Monthly Metaphors - The Garden
The garden is a great metaphor for life. As gardeners, you prepare, plant, tend, harvest and mourn. Then, just when you think you’ve got it all under control, it gets scale and drops scale poo (honeydew) all over your garden bench!
So many metaphors can be made with gardens! Growth and lifespan, optimism courage and hope; change linked to seasons, diversity, challenges, patience, nurturing and relationships; harvest and gratitude; formality and restraint; freedom, wildness and abundance; pests, predators and pollinators; and, of course, the God complex, to name a few.
4 Story Writing Resources Just For You!
I am all about pushing creative boundaries whilst also making creating simple, fun and easy. I don’t think there are any truly simple solutions, but perfect practice makes perfect, so with that in mind, I have created a ton of resources just for you!
Inspire your creative mind AND the minds of your students, whilst making the whole process fun and easy.
Snail Mail Revival
What could be a better creative un-blocker than creating a one-of-a-kind communication for someone you love? Get my Snail Mail templates and send a letter to someone you love today!
How To Spark Your Creativity
Creativity is often viewed as a rare gift, but in reality, it’s a skill that can be cultivated and enhanced. Whether you’re an artist, a writer, a business professional, or simply someone looking to add a bit more creativity to your life, there are many ways to spark your imagination. In this blog post, we’ll explore effective techniques and strategies to inspire your creative thinking.
Creating 3D Effects in Watercolour
Creating a 3D effect in your artwork involves establishing depth, volume, and perspective. This can be achieved through various techniques, including colour contrast, shading, and the strategic placement of warm and cool colours.
4 Reasons Why You Need 3 Dimensional Characters, and How To Create Them!
3 Dimensional characters are ones we believe in. They are the ones that stick in our memories and the ones we want to be like. They are the characters that we choose to dress up as on special days and the ones who push us to be better tomorrow than we are today. They feel real!
10 Tips To Beat Writer’s Block
You may find yourself staring at the blinking cursor, your mind filled with a jumble of thoughts that refuse to form into coherent sentences. Doubt may creep in, making you question your abilities as a writer. You wonder if you’ll be stuck and lost forever, or if you'll ever find your way back to the creative spark that once ignited your passion.
Writer's block can be a frustrating and discouraging experience, but also a common phenomenon experienced by writers, where they find it difficult or impossible to produce new work or find the right creative headspace.
In this article you’ll find 10 Tips To Banish Writer’s Block
How To Do A Yearlong Poetry Challenge
Any type of poem will do, but for this challenge - HAIKU
Unlocking the Magic of Literary Devices
Welcome, fellow word enthusiasts, to a whimsical look at the power of literary devices, those powerful tools that artful writers use to bewitch and captivate their readers!
Mini-Books and My 6 Part Trick
Whether it’s private or public acclaim you seek, presenting your Six Page Trick can be done with a Mini-Book.
5 Ways to Avoid Rookie Mistakes When Creating On Location
Despite all the issues, it was the best decision I made to paint on location and this sketchbook is now a treasured tactile intimate memory that I will return to and work on again and again, that no mere photo could possibly have created.
I thoroughly recommend creating on location!
Here’s 5 ways to avoid my rookie mistakes:
Libra-Brain: Choosing a holiday colour palette.
Decisions! Decisions!
Do you find packing difficult? I certainly do! I confess… I’m a planner. I make lists for everything, and I don’t feel quite at ease until the list is complete. So, when I’m holiday packing with limited space, weight and a whole lot of new rules about what can and can’t be done, my decision-making process slows down to glacial melt speed.
However, I’ve finally created my new, for me… limited, holiday colour palette, which I fully intend to share with you!
Create a Reading Ritual
Do you have reluctant readers in your family? Sometimes just getting them to sit down with a book can be a major victory. This is where having a Reading Ritual can be that little bit of motivational magic!
FREE How to Host a School Writing Competition. If you host it, I’ll donate the prizes!
FREE How to Host a School Writing Competition
If you host it, I’ll donate the prizes!
FOCUS FLOWERS - how and why to track wellness in your art journal.
Perhaps wellness is just another modern catchphrase, perhaps it’s just that time of year for reflection and making resolutions, or perhaps it’s just my optimistic heart; but life has to be about more than just getting by… Doesn’t it? I say, ABSOLUTELY!!!!
Uh Oh, Onomatopoeia! Why onomatopoeia is so important in writing.
Bang, crash, splash, whoops, boom, tick-tock, ding-dong, click, snap, poof, whomp, wham, pop, burp, honk, oops, boo, vroom and buzz to name just a handful. Onomatopoeia is the surround sound blast that can express every sound from the tiniest whisper to an all out crash boom bang sound explosion.
Metonym or Synecdoche? That is the question.
Recently, whilst having dinner with my family, I raised the question of metonymy or synecdoche. Usually enlivened by the opportunity to discover and use new words, these ones were met with blatant disinterest. And I get it! The argument is entirely academic, but as I thrive on the academics of English… I couldn’t help myself.
So, for everyone who loves the minutiae, down the rabbit hole we go…