, “I would go on this trip on purpose!”

Once we changed our perception it became a fun adventure instead of a long, out of the way ride.

As part of the detour we even drove our car on the actual bike trail trail, which was so much fun! When will we ever get to do that again?

It’s all about perception!

You can be on a beautiful windy country road detour and be upset about it; OR you can enjoy the ride. Either way it’s the same road and the same amount of time. One is just more enjoyable than the other!

As it turns out, we didn’t even need to take the detour! We got confused by the sign and turned even though we didn’t need to. We took a really long ride for no reason. And we didn’t get to go to the restaurant we had planned. We did get to try out a new restaurant that was fabulous. And we got to go on an adventure. I have absolutely no regrets about the ride at all!

You can apply this to anything in your life!

Identify what’s stressing, worrying, frustrating or annoying you.
Can you flip your perception on it so it’s more positive? Even if it’s something that seems like it has a flip side that couldn’t be positive, try to come up with one even if it’s just funny.
Enjoy the ride. You can be unhappy and miserable or your can be happy and think of it as an adventure and it’s still the same road (or life!)

You may have every reason to be frustrated or angry or annoyed. I am not trying to undermine that. But you can choose to put whatever positive spin on it that you can!

When I’m upset or feeling frustrated or angry, the best way I know how to deal with it is to do something creative!

You can get my Intro to Wire Wrapping eCourse for free when you sign up here.

July 14, 2016

Summer Haiku Art Journal Page

Today I have an art journal prompt for you!

Write a summer haiku.

To write a haiku you just need 3 lines:

Line 1 has 5 syllables
Line 2 has 7 syllables
Line 3 has 5 syllables

I just chose some words that represented summer for me and wrote my haiku.

The page, as you see, is very simple. I used watercolors and photos.

Now, it’s your turn! Create an art journal page with a haiku to summer. If you want to follow my example, choose a photo that also represents summer and then add some color with watercolors or whatever medium you like.

Next week I’ll show you how this page inspired me to make some jewelry!

Want to add an injection of inspiration to your summer? Check out Inspired eCourse. We’ll be art journaling and making jewelry for 4 weeks!

I’ll send you an email every Monday morning with the week’s lesson, but you can schedule a time for yourself that works for you to work on the lesson each week.

Start an art journaling practice that you’ll have for a lifetime and learn to take the inspiration from your art journal pages to make your own unique, creative jewelry pieces.

Inspired is an art journaling and jewelry making eCourse. Each week for 4 weeks you’ll get a creativity activity/art journal prompt. Then you’ll make an art journal page. Then I show you how to take the inspiration from your art journal page and design a jewelry piece.

Each week you’ll get videos and tons of examples and you also get a step-by-step tutorial for a jewelry piece.

This eCourse only runs once or twice a year and this is your last chance for 2016.

This is great for beginner art journalists. I’ll show you lots of tips and hints. This is also great if you’re an art journalist who wants to learn how take the inspiration from your art journals and make jewelry from it.

Learn more: Inspired eCourse

July 12, 2016

Making Time For Creativity

Last week felt pretty hectic and I felt like I lost my focus and center because I was away over the long weekend and then the week was shorter because of the extra day off.

I felt like I was having trouble just keeping up with my normal routine and that there was no time to do anything extra like be creative.

Not expressing my creativity made me feel even more frazzled.

I struggle with time and I know that you do, too. Sometimes it feels impossible to take time for yourself.

I have the solution.

You make the time.

It sounds so easier and it is really. I know you have a list of to dos and errands and there’s nothing on that list about “me time.”

Creativity is vital for your well-being. Creativity allows us to transform our reality. Creativity is freedom. Creativity gives you the opportunity to express yourself.

So how do you make time?

Schedule it in. Make it an unbreakable appointment in your calendar.

I have a new practice every Monday morning that I am walking to a park and spending time by the creek there. Sometimes I read, write in my journal, write poems, take photos, put my feet in the creek and just notice everything with all of my senses.

Truth be told, I didn’t have this time before I started doing it. I didn’t have an entire morning to spare.

But then I did it. And I did it again. And now I do have the time because it’s just what I do. It has made a huge difference on my well-being, so it’s important to me.

Is there a time each day or even each week that you can set aside for time for yourself so you can work on something creative?

Another great way to make time for your creative practice is to take a class!

Make time this summer to be creative each week with me with Inspired eCourse.

I’ll send you an email every Monday morning with the week’s lesson, but you can schedule a time for yourself that works for you to work on the lesson each week.

Start an art journaling practice that you’ll have for a lifetime and learn to take the inspiration from your art journal pages to make your own unique, creative jewelry pieces.

Each week you’ll get videos and tons of examples and you also get a step-by-step tutorial for a jewelry piece.

This eCourse only runs once or twice a year and this is your last chance for 2016.

Learn more: Inspired eCourse

June 16, 2016

Art Journal Inspiration: Walt Whitman (plus art journal prompt)

Walt Whitman has always been a favorite author of mine. I recently read a book that reminded me of that!

To be honest, I don’t want to tell you too much about the book in case you want to read it. I can say this book was one of those books I gobbled up almost in one sitting and have been going back through again slowly.

It came at the perfect moment and it has positively impacted my life in many ways.

As a consequence, I have been wanting my own copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

Now, I could have easily ordered a new copy and had it pretty quickly, but I really wanted a used copy. I have been watching for it at my local used bookstore and scouring the book section in my local thrift stores.

And then, finally, this week I found it!

I almost jumped up and down when I found it in a thrift store! I was on a treasure hunt and I found my treasure!

It’s a simple thing, a book, but it felt like an adventure to try to find it. Like I said, I easily could have went on Amazon and ordered it, but that felt too simple and too impersonal. I wanted a book that had been read and loved before by another Walt Whitman fan.

The art journal page I created is in honor of Walt Whitman and also The Wander Society.

Art Journal Prompt:

Consider the following questions:

Who is your favorite author?

What is your favorite book?

Who is your favorite character from a book?

Or it doesn’t have to be your favorite. Have you read a great book recently?

Make an art journal page. You could include quotes like I did, draw, collage, make a list, whatever you like! Think of unique ways you can express your feelings about the book (or author or character.)

And when you’re done, come back here and leave a comment – you can upload a photo of your page in the comments as well!

Not sure how to get started with art journaling? Check out this post to help you get started.

And see all my art journal related posts for inspiration here.

Then check out my Inspired eCourse.

Inspired eCourse gives you creativity activities and art journal prompts then I show you how to take the inspiration out of your art journal pages to design your own beautiful jewelry.

The next session starts on July 25, 2016.

Learn more about Inspired eCourse here.

There is a payment plan available for easy weekly payments.

Note: This eCourse is not available all the time. I run it once or twice a year.

June 14, 2016

Inspiration from Waterfalls (Wire Wrapped Rock Pendant)

Let’s just take a moment to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Mill Creek Waterfall:

I feel better already, don’t you?

Last week was nature week in Rediscover Your Creativity & Make Jewelry eCourse and I also went out into nature for some recharging and inspiration.

Being in nature is one of my most favorite things and waterfalls are my favorite thing in nature. This particular waterfall is one of my favorite spots.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in front of the computer lately editing videos and blogposts and while I love my work, sometimes I just need to get out.

There is something so calming and so grounding about being surrounded by trees watching and listening to a waterfall.

I love the way the sunlight filters in through the trees. It’s so beautiful.

While we were there I picked up some rocks. The rocks at this particular spot have a shiny metallic look to them, which makes them really unique and lovely.

And, of course, I made a necklace when I got home!

I love the simplicity of it. I teach this wire wrapping technique in Week #1 of Rediscover Your Creativity & Make Jewelry eCourse.

And you can learn how to wire wrap the ends of the cords in ECT TV Episode 65.

I love that I have a physical reminder of one of my favorite places. This has basically been the only necklace I’ve been wearing since I made it.

Have you been on a nature adventure lately? What is your favorite nature spot?