Can you believe we are entering the penultimate month of the year! From next month’s #thecreativemonth it will be all things festive. So lets make the most of the last month of Autumn!
We had the most amazing #autumnhashtagchallenge. So many creative and wonderful entries. You guys have blown me away with your talent. You have also decided we need something before the #xmashashtagchallenge so there will be a #novemberhashtagchallenge at some point towards the end of November. It will probably be a 5 day challenge. It will be a great way to get creative.
This month’s presets as named by you guys are Autumn Blush, Spiced Latte and Fall In Love. There’s a brand new feature this month with a guest post from a creative which is super exciting!
As always if you enjoy this months #thecreativemonth, sharing means the world, it will enable more people to join in with what has become such an amazing community! Anyway let’s get stuck in….
Hashtags to use this month:
#seasonalstyleseries – From @life.simply.styled @pretty_boho @mamaandpea @stacefacexo A hashtag to share seasonal styles. Outfits, flatly, stack lays, selfies etc.
#reluctantautumnembrace – From @katiemorwenna – For those who aren’t quite as passionate about autumn as everyone else on Instagram. Finding moments of Autumn beauty that have lured you in.
#atthekidstable – A fun photo challenge with weekly themes. Run by @marharmother
#cultivatewithme – A hashtag from @Caroline_carter4 an opportunity ti share how you are flourishing and growing through the seasons.
Don’t forget about these ones either!
#ourchildhoodautumn– Move over summer it’s all about autumn now! Use the hashtag in exactly the same way. Share your beautiful photos. Days out, simple seasonal moments.
#thecreativemonth – Share your photographs from the prompts in this email!
#instantmagicinsta My own personal little project. Taking it back to the old days where we all used our phone all of the time and snapped and posted without worrying about algorithms. All of this week I’m using this hashtag and being a bit more spontaneous. If you want to join in you can find all the info you need here.
(If you have a hashtag you’ve created, I would love to hear. I’ll share my favourites each month!)
Instagram Inspiration
This month I’ve been hugely inspired by the following accounts. You can definitely see why as their photographs are just beautiful!
@a.b.and.me – Megan’s creative game right now is on fire! Playing around with doodles, drawing and textures. So inspiring!
@thisseasonalstory – Jules from @thisisjules set up another account solely to post pretty photos. Whatever she wanted to post without fear of “good engagement”. And boy o boy does she have an eye for pretty!
@peoniesandfallenleaves A new find for me but I love the mix of content! And her pumpkin photo from the #autumnhashtagchallenge has to be one of my all time favourites!
Guest Feature – Amazing Stories
Something new for this month! Each month I’m going to ask someone who is killing it creatively in some way and ask them to give us a few tips and advice! This month I ask Nikki. Not only does she have the prettiest grid but her Instagram Stories are amazing! I asked her to share her secrets!
Username:@nikki.plus.two
About me: Hi! I’m Nikki, 29 year old mama of two. I live all the way up north in Newcastle with my two boys (Isaac & Rory), my fiancé Craig and our dog, Gus.
How do I create my stories: I pretty much do them all within the app using the Instagram stories brush and about a million GIFs! I occasionally use templates from Unfold, but rarely these days. I usually open a photo I’ve already taken so that I can shrink it, fill the screen with a colour and use the eraser to make a shape around the picture (I hope that makes sense). Then I just use GIFs and the paintbrush to create pretty patterns etc.
How do I find GIFs to use: I honestly just use the search bar and enter whatever word seems the closest to what I have in my head. Some of my most used GIFs I’ve come across by chance through searching things like “squiggle”, “scribble” or “doodle”. Sometimes I’ll keep them relevant to the picture of text, so if I’m complaining about being tired (always) then I’ll search “coffee” or “zzz”.
What inspired you to create these stories: I think for me, it’s a quicker way to be a little bit creative. I don’t always have as much time as I’d like to take beautiful grid photos (total respect to Cathryn who somehow manages it regularly with two little ones!!) so it’s a nice way to share snippets of my day, but still make them look pretty!
I hope you feel inspired by Nikki’s gorgeous stories! Make sure you head over and follow her if you don’t already and tag her in your stories if you give it a try!!
Photography Prompts
So part of #thecreativemonth is sharing five prompts. If you’re stuck for what to photograph and you need little inspiration then look no further. I would love you to use #thecreativemonth on your posts and next month I will share my favourites in this email and on my blog. This month’s prompts are:
Sparkle – With Bonfire Night just around the corner it’s the perfect excuse!
Look Up – Capture those last leaves hanging on the trees.
First Light- As the mornings stay darker for longer capture that first light!
Thankful – November marks Thanksgiving so why not capture something your thankful for!
Frost – Those fresh, crisp cold frosty mornings.
Words of Advice: When You Feel Like You’ve Lost “it”.
It happens to us all. That creative burnout. That “am I doing things right”. That feeling of failure. When you job is being creative and it all rides on that it can be hard. Last month I found myself getting very caught up on things I shouldn’t. Worrying if I was “relatable enough”. (When I say worry it wasn’t keeping me up at night) but it made me doubt what I do. And you know what, that had a knock on effect. So the last few weeks I’ve gone back to “me”. Getting creative, pushing my comfort zone and remembering what I love doing. You see the more you get caught up on others the harder it is for you to focus on you.
So I decided to focus on me. I went back to what always makes me feel inspired. Podcasts. I listened to my favourites and in particular the podcast from Sara Tasker of Me & Orla. Her episode on when you feel like your failing was the perfect timing. It really helped clarify things for me. I would totally recommend a listen. And her book. Okay everything! I’m a total fangirl!!
So instead of scrolling. I went looking.
I got outside. Walking through the cemetery. It might sound morbid but it’s quiet, full of golden leaves and autumn treasure. And that freedom to breathe. I felt inspired, came up with ideas it really helped me to reconnect back to what I had set out to do. I’m not here to be relatable. I’m here to create and to help others create.
I went to Pinterest. Starting looking for ideas, brainstorming getting inspired.
I sat down and wrote things out. I muted accounts that didn’t serve me. Accounts that made me doubt what I was doing, that made me doubt my path. It helped. And now I feel back to my creative self. We all have burnout. We all have self doubt. Don’t let that consume you.
Stop. Don’t just carry on. Look at what you’re doing and what you want to be doing. Find yourself again and pick yourself back up!
And that’s all for this month. Let me know if you enjoyed this month. If you haven’t already you can subscribe to my email newsletter that contains the full edition, with exclusive subscriber benefits by clicking here! I’ll be back in your inbox on the 1st of December!
