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an easy way to get out of a creative rut…

An Easy Way to Get Out of a Creative Rut

An Easy Way to Get Out of a Creative Rut

I gotta admit…every few months, I will find myself in a creative rut. I love my job, and I love all the different things I get to do. But I’m always challenging my brain to think of new ideas and new designs that sometimes the ideas just don’t come out. When you’re stuck in a creative rut, my biggest advice to others (and what I try and practice myself) is to try something different—go workout, visit a new place, or take a fun class! These are all things I try and do but these things also involve having extra free time to myself (away from work and away from my family) that it does become harder to find time to really fit them in.

Recently, I’ve been getting my creative juices flowing again by taking cool classes online through Skillshare. With little free time, I love that it’s something I can do in the evenings after my kids go to bed on my own schedule and at my leisure. I can just sit in my bed with my laptop or phone and learn some new and fun! So I’ve partnered with Skillshare today to show you some of my recent favorites classes that I think you might enjoy too….

Skillshare Grilled Cheese Class

The Perfect Grilled Cheese – There are some things in life worth mastering, and I really feel that knowing how to make a really good grilled cheese sandwich is one of them. The head chef at Plated goes through the nuances of making this incredibly satisfying carb fest of a sandwich. On a rainy or snowy day, when you just want some comfort food, you'll be glad you watched this.

Skillshare Travel the World on a Budget

Travel the World – Traveling has always been one of those things I feel like I didn't do enough of when I was younger. Traveling internationally always seemed like a daunting thing to do that needed a lot of savings. This class follows the travel bloggers How Far from Home as they teach how to travel the world on a budget. It inspired me to take a chance and go on more faraway adventures with my family, and it's always fun and inspiring to see how other people live in a way that is so different from how you go about your day.

Basic Watercolors with Paper Fashion

Basic Watercolors with Paper Fashion – I love the work of Katie Rodgers so to get an inside look at her process was really fun. Watercolor has always seemed so intimidating to me as a medium because it's harder to hide any mistakes than with other kids of paint. I enjoyed learning some simple tips on how to add texture and shadow in watercolor…and I love that she uses shows as an example here.

Make Ahead Breakfasts

Make Ahead Breakfasts That Will Change your Day – The morning rush is one of the biggest stressors of my day. I loved learned about these easy "make ahead" breakfasts to help save time during those weekday mornings that are just go go go!

Creating Hand-Drawn Wallpaper

Creating Hand-Drawn Wallpaper – I often get asked how one can turn their drawing or artwork into a pattern. And I love the way that Julia Rothman (one of my favorite illustrators) demonstrates how to do it in a very tactile and understandable way.

Getting inspiration wherever and whenever you can is always my best fix for being in a creative rut. For me, I enjoy learning about things in my world (and and design) but it's also sometimes even better to learn about things I'm not as familiar with (cooking and travel tips). I hope this will inspire you to learn about some new things in your world, too!

For Oh Joy readers, Skillshare is offering this incredible deal of 3 months of Skillshare Premium for only $0.99 (it's usually $96!) through March 31, 2016. Click here to sign up!

{Top photo by Casey Brodley and styled by Julia Wester, other images are stills from videos}

22 comments

  1. I recently took a class with Skillshare and really enjoyed it! I like these classed you’ve posted about, so I will definitely check them out. Thanks for the post!
    Fariha

  2. Joy these are all fantastic recommendations! I’ve used skillshare to take photography classes and they have been good. Will try the travel related class! Sometimes online courses can be daunting because of the time commitment but these all seem fun and different! Thanks for the partnership offer!

  3. I’d never heard of Skillshare. It’s such a great idea because you can learn something in an evening rather than commit to months of an online class. There’s a nice variety to choose from – thanks for the premium offer! Nell

  4. this is such a creative way for people to easy share their passions and skills (hah! the name is very literal). will have to look into these for sure
    hammyta.wordpress.com

  5. I’ve been in some sort of creative nut as well – I’m in the middle of doing my Bachelor’s but it’s definitely not a subject I’m too into. I decided to break the mold and replace my traditional business and accounting classes with photography to see if I want to switch majors to Fine Arts. I was totally lacking in the creative process with my previous major so I totally hear you when it comes to wanting to find more resources for inspiration.

  6. It’s like you are reading my mind! I am deep deep deep in a creative rut right now and feeling completely burnt out. Skillshare and workout is exactly what I need to re-engergize myself! Thank you so much for the partnership offer 🙂

  7. Hi Milan, are you already logged into Skillshare? That might be why you are seeing that screen. If you log out and try the link again, it should show up as $.99. Let me know if it doesnt work!
    Joy

  8. Hi Joy, thanks for your quick reply! Yeah, i was logged in. When I log out it shows .99 and asks me to sign up. I click sign in and it goes back to $96. That makes sense though, must be for new users only. 🙂 I love Skillshare!

  9. I saw this on your instagram and I came here looking for an informative post. What I got was an ad for Skillshare. Ho hum. Don’t get me wrong, I love Skillshare and have already taken a few of their classes but your title of this blogpost is extremely misleading. It should have been something like “5 cool skillshare classes I recommend”. Tell it like it is! Then again like all long time bloggers you’ll write anything as long as you get paid for it.

  10. Hi Joy,
    I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to see this post. Thank you SO much for taking notice of our Make-Ahead Breakfast class!! Wow! It really means so much as we’re big fans of everything you do. We couldn’t be more flattered that you enjoyed our work. Being on Skillshare has been a really great experience for us and we highly recommend it to other creators. It’s fun connecting with other creatives and it’s a cool challenge as you’re growing your business.
    We have a new class up now, all about super fast dinner for those hectic weekday evenings (that would be all of them!). We hope you’ll have a look when you have a sec.
    https://www.skillshare.com/classes/culinary/Quick-and-Healthy-Dinner-for-Really-Busy-People/1655143674/classroom/discussions?via=my-classes&enrolledRedirect=1
    Thanks again!
    Ceri

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