Books That Inspire

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Do yo ever get into a trance like state as you walk through certain stores that inspire you? That’s what happens to me when I walk through a bookstore. Last time there, as I walked down the main aisle, I was captivated by a number of beautiful cover designs that spoke to me… a few I was familiar with but many, I hadn’t seen before.

Then I looked up and saw this…

Ah ha! No wonder I was so enthralled with every single book on this table!

Some titles I found here:

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

The Innovator’s Cookbook by Steven Johnson

The Brain Training Revolution by Paul E. Bendheim

Wreck this Journal by Keri Smith

After deciding to pick up Unstuck by Noah Scalin (which I’m LOVING) I walked around to the other side of the table… Live Creative.. very clever.

Makedo Project 1

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The possibilities are really endless with these cardboard connectors! It was also the perfect activity to take to the cottage since there always seem to be boxes around and they come in a small cylinder container making it very easy to transport.

V is still too young to cut the boxes and actually poke the holes for the connectors but she directed the entire process! Surprise surprise!  It started as a zamboni… the amount of snow outside inspired that idea!

But then evolved into a fire truck.. inspired by the flame in the wood stove…

… then a sleigh…

Very very fun! What’s really cool about these very simple (I don’t even know what to call them…) doo dads is that it’s open ended and creates the opportunity for A LOT of play. It starts with the planning and gathering materials, then there’s building and problem solving and finally playing, playing and more playing. At which point it all starts all over again with decorating, adapting and playing in different ways.

Happy Valentine’s Day

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Make Do – Yes Please!

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE this product idea.  Let your imagination run wild. I just placed an order taking advantage of the free shipping on til the end of this month.

Can’t wait to see what we make with it!

[One of my first thoughts is to make a hinged door that Baby E can play with instead of potentially slamming her fingers in the real doors she likes to swing and play with any chance she gets!  She will be in her glory swinging that cardboard door… or so I hope!]

 

8 Ways to Stay Creative

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Here’s another – the web designer’s version designed as Desktop Wallpaper.

Source

#4 and #8 spoke to me the most:

Out of curiosity I checked out the company behind this design.  What an amazing looking place to work! 4 day work week, all the perks to make you feel good about where you work which in turn inspires you to put your best work forward. Very wise and I like their design.

I’ll leave you with a graphic from their ‘Values’ page from their site.

Ways to Stay Creative

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Love this list and love the design even more.  Feeling inspired!

 Source

Day Dreaming and Free Play

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I’m taking some time this weekend reflecting on how we’ll spend our ‘free’ time in the upcoming weeks and months over winter.  I like the idea of getting V involved in activities like swimming and gymnastics to get her moving but I’m torn because I like the free play that she engages with on her own. She comes up with the most random little activities almost like mini science experiments or musical and dance performances. It’s amazing.

I came across this passage from Naomi Aldort in response to a mother’s question about her child seeming bored at home and it’s encouraged me to reconsider scheduling activities (in the mornings anyway).

Know that day dreaming and doing “nothing” is when the greatest learning takes place. What you call “bored” comes from believing the idea that he should play and be busy externally. Yet, just because we are trained to expect play and activities does not mean that it is best for the child. It is not. Keep in mind Einstein’s famous words, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” When free to be themselves, and without parental expectations hovering over their heads, children spend much time daydreaming, imagining things and stories, listening and gazing at nature. This is an amazing learning tool that you don’t want to interrupt.

… Expose him to life opportunities, and let him take what he is drawn to in his own time and his own way. And, cherish his hours of pondering and inner work.

The Joy of Books

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There’s nothing quite like a real book.

There really isn’t.

Just when I was seriously considering an E-reader…

DIY – Personalized Towels

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This little project was inspired by my two little girls and their colds!  It kept occurring to me that I didn’t want them sharing towels or anyone else using towels they were using for that matter! So it came to me that I should peronalize towels with their first initial in attempt to keep germs at bay. (Don’t get me wrong, I wash them frequently!)

Fitting that I just learned how to applique in my quilting class recently and picked up sets of adorable holiday fabric.

Materials: Hand towels (Scored some nice ones at my local dollar store for $2 each. Note to self: when you see a deal like that grab a bunch! They’ve since sold out in the white.), holiday fabric, fluffy fabric trim of hat, steam a seam and the obvious: tread and a sewing machine.

I looked up font styles on my favourite free font site dafont and was inspired by a cute font with santa hats on top. It was the perfect thing to cute-sy up my boring ‘go to’ block font.

I didn’t take photos along the way but it’s fairly straight-forward. …apart from when I burned the fluffy fabric when I tried pressing it using the steam a seam. I discovered the hard way it doesn’t iron well so on my second try I pressed quickly and lightly then hand stitched Santa’s fur trim on.

I’m really proud of how they turned out! I think I may love appliqué .

Hallowe’en Jack-o’-lantern Inspiration!

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Hallowe’en was a blast! I want to share a bit of inspiration that came over me yesterday as we were carving and decorating our pumpkin at the eleventh hour!

While Violet was at school yesterday afternoon I went out and picked up a pumpkin. (Note to self: next year get a pumpkin early so that you don’t pay a premium at the local overpriced fruit market to get one of the last pumpkins in town.) Before I picked her up from school I did a quick search on Pinterest for Jack-o’-lantern carving ideas. (I’m completely addicted to Pinterest!) Then I came up with an idea that was inspired by a brilliant creative idea from Child’s Own Studio that I heard about last year but saw again here a few days ago: stuffed toys made based on kid’s drawings.

I particularly like what creator, Wendy Tsao, of Child’s Own Studio says about her main inspiration:

…children draw to please themselves. They don’t care if the arms are too long or the legs are too skinny or if the eyes are mismatched. They’re more interested in the message of the drawing. These drawings are often very original. As adults, we can’t draw like children anymore.

Getting back to our pumpkin.. With the idea of letting my child design our Jack-o’-lantern, we pulled out her sketchbook.

She chose the design.  She’s really into drawing V’s and zig zags these days.

We scooped the inside saving the seeds.

Lastly, Violet went to town painting it.

Watching her concentrate on painting the entire pumpkin was amazing. She carefully chose her colours and covered the entire thing.

The final masterpiece! Ta – Da!

We’ll definitely do this again next year. Will be fun to see what she comes up with next!