Last week I wrote six practical ways to get creative in your busy day. Once you start incorporating creative ways into your days, you’ll find that you want to take more time to explore the areas that you love and that make you come alive doing. It is difficult to find reliable courses among all the information and pinterest rabbit holes online. These creative resources will help you when you want to take longer amounts of time to get creative, they are all accessible online, of course there will be workshops and courses nearer to you geographically that will be worth looking at too.

 

Photography

If you are into taking photos, I’ve found the tips from Emily at Makelight useful. She has a range of online courses that you can take as well as workshops.

If you are inspired by the idea of going on photowalks but feel a little intimidated by taking photos of Instagram favourites: doors and windows, in case a homeowner doesn’t appreciate it, then going with someone else or a group can feel less intimidating. If you don’t know of any organised photowalks near to you then Natasha at Candypop has written this guide on how to run one. I’ve been on some she has run and they are great, she knows what she is talking about.

Lettering

If you’ve discovered that you enjoy hand lettering or brush lettering then I’ve recently discovered Kelly Creates. She has resources for brush lettering that include practise sheets, which I have some but I’ve yet to sit and practise with!

Equally it’s worth checking out Quill London for calligraphy pens and supplies online and they run calligraphy and brush lettering workshops, mainly in London.

Jewellery and craft subscription

If you fancy having a go at making your own jewellery then Fran at Fall for DIY has a lot of tutorials for modern style jewellery on her site. She also runs Make Collective which is a craft subscription service which will send you materials and tutorials once every two months to make at home. I’m about to attempt her macrame kit!

Writing

If you like writing then there is a site called The Write Practice that will send you writing exercises by email. You can get 14 writing prompts by email when you sign up.

Crochet

I have used these video tutorials to crochet a basket and a crochet pouffe. I find that the video are great for seeing technique and you can rewind them over and over till you get it just right!

Tuesday To-Do | Use T-Shirt Yarn to Crochet a Basket

Books

Books are a good resource for tutorials, (I have one that you can get for free when you subscribe!) I’ve found that the best way to get creative is to follow someone else’s tutorials first till you get the hang of it and then use the techniques to put your own style, taste or twist to make it more your own.

I own and have used these books to get creative, they are affiliate links:

Giftwrapped – Jane Means

I’ve been on a Jane Means gift wrapping course and this book is a great guide to follow if you want to wrap your gifts beautifully.

The homemade home – Sania Pell
50 thrifty and chic handmade projects
If you like a unique touch to your home this book is inspiring and the makes are muted and chic.

Kirstie’s Vintage Home
Includes 30 simple handmade projects
This book has a talks about different periods of home style and how to create a vintage home but it also comes with 30 tutorials for making things for the home.

Sew – Cath Kidston
The projects here are very Cath Kidston in style if you like that. I’ve made the bird’s mobile, the book is full of sewing tips and you don’t have to use Cath Kidston fabric for the makes.

I hope you find this useful, and can make creative time in your own way soon. I’m off to a paper piecing course tomorrow and I’m loving Emily P. Freeman’s Create and Complete course which are helping me to be creative. Because you and I know that it is good for us to create, to have choice, to express our style, taste and to live out fully who we are made to be.

If you struggle to be creative in your busy work day I wrote a magazine to help with that. You can read more about CLOUD magazine here.