It’s Up to You!

June 24, 2011

Hello there! It’s Twiggs from {a place for twiggs} and I am back here on Indie Fixx… unfortunately for the last time! But just let me tell you that it has been quite a journey. Although I had been thinking about these topics in the first place, writing them and thinking more about each one was a really important step for me.

This last post is about…it is about a fairytale. Really? No! It’s about being happy! Do you think that that is a fairytale? I am pretty sure that it is not for me… as I am sure that for some people saying that “All I wish is to be happy!” might be something really selfish or not such a grown-up thing to say. Let’s face it… when we were kids did we think about grown-ups being happy? I think when we are children, we thought grown-ups had a very serious life. They paid the bills, they had a house, they had jobs, they had to take care of us–they were the ones who told us what we could and couldn’t do. But did we ever think that they had to be happy or that was something that they aspired to be? No…not at all.

Then we grew up, we turned 20… 25… 30… 35… 40 and in the end we just want to be happy. We need to smile. We need to conquer our dreams. We need to dream before we conquer. We need to make choices. Suddenly being happy and fulfilled is a very important thing and something that adults should be concerned with.

Now when we are 20 we might not know what it will take to be happy and fulfilled. We might not even have a clue, but by 25 or 30 that clue may have been gone for quite a while. Or we can even find out at 30 what we want to do with our future?

This post is about being happy. This post is about making choices. It’s about making decisions. Even hard ones. It is about standing in the room and saying what we wish to accomplish. Say it out loud. It is about hearing ourselves. It is about following our dreams and… being patient. So, a bit of a real story. I am 30 and a psychologist. Not those that treat depressed patients, but those who try to develop skills on people… those who work at companies in order to make those human resources develop at their best.

The truth? I never knew what I wanted to become. I just knew I wanted to move to New York. Well, it turned out that I fell in love and ended up studying here in Portugal… and Organizational Psychology seemed interesting. It turns out that love story didn’t work out and I never looked back any way. Then I had the chance to work for a huge consulting firm… and I did that for almost 4 years. But I was having enough of that corporate world. I wanted something else. I wanted to do something with my life that would be less stressful… more creative.

So I quit. I quit and changed jobs… and that one fell through 7 months later. And I was a happy gal! Happy because I always learned to look at things by the positive side. So this would be the chance to develop my skills in the creative world. And this is my path so far… Being happy requires strength, hard work and allowing yourself to dream. So, all you need is…

1. Think about what you want. This might take a while though! Do not be angry at you. Life will keep happening.

2. Figure out how you can do what you want. Your effort might start here, because sometimes we cannot just starting to do things.

3. Be positive. Remember, if this is the right thing for you, things will work out. You do need to work hard though… the thing about things working out for you, is that you need to work to begin with!

4. Be original. Can’t I just adapt what I saw another person do? No, you cannot. Well, you can feel inspired by others. Just be honest, ok? People will know… so save your time and theirs.

5. Just do it! Take action!

6. Do it… Really! You have no money? So get a weekend job in order to save some money for your plans. See if there is a cheaper way to start… You don’t need to be perfect right away! Experience is the best to make us improve.

7. Be happy with your decisions, but you really need to make some decisions though.. And if it doesn’t work out like you thought it would… don’t worry… be happy. This means that you did something… it didn’t work, so maybe you need to search for another direction… just don’t feel bad about that. Life is not just made up of successful days… the other ones will makes us laugh later! I promise.

And that’s it… I hope this makes you feel stronger and up to the challenge that is your own life. As this feature is called… it is only up to YOU! No one else will step forward to make things happen in your life, which leaves you to do everything! I am also on that journey… will you join me? Have a lovely Friday and weekend! And I hope to see you on my {place}!

- Claudia Casal, also known as Twiggs, is an organizational psychologist in love with photography. She is the author of {a place for twiggs} blog. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

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Managing Your Money

May 20, 2011

Hello lovely readers! How are you doing? I am back with some more tips about getting your business where you want it… moving towards success! I was here already for a few tips on {creativity}, {time management}, {photography skills}, {customer service}… and today I am coming with economical tips!

So, money is really important to me. I must confess that I was not always that respectful to money, but now I am and feel the need to be in control of everything concerning money. This does not mean that I do not spend it with some pleasures, but I try to think critically about my purchases. When you have a business, it is very important to know where your money is, what do you need top spend your money on and what do with the money that comes in. I will share a few tips about this, in order to make it simple!

image from ashley g

1. You need to invest your money!

You are about to start your business and you need some supplies, so you need to calculate how much do you need to spend for those supplies. This money will be recoverable with your sales, but do not expect to recover it all at once. You need to think how much you have available and do not forget that you can always improve your business as the time goes by. You do not need to have the most perfect business in the first moment you start. Make a list of what is crucial for your business to begin… ONLY!

image from dazy chick

2. Define the pricing!

When you have a business pricing is really important! No news there. You need to be fair with yourself though. This means no over pricing, nor making it almost for free. I have seen some sellers that almost giveaway their items, and as a buyer I am always a bit suspicious. And I have seen sellers that sell their work like 10 times more when compared to similar artists. Calculate what you spend in order to make your work… and do not forget that your time is also something that you should be considering.

image from nan lawson

3. Create a spreadsheet!

You need to be in control! Create a spreadsheet (Excel or the like) and define what you need to spend and what you earn with each sale. Write down everything you spend, so that you can be aware of your profit and further investments needed. You need to think wisely!

image from twamies

4. Save your money!

Do you run your business as a parallel activity with your day job? Or is this your only job? Well, you need to define your goals! If you have a specific goal for that money, why not keep it on Paypal (if you use this) until your goal is recahed? If you need it for something else, then withdraw it every month for your savings account for example!

image from parade creations

5. Improve your business!

After running your business for a while, you can improve it… every day! Think about other strategies to make it better, think about advertising, think about goodies to offer to your customers… Now that you are making some money you just have the opportunity to make it better without loosing yourself in the way! Think wisely! Do not overspend! Stand out from the crowd!

These are a few tips for your business… They are really simple, but sometimes we forget to think simply and we complicate things. Money is not simple, but you can make it a little less complicated if you plan ahead and if you act wisely. In times like this, in which crisis is the most common word, you need to think positively but most of all, think ahead. Good times are not always here, so do not think that money will appear easily. You need to work hard and to plan your goals. You can also be a manager… of your own wallet! And if you need help, why not use some program to help you on this? I have heard of Mint and I would love to try it, but as I am nor American I cannot do it! But it seems that can be an excellent tool to manage your bank accounts! Just remember… Be in control of your money!

image from claudia pearson

And this is it my lovely friends, be careful and wise! See you in two weeks with the last post in this It’s up to You! series!! If you wish to get to know more of these stories about running a business, you can follow me on {a place for twiggs}! I will be there waiting for you!

- Claudia Casal, also known as Twiggs, is an organizational psychologist in love with photography. She is the author of {a place for twiggs} blog. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

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It’s up to you… {Customer Service}

May 06, 2011

Hello there Indie Fixx readers! How are you doing today? Remember me? I was here a few weeks ago for a round-up on {Creativity} and then to give you some tips on {Time Management}. This is a column specially to give you some hints on to take action, to go from thinking outside of the box to acting outside of the box, just like my friend {Christina} says! That is why from those first stories I drove you through some tips to {better arrange your products to be photographed} and shared with your potential customers. I truly hope that these have helped you so far… because you need to be ready for the next step. Are you ready? Let’s go then!

Today, we will talk about {Customer Service}. Yes, it seems something so simple, right? Someone orders your product, pays for it, you ship it. Pretty simple, I think. No, no, no, no! It’s more than than that. See step by step what I mean.

1. Customer Service begins even before your customer buys something from you.

As a seller you need to be very clear about everything. The materials you are using, the shape, the size, how will you ship your product, when will you ship it. Then you can extra information, like the story behind the product (a few words only!), other sizes available, prices, etc.

2. Someone bought from you! Thank the customer for that!

The so expected moment arrived, someone purchased one of your products. Congratulations! Now it’s up to you again, because having something sold and payment received doesn’t mean it ends there. You need to tell you customer that you received his order and thank for it. If you are on Etsy you have a pre-written message that is sent to customers that buy from you. But if you are not on Etsy, you might want to say something. Just thank the customer for his/her decision and let him/her know when will you ship the order and when you think it will arrive.

3. Let’s prepare the order! Goodies is the name!

Now, I am a seller. I sell photography on {Etsy}. And I don’t ship just fine art prints, but I just sell those. So what do I ship more? Goodies! Yes, I have prepared a few things that customers might appreciate and make it more difficult for them to forget about me. Other than the print, sometimes I send another print in a smaller size. I try to match the print with the one I am offering. Then I also grab a piece of paper, sometimes a handpainted (by me) postcard and write a thank you note, a personal thank you note with the name of the customer written on it. I also send along business cards and a black pencil with {a place for twiggs} written in gold.

4. You want this customer to come back!

So, you need to create all the conditions for that to happen. Be nice through all the way! Yes, it’s an online business, but a smile can be spread throughout several ways, even in a written card. Why don’t you offer your customer for a discount if he comes back? Offer something between 15% to 30% for example. It needs to be something really cool! Give your customer your email, if he wants to ask something.

5. Wrap it up!

After product + goodies + thank you note + discount are all prepared, you need to wrap it. Wrap it in a simple way, or like it was for your mother, but make it beautiful! Customers appreciate receiving orders in the most perfect condition, but they will start smiling even before seeing your product if you wrap it in a beautiful way. Make it a positive experience, starting by the package! Oh and try to protect your product in the best way. Customers want their things to arrive perfectly. They paid for it, so make sure to act professionally!

6. Ship it!

Go to the Post Office and ship it. Ask them when is your order arriving the destination and then go home and write an email to your customers saying that their order has been shipped and that they need to expect a certain number of days for it to arrive. Let them know if things are going to take longer, if you have holidays or strikes in your country, for example. Ask your customer, nicely, to let you know when the order arrives. Let them know it is important for you to have feedback from your customers. Say thank you… again!

7. Control the arrival!

After those expected days for the order to arrive, if you have not received anything from your customer, send an email just asking if everything went ok with the order. Remind your customer that he/she has a discount on the next order, that you are available for more detailed information or any doubts. Be nice and polite. Write with a smile on your face. Say thank you… yes, once more!

8. Extra small things that might also help you in the way to grow your business!

a) Do you have business cards? Write down the address for the shop and blog (if you have one).
b) Create a blog. Having a blog is a great way to promote your products.
c) Create a Newsletter for your shop (Mail Chimp has a free service and asides from cute, it is pretty simple).
d) Ask for permission to use your customer’s email to send the Newsletter! Make sure you don’t send 5 Newsletters per week.
e) Every time you exchange emails with customers, sign with your name and your shop/blog address below.
f) Create a Facebook fan page! It’s a great way to promote your work and let your fans know about sale season and updates!

And this is it my friends, what do you think? Simple? Believe me, having a great Customer Service helps you on your business. It makes it grow, it makes it go further with your customers, and makes your customers come back! Make it a really positive experience.

Have a great weekend and see you in the next story… about money! We will talk about how to control expenses and everything in between, quite important for your business… and daily life! See you in two weeks!

- Claudia Casal, also known as Twiggs, is an organizational psychologist in love with photography. She is the author of {a place for twiggs} blog. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

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It’s up to You….Better Photography!

April 22, 2011

Hello there, lovely Indie Fixx reader’s. How are you doing today? This is Claudia from {a place for twiggs} and I am back for one more story on this column It’s up to You!. This column is about getting you started on some things that may lead you to a very creative life… we have talked about creativity and inspiration, how to manage your time properly and today… we have photography tips! Well, if you think of yourself as a creative person and you want to make a living from doing what you love, you need to make your business strong. Among several factors that will indeed make it a business, one is photography. You need to show your work properly and in a professional manner…even if you are an amateur. And no, you don’t need a professional camera. Really! Let’s just take care of a few basic steps!

Composition

So you have your product, and now you need to take a picture of it. Now, I’m not sure what your product is, but I bet that is can be used or shown off around your house or using yourself as a model. So your house or yourself can be the perfect place to capture the magic. Keep it simple… keep it pretty.

{Tip} Imagine that you are responsible for a shop window, you need to arrange things a little bit.

In this picture, there are way to many objects that distract from the frames and prints. Asides from this, they are very dark which make the picture lose its balance. Electronic devices often look a bit ugly too…
In this second picture, even without much light, the candles, lavender, glass bottle and see shells help to create a mood, which takes us to the beach. It is a simple thing with some objects that are around the house, but together they create a balanced corner for those prints. It also gives an idea for the buyer how to create this mood at home.

Lighting

Now, you see lighting is very very important. Assuming that you don’t have any pro lighting material, you need to shoot with what you have. This means that you may have a sunny day and plenty of natural light or a very rainy one, but this does not mean “no shooting today!”, on the other hand, it means “let’s get creative!”. The use of flash is forbidden, as it gives a very artificial look to your product and may also cause a reflection.

Now you need to know your house or your garden to understand what will be the best spot for the shooting. Remember to avoid too much light, because it will create dark shadows around your product.

{Tips} Increase light with a white cardboard on the back of your product or make it a bit darker having a dark cardboard where the light is coming from… or even a piece of fabric under your product that will reflect less.

This first one looks really bad, because it is dark and has a flash reflected on the frame. Though you can see the image itself, it looks like it was taken during the night, and that reflection does not add beauty to the image.
The second one has no flash, but natural light, which sometimes can cause a bit of reflection as well, but you can edit it after on an editing program, like Picnik.

Reflection

Well, sometimes it is pretty difficult to not appear on the photo because you are being reflected. Sometimes it is impossible to avoid it completely, so work your way to make those reflections appear less. When you are trying to photograph a print (like I am!) you need to work your reflection out of the way of the frame itself. So, challenge yourself by trying different angles. Try not to stand in front of the frame, but choose one side.

{Tip} Place your products next to good looking things, so that when you frame the picture to avoid reflection, other beautiful things can be captured on the image.

In the first image, you can see my reflection, which will cause some conflicts with the image I want to sell.
In this second, I shot from the left side, including the white bottles and the glass bottle in the picture. You can still see the reflection of the candle holders. I like too the candle holders here to create a mood, but in this case if you took them away, you would have no reflection at all.

Background

Choosing the background for your product may be challenging, but also very simple. As you can see you can either use your product or place it in your home, just like you would use, to create a certain mood, not only seducing your buyer, but also giving the buyer some ideas. But if you wish to capture your product only, without anything else around you need to be clever… and once again, keep it simple! Choose something that will not distract your potential buyer and choose something clean.

{Tip} Grab a piece of old wood that you can found anywhere and paint it white, but paint in a rustic way! And you will have yourself a good looking piece of background to showcase your products!

Though I like my wooden caramel floor, it looks dull here and makes it a dark image. I chose this necklace bought in India because it has several details and in this image you can’t see those details properly.
I found this piece of wood in a construction site, my father-in-law was kind enough to clean it for me and I painted it white. I use it a lot on my pictures! Having this as a first picture (let’s imagine this is an Etsy product), there is no clue that this is a necklace, but you can see all the beautiful details of this tiny box.

Editing

So you are not professional photographer, you don’t own a professional camera, nor have the money to invest in an expensive editing program. Relax… you still have the amazing internet to help you on this! There are a few free websites that help you edit your photos and you don’t need to understand a lot about photography. One of those free websites that I know of and I highly recommend is Picnik. It is very user friendly and will allow you to see the changes while you play with exposure, temperature, saturation…

The first image is a SOOC image, which means “straight out of the camera”, no editing whatsoever. It looked okay, but with too much light on one side, lacking light on the other and a few reflections on the image, that though it still allows you to see the image, it could be better.
The second one was edited using Picnic and playing with exposure, saturation, temperature and a bit of contrast as well. It looks warmer, the walls are even more inviting to the picture, and the print itself has better colours. It still shows a small reflection close to the plate, which is made by the window in the bedroom door. With a black cardboard taped to the window this could easily disappear.

And that’s it my lovely friends! These are some very basic tips for you to use on your products. The most important thing is to keep yourself very critical about your own work… you need to love it, but others need to love it as well for you to succeed in your business. So take your chances and improve your skills to share your beautiful products with the world! See you next time on It’s up to You! (May 6th) when I share some tips on Customer Service!

- Claudia Casal, also known as Twiggs, is an organizational psychologist in love with photography. She is the author of {a place for twiggs} blog. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

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Time is running out!

April 08, 2011

Hi there, Indie Fixx readers. How are you doing? Remember me? I am Claudia from {a place for twiggs} and I am here drive you through a creative, happy and organized life… well… at least give you a tip or two. I wrote about Creativity & Inspiration last time I was here and today the main topic is… Time. I worked for nearly 4 years at a big consulting firm and lectured hundreds of hours on behavioural subjects, time management being just one of those. So, shall we begin?

Time will make you money, but money won’t buy you time!”… said James Taylor. Isn’t this what we should have in mind when we feel we are wasting time? Well, I could ask first if you ever feel you are wasting your time and end up with a very unproductive day. But I guess you would say yes. We all do at some point. So, we need to do something about it. We should take action because no one will do it for us.

What is time anyway?

Time is something limited, unrecoverable, democratic and free. This means that it is impossible to manage time, but we can manage ourselves. We do need to learn more about ourselves in order to manage our days. We need to pay attention to all we do during the day–when do we stop, when do we feel more productive, what do we stop for–in order to know how can we work with ourselves to improve our time management.

So what are the most common obstacles?

Phone calls, emails, disorganization, unrealistic planning, unexpected things, chronic postponement, Facebook, twitter. Do you recognize some of these? I bet you do! So what can we do to make this work? We need to work on some goals. And my friends, settings goals is not an easy task, but let’s go for it! How do we define our goals? We do need some rules… and these rules are quite easy! You just need to be SMART!

S… from specific, M… from measurable, A… from attainable, R… from realistic, T… from time-oriented.

So, a little quiz, which one is a smart goal?

I want to be a happy girl!
I want to spend Christmas in NYC in 2011.

Well, if you chose #2, you are on the right track, so let’s keep going!

So far, you need to 1) know yourself and what are your usual obstacles and 2) define some smart goals. What’s next?

Let’s see some personal effectiveness techniques, shall we?

1. Establishing priorities
2. Planning
3. Postponing
4. Dealing with Interruptions
5. Organizing
6. Memory
7. Saying no!

1. Establishing priorities

What do you consider urgent? And what do you see as an important task? What should you do first? Well, you should do what is more important and urgent at the same time. What is important is not necessarily urgent, and what is urgent is not always important. So, you need to understand your tasks. Using the Eisenhower Matrix might help you better evaluate your tasks. See the diagram below to illustrate this technique.

2. Planning

You need to define your priorities and get to know your schedule well. And yes, you do need a schedule. Working as you feel like does not actually work. So you need to plan on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis.

You can practice by starting with a daily plan. List the following:

List your activities

Predict some time for interruptions and unexpected things (they do happen, so plan some time for them!)

Define priorities

Evaluate the time you need

Reschedule if needed (you do need to be able to change things, flexibility is also a good thing!)

3. Postponing

You know when you are always postponing something for ages? Just because you never find the time for that thing… and you never really want to do it either, because there is always something better to do first? Well, stop right there! You need to review your priorities and rules.

What are these rules?

Work with deadlines
Use the salami technique (slice your tasks into smaller tasks and do one thing at a time)
Start by the unpleasant tasks (or those that might be a bit boring!)
Get rewarded (like “I will go out for a cup of coffee when I end this!”)

4. Dealing with interruptions

They do happen. So, how to manage them? The phone rings… your mom is asking for that recipe, your best friend wants to tell you about her date last night, your colleague is asking you for some advice on a presentation….Well, you can either stop what you are doing, answer (briefly) and get to your work again or you can say “Sorry, bad timing, I will call you back/review your presentation when I am done with this, is that ok?”. You do need to learn how to say no to some things.

5. Organizing

Get a colour scheme for your emails, flags those you need to answer today. Use tags for the piles of documents on your table… it is really up to you, but do get organized!

6. Memory

I know that this one is probably my worst feature. I have a really bad memory and realized that I had to come up with a solution to deal with it. So, I decided that I needed to write everything down. Remember, don’t be ashamed to write down everything on a meeting. Everyone has their own tolls for being productive and everyone should respect that.

7. Saying No!

How good are you at saying no? Really! You can tell me. Do you accept everything everyone asks you to do? Are you one of those helpers that everyone counts on? But do you really have the time to do all those things and sacrifice your own? Probably not. You can say yes to some things that are meaningful, but others you may need to decline. Prioritize what you say yes to. But, do remember to be nice when saying no.

So, these that’s my advice for today. Thank you for being here with me! Will I see you again? And remind yourself… It’s really up to You!

- Claudia Casal, also known as Twiggs, is an organizational psychologist in love with photography. She is the author of {a place for twiggs} blog. Read more about her on the contributors’ page.

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a creative challenge… yourself! (creativity & inspiration)

March 25, 2011

Claudia Casal is starting her new regular guest column today. Claudia is a blogger, photographer as well as by day being an Organizational Psychologist. With her column, It’s Up to You!, she will focus on topics that are crucial for your leading a creative & happy life.

Before you read Claudia’s 1st post, I’d like to invite you to visit the Regular Guest Contributors’ page to read about all of my new guest bloggers. I’m so excited to be sharing so many new voices here on Indie Fixx! xoxo- jen

Hello there, friends. How are you doing today? I am Claudia from {a place for twiggs} blog and I will join you over the next few months for sharing the column It’s Up to You!. My stories will cover several topics that are crucial for your leading a creative & happy life. Today, I will focus on a particular topic that it might interest you.

But first, a question. Are you feeling creative today? Do you recognize a creative day? Do you ever feel not in a creative mood?

Well, I believe that several answers might be possible to these questions. And in today’s post, {A Creative Challenge… Yourself}, I will share some of those answers.

What is Creativity anyway?

“…the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new (a product, a solution, a work of art etc.) that has some kind of value. What counts as “new” may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs. What counts as “valuable” is similarly defined in a variety of ways.” – wikiepedia

Have you noticed something in this definition? Creativity has to do with something {new} and {valuable}. That is why being yourself is so important, because being creative also means creating something new for you, for the world… with some kind of value. And how about inspiration?

Can you define inspiration? Inspiration is what leads us to creativity.

“Inspiration refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in a literary, musical, or other artistic endeavor. Literally, the word means “breathed upon.””- wikiepedia

Isn’t this the most refreshing definition ever? Inspiration means breathed upon, like if your mind has received some fresh air… and you had a stunning idea .

This is inspiration… what you do with it is creativity. So, when do these two things happen? And what to do when they occur? And how about when they do not occur?

Well, I will tell you a little story based on a very simple question.

What is your favorite thing to do in the whole world?

One of my favorite things in the whole world is to wander around Lisbon with two cameras, a digital one and a film one. And of course… on a sunny day, which is easy in Lisbon. Why do I love to do this? Because it relaxes me and keeps my mind fresh, without any particular thoughts. Just like the wind, I wander around streets, exploring corners… new ones… old ones… I don’t have a schedule… nor is time important. I usually get on a tram and just go with it… this helps me to keep my mind relaxed. And this is a crucial thing for feeling inspired.

What inspires you?

If you ask your creative friends, what inspires them, most of them will answer “everything that surrounds me.” Why is this? Because the world is happening before your eyes… every day. And an inspirational mind keeps the heart open to the world that is happening. Feeling inspired means “breathed upon”, means keeping your mind fresh and refreshed… and keeping this in mind will keep your creativity happening more regularly.

Creativity is like Love!

Creativity is not something that you can schedule. This also means that you cannot expect to feel creative at a certain time of the day. But it surely does depends on you. So how to improve your creative days? Feeling relaxed… doing things that you love to do and that make you feel happy and inspired. This is a lot like love. It never happens when we want it to, but when we are least expecting it to. We just need to keep up with our lives, embracing everything that comes along and love will come to us. We just need to keep our hearts open to it. Exactly like creativity…you just need to keep your heart and mind open to it. Forcing it, will perhaps, be a mistake.

But there something else to keep in mind. Just like love that happens when you are not expecting, inspiration also comes when you are not expecting it . And like love, you need to do something, when it appears. So… my little piece of advice… get a notebook and a pencil. And write or draw your ideas exactly in the moment they arrive.

Inspiration or copy?

And when inspiration comes from other artists? That is so common, right? We all admire certain artists that inspire us. But then again, we need to be true to ourselves. They inspire us and they may lead us to do something creative with that inspiration. But how may I know that this is my work and not some inspired copy of someone’s work? Well… I will tell you something… only you can know that. But in order to be successful and a relaxed mind and heart, you also need to be true to yourself. So, when you look at your work, what do you see?

And with this, I mean that inspiration may come from other artists, but only I can take that inspiration and do something creative with it if it has my name written on it. You will not want to have someone saying “oh this really looks like that lady’s work!” You want to stand out for yourself, right? So… feel inspired to do something new… to stand out in the world. There is a place for all of us… if we just keep our work fresh and true. So… challenge yourself to feel inspired… to be a creative person.

Filed in Guest Blog, Inspirations, It's Up to You! | Tagged creativity, photography | Comments (5) »