two straight lines

Good Egg

Courtney Russell — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:58:22 -0400

My kids are on spring break this week, and we're sick, so I decided to revive a craft that I did for Real Simple last year for their Family Issue. Real Simple produced a very open ended version of my ideas, which I thought was really cool, but when I designed it, there were several specific finished products that they didn't share. The original crafts can be found here, and we used food coloring for all of them. Today, my kids and I used watercolors, because I love that way that even the most novice crafter can create very impressive results with them.

I'll give you a step-by-step in case you too are marooned with your kids inside on these beautiful Spring days. I also think this craft is perfectly appropriate for an adult who just wants to make a little something special for Easter.

I started by tracing an egg template that I had left over from when Elliot and I made this Easter egg garland way back when he was two years old. I keep all of my templates in a file so that we can pull them out each year. A similar template can be found here. I traced the egg onto good quality watercolor paper. Four eggs fit on each 8 1/2" x 11" piece. I then cut each large sheet into rectangles, leaving the extra paper surrounding the eggs. This encourages you and your kids to paint right up to the edge of the egg shape.

I then gave my kids a wide variety of brushes and some vinyl letters, which are found at office supply stores. If you would like to, place the letters on the egg shapes to spell out a message which will reveal itself in due time. Paint the egg shapes, trying different patterns (dots? stripes?) and experimenting with the different brushes.

Allow the paint to dry, peel off any vinyl letters you used, and cut out the egg shapes. If you've painted over the pencil lines too thoroughly, just retrace them quickly. Punch holes at the top of the eggs with a hole punch (two holes per egg works best for a garland) and then thread them with ribbon or twine. Hang your very colorful Easter egg garland in a sunny window. The watercolor eggs also make wonderful cards for Grandma.

Instagram

Courtney Russell — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:11:51 -0500

Lucie's valentines this year are made with an Instagram photo I took of her a few weeks back. She came home from preschool with this red heart that she'd drawn for me, so I snapped a pic of her holding it. I'm trying to figure out how to finish the valentines off. We may paste them into the middle of a construction paper heart, or make an envelope for them, or truthfully, most likely nothing at all. I thought about glittering the heart, but I love the detail of her scribble, with the dark line around the outside edge. I used sort of a tacky font, because I knew she would love it.

I'm loving Instagram and another app called Snapseed for picture taking. If you haven't tried out either, the main difference is that Instagram has a sharing aspect, sort of like Flickr, and Snapseed just allows you to edit your photos and choose whether or not to share them. Also, I think Snapseed allows for more sophisticated processing. Either way, I think it's great to have a way to improve the quality of my photos coming out of my iPhone. I often don't want to carry around my DSLR, so this is the perfect solution for me. If you're on Instagram, my username is courtrussell. You can still follow people on Instagram even if you're not using it at Followgram. You can find me here. I post photos at least a few times a week.

Let's Make Rabbits

Courtney Russell — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:09:59 -0500

I ran across this book recently in Elliot's classroom and his teacher let me borrow it for the weekend for three weeks. It's called Let's Make Rabbits and by Leo Lionni. Although he's very famous, I've never seen this particular book. I thought the illustrations and particulary the use of printed paper was charming.

I looked for some paper like it a few weeks back at Hollander's in Ann Arbor, but wasn't able to find any similar enough. I thought some of the Brookfield Papers would do, but the ones they carried were all too large in scale. If anyone has any resources for any similar papers, please let me know. I thought the sweet rabbits were the perfect harbinger of Spring.

Busywork

Courtney Russell — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:27:26 -0500

If you've read this blog for any time, you will know that I am inspired by children's artwork, so much so, that I tape my kids' art to my walls and have it spilling out of my drawers. Even more than the crafts or projects that my kids bring home from school, I am crazy about their doodles. The notes they write on little scraps of paper, on the backs of envelopes-- I adore them. They're just so spontaneous and quirky, and if I could I'd plaster them on every surface I own. (OK, maybe that's an exagerration.)

A few years ago, I was trying to think of different ways to use Elliot's doodles, and I decided to put together a letter writing kit for him for Christmas using his scribbles as design elements. After the gifts were all opened that Christmas day, he sat down right away to write my grandparents a note, and since then he's used his letterhead in countless ways, which have resulted in even more fabulous doodles.

I've found that although we have a wide variety of toys, my kids mostly want to pretend to be doing the stuff that big people are doing, and honestly, I remember the same was true for me as a kid. I've loved stationery and paper products since I was little-- if my Mom gave me some of her old checks or some index cards, I was busy and happy. I still remember an old fashioned stationery store in Indianapolis (aptly named Stationers) that was like a candy store to me, in all of it's bland officy-ness.

So, that is the inspiration for Busywork, a line of printable paper goods for kids (and eventually parents too), designed to keep them busy and happy. My first selection of goods is in the shop now, including a set of stationery that can be customized with your kids' doodles. If you don't have any of those handy right away, I am also offering some paper goods that are customized only with names, so that your child can get busy too.

Shop

Courtney Russell — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:01:24 -0500

I'm here to day to announce the opening of my new Etsy shop, Busywork Print Shop, printables for kids and their parents. My first product is up-- it's a downloadable, printable Valentine inspired by some Valentines I made with my son when he was in preschool. Most of the products that I will offer won't be crafts, but I decided to start with this project because I have such wonderful memories of creating elaborate Valentines with my Mom when I was a kid. Doilies, crepe paper and sweet little animal faces...what could be better?!

I'll be back later in the week to announce a few more products that are more representative of what my shop will carry. Cheers, and thank you for all of your support, in the past and in this new venture.

Fall Color

Courtney Russell — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:38:53 -0400

this way

We went outside to enjoy the beautiful fall colors in our neighborhood today. We live in a wooded pocket of our city, and are surrounded by charming old homes and a 55 acre nature preserve. After nearly 3 years here, sometimes I find myself taking all of it for granted, but in the fall it's sort of smack-you-in-the-face beautiful, so that's more difficult to do.

random booty shaking

The neighborhood is sort of changing over to be filled with more young families with kids, so I have my fingers crossed for more happily engaged children over the coming summers and school breaks. One of Elliot's best buddies just moved in 8 doors down, so today we picked him up on the way to the neighborhood school playground for an impromptu playdate.

those cheeks

Lucie and I are still recovering from a cold we had last weekend, so this may be the extent of our adventures today, except possibly grabbing some carryout later. I have some goody bags to stuff and one mermaid tail to make before Monday and the view from the couch is looking pretty good.

our pretty street

What's outside your door?

Playful Learning Blog Tour- Letter Writing Activity (and a giveaway!)

Courtney Russell — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 08:14:31 -0400

I'm really thrilled to be the second stop on the blog tour of Mariah Bruehl's new book, Playful Learning. As a longtime reader of Mariah's blog, which shares the same name, I knew that the activities would be ones that my kids and I would enjoy doing together. Mariah has a background in education including teaching and writing curricula for a small private school on Long Island. Her activities are simple, yet sophisticated and she treats kids like the little explorers they are. The projects are never dumbed down; they represent the real "work" that kids love so much.

Mariah and I share a passion for creating environments that support learning, creativity, and independence for children, and I was very inspired by the chapter of the book entitled Playful Learning Spaces. I really try and incorporate the fact that I have children in every design decision I make, in fact I appreciate that because of my children I have a chance to lighten up and make some fun choices that may raise a few eyebrows in a home with no children. There are a few areas of my home that I'm rethinking after reading this book, and a few other types of spaces that I may try to add when I finish a few of my current projects.

In addition to the introductory chapters, which I truly loved (I'd love to see an entire book in the future just covering these subjects!), there are projects covering 7 subject areas, including writing, reading, math, science, art, global awareness, and social-emotional skills, aimed at children 4-8. I appreciate the breadth of the projects, because as someone who is most likely to gravitate to projects involving art, literature or cooking, it's nice to have a selection of carefully curated projects in other subject areas available. I decided to start off with a project that both of my kids could easily participate in, and something that was relevant to us right now. Because I have a 4 year old, and a nearly 8 year old, we were the perfect test group for the book's age range.

I chose the letter writing activity, for which 3 printables are included in the back of the book. The 3 variations are for the different stages of young writers (the 4 stages are explained thoroughly in the book) and I chose 1 and 2, because I knew if my youngest was having fun drawing pictures, my oldest would want to be in on the action as well (option 3 was a word only letter template).

Now, this may be the time to explain a portion of the book that I particularly liked, in which Mariah gives specific advice regarding how to attempt to engage your children in these activities. She recommends trying to fit activities organically into your life, rather than presenting your children with a slate of pre-planned activities. I have to second this advice, and add that each of you can probably figure out what method of presentation works for your particular child. My daughter loves drawing pictures for people, and actually spends a great deal of her day doing just that, so presenting her with the idea of writing her Aunt Jenny a "letter" after a visit with her yesterday, well, there wasn't a moment of hesitation. "OK, where are my markers?" she said. My son-- well, he isn't so easily swayed, so I decided not to present the idea to him at all. "What's Lucie doing?" he asked. "She's writing a letter. Oh, you want to write one? Sure, I have a piece of paper right here for you. Oh, you want to write one to Uncle Matt to thank him for taking you turtle hunting yesterday? That sounds like a great idea. Yes, that really is a marvelous turtle, so detailed. Great idea, you writing a letter too." You get the idea, you know your child and what motivates them, and it's very likely different for each child.

As in the letter writing activity, many printables for other activities are included in the back of the book, which makes the planning process much easier. There are also library books listed that complement the activities and a One Step Ahead section which includes preparation a parent can do to enrich an activity. While this book would be very useful for homeschoolers, I love that it also provides ways to supplement the education of kids who, like mine, are schooled outside of the home.

Mariah and her publisher Shambhala Publications have generously offerred a copy of Playful Learning and a spot in her upcoming e-course entitled Playful Learning Spaces. Just leave a comment for a chance to win. I'll close the comments on Thursday 8/18 at 9pm and announce the winner on Friday.

**********************

upcoming stops on the Playful Learning blog tour

8/17 Sew Liberated
8/18 The Artful Parent
8/19 Ohdeedoh
8/22 Let the Children Play
8/23 Simple Kids
8/24 Spell Outloud
8/25 Not Just Cute
8/26 Make and Takes
8/29 ABC 123
8/30 Modern Parents Messy Kids
8/31 A Bit of This and a Bit of That
9/1   Adventures in Mommydom
9/2   Inspiration Surrounds, Creativity Abounds
9/5   Happy Healthy Hip Parenting
9/6   Tinker Lab
9/7   Helping Little Hands

The winner of the giveaway is the 14th commenter, Sarah! Sarah, please send me your contact information so I can share it with Mariah and Shambhala. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Collage

Courtney Russell — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:46:01 -0400

I've been trying hard recently to not hold on desperately to craft supplies as if I have the last known supply on planet Earth. It seems that a several years ago, in the early days of blogging, there was a huge emphasis on buying and stockpiling supplies. I'm glad to see that those days have gone by, and people are more inspired by their own ideas than, for example, a cute imported Japanese fabric.

In the past year, I've worked through a lot of the things I've been hoarding, and I even let my children get in on the fun occasionally. One recent Friday afternoon we pulled out a cache of vintage schools supplies I purchased at our school's rummage sale a few years ago and we decided to make collages on chipboard with them. You'll have to pardon the photo quality, we shot them in our basement craft room which has a fair amount of fluorescent lighting. We had a ball making these and it was interesting to see how we each used the materials.

Lucie is a prolific artist, she creates it freely and my house is often littered with her drawings. She made 10 or more collages, with not a single thought about conserving materials. (I have to admit to cringing a little when she used all of those flat wooden blocks)

Elliot is my literal guy, all of his collages turned into signs, one for each of us, including the pets. We even repurposed some colorful strings from one of the games to make these into door hangers for each of our bedrooms.

The arrangement on mine was very carefully considered, with lots of straight lines, hidden details, and unfortunately not as much spontanaeity as my children.

What do you have squirreled away that you should be using? What are you waiting for?

Bookbag

Courtney Russell — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:36:55 -0400

A month or so ago my kids and I picked up this book for one of our favorite tiny people who was about to turn 1. We're big fans of Richard Scarry here at our house, but this was a book I'd never seen. We were mesmerized by the beautiful illustrations, and the diminutive main character, a bunny who lives in a hollow hole.

After repeatedly prying it out of my kids' hands over the last few weeks, we decided to hand off our gift this past weekend. Lucie and I thought that a tiny book tote would be the perfect companion gift for our little friend, who happens to be part of a book lovin' family. We sewed up this tote from blue wool felt, using an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of chipboard as our template. We did add a few inches in width to fit the extra long book, so I would guess it's about 8 1/2" by 13." The final touch was a "T" monogram from a Denyse Schmidt fabric.

We've since picked up a copy for my kids and Lucie is now requesting a tiny tote of her own. Guess I know what I'll be doing this afternoon.

I can't help but share more photos of this adorable book. Enjoy.

Hope and other projects.

Courtney Russell — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:55:02 -0400

We're blessed enough to entertain three sets of guests every December, and while I consider myself incredibly lucky that all of these people are willing to travel to visit us during the holidays, it doesn't come without it's fair share of stress. In the midst of this past season, I decided to declare January the 'month of me.' I turn 40 this April, and I thought I would give myself one full month during my 40th year, to get back to my creative pursuits, and possibly even record them right here in this space.

I don't consider myself a religious person, but I am a Woody Allen fan, and this brings to mind his quote-- "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." No sooner had January begun and I was plunged knee deep into a crisis of a family member, with little time for me, me, me. I try to keep this place happy and light, but I also think it's important to acknowledge the real life challenges that you face in order to be authentic; For the last several years, since just before Lucie was born, I have been dealing with the addictions issues of a beloved member of my extended family.

If any of you have had addiction touch your life, you know how heartbreaking situations like this can be. At the same time, I've learned is that it's so important to believe in all of your heart that your family member has the capacity to get better, and to give them all of the love and support that you are capable of, while maintaining safe boundaries for yourself. I don't yet know how this situation will resolve-- I would've liked it to end like a neat little blog post-- but I am proud of myself for giving this situation my all, yet being clear about where I draw the line. I couldn't live with myself if I did any less, actually.

So, after a few months in a transitional place, this problem is no longer on my plate, and I find myself in the middle of a few too many home improvement projects. The sunroom on our first floor is currently sealed off for wallpaper removal to be followed by plaster repair, carpet removal, painting and likely the refinishing of wood floors. I'm also in the process of removing wallpaper glue from our first floor bath so I can prime and paint the walls, hopefully in the next week. And I repainted a piece of furniture recently using some techniques from Barb at Knack Studios, and am very pleased with the outcome. I'd like to share these projects in the near future, unless life throws me another curveball.

On a brighter note, the sweet kitty you see in the photo above joined or family on a particularly dismal Sunday morning in January. Yes, I adopted a pet as a pick-me-up, but I promise that she will live a long and happy life with our family, and has already integrated seamlessly among our other pets. Georgia was her given name, and we decided to keep it. You can see that she and Lucie are fast friends.