Inspiration for a joyful and creative life

BHG-Black-Cat-Candle-Holders by Johanna Parker Design

Using your creativity just for fun is a nice way to take a well deserved break.

Halloween is just around the corner.   Here are some fun projects and ideas to get you in the mood.

Folk artist Johanna Parker has a couple of projects in the current 2009 Holiday Crafts Magazine by Better Homes and Gardens.  Her Halloween project is a very cute papier mache black cat candle holder.

You should be able to find this magazine in your favorite bookstore or newstand.  It also has several other fun holiday and Christmas project ideas and instructions.  Here is what the cover looks like:

Also from Better Homes and Gardens, check out BHG.com for some fun ideas for decorating pumpkins, including folk art designs and easy no carving designs, decorating outdoors, costumes, and recipes for Halloween parties.

Halloween is a great time to use your imagination and creativity.  What will you do just for the fun of it?

Check this out for more ideas on using your Creativity Just For Fun.

How can you keep your writing fun and creative?

How can you keep your writing fresh, creative, and fun?

Sometimes it can be tough to have a blog or ezine and figure out what to write on a regular basis.

Create Regular Features or Categories

One thing that helped me with my ezine is to come up with some regular features or categories.

For example with my ezine, each month I write a featured article about living your dream and keeping inspired, a quote of the month with comments, a resource or two a month, and a Dear Sally column from clients and subscribers where I answer questions and give some suggestions.

For this blog, I’m going to play with some categories like Living Your Dream, The Art of Everyday Living, Creative Ideas and Brainstorming, Marketing Masters with ideas and tips for your business, and Nurturing Your Soul.

Use an Acronym

My sister is starting a home and organizing blog and we talked about ideas for her using an acronym of HOME, with each letter standing for a category.  That was a very helpful way to come up with some fun categories that will help stimulate ideas.

You can have a folder or pile or keep a journal and make a note of which category it fits.  It makes it easy to come across things and save them for later.

Find Pictures and Images that Speak to You

Find images that you are drawn to that spark some ideas.  Play with brainstorming anything that comes to you when looking at the image.

Tell A Friend – Resources

You know how natural it is to share with a friend something great you’ve found that you think they might like too?

Whether you realize it or not, you are constantly using and seeking resources for yourself, your business, and just for fun. The things you find that help you or that you enjoy might be things that your readers would like to know about.  These can be blogs, websites, services, people, businesses, books, places you go, things you buy, or music you like.

Random Thoughts

Of course, many people have random blogs about whatever is happening every day.  I suspect I won’t always have everything fit into a neat little category but it doesn’t really matter.  It is just a starting point that can be fluid and change as I go.

Please comment about how you like to come up with fresh material and ideas for your blog or ezine.
P.S. If your blog needs some help or if you are new to blogging and would like some advice about creating content or getting more readers, you may want to check out:

Blog Triage: Maintaining a Healthy Artist’s Blog

Next operation scheduled for August 19-September 16

with Alyson B. Stanfield, who writes a wonderful blog called ArtBizBlog for the last 5 years and resident blog doc Cynthia Morris . . .

During this month-long operation, you will take part in the following procedures:

* Healthy writing habits and content for great blog posts
* Blog cleanse: Fixing your About page, categories, sidebar, and more
* Visiting hours: How to get more blog readers
* Feedback: How to get more comments and be a better commenter
* Health maintenance: Create a blogging schedule, conduct regular checkups, balance your priorities

Hurry, there are only 30 spots!

Is it possible to learn to be more creative?  Some people feel that you either have it or you don’t.  They feel like some people are born with creativity and some people weren’t so lucky.

In my opinion, some people are more naturally creative and it may come to them easily but the good news is yes, you can learn to be more creative.  Just like anything, the more you practice, the easier it gets.  Each time you use your creativity, it is strengthened.

You can use these tips whether you are trying to come up with a new product, create a new design, figure out how to get paid to travel , or find more time to do the things you love.

1. Define the problem.  Sometimes we are trying to come up with solutions for the wrong problem because we haven’t gotten clear on what we are trying to solve.

2. Write down all your ideas.  This may seem obvious but you may forget your ideas or you may be tempted to only write down “the good ones.”  See tip #3.

3. Turn off your inner critic. If you try to only come up with good ideas, you will cut off the flow of your creativity.  The more open you are to receiving it, without judging it, the more ideas will come.

If you are in a group situation, everyone needs to turn theirs off too.

4. Get Silly.  The more absurd and ridiculous the idea is, the more it may have the seed of a really creative idea.  Have fun with it.

5. Combine your ideas for possibly new and improved versions. Combine things that may not even seem related.

6. Keep them coming. You may be tempted to stop when you have come up with 5 or 10 ideas one of them seems good.  Continuing to generate more ideas, and remember that includes the good, bad, and the ugly can uncover some real gems if you go deeper.

7. Put it in view but set it aside.  Allow your subconscious to continue working on the problem.  Keep adding to it.  Go for a walk or drive or fix dinner and add things as you think of them.

8. Share it and collaborate.  Two heads or more are better than one. If you are working alone, allow others to add to your ideas and see what they come up with.

If you work in an office, encourage other departments and coworkers to add to your ideas.  Or if you work from home, ask your spouse and kids to add their two cents.  Maybe even your dog.

9. See if those ideas give you more ideas.  Are you seeing a trend here?

10. Judge the ideas.  Once you have a lot to work with, you can start paring it down and sort the ones that you don’t like.

11. Take a 2nd look.  Before you throw out the “bad” ideas that you’ve decided won’t work, see if there is a part of them that has promise.

12. Evaluate. Based on your criteria of what you want and need, begin to choose the best ideas or combinations of ideas to either further research or implement.

Check out Dean Rieck’s article on Copyblogger to see if you have the 11 traits of a highly creative person.

I’ll admit that for me brainstorming ideas is fun and energizing.  But even if you don’t share that view, try it, you might like it.  Especially when it gets you closer to what you really want.

If you need help brainstorming ideas, contact me about a consultation.   It could be fun!