Great Giveaway!: Everyday Creative Kit & Workbook!

I'm going to Vegas today – yay hooray! 5 days in the desert with my man, his sister, & her boyfriend (who dances for The Donny & Marie Show), not to mention some time with my man's BFF from high school, who we never see unless someone's recently dead or about to get married. But I didn't think it would be fun if I have all the fun, so when I saw the Everyday Creative Kit & Workbook on Nicole Docimo's blog I just had to DM her on Twitter & asked if she'd sponsor a giveaway. As you can guess, she said yes (Are you wearing a dress? I'm not, I confess!)! I'm so freakin' excited. The first sponsored giveaway on this blog! About damn time.

Here it is! Isn't it awesome?! (Please note that that's a hypothetical question)

I asked Nicole the simple question of what inspired her to create the kit, & she gave me these gems:

“Something that has become very important to me over the past few years, as I've gotten back into art after spending some time avoiding it (for reasons of fear, and delusions that you can't do art as a career), is the idea that everyone is creative. How many times I have heard people say, “I'm not creative,” or “I wish I was creative.” Honestly, this is RIDICULOUS, and it makes me angry that so many people have internalized this. I think it is one of the barriers to artists becoming artists and really flexing their “art-wings,” and on a larger level, I think it is one of the barriers to a lot of people really enjoying life.

I know these are big statements, but if you think about it, when we were all kids we lived in endless worlds of creativity. Anything was possible, until we were taught that it was not. I think creativity is the difference between putting yourself in a a box, and living a free and joyful life. It's the difference between “yes” and “no.” For quite a few years, I told myself “no.” I thought I couldn't do art for a living, I thought I wasn't good enough, I thought “I must do the jobs that are available because that is the way people do it.” Once I started to really let myself get creative in my brain and in my heart, everything changed. Once I made space to open up to the possibilities, I was able to shift and make creativity the focus of my life—not just art, but the idea of an entire creative life concept—that you don't have to live the way everyone says you “should.” You can create your own life, based on the things that you value. This is the ultimate idea of creativity to me.

My Everyday Creative Kit is an introduction to this. It is an opening to a bunch of small ideas that can add up to a lot more joy. The first incarnation of the kit idea for me was an Art Monthly Club program I started this past fall, where members would receive a little bit of creative inspiration each month in the form of a kit. After putting it out there for a couple of months, I realized that what I was trying to do could be done better by a series of kits that I offer consistently, instead of a monthly club. So I thought about it for a while, and decided that the first kit I would like to make would be a guide to being creative in small ways, everyday. I decided that a workbook would be the best cornerstone of the kit, and collected and thought of a handful of different exercises that would get people into the creative mode—from doing an inspiration collage, to dancing, to going on a field trip—mainly just taking the time to think about what creative things you would love to do. As with everything, I think it's about making space and time for what you want in your life—I hope this kit will help people make a little space in their lives for more creativity. As I've found with making art—creativity leads to more creativity. Once you open the door, you never know what will come in.”

Seriously. I love her.

OK, so you wanna win, don't ‘cha? You can enter by leaving a comment below that describes what you do for your creative time. Do you have a tip to get started on a creative project? A daily ritual that gets you into that play space? A favorite creative thing? A mantra that helps you clear your head & get to work? We wanna hear it!

Oh, and you get 1 extra vote for doing each of the following:

• following me on Twitter
• following me on Facebook
• following Nicole on Twitter
• following Nicole on Facebook
• tweeting about this giveaway (I'll make it easy – copy & paste this: “I just entered the Everyday Creative Kit Giveaway by @bluebicicletta on @WhenIGroUpCoach's blog. Your turn! http://ow.ly/16T1A”)

Each time you do one of those things, add a comment below saying what you did. So, everyone can have up to 6 entries! You'll be a shoo-in when I pick the winner randomly on Tuesday, February 23rd at 5p EST. The winner will be announced early Wednesday!

And even though I'll be watching Donny & Marie / seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time / maxin' & relaxin' I'll have a vlog up for you on Friday. The miracle of the scheduled posts!

Good luck, everyone!

Related posts:

1. Grown-Up Gig: Creative Entrepreneurial Endeavor Developer
2. Ten Ways to Know If You're a Creative Entrepreneur
3. Freakin' (Great Links) Friday: Installment 2