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….

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.

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 – 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 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 – 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}