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Happy May!

I look forward to bringing a creative month to my community this May through preschool enrichment classes, after-school enrichment classes, CReATE dates, machine sewing classes, and a Family Art Day with CMATO.
Coming in June our camp line-up begins.
All the studio happenings can be found on or through the Happenings page.
I can’t wait to create with you!
Regards,
Jemma W.
Owner/Founder

Dinner Talk

When I talk to parents whose kids are creating with me, I find myself telling them to put their child’s creation at the center of the dinner table. Let their creation be a conversation starter for dinner talk. They can tell you about the materials they used, the ideas they had and how it was constructed. Art is always a great conversation starter. Conversations make connections deeper and who better to really connect with than family. You will all enjoy talking together and make memories that last. Your kids will likely hold similar conversations with their kids when they grow up too.

Jemma W.
Owner/Founder

Falling in Love with Earth

This Thursday, April 22nd is Earth Day.

I was thinking about what Earth Day means to me and all there is to do to take care of her when a thought crossed my mind, use Earth Day as an opportunity to connect with the earth. Spending time in nature, looking closely at the plants and flowers, noticing the birds and the squirrels, listening to the wind as it blows through the trees. Watching the path of the sun and the shadows that fall. Being present with the surroundings of nature in even small ways, as weeds poking through cracks in the pavement.

Fall in love with the intricacies, the nuances, the little things that becin our attention. They are always ebbing and flowing around us and under foot.

I will be sure to spend some time in nature on Earth Day. I will take my shoes off and walk in the grass, search for clouds and be with this beloved space we inhabit.

Join me in the act of falling in love with Mother Earth. I think that will be a wonderful way to honor the day and a part of ourselvs.

Happy Earth Day.

Jemma W.

Let’s Create!

It’s our goal to create with you. To bring creativity to you through the reuse of recycled materials. Every day is our Earth Day and it’s also our imagination day too, where kids create from their own imaginings.

Let’s create! Being mobile means people don’t always know how to connect with us for the creative experiences they know us for without the physical studio they’ve known for so long. We’re right here, connectable for creative time through our website as well as through our weekly posts on Instagram, our weekly newsletter emails, and uploaded YouTube videos featuring our Spotlight materials twice a month. Visit our happenings page to see our events and happenings. We want to spend creative time with you. Let’s connect and create!

Jemma W.
Owner/founder

Happy Earth Month

I love April. It’s springtime, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming and a fair amount of focus points to Earth day. I say, happy Earth month!

Earth day is April 22nd, for a period of time, recycling and reuse are the talk of the town. It feels like a birthday, a time to celebrate and remember. To remember what we have and how to care for it, mindfully with our interactions with things.

This month we spotlight Metal, we also share our #30daysofreuse coloring calendar, I have also been making YouTube videos with project prompts as part of our creating-at-home series. I generally sing from the hilltops about reuse through creativity. Creativity is an aspect of our thinking and intuition, a part of how we express ourselves. Reuse strikes me as a perfect partner in the process of creating.

I am so glad to have you with us in this season and all others where I will continue to sing this song in the hopes that the tune will be catchy and your family will want to sing along.

It’s Our Birthday

Happy Birthday, CReATE STUDIO!
March 2021 marks 12 years in business for the studio! Woo Hoo! Our last birthday went under the radar with Covid underway. This time last year I was scrubbing floors and painting walls as I moved out of the latest incarnation of the CReATE STUDIO space.

Having started the studio in my garage in March of 2009 I felt the studio could be anywhere at any time. I even had visions of wheels in our future so being mobile now is no surprise. The studio has taught me to be flexible, curious, and creative. Covid taught me that life can change at any time.

I am grateful to be operating the studio in this new mode. Wheels under my feel, materials in my hands, and creative reuse as my offering. Times change and CReATE is here to change with them.

If you have been creators with us over the years, I thank you deeply for being a part of it. If you are new to the studio I look forward to getting to know you as we get around town through our community events, enrichment classes, private classes, CReATE Date gatherings, and Birthday parties. Keep an eye on our Happenings page as our events grow with the re-opening of our community.

Warmly,
Jemma W.
Founder/ Owner
CReATE STUDIO



Lemons Into Lemonade

I got a text the other day with a picture that brought me so much joy. It was a simple picture but the meaning behind it was inspiring. I saw lemons into lemonade.

I had dropped off a few of our Grab Bags to my friend who was watching her sick grandkids for a stretch of days. It was nearly St Patrick’s Day then, so I included some shoebox Leprechaun houses I had made along with the bags.

I had hoped the kids would have fun with the bags for at least the night they got them. You never know since they range in age from wee little to pretty big but the text I got showed me that this was a project that was going to keep ongoing.

Leave it creativity to add a bright spark to sick at home days. Looks like everyone decided to pool their resources and try something entirely new, make one big house with lots of room for expansion. Using creativity (which expands when shared ) made way for fun and a project that everyone could be a part of. I just love that. Creativity always saves the day, makes things lighter, brighter, funner, and now with more rooms. Lemons into lemonade.

Jemma W.
Owner/Founder
CReATE STUDIO

In a Jiff

You can make a Leprechaun house trap in a jiff with just a few materials you already have.

With the Pandemic, we all seem to be living more in the moment with less plan-ahead time. Holidays like St Patrick’s Day are suddenly sneaking up on us without the usual school activities to keep us reminded.

St Patrick’s Day was always a holiday my girls enjoyed with green milk in their cereal, golden chocolate coins that would appear, and the Leprechaun Trap that capped it all.

In case your kids aren’t getting in the St. Patty zone at school you can do it at home with an easy starter house for Leprechaun trapping. Use an old shoebox to make an easy Leprechaun House that you can turn into a Trap!

  • Grab an empty shoebox and any stray cardboard you have handy.
  • Cut or remove the lid from the shoebox.
  • Use the lid to make a roof by leaving the length of the lid, and cutting its width that’s as wide as the box, then fold in half to make a pitched roof and glue or tape the ends down to the sides at the top of the shoebox.
  • If you have extra cardboard, cut a piece that is as deep as the box and 2 inches wider, then fold an inch down on each side and tape or glue the folded ends to the inside of the box as pictured. This shelf would be a great place to cut out a trap door!
  • Now, the house is ready to be embellished and detailed with trappings as your creator wishes.

Order can now be restored and the fun of this green holiday can live on as it has been remembered in years past.

Enjoy,
Jemma W.
Owner/Founder
CReATE STUDIO

A Darling Women

When asked about a women I admire or feel influenced by I go to my grandmother, Aleen Snyder, who I affectionately named Darling.

Growing up in the 70’s, I had heard about women gaining powerful stances through commercials, advertisements and television shows but men were still very much in the lead in everything from my view.

Early on, Darling was my power source for creativity. She taught me how to sew on machine, follow a pattern, doodle an impressive swan from the letter L and sing a round of “Mares Eat Oats” so fast, no one knew what the words were. She was a master of reuse in the most subtle ways, keeping and displaying the broken and chipped things she loved the most. She was accepting. She let me be me.

I had other important women influencing me, my mom and my aunt, both birthed by Darling. They were and are artsy and creative in their own unique ways but she was our source.

I have thought of Darling often over the years with CReATE STUDIO. I see her touch in so much of what I do with it.

Today is International Women’s Day, this month is Women in History month. If I am asked about who inspires me, who I look up to? It’s my Darling. She paved the way for my creativity to shine.

Jemma W.
Owner/Founder- CReATE STUDIO

Spotlight On Wood

Each month we focus on one of our more commonly reused materials.
This month we spotlight wood and many of the forms we see at CReATE.

Throughout the month we’ll explore where wood comes from, how materials are made, how it’s recycled, what we are creating with it on YouTube, and what artists are making with it too.

All the materials we focus on have a back story. They came from the earth somehow. Our Spotlight program is our way of honoring them, where they began and all they become along the way, even when they are aligned for single use.