inspiration Archives - CLEVERcreating

7 Creative Travel Journal Tips and Tricks for the Best Journey

July 26, 2024July 26, 2024 by Hannie Mommers

Whether you keep it simple or more complicated, making a creative travel journal during your trips is great fun.

My mother used to make scrapbooks when she was back from a holiday. It was in the pre-digital days, so she had to wait until the film rolls were developed. When time passes we might forget things.

Nowadays we are fortunate to have access to smartphones and small digital printers so we can work on a travel journal during the trip. It is one of my main creative travel journal tips: work on it every day.

Are Inspiration and Creativity Important for an Interesting Life?

June 21, 2024June 20, 2024 by Hannie Mommers

Although many people don’t consider themselves creative (which I don’t understand and even disagree with), inspiration and creativity are important to us.

Both the word inspiration and the word creativity are used in 2 ways. Physical versus mental.

Inspiration literally means inhalation on the one hand, expressiveness or divine force on the other. The latter is attributed by some to a higher power and by others called the flow or being in the zone.

Photography is a Passion, Why is Taking Pictures Important?

April 3, 2024April 3, 2024 by Hannie Mommers

Taking pictures is narrowing your view in a good sense. Looking through the square hole makes you focus on the composition, colour and details of what you see. It’s all about making choices.

When I was 12 years old I got a camera from my granddad. It was an Agfa, that I know for sure. But I am not sure anymore whether it was a Click or a Clack.

All these years I was convinced it was a Clack-II, but googling pictures of it made me wonder. The image in my memory resembles more of the Click-II.

How to Create Abstract Photos by Using the Hipstamatic App

October 29, 2024February 16, 2024 by Hannie Mommers

Years ago I discovered the app Hipstamatic for my smartphone. It was love at first sight. I even have to admit I once bought another iPhone to have more pixels and speed.

As an artist, I love abstract art. Taking pictures with abstract results enhances that love and using the Hipstamatic app for those pictures doubles the fun.

In this article on how to create abstract photos, the focus is on the app Hipstamatic. In the meantime, I also explain how you can make your pictures more abstract without the app.

Creative Playing on the Beach for Grown-ups

January 15, 2024January 15, 2024 by Hannie Mommers

Isn’t it a pity that we tend to forget how to play? What do you think about playing on the beach for grown-ups? I can assure you that it is fun!

Years ago my former colleagues and I went to a beach house once a year to get creative inspiration.

We were all creative souls and we gave ourselves assignments to develop our creative skills even further. There I discovered again what fun it is to play on the beach.

The Art of Being Creative Sparked by Mutual Inspiration, 7 Tips

January 11, 2024 by Hannie Mommers

There is a beautiful story about sharing food or ideas: if I have 2 potatoes and share them with a friend, we both have 1 potato. If I share 2 ideas with a friend, we both have 2 ideas.

Mutual inspiration is extremely nourishing and satisfying. An activity together with someone else, whether it is walking, doing crafts or talking, gives such a good feeling. After all, a human being is a social being and we better exploit that.

It doesn’t just happen out of the blue. If we want to do something together with someone, we have to take action. In this article, I explain how I do that.

30 Tips to Spend Free Time Finding Inspiration for Creative Projects

January 5, 2024January 5, 2024 by Hannie Mommers

At most of the exhibitions where I showed my work, I tried to be present to talk to the visitors. The most frequently asked question was: where do you find the inspiration for your subjects? To which my answer was that I had some tricks for that.

Developing inspiration is a conscious process. Or at least it could be. It also depends on our character what our favourite method is.

In this article, I give you 30 tips to spend your free time finding inspiration and spark your creativity. It is a random list of all kinds of things I occasionally do. Get inspired.

7 Creative Ideas with Waste Materials to DIY or Together with the Kids

December 15, 2023December 15, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

The best waste is of course no waste, but as long as that is a utopia, there is nothing better than coming up with creative ideas with waste materials.

One of the most beautiful sayings I ever saw was: Waste is only waste if you waste it.

And once you get used to thinking in terms of reusing and not wasting stuff, a huge flow of ideas will start, I can assure you.

In this article, I list a number of ideas for inspiration or imitation.

How to Stay Inspired in Photography? Of these 7 Tips, I Particularly Like #6

October 26, 2023October 26, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

There has been a period in my life I didn’t take any pictures at all, making me regret that later, because I don’t have any pictures of my son aged 6 to 9. The reason was that I wasn’t inspired anymore and didn’t feel up to the effort of taking the camera and shooting.

Nowadays I have found several ways to get inspired and to develop my creativity. And to stay inspired because, in the end, it’s all about keeping on going and pushing ourselves forward. Don’t settle for a result too soon.

I will share my tips on how to stay inspired in photography with you in this article and I hope you will add tips of your own at the end of this article.