Creative Sprinkle up for Top Blog of 2010

Vote for Creative Sprinkle

The Blog Guidebook, home of "all things bloggy," is hosting a contest to name the top blog of 2010 and Creative Sprinkle made it through the first nomination round. This blog is one of 25 blogs working toward the coveted award. Yay!

Go Vote!
Yes, I'm asking for your votes. There is a poll on the front page of Blog Guidebook where you can vote until Nov. 26. It is super easy and only takes a minute. Click here to vote.

Blog Guidebook is a very useful site for any of you who blog. There are lots of how-to articles, classes, and a help desk. Even if you don't feel like voting. It is worth the visit.

Help Me and a Contest

Will you do me a favor?

This blog is a place where I  renew my creative spark with the help of all of you wonderful people. But do you know what would make it even more fun?  New voices and new ideas.  There are two ways that you can help me take Creative Sprinkle to the next level: contribute a topic idea or offer to write a guest post.


Share an Idea
I'm always on the look out for new topic ideas. If you have one to share leave a comment below or e-mail me. I'll see if I can tackle it, or I'll try to find a guest blogger to take it on.

Added Incentive (win this!)
Just to sweeten the pot a little bit, I've decided to throw a contest into this plea for help. Everyone who e-mails me or leaves a comment with a topic suggestion by December 31 will be entered into a drawing to win this polymer clay pin. It is made with my signature red pepper and paprika blend and finished with pearl powders.

Guest Blog (what's in it for you)
So many of you are creative souls with much to share. I'm asking you to share here. A guest post is a great way to attract new people to your blog and receive link backs to increase your search engine optimization. I've done guest posts on a couple of sites and it has always been a rewarding experience.

Although I can't pay you for the post, I will allow you to link to your blog and/or store, plus I can promote the item of your choice in my sidebar for at least two-weeks.

The theme of creativity allows quite a bit of freedom and I'd love to hear different ideas. You could even do a slight rework of something you published on your own blog. Below are some thought-starters for possible guest post topics.

• Stories of your creative spark getting peed on and how you re-ignited it
• Staying creative when you create for profit
• Cool projects we just have to try
• Photography tips for creatives who aren't as good with a camera as they are a paint brush
• Foods that enhance creativity
• Pick-me Up Monday topics

To get started guest blogging: 
Email me your idea and include: "Guest Post for Creative Sprinkle" in the subject line, a brief summary of what you want to write about, and a link to your blog so I can get an idea of your writing style. Bonus points if you pitch me a great series!

 If your idea fits my blog, I'll give you the go-ahead to get started and send you some simple instructions on how to submit a post.

Timeline: Anytime in 2011.  As far as deadlines are concerned, I want this to be low-stress. You can set your timeline. Of course, if you want to do something time-sensitive, you'll have to submit it in time to publish it before the topic is outdated.

Open your creative faucet and let the ideas flow!

Mini Blog Makeover

Watercolor with Wax Resist Blog Background

Creating a Custom Background
As I participate in Art Every Day Month, I've been spending a lot of time exploring artists' blogs. Everyone has such warm inviting spaces and that has inspired me to to a mini makeover of my creative space.  I was particularly inspired by Tammy of Daisy Yellow. She created an art journal background using wax as a resist under a layer of acrylic paint. I though I would give the wax resist a try with watercolors.

The Creative Technique
I love the banner that my dear designer friend Stacy created for me using my polymer clay sun as a focal point. I also love the cheery color scheme. I just felt it was a little plain. The wax resist watercolor technique was perfect for creating an interesting background with a little pattern, but not so much that it detracted from the content of the page.

The Technical Specs
I found a couple articles that explained how to add code to your template to change the background, but my code didn't match any of these. Finally, I found a simple article on Blogger/Blogspot Templates, Tips, How-tos, Tutorials & Help that showed how to do it in the new Blogger Template Designer. So simple.

Thank you Tammy (and all the other AEDM artists) for the inspiration!

Just ask; they might say yes

Putting yourself out there is never easy. There is always the chance for rejection. But, there is also the chance for success.

One of my goals has been to write a guest post on another blog. Yet fear of rejection kept me from pitching anything. I put it off for that faraway "someday." Someday when my blog is big enough. Someday when they'll take me seriously. Someday. Someday. Someday.

Well someday fell into my lap...twice. And now I have two guest posts to show for taking a chance.

My 1940s Hollywood Glam Bath Remodel
I'd been meaning to write about my art deco-inspired bathroom since we finished the project in March, but the more time passed the less it seemed relevant. I had pretty much put it on the back-burner when I discovered a new blog, Being Tazim.

Tazim had just started a Monday decorating column, and she needed guest bloggers. I pitched my blog and she accepted. My first guest post!!!

The Past, Present, and Future of Your Business
Then one of my all-time favorite bloggers, Megan from Crafting an MBA, posted that she was having a particularly busy August so she was looking for guest bloggers. I sent her a proposal for a post on the importance of focusing on the past, present, and future of your business, along with tips on how to not get trapped in one area. That post ran today!

The moral of the story: keep your eyes peeled for opportunities and don't let fear of rejection limit you.  What is something you took a chance on?

When life pees on your creativity

A couple years ago, I attended a meeting where a department head said every project has someone who feels the need to "piss on it." It struck me as a funny thing to say out loud at a meeting, yet sadly, it also struck me as true, at least some of the time.

That memory popped back into my head today. Not because of anything bad that happened to me, but rather as a result of something good I'm undertaking.

I signed up for the Problogger Summer Challenge with the SITS Girls. It is a 31 day challenge to help you improve your blog. For today, the first day, I had to come up with an elevator pitch. It's what you would tell someone your blog is about about in the minute you spend together on an elevator.

"I blog about creative stuff" wasn't going to cut it. Talk about hard. How do you sum up everything in that short time and still say something meaningful. Without pictures nonetheless.

Fortunately I have been giving it some thought for a couple of months. "What is this blog, and how do I keep from boring your pants off?"

I already had a tagline: "Opening your creative faucet." I decided to explore that. "Do we all have a faucet?" "What shuts it off in the first place?" For me, the answer was people pissing on my projects.

I figure if I have that problem other people do to. And if I can find ways to get myself past it, I can find ways to help you do it too. So without further ado, here is my elevator pitch:

"I write a blog called 'Creative Sprinkle' about opening your creative faucet. Everyone has a creative spark, but sometimes life pees on it. The goal of my blog is to help people reignite it."

Okay, I've put it out there, hoping you won't pee on it. Now, I will begin stressing about the comments, or lack of comments, this post will generate.

Sunshine Blog Award

When I launched Creative Sprinkle, I had a need to express myself, but I didn’t know if anyone would really care what I had to say. I decided it didn’t matter. This was something I wanted to do for me. Still it is really nice to know that someone enjoys it.

Jackie from The Pleasant Peasant recently gave me a Sunshine Blog Award for bloggers whose positivity & creativity inspires others in the blog world. Too cool! I just met Jackie through the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy, and I really respect her opinion so the fact that she would include my blog means a lot to me.

In the spirit of the award, I’d like to share with you a few of my favorite bloggers who fit this mold.


Leah at Creative Every Day
Leah is the main reason I have a blog. She hosts a creativity challenge in November called Art Every Day Month. I set up my blog as a way to show what I was working on for this challenge. Her words of encouragement on my blog kept me going long after the challenge ended.

Deb at Deb Harvey’s Studio
Part of the fun of being in Leah’s challenges is checking out what other people are up to. Deb's blog was one of the first links I wandered into. She painted a picture of a fox that just made me happy, so I left a comment. Now we “chat” frequently through comments, and I have purchased a few things from her shop.

June and Jeanette at Art Freebies, Soartful Challenges, and Dezinaworld
These two women publish some of my favorite blogs. They share vintage images from their collections and show you inspiring ways their readers have used the images. Many of the images are free, but you can also buy very affordable digital art sheets.

Liz at The Fragrant Muse
I experience the world through words, images, and also scents. I am a big fan of aromatherapy to enhance my mood, improve my creativity, and keep me healthy. Liz writes a very entertaining blog about all things fragrant. Her warm, fun personality comes through in every post that is filled with helpful information.

Stacy at Pandora’s Compass and Tara at Love It/Hate It
These two ladies are my inspiration in the blog world and in my “real” life. Both are graphic designers that I have the honor of working with every day, and both have the most vibrant personalities that I have ever seen. Stacy is a new blogger with a wonderfully compassionate voice. Tara has been in the blogging realm for a while now, I have learned so much from her.

Rules of the Sunshine Blog Award
Technically I didn’t follow the rules. It is not that I’m a rule breaker, but I’ve reached a point in my life where I ‘d rather follow intuition than rules. Still I wanted to publish them here in case any of my honorees want to carry on the tradition in the spirit in which it was created.

Put the logo on your blog or within your post.

Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.

Link the nominees within your post.

Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

a peek inside my underwear drawer

For me writing a blog is a little like showing people my underwear. I might expose parts of me that I wouldn’t normally expose. Yet there is something exciting about that.

Sharing things with strangers in cyberspace is easier for me than sharing things with people I know. I can write something here that I would find hard to say to friends and family. But what is really weird for me is the thought that friends and family may read something I write.

My coworkers may catch a glimpse of the underwear drawer that I try so hard to hide. My mom might see me tamping down a mass of comfortable cotton mixed with a little satin. My sister’s image of me with perfectly folded undies, organized by the day of the week, could be shattered.

Oh well, it is a risk I’m willing to take.

Finding my Voice

Looking at this blog, you probably think I can’t make up my mind. I keep changing things.

Writing a blog is an amazingly complicated process. It is stretching just about every creative muscle that I have.

First there is the technical aspect. I used a template to get things started, but my blog looks lame compared to other ones, so I’m now tinkering to improve it. Then there is the design itself. I’m a writer by trade, not a designer, so I’ve never created a web banner until now. At first, I was happy to have something that was sized correctly. Now I’m trying to figure out what I am trying to “say” with the design.

That bring me to the most difficult part, “What am I trying to say?” Somehow I thought the words would be the easiest part for me considering that writing is my day job.

But this is different. I have freedom: the freedom to write about anything I want. Paralyzing freedom. I’m still trying to find my voice, yet with every change I make, this space starts to feel more like me.

Every day I learn something new that I want to incorporate. Sure I could have waited until I had more experience to get started, but if I’d done that, this blog would never exist.

Life’s about jumping in and trying things, learning as we go, and making sure every day brings new growth to our souls. Thank you to those of you, who were kind enough to follow me, and feel free to help me find my voice.

New Look

Today I was reading some of my favorite art blogs. They inspired me to try to add some visual life to my blog. Of course, thinking of myself more as a writer than an artist, I focused on the words when I launched this blog. Now I'm ready to spice up the design.

Unfortunately my web skills fall behind the ideas in my head, so I have opted for a simple banner until I can gain some new skills. My cat, Benjamin, participated in the photo shoot by eating some of the sprinkles and knocking the rest onto the floor. It may not be the most creative thing you've ever seen, but I had a good time working on it.



If you want to see some really creative blog backgrounds, check out Cute n Cool Blog Stuff.

By the way, this is day 4 of the Art Every Day Month challenge. So far I have been working on the recipe scrapbook for my mom. I hope to have some pictures soon, but tonight I took a break to do this instead.