Create a series of inspirational displays using found items. Go for a walk, and gather small items from nature that have interesting or unusual patterns, colors and shapes. Visit thrift stores and flea markets to collect items that are interesting and eclectic. Cut out magazine pictures that stimulate your imagination and can be used as reference in your work.
Sort your collected items and images according to their size, color or material, or in any arrangement that inspires you and stimulates your creativity.
Display your collected items and images in groups surrounding your workspace. Use glue and poster board to create collages of your found images. Display objects on a small table or bookcase.
Place your displays in areas that are easily accessible and visible while you are working. Refer to them when you need a creative boost.
Choose your own categories, such as Italian food, gardening and famous authors, and write down the category titles on a sheet of paper. Three to five categories are sufficient. Have a friend or relative do this, as well, but with different categories.
Rename standard colors, such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, white and black, according to the categories of your choice. Think of appropriate names that would express the specific colors to another person in a way that is clever, but not too easy. Write them down on the sheet of paper. Do not share your answers with the other person in the exercise.
Read your answers to each other when finished, and attempt to guess which of the category-specific names correspond to the actual color names. Read your color names out of order to make it more challenging.