What We…: Creativity Edition

You know the feeling: Inspiration strikes, creativity flows, and suddenly, the idea in your head becomes something real. Other times, though, you find yourself staring at your screen, waiting for the words, the design, the spark to arrive. Creativity rarely shows up on command, but we’ve found a few ways to help it along. In this What We…: Creativity Edition, we’re sharing the Canva hacks we swear by, the small rituals and sources of inspiration that keep ideas moving, and the clothes and accessories we reach for when we need a fresh perspective (because what you wear can absolutely shift your mindset).

For today’s What We…: Creativity Edition, we’re excited to share what we love in Canva, what we do for inspiration, and what we wear when we need a creative boost.

What We Love in Canva

For those of us in the creative space, Canva is truly a game-changer. Thanks to team trainings and online resources — not to mention everyday use — we’ve learned a thing or two about making the most of the platform. Below, we share three of our favorite features on the design website. Let us know if you want us to dig deeper into these hacks on an upcoming webinar!

• Save your favorite color combinations to a Brand Kit so they’re always easy to revisit across designs. For the Carlisle & Co. team, that means creating a dedicated kit for each of our clients. With colors, fonts, logos, photos, and even brand voice all in one place, we can quickly access everything we need without breaking our flow. When you’re moving between multiple brands in a single day, having those details organized makes it much easier to shift gears and keep the work moving.
• You’ve found the perfect text combination — the right font, size, color, and spacing — but now, you need to apply those settings across your entire design. Instead of adjusting each text box one by one, reach for Canva’s Copy Style tool. With a single click, you can take the formatting from one text box and apply it to another, instantly keeping your design consistent and saving valuable time.
• Let’s be honest: Adjusting spacing in a design can quickly become a time-consuming task you didn’t see coming. Yet evenly spaced elements and clean alignment make all the difference in creating a polished, professional result. Canva’s Tidy Up tool does the heavy lifting for you, automatically aligning and evenly spacing multiple elements within your graphic. Think of it as a magic wand for your design.

What We Do for Inspiration

Staying creative means staying curious (a topic we recently explored on our Substack, In the Know with Carlisle & Co. — we’d love for you to join us there!). When our ideas need a refresh, we look for small ways to refill our inspiration buckets, whether it’s through new perspectives, everyday moments, ot simple rituals that help us reset. Over time, these habits have become part of our creative rhythm. Here are four small practices that help us get ideas flowing again.

• Take a walk. Never underestimate the power of fresh air, sunshine, and a little movement. Even a quick 15-minute loop around the block can reset your mindset and bring a mindset shift to whatever you’re working on. Sometimes, the best ideas show up the moment you stop trying so hard to find them.
• Create a vision board. At our recent team retreat, we spent time building vision boards using kits that make it easy to swap cards and shift focus as priorities evolve. We love the flexibility of this approach. It allows us to revisit our goals, adjust what matters most in the moment, and reconnect with the bigger picture. It’s a simple practice we hope to return to monthly — or anytime we need a moment to reset and refocus.
• Create off-screen art. There’s a reason children love to color and paint: It helps calm the nervous system and invites you to get out of your head and into your hands. When we feel stuck, it can be refreshing to step away from our laptops and create something purely for the joy of it. We love the watercolor notecards and workbooks from Emily Lex Studio for an easy way to slow down and reconnect with the creative process. We’re also constantly inspired by the beautiful work of our own team member, Heather. Take a look at her artwork on Instagram for another dose of color and creativity!
• Get dressed. As a team that mostly works from home, it can be tempting to sit down at our desks in athleisure every day. But we’ve found that what we wear has a real impact on how we feel and how we show up in our work. Taking the time to get dressed often signals to your brain that it’s time to step into a more focused, confident version of yourself. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, it’s as simple as throwing a bright sweater over your shoulders, putting on a great pair of earrings, or wearing a dress that feels effortless but put together. The result? A subtle shift that makes the day feel a little more inspired.

What We Wear When We Need a Creative Boost

Color can change your mood, and a favorite piece can bring a little extra energy to the day. Here are the pieces we reach for when we need fresh momentum in a project.

• A colorful necklace
• A bright cardigan
• Butter yellow denim
• A polka dot midi skirt
• A matching necklace and pair of earrings in the prettiest blue enamel
• An easy, breezy gingham shirt dress
• A floral scarf
• Pastel earrings to brighten any look 
• Jardin stripe poplin skirt
• Pink cashmere tee
• Spring-colored bubble bracelet
• Embroidered romper

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