A Fun Twist For Your Gardening: Introducing The Doodle Garden

At last a blog post! I must say, this spring has been a bit of a blur!  I finally feel like things are becoming normal again!  We have been busy with our book, "On Top Of the World" going into schools and doing book reading events!  It has been lots of fun and great to have my husband as my partner in all this!  I love the way he draws kids in with his fun music and quirky self!  Unfortunately I haven't been overly inspired to do much blogging lately!  Hoping this is the beginning of that all changing.  I tend to go where the inspiration hits, and sometimes that isn't always a great thing!  I can end up leaving things unfinished in all this.

But with the nice, sunny, warm weather, I have been inspired to work on my gardens.  Now anyone who knows me knows I am not a gardener!  I don't like it and I am not good at it.  However, I DO have a vision and it involves paint.  That puts a whole new twist on gardening for me.  Last year I  began a new concept "The doodle garden" and this year I plan on going BIGGER with this concept! So here is a little sneak peek of the doodle garden we are working on.  There is more to come once I work up some more of my backyard!  Poor Steve!  It's a good thing I married an easy-going guy!  So here you go....a few early pictures of our doodle garden.

I will make sure to post more as we get things done!  Happy doodling!

Trish

Creating Boxtrolls: A Creative Lesson In A Local School

Today I had the joy of going into a public school and doing an art workshop with a class of kids.  It was so much fun!  I did a demonstration with clay and we created mixed media box trolls.  I recently watched the Boxtrolls movie and loved the claymation that they used.  It really was quite interesting and very creative.  So, I decided to create my own box trolls.  In the movie the trolls each lived in a box and took on the name of the box that they were wearing.  So, each child made their own box and designed their own label.  It was awesome to see so much creativity coming out of the students and that each one was unique in its own way.  I love how you can give kids a pile of materials and they make use of them making things I would of never think of.

So how did we create these one of a kind box trolls?  We started with some air dry clay and designed heads.  We moulded and sculpted eyes, noses, mouths, teeth, and even tongues.  I loved to see how some made hats, hair, and even accessories to go with their trolls.   Each face took on a personality of its own and I soon got to see the interests of the students coming to life in what they were creating.  After all you create what you like.

Next we took small paper boxes and had a smorgasbord of materials out for the kids to play with! They began to poke holes and make pipe cleaner arms, clay feet, decorative feather dresses, plaid tape ties, and much more. Some added paint and markers, and others used lots of tape!  There was no right or wrong way and they all looked great!

The last step was to allow the clay heads to dry and then glue them to the top of the box! There you have it!  A uniquely designed box troll.  My highlight was to be able to watch the kids create and to see how much they enjoyed it!  Give it a shot with your kids.  Believe me, they'll love it!
Happy creating.

Trish

A Sneak Peek Into Funtastical Studios Art Classes For Kids

Coming this fall I will be teaching some new classes to kids ages 6-10!  I have been busy trying and experimenting with lots of mediums to make this a funtastical experience for kids.  I love the diversity in art and the varieties of materials you can work with.  I know that kids love that too!  So, I have intentionally mixed up a lot of the media to allow kids to really experiment and get the creative juices flowing!  Each week the kids will be introduced to a new medium and learn new technique while having lots of fun.  This fall the theme will be artsy animals.  We will be looking at all kinds of different animals that we will re-create and even invent.  We will be doing drawing labs, printmaking, sculpture, acrylics,  watercolours, and more!  There will also be a fun art game to play each week.
Here are a few of the projects we will be creating!

Mixed media sculpture: creating your own creature 

Mixed media birds

Drawing lab: doodling your favourite animal/bird

Contour giraffes: watercolour

Paper Mache: underwater creatures

So there you have it.  I will be developing a few more ideas over the summer.  Keep watch on our blog, Facebook page, and website as we get closer to the fall.  We'll make sure to post how you can sign up if you live in our area.

Trish

Volcano Fun: A Creative And Educational Experience

So today I am throwing some science into art or maybe some art into science.  Science has never been my strong suit or something I have liked, but with a little creative twist it can be so much more fun!!!  My daughter seems to be fascinated with volcanoes, so after studying them a little bit we decided it was time to make one.  This is a fairly easy project that you can do with kids at almost any age.  They all love it and you can make it educational for them as well if you like.




This is what you will need:
6 cups of flour
2 cups of salt (yes that's right...cups)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
2 cups of water
laundry soap
vinegar
red food colouring
baking soda

Let the mess...I mean FUN...begin!

First, mix together the flour, salt, vegetable oil and water in a bowl.

Next you will put warm water and a few drops of laundry soap in a small water bottle.  You can add some red food colouring for a lava look if you like!  Add in 2 teaspoons of baking soda and mix them all together.

Build the flour mixture up around the water bottle to make the shape of a volcano.

Decorate your volcano any way you like.  We used liquid watercolours and made it a colourful volcano.

And get ready for the eruption! Slowly add vinegar into your water bottle and watch it bubble up and erupt!

It can get pretty messy so I would recommend that you have a tray underneath to collect all the lava!
Our kids loved this fun project and I'm sure yours will too!  Have fun!!!

Trish

Easy To Use Resources For Creative Young Minds: A Sneak Peek Into Our New Curriculums.

At last Steve and I have created some art and music books for you parents to use and learn at your own home!  We often have people asking us for ideas that they can use with their kids for art or music.  Finally we've got some practical ideas and guidance for you to use not only with your kids, but for you to use and learn from as well.

Introducing Art lessons for Kids, a step by step guide to teaching art lessons for your kids.  There are 8 weeks of lessons and in it you will see a diversity of art lessons, a complete list of materials, art games that kids love, and even my favourite snacks to serve.  We get our hands in all kinds of fun materials from clay to paint to learning sketching.  The kids will have opportunity to express their own creativity as well as learn skills along the way.  These are all lessons I have personally done with kids and have found to be fun and helpful for teaching children.

Steve has been teaching children and adults guitar lessons for years.  A few years ago he wrote Guitar Made Easy,  a teaching book to assist his guitar students in learning the basics of technique, chords, theory, and a number of other topics.   He's used this very method successfully with all his beginner students over the years.  At last he is making it available to purchase.  Even if you have never played guitar, this is a step by step guide that is easy for the beginner to learn with.  With his colourful pictures you will be able understand his explanations with ease.
Check out the photos below for a sneak peek into our new books.  They are selling for $20 each and you can purchase them on our website.

Happy Creating!!

Trish

Staying True To Your Own Style

Maybe it's just the sunshine we have been experiencing lately, but I have been in the mood to paint. So much so that I could have easily cleared the art store out of canvas.   I have sketch book after sketch book full of ideas and paintings just waiting to happen.  This week I did two simple ideas came to mind.  For me, I love when I can find a meaning in what I paint and I also love how often others have their own interpretation as well.  I always say art is the one universal language that can speak to anyone.

Trying to stay true to my style, I set out to paint these two new paintings.  However, while painting them I found some of my old mindsets trying to set in again.  I had to battle them and let's just say it wasn't easy.  What do I mean by old mindsets?  I began to think about what I thought people would like to see on my canvas.  I began to look on the internet for inspiration (which for me is a big mistake). While looking, I seem to loose my unique style and instead try make things look like what I see.  In the process of that,  I start feeling really frustrated and it steals the joy of painting.  So once again I knew I needed to turn the computer off and look through my daily doodles instead for inspiration.  Let me just be clear... if you look on the net for your inspiration I am not putting that down.  People get inspired from other people's work all the time and I believe we are made to inspire one another.  I just can't do that.

As I began to let my style come out through my doodles I began to feel much better about what I was painting.  There is a lot that goes into planning a painting.  Not just the idea of the painting, but how to compose a painting.  How to make it look balanced and pleasing to they eye.  What colours work together and having proper perspective.  Maybe at later date I will blog more on composing a painting but for now here are the two new paintings I have created.  Enjoy!

Free to fly

Free to fly 

fly to the sky

Nothing holding back

Breaking free from that shack

Beat to your own drum

Beat to your own drum

Don't just let the crowd lead you

Nothing new will ever come

If you don't try something new.

A Funtastical Family Portrait Experience

Recently we decided to make our very own family portraits.  I'm not talking about the kind that you create by using a nice camera!  Instead, we designed and made our own pictures.  Ok it may not be exactly as we look but I would say the kids and Steve did a great job and we had lots of fun doing it.  I started by using a large roll of butcher paper that I rolled out on our kitchen floor. One by one Steve, I, and the kids traced each other for a somewhat similar body outline.  The kids really loved doing this and it was lots of fun to see the results after we each got up!

With our outlines a little distorted from how we really look,  it left us to be a little more creative as we then took oil pastels and filled in our body with fun clothing and of course a face and hair.  And there we had them...life-size portraits that we hung on our walls.
Here is a re-cap of the experience!  Hope you enjoy!  Have fun creating your own family portraits and creating memories.

Trish

Sneak Peak: My New Funtastical Painting Line!

I have been working over the past few months on some new paintings to go with The  Lucy Collection.  Many people have been asking me to do paintings for little boys, and I've been busy working on these.   Introducing The Little Nate Line!

There are six paintings in all and they all come with little stories that are going to be made into a book for boys and girls.  All of the paintings have been created on cradle board and are 16" x 20" in size.  They are all done in acrylic paint.  So for your enjoyment, here is a sneak peak of some of the Little Nate line.

Little Nate was a dreamer!  He would lay awake every night dreaming of what he could be.
 No dream was too big, for he knew that He was created
to reach for the stars and do great things.

Little Quinn was an adventurous soul.  No place was too far for him to go.
He would find a way to visit lands that were unique and rare.
 It was there he would share good news to those afar.

Little Charlie was full of rhythm.  He could hear notes and sounds from a mile away.
He couldn't help but feel the beats as He composed some of the most beautiful songs.
It was as if heaven had come down.

The Perfect Ice Cream Recipe! A Fun, Delicious, and Easy Winter Treat

I have never been big on eating snow.  Even as a kid it wasn't something I did.   However, I catch my kids all the time shoving snow in their mouths!  We've all heard 'don't eat the yellow snow,' but how about eating brown snow?  Even worse right?  Not exactly.

The other day I took the kids out for some fresh air and a snack and guess what we found?  The snack was right in our back yard as we made homemade snow ice cream!  Doesn't sound appetizing?  Let me just say, you need to give this a try.  To my surprise it was delicious!  We took our bowl and found a fresh clean batch of snow, which wasn't too hard to find since we have stacks of snow this year!  Filling our bowls, we added one simple ingredient. Chocolate condensed milk! You can just use regular condensed milk as well if you choose.  But I love the chocolate.


Pouring it into the snow, it actually thickened the snow and made the texture like ice cream. We could have even put it on a cone.  It was so good and really cold. You can even put it in a dish and freeze it like normal ice cream.

Sometimes you don' t have to look too far to find something different and great!  But as good as it was, hurray, spring is coming!  I think?????
Have a fun!
Trish

The Art of Passing Creativity On!

Pass the paint.  It's time to pass on some creativity!

Did you know that you are creative?  Yes you!  Perhaps you already knew that, but maybe some of you never saw yourself as creative.  I believe that everyone is creative.  It just looks very different from one person to the next.  I have come to realize that creativity is like any other talent and it is something that grows and develops the more you use it.  I find that many people want to do something creatively but often don't know where to start!  So I feel that as a person who loves to create, I can help create opportunities to do so.

When I first started painting, it really was about me and me learning and painting in my little corner. However, as I developed more of that ability, I soon realized that I needed to share what I have learned with others so they too can have an opportunity to develop what is inside of them.  I am by no means an expert and there are always people that are more advanced in their abilities than I am, but there are always people that are less advanced as well.  So in helping others, I start at the likely place of helping those with less experience and ability.  This can change in a hurry, as I have found that some people just need a starting place and in only a short time are beyond my ability!  This sometimes can be a test of the heart as you watch others goes beyond you!  However, I do believe that we should encourage this!  I take it as a great honour to be able to impart what I have to someone to only see them go beyond me!  Who knows the creative destiny that may be awaiting them!

The joy of collaborating together teaches us so much!  Lucy and I are working on a heart.  I love mixing our styles together.

I recently got asked to attend my friend Rachael's business, Social Art!  It is a business where anyone can come out and paint.  They receive step by step instruction from Rachael and at the end of the night they have a masterpiece!  The setting in which this takes place is in a restaurant where you are able to order food or drinks.  It really is a great night out!  I looked around as I saw a variety of people out for the event.  Some older, some young.  Both men and women.  Some had never painted before while others had more experience!  But what I loved about the night was that Rachael was taking her gifting and ability and using it to bless others.  She was taking the time to impart what she has learned over the years to others.  It was really amazing to see as so many left encouraged and I believe even wowed at what they had painted!  All they needed was an opportunity!  I know for myself, one painting leads to another!

Rachael and I at one of her events.

I realize not everyone is a teacher or likes speaking in large groups, but the point is  to pass on the gift of creativity.  When I first was introduced to paint it was by a lady in South Africa who had been fabric painting.  She invited me into her home and shared all of her paints and supplies with me.  She gave me an opportunity.  It wasn't so much about imparting what she had learned to me as much as it was about imparting the resources and materials she had.  It was the beginning of my creative journey.

Kristyn has been a great helper by passing on creativity with kids in my art class.

As important as it is to pass on creativity, it is also important to keep receiving creativity.  So as you give out, make sure you also find people that you too can learn from as well.  That may be through online tutorials, lessons, or just watching those that have gone before you!  Do it so that you can keep growing in your ability to impart and bless the world in a greater way!

Happy creating, and remember...YOU ARE CREATIVE!

Trish

The kids learn from one another as they create together!

Count Up the Cost

Living the dream!  Oh how good it can look on paper, on Facebook, or in a photo!  But reality is what happens before and after that photo, post, or inspirational quote.  Yikes!  When posting pictures for a blog or Facebook post I do my best to make them happy pictures!  But somedays if you could see what really happens around here while we're trying to live life, I think it would make a far more interesting post and add a little comic relief at the same time.  It kind of reminds me of the times we have taken a family vacation and you get to see all the nice photos of our time at the beach, laughing, and having fun.  But somehow the 5 hour car ride that turned into 10 hours isn't photographed, with all three kids screaming in the back seat.  It's like one meltdown triggers the next.  Well, that's how it can seem when you go after your dreams!

If someone gave you an option to take an old plough and start breaking up extremely hard soil, who would be eager to start?  It might be to some, but it's not really inviting to me at all.  However, it's easy to start strong.  You have lots of energy, a vision for this field, and picture a huge harvest coming!  So yeah let's start!!  You know it's going to be a lot of work and quite hard at times, but that doesn't stop you from starting.  But let me just say, it's after you have been ploughing for a while and you begin to grow tired,  the fact is that you can start to lose sight of how good this field is going to look when done.  You can begin to doubt it and what you once saw you begin to wonder if it really is possible?  Snapping a few pictures of yourself with a big grin on your face and a plough in your hand, you choose to keep going.  You thought for sure by now you would have had your field ploughed, but the ground is harder then you thought...actually a lot harder.  The slight breaks in the ground can bring more satisfaction to you then you ever thought possible and it's what keeps you moving forward.  But the cost you have had to pay in the meantime isn't always what you expect.  Your plough has broken numerous times because of the hardness of the soil.  You open your wallet again even though you said you're not spending another dime on this field!  Your physical body is aching in ways you've never experienced, triggered by hard work, but also the stresses of battling harsh elements.  Not every day has perfect weather!!  Doubt and disbelief seem to be nasty storm clouds hanging out over your field.  You're faced with giving up more than you even know...and for what?? A dream????  I know, it sounds so inviting!!

So why keep going?  Well, it's because a God given dream won't give up!  It's in you and as hard as it is and even the cost that happens isn't enough to stop what God has put in you to do!  Even if you take a rest and walk away, the dream is still in you, longing to be released into this world so that you can make a difference that is good.  Yes, you have the choice to keep going or to stop and it is good to count up the cost before you begin (just know you won't know all the cost up front).

So, is my field ploughed?  No!  I wish it was.  Many times I feel like, 'what I have gotten myself into?'  My dream still lives in my heart though.  So forward I go, another day at the plough, depending on the strength and help from the one who put the dream in my heart.

Here are some photos to show a parallel to how stepping into your dreams may look on the outside but may be a little different on the inside ........It's good to laugh!

Living the dream!

Still living the dream

It's a brand new Day!!!

Still a brand new day!

Me trying to dig frozen ground. The reality is it's winter and I don't walk around my backyard digging my garden up but I don't have plough for this picture.  Yes, in case your unsure... this photo is staged. Was I happy in it? UMMM somewhat I had to drag Stevie out in the cold from his warm bed to take a picture while my make-up was still fresh. And you have seen his morning look.

Stevie's big dig! He really is a good guy! Willing to have his photo taken even when he thinks it doesn't make any sense with my blog....Well Stevie it's winter and I know you don't plough in the winter but were still ploughing!

So be encouraged!  In due season you shall reap a harvest if you don't give up!!!

Tricia