Inspired by... A Playful Day podcast

I've been listening to A Playful Day podcast for just over a year, I adore my weekly date with this podcast and it has become one of my favourite things to listen to. There are very few British podcasts that I listen to that I love so much and that I am really inspired by. With season one of the new-look podcast recently completed, I thought it would be a great time to share it with you so that you can catch up on the wonderful content over this rainy May bank holiday weekend.

A Playful Day is created by Kate, a talented blogger and podcaster who has recently moved from London to Dorset. Until the end of last year the podcast was focused mainly around knitting and yarn based chats, with monthly themes around making and creative process. Kate decided to take a short break away at the end of last year to rethink her podcast and change things a little. Relaunching her podcast in March, with a fresh new look and feel, the focus of A Playful Day podcast has now widened and contains some of the most brilliant content that I've listened to for a long time, they are subjects that are close to my heart too.

During season one Kate has been interviewing creative people, finding out about their process, the projects they are making, their small businesses, and discovering how they got to where they are. It's fascinating to hear about how people have started their creative businesses and what they are inspired by. There's still the occasional knitting and handmade chat which I adore, with the addition of wonderful recipes and updates on Kate's life. It's a podcast that I listen to on my walk to work, and also one that I will snuggle down with a mug of tea and a blanket and soak up over a weekend.

Kate is very much in touch with living a creative and sustainable lifestyle and her podcast now reflects even more of her story. By covering these different subjects Kate has really carved her own niche podcast, and having met her in person at Blogtacular last year, is as wonderful, honest and genuine in person as she sounds on her podcast. Kate has a fantastic voice to listen to and someone who loves her life and what she does. Kate bravely started a wonderful new creative adventure with her business and I feel very inspired by her. I would love it if you could take a listen to A Playful Day podcast, it will bring warmth, inspiration and brightness to your day.

Inspired by...A wall of feel good messages

Wherever I have lived I have always tried to create a space that shows elements of my personality and inspires me. Throughout university I decorated my bland walls with colour and images that spoke to me, creating a space that that reminded me of what I love and things that made me smile. I clearly remember a motivational board that I put together in a clip frame at university that came with me everywhere I lived.

I'm spending a few hours today in my creative space and I wanted to share with you my inspiring wall of feel good messages that I've been collecting over the past year or so. Each one motivates or connects to me in different ways and this week I added a few new postcards so it was a perfect time to tell you about this space I have created.

My wall of inspirational messages is in our attic room, a space where I like to get away to write and create. Over the past year or so I've been collecting cards with feel good messages that really speak to me. On this wall are a few of my favourite cards, they include some that were posted all the way from Australia by a great friend of mine, there are postcards collected over a few years from Paperchase, my winter manifesto, as well as cards and items that I've collected from events I've attended or from items I've bought. As well as the cards, I printed off the incredible quote that brought tears to my eyes at Blogtacular last year, "Are you doing what you love? Or just what is expected of you?". This quote by Anthony Peters spoke to me deeply on the day, changing my heart and my mindset, and has continued from that day to inspire me across everything that I do.

I continually add to this inspiring wall space when I spot something I love. This week I added two new postcards to the wall. Firstly a postcard that says 'The World is your Oyster', from Paperchase. I bought one for a friend who is about to embark on an exciting new adventure and I loved it so much that I went back and bought one for myself. I also received a surprise piece of post yesterday...During Blogtacular last year we wrote on a postcard a message to ourselves and included our learnings from the day. Selecting from the postcards available, I chose the postcard with the word 'Brave' on it...and yesterday it arrived. Reading the message I had written to myself was something that I really needed to see, and so I've added it to my wall.

Having a space with feel good messages or images that really speak to you can provide a real motivation, inspiration and focus. I know that for me having this inspiring wall of feel good messages will give me a boost when I need it. It's going to be a full year, I'm going to be studying for and completing my coaching qualification, planning a wedding (to happen later this year!) and continuing to write my blog and draft chapters of my book. Looking at a wall with these inspiring messages I know will keep me on track and be a space that motivates me.

Perhaps you may like to put together something similar to group together things that you love. Creating a wall of inspiration like this for yourself is really simple. Start with one or two inspirational images or quotes, and add to it when you see something special and create a small space that you love. You might like to add them to a wall like I have with washi tape, put them in a pretty frame or collect items on a shelf or sideboard. I will be moving these cards to a 3D frame at some point this year, adding my One Little Word from each year I've done the course, adding images and photos I love, as well as other things as I go too. I hope you'll join me and create your own, I'd love to hear about it if you do.

Inspired by...my top 3 favourite crochet blogs

I've just spent the past week in bed getting over a nasty flu-like virus which has wiped out almost all my energy. I've been in bed sleeping most of the week and in between naps have been reading and watching a few films. It took until late Thursday to feel that I may fancy a bit of hooky time and crochet a granny square or two, it was bliss but I felt pretty tired after about an hour.

I'm feeling less exhausted today and feeling a bit more of myself but think I'm going to have to take things a little slower than normal for a while! As someone who usually juggles quite a few things, I've spent the past week and a half learning to really slow down and take my time over things and have tried to listen to my body. It's been great to slow down and take time over a few things but also frustrating too.

I spent a little bit of time catching up with my favourite blogs this weekend and thought it may be a perfect opportunity to share with you my three favourite crochet blogs that inspire me. Grab a cup of tea and spend a few minutes taking a look at these great blogs, I hope that you will love them as much as I do:

Attic24

Coco Rose Diaries

Cherry Heart

On a rainy day like today I love reading the posts written by these UK based bloggers, they share such gorgeous projects and updates on their lives. I've been reading Attic24 from early 2011, Lucy's projects and writing style inspired me to become a blogger and to learn crochet! I can also say the same about Vanessa's blog Coco Rose Diaries, I saw her gorgeous photography, crafty projects and just love her updates on life. I've been reading Cherry Heart for probably about a year and a half now and really enjoy Sandra's projects and the pastel colour palette she uses. I hope you get inspired to pick up a crochet hook and start or bookmark or follow these fab blogs.

I'm hoping to spent the rest of the day settled on the sofa with a cup of de-caf tea (since feeling unwell I've not enjoyed normal tea as it feels a bit too full of caffeine) and carry on with my ripple blanket today after a two week break. I can't wait!

Inspired by...Elise Blaha Cripe

I spend lots of my spare time immersing myself in my hobbies and have a number of blogs and people that I follow online that really inspire me. One of those inspirational people is Elise Blaha Cripe.

I've been reading Elise's blog, enJOYit, for well over a year and absolutely love it. Elise blogs everyday about her life. She writes about running her small business, her project Make 29, gardening, home projects, scrapbooking, goal setting, her family and making. I first came across Elise through the online scrapbooking community and e-courses that I took at Big Picture Classes. Elise has now pared back her scrapbooking but still uses Project Life to document her life.

I love Elise's style, her photography, friendliness in her writing, her raw creativity and dedication to posting a blog post everyday is amazing. Elise's blog is truely authentic, there are pictures of her home and family, she writes from the heart, and she has so much enthusiasm and drive it's infectious. Many of her hobbies and interests resonate with me and perhaps this is why I really love her blog and what she does.

As a lifestyle blogger Elise has so much to say on a variety of topics and this year she started a new format of communicating her thoughts, rather than through words and photos Elise has started a weekly podcast, Elise Gets Crafty. I've been listening to it since it started in February. I love it when Wednesday arrives and there is a new podcast to download and listen to on my walk to and from work, it gives me a spring in my step!

On my holiday in July I listened back through all of Elise's podcasts again to see if I could pick up anything new that I hadn't heard the first time round and I did. I think it was at this point in time that it really struck me how much Elise inspires me with what she does and I felt that I wanted to share with you my thoughts.

A few of my favourite and most inspiring podcasts I've listened to have been - Episode 3 - Developing an editorial calendar for your blog, Episode 4 - Creative field trips, Episode 11 - Growing your creativity and Episode 23 - On focus and what to do when you have too many ideas. The topics that Elise covers are really interesting and many discussions have resonated with me.

If you have a bit of spare time today and want to find out more about Elise please go and take a look at Elise's blog enJOY it and download a few of her podcasts. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.