Houston, we have a photo

There are two astronauts standing right in front of me, just as I step round the corner. I catch a few snapshots. This is in the middle of town, with skyscrapers in the background. It's a Thursday afternoon, a pocket of time between meeting a client, and picking up a few groceries at the market. A short rise in the tide of my creative cycle. I'm glad the logo for what ever the astronauts are advertising, doesn't show up in my photos, and I'm happy I got a splash of creative time on the go, just for myself. 

Sometimes we want to paint an image we have in our head. With words or paint or textile or sounds. Perhaps it's a memory. Or a fantasy. A dream or an emotion. Other times we want to go with what comes to us spontaneously, the image simply takes place. Perhaps we uncover it, or we see it. In a way our creation can be a discovery? And creative expression can feel like one small step, and a giant leap. A kind of miracle. 

Get Unstuck and Organized with Beautiful Desktop Icons

Free Desktop Icons

I've temporarily opened my archive of folder icons to members of Club Marmalade Moon. Membership is free, so if you're not already a member, you'll need to sign up to make sure you get all of these free, beautiful, desktop icons to help you get unstuck and organised so you can work with flow and ease through the day. Start your digital new year more efficiently and in style. Please note, access to the archive is time limited. 

The Gift of Wonder and Magic

The Christmases of my childhood are wrapped up in a sense of wonder and magic. Surprise and delight. Sparkling snow and glittering stars. A time when you can wish for anything. A time for love. A time to be together. 

As an adult, I find a sense of wonder and magic in the creative process. Maybe that's why we find creativity so alluring? It feels like magic when we're struck with inspiration? And when we start looking at our worlds through a creative lens, we can find mindful miracles even in the most mundane? Of course we have to do our bit too, and show up so we're actually there when the muse arrives and knocks on our doors. 

New Gift Certificates

If you know someone who wants to find the time, space and encouragement to ignite their creative spark, now you can give them a creative experience.

A pretty gift certificate and envelope comes with every gift purchase, so you can print it out and wrap it up. These would be extra special if you gave them with a blank notebook and a pen for keeping an iPhoneography journal. Imagine!

mobile art course. gift certificate

Meeting for iPhoneography Mentoring

Drinking tea and laughing. Geeking out, testing settings and photo apps, experimenting to see which camera app would perform best on a dark winter's afternoon. Anne and I just met for an iPhoneography mentoring session, and since she lives in Stockholm we could meet in person. We took a closer look at some apps for creating mobile art and photography and talked about Anne's new, exciting iPhoneography projects. 

The mentoring process that's part of the Creative iPhoneograpy Course is a component that helps you bring your newfound creative discoveries into your daily life, and prevent it from being a course that quietly fizzles out after you've completed it. During the mentoring process, you get individual support and help with your own creative iPhoneography projects. 

Another beautiful aspect of the course is the diverse, international community of like-minded people connecting around creative discoveries. Between your own findings, the group component and the individual, personal mentoring phase you have several routes for developing your creative thinking, growing your iPhoneography skills and building momentum expressing yourself. 

Students are spread out all over the world, and because of the distances, we usually we do our mentoring sessions as a free internet call with Skype. Speaking of which, it's soon time to meet Jen for her mentoring session, I can't wait to hear where she is in her creative process! 

A Stolen Creative Moment

Sometimes life gets so busy that there's just doesn't seem to be any time left for personal creative expression. But as Emily pointed out, that's when photography comes to the rescue. She says that the "opportunity to record a moment every single day is what keeps me sane. It keeps me seeing (the beauty around me) and allows me to express myself but only takes a moment to complete". I couldn't agree more, after all, one image takes less than a second to make. 

Here's a creative moment, an image shot with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone, testing the new FreePak I mentioned in my last Friday Tidbits. A moment captured between a ton of cut-off dates for my work as a freelance designer, a mentoring session with a Creative iPhoneography alumnus, writing the December letter for members of Club Marmalade Moon, creating a special treat to go with the Club Letter, and dinner with my brother (who took the photo in the photo) and his wonderful girlfriend. 

What are your tips for finding creative time? 

Creative Spaces and Tools: Digital and Analogue

Here are illustrator, designer, pixel pusher and quasi-typographer Brian Brasher's creative tools.  Pens, stacks of notebooks, and the traces of some digital tools too.  You'll find Brian's home on the internet at Etherbrian.

Sandra's creative tools are purple and digital. Her creative photo has a green tint and interesting film strip borders. 

"I can't really hold a pen/brush etc anymore so my iPad and iPhone are my lifeline to creativity" Check out Sandra's mobile, digital art on her website Sandra Lock.

Blue, purple and dappled light are all part of June's creative tools and space. A notebook and pen. So peaceful and at once full of energy. 

Isn't it inspiring to see how different everyone's creative space is? 

Yellow Creative Spaces and Tools

Here's the third part of a series of inspiring photos of creative tools and spaces by members of Club Marmalade Moon who are participating in the free Creative Jumpstart Course. 

Emily's creative notebook and pen remind me of warm, energetic, sunny, easy summer's days! And it reminds me of birthdays! Wrapping paper, whispers and early mornings. You'll find more of Emily's creative expressions on her blog Mousy Brown's House where she records "things I have made, things I have seen and the things that help me to enjoy my life".

Here is Nina's creative space. This space looks so inviting in the cosy light of the lamp. A place for action! "I looked all over the place for one of those lovely stashed-away notebooks, but maybe I mislaid it in our last move (in February - haven't finished unpacking yet!) or gave it to my daughter who also loves beautful things. Am eager to see where this exercise will take me!" It's so easy to put things off just because we don't feel we have the perfect tools or spaces or long, uninterrupted passages of time. Using what we HAVE got, is often part of getting going.

This is designer and illustrator Jennifer Lynn Bishop's creative tools. A yellow notebook with a swirly and organic pattern that contrasts with the straight, diagonal and checked lines. A very clever composition! Jennifer loves music and is currently working on her online coloring book. You will find her work on her portfolio/design blog Rainy Day Doodle or on her Flickr page.

Soulful Creative Spaces and Tools

Here are some photos by members of Club Marmalade Moon who are gathering their creative tools for the free Creative Jumpstart Course! I find these spaces and tools all so inspiring! 

This is John's creative tools and space. "The book is from the Tate Gallery in London and I love these pockets that are spaced throughout as a way of adding to my thoughts, sketches etc." At once peaceful and energetic, poetic and practical! Discover more of John's photography and design on his web space.

Here's Tracy's morning moment & essentials. Tea, light, and rainbow pens. This Dream journal is a moleskine journal that Tracy's embellished. Such a soulful and tranquil creative space!  You'll find her art and jewelry on her blog Prana Light, along with Tracy's writings about "creative living where art & spirit meet".

Lisa is using this gorgeous natural paper and leaf notebook as her creative tool. She says "to be honest it has been sitting in a drawer waiting for my inspiration for about 5 years!". How bold and what a great gift Lisa gave to herself!

Have You Been Saving Your Best Notebook in a Drawer?

Oh how I can relate to that! Keeping my best stationery, notebooks and journals in a drawer, waiting for that perfect time! Does that ever happen to you?