CREATIVELY SQUARED

Creatively Squared is a creative visual content hub on Instagram connecting brands with talented creatives developing the next wave of highly-skilled content producers. They have weekly creative challenges @creativelysquared on Instagram. My entries are below. Click on each image to view larger.

Eye Candy WITH PALOMA CANDY SHOP

Our theme this week is about whatever it is that gives you the heart eyes! It could be your sweet treat of choice, your beauty stash or your secret shrine to Channing Tatum (we definitely want to see that!) Whether your are drooling over your favourite interior style mags, cooking up some food porn or just creating something fun and vibrant we want to see your interpretation of 'eye candy'

Theme: Eye Candy #cs_eyecandy

Sponsor: Paloma Candy Shop @palomacandyshop
Dates: April 9-15, 2018

 Ice Cream Colours with Baskin Robbins

We are serving you up a tasty challenge this week and turning our favourite treat into colour and flavour inspired images with a sprinkle of creativity on top! Share your ice cream dreams with us and if you need any extra inspiration why not turn to our sponsors - they have invented over 1000 flavours featuring all the colours of the rainbow! Baskin Robbins is all about celebrating those little moments in life with imagination and inventiveness which is exactly what we do every week here in the Creatively Squared community!

Theme: Ice Cream Colours #cs_icecreamcolours
Sponsor: Baskin Robbins @baskinrobbinsaustralia

The two images below were also submitted as part of Ice Cream colours challenge, but they are also showing the beautiful tea set that I won from Cristina Re Designs in my very first challenge "Think Pink", which you will further down the page.

Green Living

WITH BIOLOGY SKIN

It's time to go green! Do you thrive on plants or embrace a natural lifestyle? Let's be inspired by nature and embrace all things living. Spring has arrived in the northern hemisphere so perhaps you are enjoying seeing the new seasons fresh growth. Wherever you are in the world show us how you incorporate greenery into your lifestyle.

Theme: Green Living #cs_greenliving
Sponsor: @biologyskin
Dates: March 19-25, 2018

Two

WITH CREATIVELY SQUARED + SUPPORTERS

It’s our birthday and we are throwing our biggest challenge yet! To celebrate the 2nd anniversary of our very first creative challenge we have a jaw-dropping $2250+ in prizes to give away this week, generously contributed from a collection of our favourite past sponsors and supporters. If you haven’t entered our challenge before, we even have a bonus prize for newcomers so you won’t want to miss this!!

We'd like to see your 'two' themed image created any way you like, photograph two items, use just two colours or create an image that simply celebrates two years of the Creatively Squared community!

Theme: Two #cs_two
Sponsors and prizes: See full list here
Dates: March 12-19, 2018

On the Table

WITH CARLA DINNAGE CERAMICS

We know you love supporting independent artists and makers so this week we are welcoming back one of our favourite sponsors from last year for some tabletop styling. Carla Dinnage is an incredible ceramic artist and she is back to join us for some creative fun and to see what is on your table. This theme can be captured on any table you like, real or imagined. Get creative with your dinner setting, where your alarm clock sits or your workspace styling. Experiment with new perspectives and bring the story of your table to life.

Theme: On the Table #cs_onthetable
Sponsor: Carla Dinnage @carladinnageceramics
Dates: Monday 5th - Sunday 11th March, 2018
Sponsor website:  carladinnage.com.au

This image shows what I have been up to in my studio and “on my table” this past week. On Washi paper I burned holes with incense and a wood burning tool. As well, I punched holes with a hammer and centre punch. I use the candle to create smoke drawings. I hold the flame close to the paper surface, which leaves the soot or black carbon on the paper, this is similar to working with charcoal, but this process yields a smoky layered look. Afterwards I use an eraser to remove lines and draw patterns. I use these processes to make all my collage papers for my mixed-media artwork. You can see these materials in my latest series “SeaForms”. The stained pink Washi paper will be used to echo bright pink seaweed. You can view my mixed media collage work -

Letters

WITH MAIKO MAGAO

This week we are imagining all the different ways in which letters are meaningful to our lives. Letters don't just come in the post, they are all around us in art, words in print or on your scrabble board. Show us your favourite typography or try your hand at some lettering. Have you got a special letter that someone has written your, some vintage stamps or a favourite quote to share. No matter what comes to mind when  you think of the word 'letters' we'd love you to get creative and share your version with us.

Theme: Letters #cs_letters
Sponsor: Maiko Nagao @maikonagao
Dates: Monday 26th Feb - Sunday 4th March, 2018

Sponsor website:  maikonagao.com

I had lots of fun this past week creating letters with my “Pen & Ink” sketch fountain pen, Pilot parallel pen, watercolours and acrylic inks.

Happy Hour

WITH UBER KATE JEWELS

This week we are celebrating everyones favourite time of day - Happy Hour! But before you go counting down to your Friday night cocktail, think about all the different ways you could interpret this theme during the week. Is your Happy Hour your morning jog or some Netflix on the couch once the kids are asleep? We'd love you to capture this idea any way you like and the more creative your entry the better! 

Theme: Happy Hour #cs_happyhour
Sponsor: Uber Kate @uberkatejewels
Dates: Monday 19th - Sunday 25th February, 2018  

Sponsor website: uberkate.com.au

My favourite time of the day is that happy hour before dinner. After working in my studio and then prepping dinner, I look forward to some quiet time in our sitting room. To unwind and relax I draw zentangles - I have all my materials around me and sip on a cup of turmeric and ginger tea. I let go of everything and enter a meditative state of mind. When I am finished I feel refreshed. I find this quiet activity expands my imagination -my pattern making and drawing skills become richer and more refined.

Hearts

WITH AMUSE PROJECTS

Cupid is coming so we are putting on our rose tinted shades and sprinkling a little extra love over our creative challenge this week. Put some heart into your art and share your own creative version of our theme. You could celebrate the form and shape or show us what makes your heart beat a little faster. Let’s see your expressions of love, how you give and receive it and whatever gives you the heart eyes!

Theme: Hearts #cs_hearts
Sponsor: A.muse Projects @amuseprojects
Dates: Monday 12th - Sunday 18th February, 2018
Sponsor website:  amuseprojects.com

My Home

WITH KREO HOME

Our challenge this week is all about home sweet home! We would love to see you share your space and create a tribute to the things that make your house feel like home. Do you have a special nook that you love to style or a favourite spot to curl up on your couch? Home doesn't have to be just about interiors, it can be purely symbolic or a even a homage to the people you share it with. You could be inspired by your home town, country of origin or wherever holds your heart. 

Theme:  My home #cs_myhome
Sponsor: @kreohome
Dates: Monday 5th - Sunday 11th February 2018
Sponsor website: kreohome.com.au

Special guest host  Bettina Brent  @bettina_brent

With snow in the forecast it was easy to stay Home this weekend, spending time with my feet up listening to an “Ambient Chill” playlist. I have been working in my sketchbook combining zentangle drawings inspired from my seashell collection. February is the season for blood oranges, which inspired the styling of this flatlay image. This is one of my handmade boxes, coated with a layer of plaster and then engraved with dandelion seedpod shapes.

Hands in Frame 

Monday 29th - Sunday 4th February 2018

WITH MARISA KATE DESIGNS

We want to see you get on the other side of the lens this week with our ‘hands in frame’ challenge. This means it’s time to get your mitts out and whether you use hands, claws or paws we want to see them in your shot! Get creative about how you use your own or someone else’s hands and work them into your image any way you like.

Theme:  Hands in Frame #cs_handsinframe
Prizes: First place will win a set of three stackable rings of their choice (subject to sizing availability) and 2x runner ups each will win a round Swarovski crystal ring.
Sponsor: @marisakatedesigns
 

“Hand of the Maker”, dried seaweed root balls, colours of sea glass and sea urchins inspire this mixed-media collage work. Website info is in my bio. This week’s themed creative photo challenge “Hands in Frame” 

IT'S A WINNER!

Think Pink 

 Monday 22nd - Sunday 28th January 2018

WITH CRISTINA RE

Do you have a crush on blush? This week we are inviting you to get colourful and think pink! Celebrate any shade you like from soft pastels to colour-popping magenta. Whether you love it or leave it, you can get creative about how you incorporate this hue into your shot. Pink can be the hero of your image or a complimentary colour - just do it your way!

Theme:  Think Pink #cs_thinkpink
Prizes:  2 x winners will receive a mug, cup and spoon from the Paradise Palms collection
Sponsor:

Combining my love of drawing and painting seaweed with the @creativelysquared themed creative photo competition sponsored by @cristinaredesign This weeks challenge is “Think Pink”, you can check out other entries here - #cs_thinkpink I am inspired by the wild west coast of Canada and the species I discover in the intertidal zone. I love drawing seaweed and studying the seaweed illustrations in the book “British Sea-Weeds”, published by Victorian marine biologist Margaret Gatty ((June 3, 1809–October 4, 1873)