How to incorporate being creative into your everyday life…

March 28, 2017 Eve Gunson

Brought to you by Nuffnang and Spotlight.

Creativity can be incorporated into your everyday life in so many ways… personally I am the most creative when I am designing interiors, styling homes and blogging, however the more you think about it you realise just how much creativity we can fit into our lives each and every day with just a little imagination.

You can easily intergrate creative habits into your daily life and the best way to start is to just pick something and do it! And trust me, we can all benefit from seeing the beauty in the world around us more a little bit more. Being Creative and thinking creatively isn’t only for when we are engaging on a craft project or for me when I’m working on a new blog post, it is actually already incorporated into our lives when we are deciding what recipe to cook for dinner, which flowers to buy at the market and what outfit we are wearing each day.

Spotlights Craft Month runs online and in store from 1st-31st March and it is the perfect time to start your new found ‘Life of Creativity’… so let’s start making and creating!

My top 20 ways to be more creative each and every day –

1. Get outside into nature – balcony, garden, park, beach, anywhere that has some greenery in it and find inspiration.

2. Get on YouTube and learn how to do something new; knitting, jewellery making, sewing, drawing…and then buy your products and get started.

Image via Pinterest

3. Find an art gallery or museum near you.

4. Go for a walk around your neighbourhood and photograph anything that catches your eye. Now go through them and see if you can find any potential DIY or craft projects.

5. Revamp an old piece of furniture with paint, new fabric or even sanding and re staining it.

6. Make a card for someone and send it with love – try water colours or ink drawing.

7. Keep a little sketchbook and pen you really love on the coffee table for drawing and doodling.

8. Go to your local farmer’s market and buy yourself to a basket full of fruit and vegetables and get creative photographing and/ painting them before you eat them. or

Image via Pinterest

9. Try drawing something with your non dominant hand.

10. Rearrange your furniture.

11. Subscribe to a daily email from an online creative business/blog/person for daily inspiration.

12. Daydream.

13. Brainstorm with a friend for some fun and creative ideas.

14. Pick some flowers and make your own arrangements – be extra creative and repurpose an old jar into a vase and add your own personality to it.

Image via Pinterest

15. Find an object around the house that you don’t need/use and find a way to give it a new life/purpose.

16. Use watercolours and watercolour paper and play with colours and brush strokes.

Image via Pinterest

17. Go to Pinterest and search for DIY crafts and see what inspires you.

18. Create a “inspiration wall” in your house by gathering images, items, quotes, artwork, and anything else that inspires you and put it on a cork board/large piece of cardboard and that way you can keep adding to it.

19. Draw a 1 minute portrait of yourself.

20. Spend 10 minutes drawing whatever comes to mind while listening to music you love.20

Inspired by Spotlights ‘Make it Yourself Movement’ I decided to take my own advice and get my craft on…

My project was turning some gorgeous but plain white ceramic cups and bowls into something a little more interesting and fun!

What you will need – all available at your local Spotlight store.

- Ceramic table ware of your liking – I used Kitch & Co.

- Porcelain Paint

- Paint brushes

- Paint tray

- I also used cotton buds to create my design

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Love Art… DIY Exclusive with Tara Dennis

May 28, 2015 Eve Gunson

By Tara Dennis

Finding just the right art piece for a room can be a bit of a challenge, that's why I love to make my own. Sometimes I'll go all out and paint up an original but you know what they say, simple is often best and this one definitely ticks all the boxes - it's quick, super easy and effective.

Start with a basic frame, I love these oversized ones from Ikea but you can find great frames all over town now. If you don't like the frame colour, give it a quick hit with spray paint, I like the natural Scandi feel of this one so chose to leave it raw.

To make the shapes, I used up some of my card and paper (heaven knows I need to!) These papers are generally used for scrap booking but for a bit of shine, I also love the gold foil card you can find from newsagents.

Sketch out your pattern onto the reverse of the paper using a lead pencil. You can be as random or uniform as you like. A neat idea is to trace around a cookie cutter or print out a shape from the net. Either way, do plenty of shapes and mix up your colours. Choose your favourite shades or take inspiration from what's in your room already, that way your art will coordinate perfectly.

Use sharp scissors to cut out your shapes, take your time, you want them to look as good as they can. Next take a sheet of card that fits your frame and mount board, I used white because it makes the shapes stand out and goes with everything.

Stick the shapes down using a glue stick - much better than messy drippy glues. It's at this stage, you may want to use a ruler to keep your lines straight and your spacing even.

Pop the card into the frame, secure the backing board and your art is ready to go.

Tara Dennis has been appointed as ambassador for Reed Gift Fairs Trade Only Event, Sydney Exhibition Centre @ Glebe Island 20- 24 February, 2015

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Crafternoon with Nina... Hand printed pillow cases

January 27, 2015 Eve Gunson

Written by Nina Eberhardt.

Having my sister Eve home for a few days in Tassie was bliss. While most of our time was spent going out for coffee and wine, sunbaking in the backyard and making oh so pretty smoothie bowls, we did get time for a crafter noon! These printed pillow cases are super easy to make and are all printed by hand, so no silk screen or squeegee required! You can make one today and have it looking pretty on your bed by this evening. Get started now!

What you need:

A set of pillow cases – we used white, but you can choose any colour you like. For best results, use at least 200 thread count. We got ours for half price at Harris Scarfe, only $10 a set!
Fabric paint – you can buy fabric paint at any art store or at Spotlight. You can buy a good size container for under $10. It may be called textile printing ink or paint, or something similar.
Cardboard, thick paper or newspaper.
Whatever you would like to print with- I used a high density foam that came as packaging, it was perfect because it had a smooth surface. You could use balsa wood, smooth cork etc. Eve used a cotton bud to print her dots, or you can use a paintbrush if you would like to draw or write free hand.
Iron and ironing board.

How to:

Wash, dry and iron your pillow cases.
To stop the ink going through to the back, place a piece of paper, cardboard or newspaper inside the pillow case.
Choose what you will print with… Eve used a cotton bud for tiny dots. I cut some foam into a little triangle. Make sure you use a Stanley knife to ensure smooth edges.
For the dots, simply put some fabric paint onto a plate. If you are stamping, you need to put some paint on a sponge, then use a brush to spread it out. Keep doing this while you are stamping, you want to have enough to cover your stamp but not too much!
Now you are ready to print! Make sure you do a test on a scrap piece of fabric first. Especially if you are printing with a stamp. Have a play around with how much paint you need and how much pressure to use when stamping onto fabric.
Pillow case time! Eve simply dipped her cotton bud in the paint then pressed straight down onto the pillow case. Re dip into the paint for every dot and use a new cotton bud every 10 dots or so.If you are stamping, make sure to re dip your stamp each time, making sure the paint coverage is even and not too heavy. I like to ever so slightly roll the stamp when pressing it onto the pillow case, just to make sure it prints evenly. Remember, as these are handmade, they will never be perfect, but that is part of the charm!
Once you are done, very carefully lay your pillow cases, with the paper still inside, somewhere flat to dry.
Once they are dry, iron them, following the instructions on your fabric paint. I place a thin tea towel over the top, then slowly iron over it for a few minutes, on cotton setting.
Now your pillow cases are ready to use! Pop them on your bed and feel very proud of yourself!