Day 222: Play with imagination - Day 3

If I gave you:

a long piece of wood,
two pieces of string and
a balloon,

then said, 'write a song,'

what would you do?


Think about it for a while and see where your imagination goes today.

Day 221: Play with Imagination - Day 2

So, it's Day 2 of my mini imagination task and here's today's stimulus:

1) Go to Google and type into the search bar the first word that comes into your head. (Try not to think about it too much!)

2) Click on Images and take the first picture that comes up.

3) Do 1 & 2 again 3 more times until you have four pictures.

4) Now link these together. Use them to let your imagination go wild...

Here are the four picture I got from the words, pie, taken, Totnes and pineapples. (Why these were the first words that came into my head, I have no idea!)

Feel free to use my pictures if they spark you imagination. Have fun creating!

Day 220: Play with Imagination - Day 1

Today, I want to focus on imagination. I've been doing a hefty amount of (text book) reading about creativity and a lot of it was to do with imagination.

It really is amazing, what, given a few objects, words, sounds...out imaginations can conjure up. I mean brilliant stories like Happy Potter and Sherlock Holmes started in someones imagination.

What will start in yours?

Here's a few thing to get you going:

A word:    torture.
An object:    riding saddle.
A smell:    fresh toast.
A sound:    muffled voices.

I bet your mind is already trying to put those things together...

For the next 5 days, I'm going to make it my mini challenge to get your imaginations going. Get started with these and see where your imagination takes your creative skills. It might even be the greatest tool we have...

Watch this space!

Day 219: Matthew Bourne's Cinderella

This morning I ate my breakfast whilst watching BBC Breakfast and was introduced to Matthew Bourne. I'd never heard heard of him before, but as a creative blogger, I thought, what better person to inspire you all to get creative.

Matthew Bourne is a dance choreographer and has directed shows such as Swan Lake, Edward Scissorhands and Dorian Grey. His production of Swan Lake in particular was by no means ordinary. His use of Male dancers as the swans brought much controversy to his ballet, but with that comes interest. Mr Bourne, it would appear, is all about bringing in the new.

To add to his varied collection, currently showing in London is his latest creation, Cinderella. There's a twist (of course) to this classic fairytale. It's set in London during the Blitz (Wartime England). Take a peek at this brooding, atmospheric ballet below. I don't know about you, but it certainly makes me want to crack out a ballet step or two (and that's from someone who hasn't done ballet since the age of 5!)



Bourne didn't start training as a dancer until he was 22, which is pretty late in dance. I guess that means there's hope for all of us. It's never too late to start working toward your creative passion. Now possibly the most popular choreographer in Britain, Matthew Bourne is entertaining people all over the world with his creative skills. What an inspiration!

And...to add another sprinkle of inspiration, you can get involved with his Rebourne workshops! Check out New Adventures, his company for loads more cool stuff he's got going on.

Cinderella is on at London Sadler's Wells Dance House until 23rd January and then goes on tour around Britain. See here for more details. even if dance isn't your thing, check out this amazing man's creations and get inspired to do your creative thing, your way...

Day 218: Competition theme...?

Today, I NEED YOUR HELP!

I am running a writing competition at a school for 11-14 year olds and I need to chose a theme.

I've narrowed it down to three words so far, but I only want one. They are abstract nouns, so hopefully they can be interpreted in loads of different ways. The question is, which one would YOU like to write about the most?

Rumour

Curiosity

Reality

Please help me out here, guys. Just write the word you like the most by clicking on 'comment' below. Then we'll see which one wins! Oh, and feel free to do your own creative thing with these words...

Thanks for you're help.

Day 217: Wooly Winters

Good News Folks! I found out from BBC this morning that wool is on the up. More people are buying knitted stuff. More people are knitting. Which means, British wool is making money for our country, yay!

You wanna know why I'm banging on about this, don't you?

Well, the truth is guys, knitting is cool! Creating your own bags, clothes, toys...is the way forward.

So get out there and start creating. There's never been a better time to support our country's economy. Plus, it's real good for the environment too. Hardly any fossil fuels needs to be used to produce yarn and British wool is being sold all over the world.

If you need an excuse to get creative with wool, here it is. No more excuses people. It's time to be inspired by sheep!

Day 216: Charlieissocoollike

Every so often I take a peek at Charlieissocoollike on You Tube and watch one of his videos. Since September I haven't seen any because I've been super busy with my degree, but yesterday I thought, I'm gonna take a look...

I found this video called, Bread. I think it's really creative and clever. Singing, animation, story...it's swell!



For me the sad ending really makes it. Funny fairytale-like stories like this usually have happy ending. I think this one is unique. Charlie, you certainly are a creative guy!

I hope this inspires you in your creative endeavours. It certainly does with mine.

Happy creating!