We had fun at the Bark in the Park event at Waverly Park in Thousand Oaks this weekend. Photographing dogs in fun cardboard settings to both raise money for WhatCanWe.org and to join in the global day of play for Caine’s Arcade Cardboard Challenge 2013 was a challenge indeed. Getting furry friends to pose behind our cardboard stands took some finesse but the smiles and hearts warmed that day made it all good in the end.
Putting plain things together can have awesome results. Who would think that hangers, tights holders, and liter bottle holders could all come together to make a kid sized skeleton just in time for Halloween!
Gio and his mom had a ball building up this spookily character!
Skeleton
Gio
6yrs
Nolan found a partial book in the Book Pages bin. That started something good. As a budding writer there was only one thing to do, make the partial book he found into a new one! He liked that idea so much he decided to make two! He put his mom to work gathering pictures of animals and automobiles in magazines and calendars while he outlined his stories. The refurbished book and it’s mini mate, like many other great books will take some time to complete. That’s OK, they are nice and portable so he can work on them any time he gets the itch to put on his writer cap.
Animal Book
Nolan
5yrs
Suddenly several of something simple can seem on purpose.
Today, A few teen girls visited the studio, ready to create with fresh ideas and inspiration brimming. They got busy fast! All of the sudden, before I knew it we had a collection on our hands. Each of the girls made a tin can creation, no two were alike but the result was a fine collection to store many of life’s little things.
Nice
Sneaking in a crafty moment can be so rewarding to a mommy who spends most awake hours chasing young ones. During a playgroup visit this morning one mommy made the best of every free second she had to capture a little something she is enamored with.
Once done, she said she had forgotten how good it feels to create just for fun!
Boxes are great for stacking into purposeful configurations. Two everyday boxes put together here made a great start to a robot. Adding some jewel eyes, a layer or two of cardboard, some tubes and straws for arms and legs gave this robo personality, just the way it should be.
Boxbot
Brilanna
6yrs
Inspired by Dosomething.org and their Birthday Mail suggestion we hosted a good deed event last Saturday. We made generic birthday cards to send to The Lighthouse Women and Children’s Shelter in Oxnard. The facility will distribute the cards to children staying at the shelter on their birthdays. What a great way to help kids in fragile situations feel special.
We had a blast gathering stickers, wrapping paper scraps, glitter glue and other little treasures to make these one of a kind, heartfelt cards for kids. We hope to bring lots of smiles to sweet young faces.
Birthday Cards
Sometimes inspiration is provided for creators by means of an assigned project for school. For these three friends in the same class a cuddly bear friend was the best assignment to get.
The assignment was to make a cuddly bear friend using the paper template provided along with scraps of fabric and such from home to create a personalized bear. The girls hit the jackpot at CReATE with fake fur, gems, buttons, fun fabrics, glitter and the like. What a time they had instructing their mommies on what details went where. Now these bears and the girls are ready for a super show and tell at school.
Hug a Bears & Friends
Puzzles are not just for rainy day afternoons anymore…
For this family, they become leaves on a tree rooted in their connectedness to one another. What fun it was to watch this kind of family collaboring unfold, a piece to cherish long after the process was done. These roots run deep.
Family Tree
Luke (4), Ryan (adult) and Trace (adult)
It is so fun to see beloved animated characters come to life when one inspiring item is found.
Andrea found a gathered piece of felt in the “small treasures” bin that reminded her of Maid Minion from Despicable Me 2, so that is exactly what she set out to do, create her own Maid Minion creation! Using yellow paint, a plastic container, corks, some lace and black fabric she brought to life a beloved and silly character that made her proud.
Maid Minion
Andrea
10yrs