Tuesday Tips - June 19 - Resources for Creativity

Here are some great Tuesday Tips from June 19, 2012 for Creative People and Ideas

TODAYS TOPIC - FUN!

Doodling while watching TV

1. Sometimes we just need to have fun.  For me I usually draw or paint, but there are so many fun things you can create:

• Create a meme and post it for other people to enjoy  http://www.quickmeme.com/
• Make up a product on Amazon and watch what happens when people respond - like the Tuscan Milk idea  http://www.amazon.com/Tuscan-Whole-Milk-Gallon-128/dp/B00032G1S0/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top If you read below you will see that thousands participated in so many ways - from poetry to consumer reviews etc...all with imagination and fun.  
• Help write cartoons for the New Yorker - YEP YOU!  http://www.newyorker.com/humor/caption/
• Send some really hilarious ecards or make one yourself.  Get ready to laugh   http://www.someecards.com/thinking-of-you-cards/email-hacked-friendship-spam-funny-ecard 
• Live in a really hot climate and want to cool off  http://www.rainymood.com/   Imagine...making a website like that for other people to enjoy :-)  Here in Vancouver, there is NO NEED for the site!

You can find many other great ideas at 21 Tools to Unlock Your Creativity   

Please pass this along using social buttons below...or leave us your tip in comments.  Keep Laughing!

Creative Types and EVOLUTION

Creative Types in EVOLUTION, EVOLVING, Change

"Happy Street" SOLD   Prints for Sale

Can you stand the heat of change?  Just how flexible can you afford to be?  Are you Evolving?

I am so surprised, being kind of a lefty in politics, opinions, shopping choices, and lifestyle at just how RIGHT I can think I can be!

There is a  notion that things can ONLY be RIGHT or LEFT, BLACK or WHITE, but who is to say there is not a HOLY GREY option? :-)

More and more I see the value of stepping back, seeing things from different perspectives, looking for my blind spots, considering other people's genius.

For a liberal minded person, I can be quite conservative in:

1. How many no's I will take before quitting
2. How much I measure my worth COMPARED to another
3. How I adhere to my "just go with the flow" mantra and insist that TYPE A GOTTA DO MY WAY people are WRONG..

Creative Types are evolving - always in process, morphing, emerging, ....

As soon as you or I begin to settle in and say to ourselves we have it figured out..."there, done with that", life will surprise us with a new twist, a fresh angle, unexpected circumstances that challenge our stance.
Sometimes we need to stay put, and other times, like a snake, it's time to shed our skin and go for another round.

Watching young children go `round and  round until they are so dizzy they fall down reminded me I need to find the same smirk they have on their face when they let their heads be disoriented, and just go with it.

Tuesday Tips for May 15, 2012

Gutsy Arts Tuesday Tips - Resources For Creative Prompts

Tuesday Tips for this week start with a resource to test your creative thinking and focusing on your problem solving skills.  I find that the very same openness to unusual connections in a painting or drawing is very similar to the openness required to solve complex problems. 
Creativity Quiz

Do you feel like a bit of inspiration for a indulgence into an hour in your studio - creating something.  Christy Tomilinson recently posted a short video of creating one of her mixed media beauties.  I share it with you here because I got such a kick out of the changes she made.  Several times I liked what she had and thought....no...no - "don't touch that!", but she did anyway, and of course it turned out looking great.  Christy offers great online courses, lots of free videos, and operates an online store for supplies.  There's lots more to learn about her, but I leave the exploration to you.  (Christy's art was just fefeatured in the latest Somerset mag for paper and mixed media)

Do you love photography?  Poetry? Maybe you are a whiz in the kitchen and known for unique recipes?
Do you dream of sharing your creative arts in a book but have no idea of how to get published?  You might want to check out Lulu for self publishing. You would be amazed at the possibilities in this field compared to a simple 10 years ago. 

Want more tips and resources?  Check out other editions of TUESDAY TIPS and subscribe to this blog for weekly resources to stir up your creative juices.

Fabulous Friday May 04, 2012

Gutsy Girl Fabulous Friday May 04, 2012

Weeks seem to fly by when you have Fabulous Friday's.  Seems the very act of accountability, helps your awareness in the process. Between Fabulous Friday's and Tuesday Tips - my awareness should rival the Buddha shortly....KIDDING!

Fabulous Friday is about what creativity we saw in our lives this past week - where we either allowed creativity, recognized we didn't allow it, shared it, stuffed it, sold it, bought it -doesn't really matter...
As long as we were in touch with our creative voice or motivations.

My Roundup

1. I finished (I think) my Gutsy Goddess of Compassion.  I know I could do other things with her, but right now I am just loving her simplicity and Grace.  She is not so much about Compassion to others, as she is about having the GUTS to be compassionate with yourself.
2.  I have worked like crazy on some creative brain storms for my SEO Small Business clients.
3.  Been studying my little brain away - taking a few courses in visual arts right now.
4.  I have tried to LISTEN to comments from people who care about me who have suggestions for how my life might be easier if I listened to them. :-)  (Thus the POLL - have you taken it?  Look to the right -maybe scroll up just a wee bit, of your screen)

\I could tell you a few things I haven't done - like kept my home clean this week, paid my bills on time, or run on my training schedule.  OH WELL- My Goddess Of Compassion says " Harmony - give yourself needed rest and love - us Goddesses don't need a perfect home to be happy!"  AND I SAY YAY to the Goddess in me!

How about you - where did you allow your creative juices to work with you this week?

Creative Type Series - Who Do You Hang With?

Creative Types Hang Out With Creative Types!

If you want to be more of something, immerse yourself in it .Creative types need other creative people to stir them on - some more than others, but EVERYONE needs the community of others to foster individual growth.  It's a human condition!

For over a year I have looked at this photo to remind me you don't need to be complicated to be creative! Its just simple fun, but works for me http://www.wwwearables.com/patterns/wall-hangings/catsville.htm

We all know if you want to keep our kids on a path for success - keep them from kids on a path to nowhere.

If you want to be a football star, hang out with other big burly guys or quick sprinter dudes who like leather balls that go from side to side. :->

If you want to sing in the opera, your spare time won't work for you in the casino.

Where and with whom you associate has a lot to do with how creative you think.

You Are What You Eat! 

 

Creative people foster creativity through association.  The more you read, listen to, talk with and observe other creative people, the more you encourage your own imagination and challenge your comfort zone.

No one is an island and we sharpen our skills through the community of others.  If you are having any blocks or creative listlessness, it often helps to:

• visit an art museum
• take an online workshop
• take a community workshop on a creative topic
• watch shows on TV that teach creative skills or demonstrate others creativity
• loan out some books from the library on art forms in your genre - or those completely outside it.
• call a friend who shares a love for creativity and have coffee, share idea, look at projects, plan to work on something together even!
• grab your camera, go to the park or any public space and let the activities of others awaken your creativity - especially children.
• Really listen to a great series of music - pay attention to the creative use of space, time, and interplay.

Creative types will feel ill at ease, unhappy, depressed even, if something creative isn't happening in their world. If you sense yourself lagging, rev yourself up a notch by allowing the ideas of others stimulate your thirsty soul.

Got some creative inspiration tips?   We only scratched the surface here - what do you do to get your mojo going?

Here are a couple other articles you might find helpful.
Are You A Creative Type?
Creative Types - 30 Seconds to Bliss

Check back tomorrow for TUESDAY TIPS - for resources to help you on your creative journey.
You can Subscribe to this blog for creative inspiration from the subscribe icon on the right hand column.(Either by email close to the top of the page, or by Reader in the middle of the page)

Creative People Change Habits

Don't Like Your Habits - Chuck em! Creative People Can Change Habits

Kicking Coffee ...Kinda

There are a series of commercials on right now from some bank here in Canada that says something very simple.  The couple is walking down the street and the she says I wish we didn't have to pay bank fees and someone overhears them and says to them - "If you don't want to pay bank fees, don't pay bank fees."

I thought of how many times we say that in life.

"I don't like this or don't want to do that"

And still we persist...DOING THE THINGS WE SAY WE DON'T WANT TO DO

The cool part is that as CREATIVE PEOPLE, we don't have to stay stuck.
Habits are ours.  YAY.  We own them.

And like a simplicity maven, if we don't want to keep them, we can chuck them.

If you were adept enough to accrue said habit - who is keeping you from ditching the sad slop and moving on....LITERALLY NO ONE.

Certainly not you.  You and I want to change up.  And so we can.

How?

Well I could go through the ...

it takes 21 days to change a habit

 bla bla

OR, I could assume you know that the human brain muscle requires repetition (21 days in a row worth of reps) to retrain your thinking patterns.

SO IMAGINE THAT.  One day, followed by the next, and then another, for only 21 ridiculously short (and possibly painful) days, and BAM - you are rockin new habits.

In the light of blogging transparency - here are a few habits I have changed over the years

14 Cups of coffee a day to 2 (most 3)
3 Cups of Coffee a Day to Decaf Coffee
Decaf Coffee back to 2 dark strong hits of caffeine
2 Cups of Dark strong HITS of delicious brew to 3!!!!

And that's only ONE example. Wink Wink

Seriously tho, habits are ours.  We can adopt them, love them, nurture them,  cultivate them, reject them or outright ditch their sorry bums - whenever WE the CREATIVE PEOPLE decide we want to.

A STRONG DECISION, a bit o' elbow grease, and BAM, we have a new habit.

I love Breakfast!

Right now I am developing, with great care, a habit of chocolate for breakfast. :-)

Breakfast of Champions - 1