AD – What blogging has taught me about creativity
I have been blogging now for a staggering seven years. Looking back on that afternoon in March 2013 and signing up to have my blog seems like both yesterday and a lifetime ago. I remember my first post {which lacked in creativity!} was me sharing my first ever Twitter win, but was for a Little Tikes Cosy Coupe in case you were wondering. Stoked wasn’t the word!
Back then, I thought a blog was just a way of having an online diary. Never thinking, for a second that it would develop and grow into what I have today. Which is a well-established blog and years under my belt of working with some truly amazing brands. With whom I still have a good working relationship with to this very day.
Since that first post, which, looking back to is hilarious and so poorly written. My style of writing has changed as well as my photography. It has been amazing to see my blog blossom from ‘newbie’ to ‘established’ and as a Mother? It is something quite amazing to have something to call my own. Something I have developed, built, adapted and grew on my own. I am proud of that.
Blogging for this many years has taught me many things, but the best thing it has taught me is in how many different ways I can be creative. I have always been a little creative nugget and it has been quite something to see how many different ways that I can bring that creativity to light.
The start of my creativity journey
Back in 2014 was my first attempt at any form of digital creativity. Using clipart, vectors, beloved fonts and designs to create my first ever Elf on the Shelf free printables. The Christmas tradition had just reached our Northern Irish shores and ever since I published that post? It always brings in the traffic on the run-up to Christmas. I have of course updated them over the years to keep with the times and of course, freshen up old content. Which is part and parcel of blogging life! Continuously updating, freshening up old posts.
From creating Christmas printables, I then tried my hand at making Birthday printable’s too. These included designing Birthday invitations for my children’s themed birthday parties. Everything from Pokemon, Rainbow, Minnie Mouse, Fortnite and Harry Potter. I designed my own Hogwarts Express Ticket Invitations for my daughters thirteenth birthday and most recently a Mermaids & Pirate Disco Invitation for my youngest birthday. Everything you need is so readily available for you online! From Vectors to clipart and with websites such as Design Bundles offering free design resources, you’re set to get creative yourself!
I have even started making the children {and the Husband} there own T-shirts and Hoodies. Mainly because some of the Anime shows that they are into etc, the merchandise will either cost you a kidney or just isn’t available. So I love being able to find clipart {with the permission of the artist of course!} to use for their artwork to create cool pieces for them.
Thinking of opening up your own Online Shop?
With Design Bundles, if you are someone looking to create and sell your products online, I love that you can create a mock up of your design. Mainly because you don’t know if that product will sell or not. So these mock ups give you an idea of if it is or not something people want. I really love the idea of having a digital version of something I am looking to create. I’m nerdy like that but again, if you are looking to have your own online shop? This is a perfect option with Design Bundles to look into.
Creating my own Free Printable’s
Digital mock ups aside, my latest way to be creative is how you can help people. Children specifically. Sure, OK, I don’t sell clothing I’ve designed or created certificates that you can edit to personalise {however, I am working on that one!}. But I have created a handful of educational printable’s that I know have been a great resource for young children such as preschoolers and early Primary school years. My youngest daughter Annabelle was my inspiration for that because one day she wanted a worksheet as she had in school. It was a worksheet on circling numbers that you knew, like the number 1, 2 and so on. I found nothing like it online, so I created my own Number Recognition Worksheet.
These have been so incredibly popular on my blog. It is something you can easily print off at home for your little one to do. Just because they aren’t in nursery or school yet doesn’t mean that cannot learn what their numbers are and what they look like. Better still? They can develop their penmanship skills by colouring in the number on the worksheet once it is finished. As well as the Number Recognition Worksheet, I have created Seasonal worksheets. Again focusing on penmanship skills which are essential for early years children.
I went on to create Summer and Reading Journals, which my daughter also loves. She really enjoys reading a book, then logging everything she loved about it in her reading journal. Such a simple and effective printable to create. I could go on about the printables I have created for children all morning, as I have a few! However, I also branched out to help us adults being a little more organised too by creating calendar printable’s.
Free Printable’s for the Adults too!
I love to be organised, which I am pretty sure being a Mother, Wife and blogger have all contributed into perfecting. Over the years of course, as that does not happen overnight! But I created a lovely set of calendar printable’s too for those who love to have those visual reminders, with calming designs because we all know busy families can be overwhelming and hectic on a 24hr basis. So having soothing printable’s to keep us in check and on time for appointments and things are essential when you’re the Captain of a busy ship.
As my creativity continues to grow with the times and progress. Now? I can see my design creativity changing and I love that. I’ve only been newly introduced to Design Bundles, but I will be using more of the Design Resources they offer as they are pretty great. I for one am excited to get started on my new year printable’s and content, so stay tuned. And if you are a creative butterfly such as myself and love creating digital printable’s, invitations and more? Check out Design Bundles, you never know they could be just what you’re looking for.
Are you a fan of creativity? If so, I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below…
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post with GetBlogged & Design Bundles
