As you must have guessed by now, I love creative inspiration.  I look for it everywhere.  In nature, in the malls, in books, and online.  I love finding inspiration online whether it’s from a fellow blogger, a photographer, or a store. I thought I’d share 15 creative websites to inspire you as well.  Keep in mind, these are not the be all end all of creative websites.  Different things inspire different people.  These are just sites I like to go to when I need some creative inspiration and I think you might enjoy these too.

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Originally I was thinking that I’d break this down into very specific categories like art, photography, writing, etc.  But the categories are so specific you might have ended up with just one in each and then you just really have a long list, not a grouping.  Instead, I’m sharing these in broader categories.

Creative Inspiration, Coaching, Planning

Jennifer Lee.  I’ll start with Jennifer who runs Aritzen Coaching and The Right Brain Business Plan.  Jennifer is an artist and a creative coach.  She mentors artists and other right-brain creatives on how to manage their business or left-brain side.  Jennifer hosts numerous free workshops throughout the year which are fun and interesting.  She is the author of several books including Building Your Business The Right Brain Way.  She usually asks presenters at her workshops to give the audience either a left-brain chill pill or a right-brain booster.  Here is a simple Left-Brain Chill Pill to try.  *Interesting tidbit about Jennifer Lee, she is officially the first person to use #selfie on a selfie on Instagram.  On January 6, 2011, she posted a picture of her self and tagged it #selfie on the first day that Instagram introduced hashtags.

Ruth Soukup.  Ruth is a newer find for me.  She’s the creative force behind Elite Blog Academy (EBA) and the Living Well Spending Less blog.  She’s also the author of How To Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul.  Her most recent project is a podcast called Do It Scared.  If you’ve ever confronted your fears, then you know that the fear doesn’t go away, your just doing it while you’re still scared.  And it helps to have a friend there beside you cheering you on.  I had one the first time I faced my fear of heights.  Ruth is like that best friend who is cheering you on while you take the steps towards confronting your fear.

Jen Carrington.  (I just don’t understand why I follow a lot of Jen’s and Jennifer’s.  I can’t explain it at all!) Jen Carrington is also a creative coach.  She usually works one on one with clients, and has a blog and sends out a bi-weekly (news)letter.  She also runs a successful podcast called Make It Happen which just finished Season 6.  Jen chats with artists, writers, bloggers, and others about their creative process or how they run their business.  A recent podcast is Creative Happiness Comes From Within which is with musician Yasamin Al-Tiay.

The Creative Mind.  The Creative Mind is the brainchild of Douglas Eby.  He is a writer and researcher with an M.A. in Psychology.  On his site, you can explore health and creativity or how sensitivity and creativity intertwine. There’s a section on creative women and a section on acting among others.  He’s written several books including Developing Multiple Talents: The Personal Side of Creative Expression.

TED.  I love TEDTalks.  There’s such a diverse collection of video.  Smart ones.  Fun ones.  Creative ones.  Scientific ones.  Sad ones.  I learned how to tie my shoelaces the right way from a TED video.  Go ahead, watch it, the video is less than 3 minutes long.  Of course, I watch videos on creativity and innovation and here is one that I really like The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers.  Have some fun clicking around and searching for what matters to you.

Julia Cameron.  I cannot finish up this section without mentioning Julia Cameron.  As you know, I’ve written about her book The Artist’s Way and the impact that Morning Pages had on not only getting the crap out of my head but also helping to establish a writing schedule.  Until Morning Pages, there was no schedule. After Morning Pages there was a schedule.  It’s that simple.  Julia has a blog on her site as well as instructions for anyone who wants to lead a group or Creative Cluster through the twelve weeks of The Artist’s Way.

Artists, Photographers, Writers, Creating

Van Gogh Museum.  I am what I am, to paraphrase Popeye.  I’ve written a lot about Van Gogh because I love his work.  Starry Night, of course, is one of my favorites, as is Sunflowers.  But if you appreciate Van Gogh for his passionate colors, you must understand where he also came from and see the paintings that he created before 1886.  His willingness to change and to innovate is what made him a true artist.  His willingness to practice and practice and practice also made him a true artist.  You can find that all here at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Street Art. I love street art.  It’s fun to walk down the street and come across an explosion of color and art.  Sometimes it’s a commentary on life and culture.  Other times, it’s just a whimsical flowerpot for a weed growing out of a wall.  It’s all great.   In Street Art News you can find pictures, interviews, and even exhibitions.  There’s also a section where you can buy prints of some of the street art.

Global Street Art.  And then there is the Global Street Art site.  You can find images from different countries at this site.

National Geographic Photo of the Day.  Love.  Photos shared from everyday people.  The page shows the specific photo for the day and has links to archives.  Here’s one picture that I’m fascinated by glow worms lighting up an old railroad tunnel.  Or this one of Snow on Lake Bled, Slovenia.  Although that’s a church (still active) on the island, it reminds me of a castle so the shot reminds me of every fantasy story or fable I’ve ever read.

Ikea Hackers.  I’m sure there’s someone who doesn’t have a piece of Ikea furniture in their home, but I don’t know that person.  I love the Ikea Hackers site which shares over 5000 hacks from around the world.  I love how people can look at a piece of Ikea furniture and see something different.  There are loads of different ideas including small space storage hacks, painting and decoupaging the furniture and this cute lamp made out of two serving bowls.

A Beautiful Mess.  To me, this is the blog that started it all.  I’m sure there were others, but this is the one that I found.  A Beautiful Mess has been around for a long time–think 2010 (earlier if you count the time it was being used as a personal blog.)  This site is run by two sisters Elise and Emma and I love their crafting ideas, recipes, and home makeover ideas.  Best of all, their site is filled with beautiful photographs and they share how to take better photos.  You can even read about it in their book A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book.

Coding

If you’re wondering why in the world I would include coding in a creative inspiration post.  Stop wondering.  While coding is actually a logical, left-brain process, what you create with coding is a creative, right-brain process.  Coding is Creative is a post that shows how the coding process is the same as the artistic process.  Remember, creative inspiration is one of he building blocks for innovation.

Code Monkey.  Because, well…coding.  Coding is important and a skill that our children should learn.  Here’s a cute website where children can get introduced to coding. Coding is innovative and creative and important to the future.  And who doesn’t like Monkeys?  Code Monkey is a great beginning website for teaching children to code.

Code Academy.  And here’s a site for the adults too.  Because, well…coding.  Code Academy.

Girls Who Code.  Because, well…coding.  And, because, well…girls.  Girls Who Code.  And because coding is fun and can help you do a wide variety of things, here’s a fun book for kids, How To Code a Sandcastle. This book was created in conjunction with Girls Who Code.

I hope you found something to inspire your creativity.  Remember, don’t just stick to one thing.  It’s better to diversify your interests and find inspiration from all different areas.