Power Up Your Creativity competition shortlist

We are absolutely delighted to reveal the shortlist for my Power Up Your Creativity quote design competition! Judging proved to be a challenging task due to the incredible entries we received, but we have successfully narrowed it down to just five exceptional entries. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s announcement, where we will unveil our winners!

AMY NICHOLSON

“This quote jumped out at me as I read Rachael’s book for the first time. I have these big plans and ideas that I want to happen now. I struggle with the enormity of these plans and it leads to me feeling veryoverwhelmed and my creativity takes a dive as I feel like I an imposter. 

Stumbling across this quote was a light bulb moment. My dreams are attainable, but I need to make sure I look after myself. Exercise is a big part of my self-care routine which doesn’t just help with my physical health but also my mental health. I also make sure I contact a therapy service as and when I need them, life in general can throw some extreme curveballs sometimes. I love my creativity but it isn’t the be all and end all. To be able to produce the best work I can I need to be in the correct frame of mind and taking a step back and looking after myself is the best way to make it happen. (For me anyway!)”

ANDREA KAN

“I chose the quote ‘ALWAYS STAY TRUE TO YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF’ because being authentic, real and genuine means that I am living a life aligned with my own personality, values and goals regardless of what others might think or how different my journey is to anyone else’s. I am living a more meaningful life whenever I stay true to myself.”

GABRIELLE MERCER

“The quote that most stood out to me from Rachael’s book is: There’s Beauty In Every Step Of The Journey. I feel that the process of growing in creative confidence, is very much a journey. A challenging one that requires risk and vulnerability. But on the flip side, the story of growth can also be decorative, colourful and beautiful. The styling of my quote design is inspired by Otomi Embroidery – which traditionally contains brightly coloured animal and floral elements, stylised symmetrical pattern, on ivory cotton fabric. I imagine that each piece of this type of embroidery must also have had some sort of beautiful story contained within it – which felt very apt in light of the quote.”

INA KAPPES

“Why did I choose the quote “follow your weird”?! It fits best to my journey becoming an illustrator and surface pattern designer: I studied fashion design even if I was often advised that this would be breadless art, I worked as fashion designer for a children’s fashion brand in the Netherlands which I admired since I was a kid (but all of my friends were far away), I started my own accessories label and had a lot of jobs next-by (fashion design lecturer, design assistant…) to be able to do the things I love to do and finally changed to illustration and surface pattern design because this is what I love to be in this minute of my life :)”

NICOLA BARONI

“I chose the quote “When you make magic the world deserves to see it” as this really resonated with me. Since falling pregnant, having my little one and going back to work, I struggled to find the time, motivation and confidence to share my work. My style has evolved over the time I was absent from social media and I didn’t know how it would be received. This quote and competition gave me the courage and kick up the bum to start sharing again. Thank you.”