Five Years of Creativity Portal: Best Features 2000 to 2005

• Introduction
• Categories of Their Own: Popular site sections and features.
• Inspiring Article Series: Past series and on-going features.
• Cool Creativity Projects: "Outside the box" activities and projects.
• Fabulous Free Stuff: Original printables for Creativity Portal visitors.
• Prolific Collaborators: Creative artists and authors who've been close collaborators with the Creativity Portal.

Introduction

If you would have asked me five years ago what my plan was for the Creativity Portal Web site, I would have smiled and said "who plans a creative adventure?"

Indeed, the seeds planted at Creativity Portal's inception did not include a business plan, marketing strategy, or other commercial intent. In the first three years of its existence, the Creativity Portal was a pure labor of love that was tended to almost daily with whatever creative energy I could muster up after a long day at work. My efforts eventually paid off when this creative dream took on a life of its own.

As the Creativity Portal grew in size and stature, it attracted more explorers, seekers, and contributors who've generously added their voices to the creative chorus emanating from its corridors. It became necessary to forge partnerships with kindred spirits and other entities to help sustain its momentum and growth. Today, the Creativity Portal stands tall amongst "creativity" Web sites online.

Applauding Accolades

Recognition for the Creativity Portal has been noteworthy over the years. In 2005, its Imagination Prompt Generator was featured on Blogger's Buzz and the site was proclaimed "Kool" by Kim Komando, a syndicated radio show host for one of the Top 10 programs in the US. In addition to glowing recommendations from the virtual world, the Creativity Portal found its way into the print realm via Imagine magazine, Writer's Digest, and a textbook titled Web-Based Learning: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation (Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, 2006) by Gayle V. Davidson-Shivers and Karen L. Rasmussen.

After five years of being online, and still an exciting creative adventure, I decided that this is the best time to draw attention to the most impacting features the Creativity Portal has offered over the years — and give equal attention to its most prolific collaborators. If this is your first time visiting the Creativity Portal, treat this as a "must-see" list. If you're a long-time supporter of the site, consider this a Cliff-Notes guide to review at your leisure.

Where will the Creativity Portal be in the next five years? That's the fun and mysterious part of this creative adventure. If you really want to know, you'll just have to stick around and find out. I know I will.

Enjoy!

Chris Dunmire
Publisher, Creativity Portal
www.creativity-portal.com
December 2005

Categories of Their Own

Popular site sections and features.

Be Creative! Articles
Inspiring articles contributed by authors, artists, and coaching professionals related to creative living, enhancing creativity, workplace creativity, overcoming blocks, self-care, and interpersonal issues.

Creativity Portal Playground
Secretly named Creo City, the Creativity Portal Playground features imaginative art and craft projects, fun how-to articles, and an assortment of online resources for creative, interactive, and imagination-inducing activities. A playful resource for parents, teachers, and kids at heart!

Be Creative! Adults Activities
Take a quick creativity break! Activities to amuse your muse include Nit Wits coloring pages, TypARTgraphy, gum wrapper origami, write the story prompts, and downloadable fun.

Nit Wits
Corny comic fun that creatively joins the nits with the wits. Classics from the first 25 comics include: Roll Play, Purrassic Park, Elepants, Tee Time, Punkin, Buttox®, One Night Stand, and Creative Outlets.

Imagination Prompt Generator
A random writing and blogging topic generator. This push-button prompt tool was a featured Blogger Buzz site in 2005.

Q & A — Help Along the Way
"Take what's useful and leave the rest" Q & A related to Creativity Portal themes. Helpful to various stages of a creative life.

Inspiring Creativity Success Stories
Real stories from artists, writers, and others who've followed their passions into the marketplace and enjoy financial rewards for their creative products and services.

Inspiring Article Series

Past series and on-going features.

Be Mused
Susan M. Brackney's syndicated column that "offers inspiration and good advice for anyone looking to live their dreams — no matter what they may be."

Chronic Creativity Excerpts
Angela Mack's "creative" diagnostic look at the condition of Chronic Creativity and how to become infected.

Learning from Leonardo da Vinci
An exploration of da Vinci's methods and habits related to his creativity. Includes information and reflections from the the book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day by Michael J. Gelb.

Inspiring Creativity Anthology Excerpts
Three full-length chapters from the book Inspiring Creativity: An Anthology of Powerful Insights and Practical Ideas to Guide You to Successful Creating. Chapters authored by Rick Benzel, Dave Storer, and Kate R. Quinlan.

Self-Care for Artists of All Kinds
Self-Care Coach Linda Dessau's articles aimed at "increasing your awareness of your own self-care issues, and how they might be linked to your creativity and your creative dreams."

Cool Creativity Projects

"Outside the box" activities and projects.

Novelty Origami Dollar Bill Money Plant Project
Money doesn't grow on trees... or does it? This project will plant seeds in your mind on new, creative ways to gift money to others when the occasion calls for it.

The Art and Creativity of Joy Sikorski
Joy Sikorski is the author of the famous How to Draw series: How to Draw a Radish, How to Draw a Cup of Coffee, How to Draw a Clam, and Squeaky Chalk. Enjoy Joy's sample drawing lessons and her exclusive interview with the Creativity Portal.

Violette's Creativity Tips & Folk Art Fun
Violette's whimsical art has graced the pages of rubber stamping magazines and many online 'zines. Her creative spirit is contagious and her imagination endless. Enjoy several of Violette's funky folk art projects and other creative tidbits on the Creativity Portal.

Gum Wrapper Origami Tutorial
This project proves that gum wrappers aren't just for disposing chewed-up gum. This fun tutorial gives a whole new purpose to those corny Bazooka Joe comics.

Collage Cubies Project
A clever way to think 'on all sides' of the box! This innovative collage cubies project takes creative collage art to the next dimension: 3D!

Beginner's Collage Tutorials
An excellent "how-to" guide for new collage artists and those interested in trying their hand at collage art for the very first time.

Altered Board Book Project
Artist Karen Hatzigeorgiou takes beginner "altered" enthusiasts through a step-by-step altered board book tutorial as an introduction into the world of creating altered book art.

Innovative Wire Sculpture Guide
Elizabeth Berrien, world-class wire sculpture artist and founder of the International Guild of Wire Sculptures, teaches the art of innovative wire sculpture in this eye-opening guide.

Fabulous Free Stuff

Original printables for Creativity Portal visitors. Please review our Terms of Use before downloading.

Creativity Portal FREE Printable Calendar
A yearly tradition on the Creativity Portal as a gift to our visitors. Download and print your inspiring calendar right now.

Mirecle33 Creativity Patch
The official "Creativity Patch" developed by Dunmire Labs (link opens printable PDF file). Get the Whole Kit 'n' Kaboodle...

Money Plant Novelty Seed Packet
An awesome April Fool's gag or a clever add-on to the Money Plant project. You provide your own money-flowering seeds (if you can find such things!).

Novelty Patch Clip Art
An endless play on the patch concept: If you think it, you can make it. Free clipart to download and amuse yourself.

Other Creativity Portal Printables
No Frills greeting cards, coloring pages, bookmarks, gift tags, and other printable fun.

Prolific Collaborators

Creative artists and authors who've been close collaborators with the Creativity Portal.

Violette
A whimsical creative spirit who lives in a "Magic Cottage" and drives her painted "Glittergirl" van around B.C. Canada.

Linda Dessau
The self-care coach whose insights and encouragement helps transform artistic lives.

Molly Anderson-Childers
An inspiring Five-Minute Muse and artistic facilitator for bringing creativity and spirituality together.

Heather Blakey
A down under kindred spirit, Web mistress of the Soul Food Cafe (www.dailywriting.net), and friend of the Creativity Portal.

Michelle Pariza-Wacek
Creative Concepts & Copywriting queen providing communications and good advice on 'cutting through the chaos.'

Bruce Price
A novelist and digital artist who writes about education, language, and cultural issues. Bruce's "Death to Photoshop" and "Plight of Poetry" articles are On the Other Hand Creativity Portal classics.

Jori Lynn Keyser
A prosperity coach for artists and craftspeople, with soul-reaching insights for artists and budding artists of all kinds.

Joshua and Cheryl Burkhardt
Two of the first Creativity Portal collaborators who've generously shared their inspiring stories and creativity advice with our readers.