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Journaling Prompt – The Beauty of the Dialog

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
The Beauty of a Dialog
[Photo by: izarbeltza]

Havi Brooks of the Fluent self talks to monsters and to blocks. Her dialogs, as I see and interpret them, is actually an intricate monologue. Her conversations are so soulful and sensitive, it has been my absolute pleasure to eavesdrop.

Dialogs are taking a huge place in our lives. From the mundane morning conversations over cereals and PB&J toasts to the monsters that creep inside our heads and hold us back from moving forward with our lives. Gems are often found in both types of conversations, as with all the types of dialog in between.

The bigger the conflict in the dialog, the more interesting it’s bound to be. Taking the less traveled road and trying to negate the conflict and find a bridge between the conflicting voices guarantees a fascinating conversation with some interesting insights into the writer’s (our) mind.

It is also a FANTASTIC journaling prompt.

For this week’s journaling prompt narrate the dialog that goes on between the following duos:
(pick any two that looks interesting to you)

  • Aristotle & Robot
  • Hostage & Captor
  • Killer & Victim’s parent
  • New born & an Old man on his deathbed (variation: young self – current self – old self)
  • Soldier & Terrorist
  • Sprout & Sun
  • Farmer & Banker
  • Lion & ant
  • You & a Cockroach
  • Running shoes & TV couch
  • Creative child & Self critic
  • Cicero & (pro)Blogger
  • Egg & Sperm
  • Left brain lobe & Right brain lobe.
  • Mathematician & Magician.
  • Plaintiff’s lawyer & defendant.

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  • Which of the duos do you gravitate to?
  • What other interesting conflicting voices can you think about?
  • Have you eavesdropped (or participated) in an interesting/hilarious & heartwarming conversation lately? (between your kids, for instance…)

It would be a pleasure reading your dialogs, so do share and leave a comment on this post.

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Will Be Back Soon

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Hawaii

It turns out I am allergic to Hawaiian mosquitoes.

Unfortunately, Hawaiian mosquitoes are quite fond of my blood…

Therefore I’ll have to take some time off, but I will be back very soon – so stay tuned.

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Posted in General Notifications | 2 Comments »

Journaling Prompt – Write A Love Letter To Your Body

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
Body Love
[Photo by: Ally Aubry]

The sun is shining. The sky is blue. Summer is just around the corner (at least on this side of the globe). And thus, with a smile and the sweet promise of a vacation, the self loathing begins.

Oddly enough, poor self image has nothing to do with our actual size. Some of my most well rounded friends are constantly complaining about the way they look. My sister (who I swear can wear her 6 year-old-and-skinny daughter’s clothing) has been guilty of self bashing her figure as well. I complain too, but that’s understandable 😉

Summer is the season that brings out the worst of our self image and this is not surprising at all. Cute tank tops and bathing suits are hanging on department stores’ displays. Magazines are filled with perfect photoshopped images of skinny models. Fashion becomes less forgiving and there is less material for camouflage…

Therefore I suggest that just before the season officially starts we will try to nip our self loathing habit in the bud.

For this week’s journaling prompt write a love letter to your body.

  • Write everything you love about your body. What are your strongest features?
  • Write how your body has been there for you when times were tough.
  • Write how your body represents who you are and makes you stand out in the crowd.
  • Write about the way your body represents your hard work, strong will and resistance.

This isn’t about beauty or feeling beautiful, it’s about appreciating your body and loving it.

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Are you going to join the self loathing group or are you going to love your body this summer?

Share and leave a comment on this post.

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Posted in Journaling Prompt | 6 Comments »

Inspiration Prompt – The Domino Effect

Monday, May 25th, 2009
The Domino Effect
[Photo by: Wikipedia]

Creativity pertains to the domino effect on two different levels.

First. The domino effect represents a state of flow. After the first tile has dropped, the entire line of tiles is falling, one-by-one, until there is no tile left standing.

So is working in a state of creative flow. After the first couple of awkward lines has been put onto the paper or the first couple of sentences has been typed, there is no stop until a masterpiece emerges.

Second. The domino effect also represents a creative way to deal with mishaps or accidental occurrences. A whole new game (and perhaps a sport) evolved by chance. I remember my grandmother and grandfather used to play domino on the big dining room table, only instead of laying the tiles horizontally they laid it vertically. Looking at them playing, I can imagine how the falling dominoes game was invented…

So are many creative projects. One mistake. One wrong stroke, over heating or mixing the wrong materials can bring to wonderful creations of fine art.

For this week’s inspiration prompt I suggest to derive inspiration from the domino effect. We can benefit both from its representation of creative flow and of dealing with mishaps creatively.

This prompt was inspired by one of my readers – Alexander Gartley – who made this wonderful project, together with his co-workers, to promote a creativity and innovation festival at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where they work:

Dominoes Everywhere from Jared Lyon on Vimeo.

Enjoy the domino effect and get creative!

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Share your ideas and thoughts on creativity and the domino effect and leave a comment 🙂

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Posted in Inspiration prompt | 4 Comments »

Creativity Prompt – How To Make A Cute Box Of Drawers

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

A Cute Box Of DrawersOK. I’ll admit it. I am addicted. Addicted to boxes… Luckily I have been moving a lot in the past years, so I got to buy boxes and treys over and over again. I just LOVE that everything has its place. Be it the tiniest of places, but a dedicated one.

Therefore when I saw this idea of a box of drawers online (in numerous places) I immediately knew that this project is right up my alley. So I whipped up my own version of this project with a couple quick sketches and voilà, in about 20 minutes I had one more box to add to my collection.

Usage Ideas for the Box of Drawers

  • Sewing kit – A place for your threads, threaders and needles.
  • Embellishments center (as shown above) – You can put your buttons, paper flowers, die cuts, eyelets and brads all in one place.
  • Office supply organizer – A chic way to camouflage your paper clips and staples stash…
  • Family “Mail-Box” – Attach a name tag to each drawer and leave heartfelt notes to each other. (This project can accommodate any family size, just alter the height of the drawers for a smaller family, or add more drawers and alter the height of the box for a bigger family).

I’d love to hear what ideas you come up with… so please do share!

So if you feel like making your own box of drawers keep on reading:

Tools & Supply

How To


[The great music is by Josh Woodward from his album “Here Today”].

Step-by-step Instructions

  1. Drawers –
    1. Cut 4 pieces of 5″ by 5″ cardstock. [The following applies to each of the 4 pieces]
    2. Score at 1″ all around. To make it easier to score, align your cardstock with the 4″ mark on your paper trimmer.
    3. Fold all your score lines with a bone folder.
    4. Cut one slit on each flap up to the first score line.
    5. Apply strong adhesive to the back of each flap. Make sure the flap is covered entirely.
    6. Adhere all the flaps together to the edges of the drawer, aligning edge to edge.
  2. Body –
    1. Cut your cardstock at 4″ by 12″. You can use patterned cardstock.
    2. Score your cardstock at: 3″, 6″ & 9″ lengthwise and fold all your score lines with a bone folder.
    3. Score LIGHTLY widthwise at each 1″ to draw some guidelines for the placement of the drawers.
    4. Apply a strong double sided tape to each of the box’s walls in increments of 1″.
    5. To embellish the inside of the boxes cut 6 pieces of patterned paper, as follows: 2 pieces at 2¾” by 2¾”, 2 pieces at 1¾” by 2¾” and 2 pieces at ¾” by 2¾” – Round their corners and ink the edges with distress ink. Then adhere to their respective place on the interior of the box.
    6. Adhere the drawers to the box. Make sure not to place a drawer nor to apply adhesive on any of the score lines.
  3. Lid –
    1. Cut your cardstock at: 5¼” by 5¼”.
    2. Score at 1″ all around. [Again you can align your cardstock with the paper trimmer’s 4¼” mark].
    3. Cut a slit on each of the flaps up to the first score line.
    4. To decorate the lid, cut a piece of 3″ by 3″ patterned paper. Round its edges and ink it up with distress ink, then adhere to the center of your cardstock.
    5. Apply strong double-sided tape to the back of each of the flaps and adhere together, aligning edge with edge.

A Cute Box Of Drawers A Cute Box Of Drawers

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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!

I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share 🙂

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Posted in creativity prompt, Tutorial, Video Tutorial | 44 Comments »

Journaling Prompt – Reminiscing On The Past Everyday Life

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Everyday LifeDocumenting everyday life has been extremely popular in the past year. I am also a strong advocate of capturing life and telling the stories – the exciting ones as well as the mundane. But what about the past?

We enjoy taking pictures of the alarm clock in the morning, the toast with the tall glass of cool orange juice we have for breakfast. We document our desktops and our running shoes and even the number on our front doors. But what about the past?

No. We do not forget the past, do we?

We ARE telling the stories of our parents and their parents. We share how we met our significant others. We tell the story of the day we graduated. We don’t forget the story about the time we were down sick. We document our vacations especially the long ones to exotic destinations far, far away.

But we DO forget something. We forget to write about our PAST EVERYDAY LIFE. We forget to write about the ROUTINES we used to have.

We don’t write about the special smell there was in the air during the last month of school. We seem to have forgotten to mention the big bowl of sour cream with strawberries and bananas we used to LOVE. The omelet we used to eat, provided it was completely covered in cottage cheese… Have we written about those lazy summer days when we all had lunch together, listening to oldies on the radio and eating sweet watermelon for desert – those where the days when the inside of the watermelon was as red as a rose and a million black as coal seeds decorated it.

What about all those memories? Where are they documented?

For this week’s journaling prompt I send you back to days past. I urge you to sit down and reminisce on the past everyday life.

Today’s everyday life are spoken for and widely covered. Yesterday’s significant events are documented as well. So it’s time to bring back memories of the past everyday life and write them down.

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Do you find yourself reminiscing on the past everyday life? Do you have a fond memory of a routine from your past? Share and leave a comment on this post – I’d love to hear your stories 🙂

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Posted in Journaling Prompt | 2 Comments »

Inspiration Prompt – Keep On Trying and Don’t Be afraid To Get Help

Monday, May 18th, 2009
Keep On Trying
[Photo by: Joiseyshowaa]

Whether we ask for it or not life has in store for us an abundance of challenges. As long as we are trying we will never fail. As long as we believe in our ability to overcome – we will succeed. Though there is one thing we should learn how to do and it is to allow ourselves to get help.

Getting help from a friend or a kind person is not failure, it is the means to success.

Every problem has its solution and some problems can be solved only by mutual work. Getting help doesn’t mean we are unable to solve the problem. It merely means we have identified the solution and it includes another person in it.

Be open. Be hopeful and optimistic. Keep on trying and don’t refuse a helping hand.

I saw this video on You Tube and it conveys this inspiration prompt wonderfully:

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Are you willing to keep on trying and get help when you need it? Share your thoughts and comment on this post.

Have a fahhhhhbulous day!!!

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Posted in Inspiration prompt | 1 Comment »

Creativity Prompt – Working With Sketches – Scrapbook Layouts

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Last week we were using sketches to make handmade cards. This week we go back to our trusty Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 or handy-dandy grid paper and plan scrapbook layouts.

The idea is the same – planning the layout in advance helps in looking at the design as a whole, making sure it is harmonious, balanced and complete.

Also using a grid helps to figure out all the measurements for us and all we have left to do is to pull out our supply, cropped photos, paper trimmer and grid ruler and start playing.

In scrapbooking there is an additional advantage which is the ability to use the sketch as a layout template for digital scrapbooking. To learn how to use a digital layout template check out this nifty video by Jessica Sprague.

As a bonus to my fabulous readers I am making this week’s sketch available for a free download (for personal use only) both for digital and traditional scrapbookers. Just click on the right button below:

free template downloadfree template download

Translating the sketch into a layout –


[Music is by: Josh Woodward]

Some tips & techniques shared on the video

  • Use the grid ruler to find the center of your cardstock (or any other element) easily. After finding the center, it’s really easy to figure out the right placement.
  • Use the grid ruler to align your elements together. Just place the ruler on your element and make sure the grid line is aligned with the edge of your element and that the ruler protrudes from the edge at the exact size of your desired gap, then align the next element with the ruler’s edge.
  • Use your paper trimmer together with a stylus to create straight journaling guides. Just score your journaling box or journaling tag at every ¼”.
  • To create a perfect half circle notch, just temporary adhere your photos on a scrap piece of paper (junk mail will do just fine) with the same alignment as they are supposed to have on your layout. Then punch out your half circle, using an hand-held punch.
  • When using a colorful and vibrant photos on top of a bright-colored background you can add interest without overwhelming the eye by using either lace cardstock or an overlay instead of regular patterned paper.
  • Embossing adds texture and interest. To emphasize the embossing use a cardstock with a white core (or otherwise different colored core cardstock) and lightly sand it to reveal the core on the embossed image.

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If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr group!!!

I would be VERY happy to see your layouts based off of the sketch here, so don’t be shy and share – either leave a link at the comment section or share on the Creativity Prompt Flickr group‘s pool 🙂

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Posted in creativity prompt, Video Tutorial | 10 Comments »

Journaling Prompt – Hone Your Writing Skills With Colors

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
Colors
[Photo by: Steven Fernandez]

Most people are blessed with all 5 senses: Sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. I am constantly using all five senses throughout my creative journey and cannot imagine what would I do if one of my senses was impaired. However I have come across very creative people who were unable to see, hear or taste, so I know that creativity can for a certain extent compensate for the loss of one of the senses.

One of the things I cannot imagine how can one compensate for is the ability to see colors (which is funny as my father is color blind). The broad spectrum of colors, the different tones and shades, the richness, the effect of combining different colors together. I find those very hard to explain verbally. Which is why I think it will make the perfect creative writing exercise.

For this week’s journaling prompt try to describe colors to a blind person. How would you transcribe the visual record? Clearly it is going to be futile to use the color’s name, so how else can you describe it?

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Do you think colors can be described to a blind person? I am interested to hear your thoughts on that matter and would be delightful to read your colors description!!! So please leave a comment and share.

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Posted in Journaling Prompt | 2 Comments »

Inspiration Prompt – Today Is The Day

Monday, May 11th, 2009
Today Is The Day
[Photo by: Martin Gommel]

There is a drawer in which I stack everything I want to do someday when the time is right. The drawer is already overflowing and yet the time is never right for any of the things accumulated there. There is always a hurdle. Always an inconvenience. ALWAYS something better and more important to do. There are always repercussions to take under consideration. The mood is always wrong and the muse always absent.

Life goes by and the right time is never found. We do what we must routinely do and keep on accumulating plans for when the time is right. We may lose track of our plans, but enjoy collecting them nevertheless.

Today I decided to announce: “IT IS TIME”. Today I open the drawer and pick one crumpled paper, written long ago with sparkling eyes and joyous heart, I open it and do whatever it sends me to do. Today it is time.

For this week’s inspiration prompt I invite you to join me and decide today it is time to pick up one dream from that drawer and make it happen.

In the back of that drawer lays the oldest piece of paper. In it is written “Be nicer to people. Be nicer to myself. Be nicer”. It isn’t easy to be nice when life is closing in on you. But today lets start with that piece of paper…

There are fine things which you mean to do some day, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is surely yours is the present, hence this is the time to speak the word of appreciation and sympathy, to do the generous deed, to forgive the fault of a thoughtless friend, to sacrifice self a little more for others. Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed, and to use your God-given abilities for the enrichment of someone less fortunate. Today you can make your life significant and worthwhile.

Grenville Kleiser

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Do you have a drawer full of plans for when the time is right? share your thoughts and leave a comment.

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Posted in Inspiration prompt | 5 Comments »

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