Category Archives: Creative Life

Jan14

Creative Juice #277

Posted on January 14, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Ideas for a better life and more and better art.

For the fiction writers: how to tell readers only what they need to know now.
Cool ways to organize and store your quilting supplies.
Ideas for taking better photographs.
Awesome quilts.
Small things you can do to improve your quality of life.
How does an asylum seeker prove credible fear? Without it, no asylum. This story by an asylum volunteer will have you reaching for your hanky.
How to be more focused in your creativity.
Do you love words? Then you might love Oral Florist, a website of recordings of writers reading random stuff, like a manual or a recipe or anything that tickled their fancy.
Make a temperature blanket for 2022. Or a temperature quilt.
Working and playing with watercolor.
Gorgeous Zentangles.
Sketches from a Florida vacation.

Jan10

Monday Morning Wisdom #344

Posted on January 10, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.
—Arthur C. Clarke

Jan7

Creative Juice #276

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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For creative people everywhere.

Wallpaper. You either hate it or love it. Here are some designs that might win you over.
This quilter finished a lot of lovely quilts in 2021.
A bunch of pretty quilts in different stages.
These ceramic mugs are works of art. (If you like animals, you’ve got to click this link.)
Wildlife photographs.
Do creative people ever misplace their tools? (Guilty.)
What habitual reading does for your brain.
Street photography.
What is it about successful authors that made their careers take off?
Resources for writers.
So, you quit your day job to write fulltime and now you can’t pay the bills? Here are some side hustles that will earn you a little cash and also help you be a better writer. Lots of openings right now.
How to generate content quickly.

Jan3

Monday Morning Wisdom #343

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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The artist must possess the courageous soul that dares and defies.
~ Kate Chopin

Dec24

Creative Juice #274

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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This week’s offerings are heavy on writing advice, but you don’t have to be a writer to love the first two articles.

Oddly satisfying photographs.
An art blogger I follow bought a Victorian townhouse in Jersey City.
Excellent writing advice.
Excellent advice for poets and writers who have been asked to do a live reading of their work.
How to promote yourself as an author before your first book is in print.
How to write a blurb.
How writers can maximize their social media.
For the nonfiction writers: your book proposal bio.
How to write a great essay.
How some authors achieved their dream of getting a book deal.
How to network with other authors.
How to write your memoir.

Dec17

Creative Juice #273

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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I challenge you to use one of these ideas this week. (Hmmm. I think I need googly eyes.)

Zentangles on snail shells.
Art with humorous captions.
I love this tutorial on how to draw a house. I starts out the (childish) way I would draw one, but adds details step by step that take it beyond what I usually end up with.
These sculptures look like wood, but they’re really ceramic.
Take a peek at these art journal pages.
How an author came up with her new middle grades book.
An artist reacts to an ancient sculpted head.
Fun with food (photography).
I wish I could go sketching with my friends.
I can’t remember if I’ve shared zenpencils’ Instagram page before. If you haven’t seen it yet, you have a treat in store.
Painting pansies tutorial.
For the fiction writers. I never considered whether the beginnings and endings of my scenes have resonance.

Dec10

Creative Juice #272

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Lots o’ neat stuff.

Want to make some holiday ornaments to decorate your home or to give as gifts? Here are some free patterns.
For the writers: a great article on how to start writing your story. (I have no problem starting. I like the starting part. My problem is finishing. Somebody please write that article.)
I didn’t get around to writing an RIP for the late Stephen Sondheim. But not to worry, because my friend Donna did. Bookmark this and listen to all the wonderful music when you can—it’s awesome.
Steampunk spider sculptures.
Intricate cut paper art.
Celebrating while grieving.
Faux calligraphy alphabet.
Do you like miniatures?
Celebrity memoirs. I’ve read two of these, and see a couple more I’d like to read.
An artist looks at Rodin’s sculptures.
Awesome crochet projects.
Illustrator Joy Laforme talks about her career path and her handmade Christmas ornaments.

Dec3

Creative Juice #271

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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Writing tips and other good stuff.

Look at my friend’s wonderful garden!
Tips for tightening your writing.
How writing lists can make you a better writer.
Writers, don’t quit your first draft—read this instead.
Make some paper snowflakes.
No ideas for a gift for your quilting friend?
“Vandal” art.
I love Judy Dykstra-Brown’s poems.
My friend Jane Jimenez sent me this article with amazing photographs.
Writers: when you only have 15 minutes. . .
For $25, you can be Home Alone this month.
Gorgeous ceramics.

Nov26

Creative Juice #270

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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This week’s offerings are heavy on writing tips. But there are some crumbs for the quilters and crafters.

Incredibly fine quilting from the International Quilt Festival.
A quilter talks about the creative process.
Make some holiday cards.
A profile of the first Native Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland.
How to improve the article you’ve just written.
How to write a short story.
For the fiction writers: a very good article on characterization.
Revelation: writing is not as glamorous as it seems.
An abandoned clinic.
For writers: how to read.
How to decipher crochet pattern code.
For most writers, the road to publication is long and winding.

Nov19

Creative Juice #269

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Andrea R Huelsenbeck

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It’s the weekend, baby! (A former college boyfriend used to tell me this every Friday afternoon.)

Quilts from the Pacific International Quilt Festival.
A quilter shares her thoughts about a newly-finished quilt.
Wonderful origami.
Don’t bother buying a bed for your cat.
A quick art history lesson focusing on Renaissance paintings.
Dripping with rugs.
An autistic student completes an assignment to write a poem, and earns a book contract for it.
An artist is entranced by a hand-scribed, hand-illustrated Ethiopian prayerbook.
Award-winning landscape photography.
Sketching trees.
I love this artist’s Instagram. Some posts are multi-drawing stories.
When your 94-year-old mother writes a children’s book and asks you to illustrate it, you can’t say no.