creativity – Bubblegum Sass

Living With Essential Oils: Creative Care

Thu, 09 Mar 2017 13:00:28 +0000

Creative time for me can mean a lot of different things. It can be time spent doing product photos, making Love Catchers & Dreamcatchers for the shop, colouring in one of my many adult colouring books, or craft time with Sam. No matter what I’m doing with my creative time, it’s a part of my sanity-saving self care. Honestly, creative care is something we really value & encourage in our little family for each other. Which is why I decided it could use a complimentary oil diffuser recipe.

{Read More}

I’ve tried various oil recipes for my time spent in the sewing room & other crafty endeavors, but this one finally captures the different elements of creative care.

Focused, thoughtful & creative.

Creative Care

4 drops Spearmint
2 drops Envision
2 Drops Dreamcatcher

Happy Oiling AND Creating!

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Self-Care in Practice: Adult Colouring Books

Wed, 29 Jun 2016 12:00:34 +0000

Have you heard about “adult colouring books”? How could you NOT! Seriously. Feels like everywhere you turn, there’s something about them. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Not at all. They are incredibly popular right now, and I’m all for it!

I {re}discovered the joy of colouring books four years ago, when I was looking for something creative & relaxing to do, with a newborn. I wanted a no mess, not much set-up required, portable, creative outlet, and nothing involving pins or needles. The solution was colouring books! I was gifted a copy of My Wonderful World of Fashion by Nina Chakrabarti and quickly fell in love with my colouring time. As Sam got older, my time to colour dropped off and my colouring books sat unused.

Last Christmas, I was gifted some new colouring books and lovely felts! Sam and I started doing colouring book time together {sometimes working on a page together, other times each working on our own books}. It quickly became our go-to quiet time activity, whether first thing in the morning to wake up {instead of watching a show} or in the late afternoon when we needed to slow down. I was AMAZED at how colouring calmed us.

{If you haven’t yet checked out local artist Crystal Salamon’s Awakening: Artful Colouring Book, DO!}

I put together a bag of our fave felts and purchased a couple of smaller colouring books I could toss in my purse. Now when we head out the door to a restaurant or somewhere we might be waiting for a bit, I grab our colouring gear. It makes situations that can be a bit stressful with a busy preschooler much more enjoyable. Of course, it doesn’t work every time, but it’s well worth the try! A lot of times, Sam likes to just sit beside me and watch me colour. I think he is fascinated with how I “colour in the lines” and it seriously soothes him.

Self-care can involve doing things together.

I read a lot about “self-care” for mamas that involves kid-free activities. And hey, I ADORE that kind of self-care time!! But sometimes I think self-care can involve doing things together or at least in the presence of each other. When I tell my son that I need to sit quietly with a colouring book & my coffee first thing in the morning to wake up a bit {instead of zoning out on my phone}, I think it’s a great example for him. Or when I’m feeling frazzled in the afternoon and need to somehow calm myself & re-focus, it’s great to have colouring time alongside my son, even if it’s just for 10 minutes.

Of course, if you can find the time to take your colouring out to a coffee shop on your own or colour after the kids go to sleep, that’s AWESOME! That’s wonderful mama-time! For me, that’s not always possible and I’d rather keep up with the daily {or regular} practice of colour therapy, than push it aside for solo mama time.

Self-care is about doing something that re-fuels YOU.

Either brings you down from craziness or lifts you back up to where you need to be. What I’m discovering is that, in daily practice, for me, it might mean finding something that can be done alongside little ones. And on a weekly practice, something I do solo.

Here’s some of my fave adult colouring books, in case you’re interested:

Secret Garden {postcards} by Johanna Basford
Just Add Color: Day of the Dead by Sarah Walsh
Animal Kingdom by Millie Marotta
recently acquired & can’t wait to geek out with the Harry Potter: Postcard Coloring Book

Happy Colouring!

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Painting With Nature

Sat, 08 Aug 2015 21:21:59 +0000

Sammy and I recently had quite the fun afternoon painting bits of his nature collection and then painting with bits of nature. For quite some time now, he has kept a nature box, where he stashes away things he finds on our daily adventures, from twigs & leaves to stones & moss. Feathers have their own special place. The actual box where he stores all of this is overflowing and so I knew that some arts & crafts projects were on the horizon.

I started out our art day by suggesting we paint some of his larger rocks & stones. We just used washable paints, nothing special.

As he played with painting the stones, I suggested he tried using the stones to paint a piece of paper. He covered stones with paint and rolled them across the paper. In the end, he enjoyed painting the rocks themselves more.

Next, we tried using pine cones instead of paint brushes. We simply dipped the pine cones in paint and rubbed them on paper. This technique creates really pretty textures and you can make interesting rainbows if you dip the pine cones in multiple colours at once.

Sam really wanted to try painting with some larger sticks, so I dug out a large board we could paint on.

Within a few minutes of painting with sticks, Sam began to drum on the board with the sticks. For the next hour, he & I dipped our sticks in paint and drummed on the board. Sam sang & chanted too. Our afternoon became an art & music therapy session!

Here’s our finished collaborative painting made with drumming sticks.

I love how our art day together evolved. I tried not to give a lot of actual instruction and just go with some of his interests. I did have to restrain him from going all out with the drumming, so we didn’t end up with paint on the walls & ceiling. If you want to let them go really wild, I suggest taking this activity outside

I always look forward to our art & craft time together. Sometimes it ends in a frustrating mess. Those are the days you just give up on and move onto other things. But there are other times, special days where our creativity blooms together. Those are days that I will always cherish.

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DIY Paintbrush for Kids

Wed, 25 Mar 2015 12:00:06 +0000

We’ve been moving Sam away from nap time the past few weeks because his nighttime sleep was getting pretty crazy. He gets quiet time in his room instead of naps, which he is growing to like more and more. No naps in the afternoon can make for long days though. I recently whipped up this little activity for him to try out just to break up one particularly long afternoon.

Here are the supplies you will need for this project:

canvas {or paper depending on what you want to paint on}
paint {we used acrylic, but washable kids’ paint would work too}
clothespins {wood or plastic}
cotton balls
paint tray

Take two cotton balls and pinch them into the clothespins. We used two cotton balls & one clothespin per paint colour. Place your paint into the tray and you’re ready to go.

I gave Sam some larger canvases to work on so that he could freely experiment with the textures & pattern the cotton ball brushes made. {And yes, he was shirtless for this project since he didn’t want to wear his dino apron that day}

Dip the cotton ball brushes into the paint. The clothespins are a great size for little hands to hold onto.

Sam started off dabbing the cotton ball brushes, which made footprint-like patterns.

Then he started using the cotton ball brushes more like a paintbrush, swirling & rubbing colours.

If the cotton balls start to get a bit gummed up with paint & tricky to use, just pull them out of the clothespin & put a couple new cotton balls in.

I find watching Sam paint truly fascinating. Maybe because I’m artistic or maybe it’s just because I’m his mama, but I don’t think I will ever get tired of watching him create.

The finished results are lovely. We have one hanging in our bedroom (as per Sam’s request) and another in his room.

I just tossed the used cotton balls in the garbage once he was done, and rinsed the clothespins & paint tray with water. The clothespins are now designated to art use. Hope your little ones enjoy this activity too!

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DIY Paint Roller for Toddlers

Mon, 23 Feb 2015 14:00:58 +0000

Ok. So I have to admit that I actually did this project with Sam well over six months ago, back when he was a toddler. Somehow I didn’t get around to posting about it until now. Go figure.

This is a simple project for you to make when your creative time with the kiddos needs a little refreshing. Sam was getting bored with the typical paint options, so I put together his own little paint roller to add some fun.

Here are the supplies you will need for this project:

empty toilet paper roll
bubble wrap
scissors
tape
paint tray (we have cardboard trays that I saved from something, but use whatever you prefer, as long as it is wide enough for the the toilet paper roll)
canvas (or paper depending on what you want to paint on)
washable kids’ paint

Simply cut a piece of bubble wrap large enough to wrap around the toilet paper roll. Fold a couple pieces of tape under the edge of the bubble wrap to secure into place. Using your paint tray, pour in your child’s choice of paint colours {Sam wanted every colour}.

Once the paint is in the tray, it’s time to play. Have your child experiment with placing the paint roller in the tray to “pick up” different colours. When there is paint on the roller, have them try rolling it across their canvas.

The bubble wrap roller creates very interesting textures. Your child might like rolling it across the whole length of the canvas, or they might enjoy using it more like a stamp. Let them explore with it.

TIP: If colours start to get too muddy on the roller, simply give it a quick rinse and start over. Sam also enjoyed using some of his previously painted canvases and rolling new colours on them. They are some of my favorite paintings now.

After thoughts:

The toilet paper rolls are a nice size for the little ones to use, but you could also try empty paper towel rolls. And of course, I hope the the bubble wrap is inspiration for you to try other materials too. It’s fun for them to see what textures different things create. Here are some other DIY Paint Roller techniques to consider:

glue yarn around an empty toilet paper
stick those foam sticker shapes onto an empty toilet paper roll
cut your own shapes/designs out of craft foam sheet & glue to roll
glue leaves (or other natural objects) onto an empty toilet paper roll
glue buttons onto an empty toilet paper roll (just thought of this one & really want to give it a try)

Also, just a note to mention, that at the same time I was writing this post, my friend Kerri was experimenting with bubble wrap painting on FABRIC!! You can see the results of her project on her newly started blog Soham Design.

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Sam’s fort

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 07:40:46 +0000

You know one good thing about kitchen renos? You end up with lots (and lots) of boxes. And if your kitchen is from Ikea, the boxes are all big flat boxes, perfect for building cardboard forts! After a few days of putting up with mom & dad being sick and crashed on the couch, little Sammy was pretty bored and needed something new & fun to enjoy. He was the one that gave me the idea, actually, as he pulled boxes out of the kitchen and started leaning them on each other.

And so, with tape gun & marker & box cutter in hand, I set to work. Just a simple fort with two walls. Makes it easy for a clumsy toddler to get in and out of. I cut some little windows and cubby holes for Sam to stuff blocks through. Sam was right there by my side, helping with each step. We weren’t going for beautiful, just fun.

Sam thought it was great as is. Perfect for playing peek-a-boo. Then I handed him a felt marker… and then a booklet of stickers, and rolls of colourful electrical tape. Not sure who had more fun, Sammy or me? Purple was definitely his fav colour of the day.

Sadly, not all the felt marker stayed on the box… some of it ended up on his clothes and face. Lets just say it was a bit of mom fail not to double check that the markers were washable (they weren’t). The stuff on his face came off after a few washings. No biggie. It was worth watching his imagination run wild for a little bit. I will be picking up washable markers the next time we’re at the store though.

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Doodle days

Fri, 18 May 2012 07:49:30 +0000

Mentioned briefly last week that I have been enjoying some simple creativity with coloring books. Here are a couple of pages I’ve been working on. And yes, those are buttons.

A friend gave me a copy of My Wonderful World of Fashion by Nina Chakrabarti. Best coloring book EVER! So much fun! Page after page of coloring goodness and design activities. Any fashion book that devotes space to buttons easily wins a place in my heart! With a limited amount of creative time, the coloring book has been a nice way to do a little something without too much commitment. I can stop as soon as baby boy requires my attention. Not a ton to clean up and I can keep it nearby on the coffee table to pick up whenever I have a spare (right) hand. Tried coloring with my left hand, but I’m just not ambidextrous enough. The coloring book is starting to fill the need I have had lately of keeping a sketchbook and doing more artwork. Little steps, as usual.

I’m not quite ambitious enough to say that I’ll share a weekly “Doodle Days” post, but there will definitely be the occasional post about it.

PS – Nina Chakrabarti has two other coloring book titles that I might need to check out,
My Even More Wonderful Book of Fashion and My Wonderful World of Shoes. Now if there was just an entire book of buttons…

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