Archive for Daily Creative
Daily Creative… Inspiration Boards
Posted by: | CommentsDo YOU have an Inspiration Board? 
An Inspiration Board is a fabulous way to display ideas, thoughts, keepsakes, and images to “inspire” one to create, connect or live from.
There are many reasons to create these boards- to inspire our thoughts; to remind us of lovely, favorite things; to inspire our creativity; to keep our goals in front of us; to keep us positive or grateful; or to help us with a project.
I like to use Inspiration Boards for all of the above. I have a rotating board that changes with my mood. I have a few more boards for projects and creative boosters. I also have some Inspiration Folders and Binders- filled with overflow elements that I seem to wander through when needed.
Key elements for an inspiration board: keep it in view, keep it simple enough to gain from the content, keep it fresh if you are not looking at it and responding to it.
How does one create an Inspiration Board you say? It can be quite simple- a cork board and some push-pins can be an in-expensive starter. A custom fabric covered board with criss-crosses of ribbon to hold the elements on is another version. A vintage framed magnet board with hand-made magnets is another.
Not enough wall space for a large piece? Try a small cork inserted into a cabinet or closet door. As I mentioned above, try out a Folder or Binder if you are limited on space or just prefer to be able to carry your inspiration around with you. Either way, it’s a simple way to hold on to the elements that strike our hearts or creativity.
What goes on it? Anything that inspires you!! Favorite quotes or scripture, photos of places or people, art, magazine clippings, handwritten notes, advertising images, color swatches, words, fabric, jewelry, ribbon, in other words, anything that brings you joy and motivates or inspires you!
My challenge for you today is to create a Inspiration Board. If you already have one, either update that one, or start a new one. Let your imagination take off as you introduce these new thoughts to the front of your brain!
Daily Creative: Joyful Attitude
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How joyful are you? Are you an optimist or pessimist?
Do you practice an attitude of gratitude?
Our days are really determined more by our attitudes than our circumstances. It’s not about what happens to us, but how we respond to our circumstances that makes our lives fulfilled. Even though our days can be stressful, frustrating, and certainly not as we planned, we can still practice being grateful for what we do have and what is truly important in life.
I know you’ve heard it before, but what we often prioritize our days or even lives doing, isn’t what brings us joy and fulfills our lives. We are all designed to make a contribution to our world and often we miss our calling. We know when we are not in our “sweet spot” and feel unhappy, passing that frustration on to others.
Can you practice being grateful for what is in your life today? Don’t worry about what you don’t have, focus on all of the things that make life rich for you. What do you have to offer? Who can you build a relationship with? Who has a need that you can fulfill? We are designed to contribute, what is your calling?
Even when circumstances happen to us that seem less than ideal, there is usually a learning moment, some insight, or even a bigger plan to what is happening. We can be thankful for many things, even in the midst of a storm. Our character is built on it and our attitude is shaped by it.
A wonderful friend’s son was injured severely by a fall off of a roof when he was just 1 year into college. He was paralyzed from the chest down. As he lay in his hospital bed, he told his family and friends how lucky he was. He was still alive and he could breathe on his own, unlike the man in the bed next to him. Over the last few years, he has been in and out of the hospital, had countless surgeries, and many setbacks. He learned to cope with his challenges and move forward, all while maintaining his positive attitude. Through it all, his faith never wavered, but grew stronger. Still in a wheel-chair and unable to walk, he went back to college and earned his engineering degree and is currently designing projects that enhance the lives of other physically challenged adults. He is an inspiration to everyone who knows him. He has built his reputation on being a man of integrity, heart and gratitude.
I challenge you to make a list of 50 things that you are grateful for today…. it’s amazing how much we take for granted. Take time to notice all you are blessed with. It will change your day.
Daily Creative: What do you dream about doing?
Posted by: | CommentsWhat idea, dream, book, project, plan or business do you dream about making happen? What niche are you designed to fulfill? What dream do you keep so hidden within that you haven’t even given it words? What burning desire is just waiting to be set free?
You know it’s there. We all have something we are dreaming of doing. The problem is… we wait for someday, or just don’t even give our dreams enough worth to bring them to the light and take action on them.
What is keeping you from setting this dream to wings? Just what if you set it free and it came true? Just what would happen if your wildest dream came true?
What if? What if you opened it, gave it a name, nurtured it and it became real?
Don’t let it collect dust any longer, open your dream, set it free… and watch it fly. I dare you….
Watch and listen to the talented Kelly Corrigan read “I dare you”. The inspiration for today’s thoughts.
Ten things I couldn’t live without most days…
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These are ten things that I couldn’t get through most days without, in no particular order…
1. A cup of tea (rather multiple cups of tea!)
2. My latest read (currently Three Cups of Tea)
3. My daily devotion book
4. Burt’s Bee’s lip balm
5. My planner with my “to-do” list
6 . The three pillows I sleep with-
7. My creative journal
8. My iTunes music list
9. Doing something c
reative
10. Sunshine
What things do you depend on to get you through your day, your busy schedule, or your routine? Of course the people in our lives are most important, but there are also “things” that we depend on and look to for encouragement, purpose, or just for comfort. Some days the list changes, other days it stays about the same, but we are creatures of habit.
Think about what makes you function, work, smile, or just get through the day. 
Daily Creative: Deviate from Routine
Posted by: | CommentsToday’s creative opportunity is to get you thinking outside the box… or the office, or the home. It’s all about getting you outside of your comfort zone!
Instead of your usual routine, shake it up and deviate from your “usual”. Take a different route to work, eat dinner sitting at a different spot at the table, listen to a different radio station, drink tea instead of coffee, read a book instead of watch TV. Think of anything you can do to break your routine up and force yourself to shift your brain and your “auto-drive”.
The exercise is designed to make you use a different part of your brain. To make you actually think and live in the moment, as you are going through some of your more mundane activities. It may really seem strange to do this or it may be really fun. The point is to stimulate your brain activity, which leads to more creative thinking!
The challenge is just for today, but I would like you to repeat this on a regular basis, such as the first Tuesday of every month… just think what an impact breaking out of your routine would have on your day!
