Low cost creative ideas for kids: Featuring: Sarah from "Kippers and Curtains" blog

Hi guys,I hope your all well.  Today I'm talking about small, inexpensive ways to bring more creativity into your child's life. I really cannot go on enough about the importance of nurturing a child's creativity.. It could be as full on as a big art project with paints and glues to a simple rhyming poem, or song. There are opportunities to be creative all around us if you think about it.

 Now, what if you have a large family , are on a tight budget , or both?

Enter Kippers and Curtains, , a lifestyle blog about raising a family on a shoestring budget. There you will find all kinds of fun ideas for projects, days out, decor and fashion. Its written by the lovely Sarah, who I got the chance to sit down with and ask a few questions. I asked her how she felt creativity plays a role in parenthood, and got to pick her brain on some ideas on fun without breaking the bank.

(all the following images are taken from the Kippers and Curtains blog and Anarchy Photography)

So go grab a cuppa, sit down and read on:

Q: Sarah, if you had to give your life a job title what would it be?
A: Okay this is a bit whimsical but I would be "Sarah the bringer of joy" I just try and make people happy. I am usually a "yes" person and am usually doing something for someone. I'm a wife to be, and a mum of three, a part time editorial assistant to the local newspaper, and a hobby blogger!

Q: How do you feel creativity plays a role in parenting?
A: I think its great to be a creative parent. Before the kids came along our flat was immaculate. I soon realised to keep the kids entertained, it usually involves some sort of mess. They are definitely happiest when drawing, making and building things. And I have learnt to except the mess that comes along with it!

Q: What kinds of ways to you inject creativity into play?
A: Well, I have a cupboard full of goodies ready for the kids to use as they please. They love building dens indoors, like most kids. They have even been know to empty the cupboard under the stairs so they can pretend to be Harry Potter. I love pintrest and get lots of creative ideas from there. We have recently tried two techniques for marbling with household goods. The one was using nail varnish and water, the other using shaving cream and acrylic paints. We also tried a few experiments using food colouring, oil and water in a jar-which creates a really cool effect.

Q:What kinds of places do you look for on a days out?
A:We are a family of five so don't usually have a lot of money to spend on days out. That's why we tend to go to the woods. There are plenty local to enjoy. Most have rope swings, and big climbing trees. We look for mushrooms, we call it "shrooming", We all enjoy it and it gives the kids a chance to get some fresh air. We love Groombridge place in Tunbridge wells. They have great themed days with loads of kiddie activities, old gypsy waggons, and a giant tree swing in the woods. We also love the beach , picking up rocks and shells and looking for sea creatures.

Q:What materials do you look for most often ?
A: Whilst I'm out walking I always pick up bits of wood, and feathers, and sticks as they come in useful for projects. I love chalk paints, acrylic paints, and gold wax. At the moment I really enjoy using my chalk pens. Ive also just ordered some sari ribbon and sari yarn.We have a drawer full of pencils, glitter, and crayons too!

Q:Where do you source your materials?
A: If its woods I walk around local parks to see what I can find. Ive also spoken to the local timber yard who have allowed me to take any scrap wood.  I buy a lot of acrylic paints from the works, they have inexpensive paint that is good quality. They also have good selection of pastels and embellishments. I buy chalk pens off ebay and I like to look in the store Tiger for pens, ribbons, and glue. For my wooden signs I prefer to use chalk paint. I get it at a local store called Smile at home. I'm planning to make my own soon though as it can be quite expensive.

Q: Are you working on anything at the moment?
A: I'm always working on something.I have just learnt how to make honeycomb balls out of tissue paper.  I'm also making wooden signs for my upcoming wedding, and am going to make some bunting out of burlap and lace. I'm hoping to learn this week, with a little help, to make a flower crown. Most of our recent activities have to do with wedding prep. I still have loads of ideas to keep the kids entertained though. I recently saw a tutorial on making a kaleidoscope using household junk which I'm planning on making soon.

That idea sounds great! I cant wait to see it finished. Thanks so much Sarah for taking the time to answer some questions.I love catching up with great , quick, inexpensive ideas on sarahs blog. You should definitely follow her at Kippers and Curtains I hope readers can see how easy and affordable creativity can be.  So what are you waiting for? Get out there and forage some art materials! speak soon.x

                                                                           Always -Kass

Project share: With Vera Lane digi images

Hello my lovelies, today I have a quick project to share with you. I made this card using a Vera Lane digi image. You can shop for it here. Vera lane studio's etsy shop is an online shop that sells digital images for your use in mixed media art projects. The images are made by the very talented Janet Klein who also designs rubber wood mounted stamps for the company stampotique. Search their images here.

First I  applied cracked pistachio and tattered lace distress inks directly to my craft sheet, spritzed with water, and ran a piece of card through.

Then I grabbed various stencils and made designs roughly all around it. I like to use transparent paints so I can see the layers underneath.  I then thought the girls dress was fading in the background to much so I white washed a bit of Victorian velvet and white gesso behind where the image would be placed.

I then used tuxedo blue fresco paints and a lid to a spray can to form the circles.

I put some washi tapes in the upper right hand corner and under the image to anchor it.

 Then I went around the card with a fine liner pen first making straight lines. Then over some of the straight lines with squiggles and circles.

To colour in the image I used copic markers and  Ranger distress stickles for the bow and flowers. I then stuck the image on the page with glossy accents (its what I had handy), cut out the words "Focus on the good in life" and stuck them to the card as well.

I then mounted that all onto a brown 6"x6" card base.

I really like all of Janet's images in her online shop . I think because they are so fun to colour in and I am a big kid at heart.You will definitely be seeing more of these images on my blog to come. So come check back in soon!

                                                                             Always, -Kass

Memory keeping: Project Life (an introduction).

A couple months ago I was looking for a way to store my family memories. A plain photo album seemed to boring to me. And I'm not completely into "scrap booking". That big 12 x 12 blank page staring at me was just to intimidating. Also,I couldn't find any scrapbook papers and supplies I really liked. I was looking for fresh, clean, modern. All I could find was cute, flowery, and sentimental.

I finally figured out a solution with project life. It is a simple, easy, clean , memory keeping system by Becky Higgins.  All you need is the page protectors, a basic kit, and some pictures. You can just slot everything in and be done. Or you can colour and embellish till your hearts content.

Now, where it gets a bit confusing is with all the different cards and "editions" you can buy. First of all you don't need any of this. If you want to spend less money. you can use any paper, and a corner punch to make cards to slot in the pockets. I, do use a lot of the project life theme cards. I like them, and I'm way to lazy to cut them all out. It would make it more time consuming and I probably would not get as much done. That's just how I work. Also, the small packs are not that expensive. Less then a tenner.

Basic terminology :

Page protectors: The plastic covering for your cards and pictures. They come in a range of sizes and styles. They are labelled " Design A" "Design B" ext.. Just make sure they are 12 x 12 (If that's your album size) as they do a few sizes.

Album: Your main cover album you are putting all your pages in.

Page: A single page you are working on

Spread: When you are working on more then one page of the same theme.

layout :The arrangement or design of either your page protectors or journaling pictures and cards.

core kit: An edition of papers of a certain theme. ( example: school, dreamy, jade, blush, midnight)
that contains 616 cards both 3x4 and 4x6. usually around £30.
                             
Value kits: Packs of  180 cards 60 4x6 and 120 3x4, sometimes with some embellishments around
£15

Theme cards: Small packs of  40 double sided cards on a particular theme. 32 3 x 4 cards and 8 4x6 cards. around £5

Title cards: Cards with graphics and pictures on them one section usually open so you can write a title or word.

Journaling cards: Cards with lines on them and/or open space so you can place them with photos and write whats happening in the photo or just a little journaling.


Becky Higgins is constantly coming out with great new stuff for this system of scrap booking. She also has guest designers come out with editions like Amy Tangerine and Heidi swapp.

 I hope this helped you understand a bit more about the project life system. It is really easy, I swear! I also love that is something I can bring up to bed and do. Most of my other crafts are messy and inky. With project life I can sit up in bed and cut,design, and journal my butt off. (much to my husbands dismay lol). Here are a few more examples of some different pages, spreads, and layouts I have put together.

  I Cant wait to show you guys more about the project life system. To check out all the products to buy here is the link to craftie charlie. They have great free shipping in the u.k on orders over £40, and ship worldwide as well. This is really only a sample of the products. They sell the components to build your own day planner using the PL slot in style. I'm getting ahead of myself though. Ill save those things for another post. Thanks so much for stopping by today and don't forget to follow me here, and also on instagram.  x

                                                               Stay creative, -Kass

Childs book recommendation : Journey by Aaron Becker

Journey is one of mine and Scarletts favourite books ever. full stop. The story is an intriguing, captivating, and imaginative. It also happens to be a book with no words.

This was the the first book I have bought for my daughter that has no words at all. I was intrigued by the idea when I saw this book advertised somewhere and for the life of me cannot remember where. I thought it was a great idea letting the child make the story up as they go along. But to be honest it was a bit different then just making up a story. It was more like an observational journey you took with someone. Having to rely only on pictures and gestures to get clues as to what was going on and watching the story unfold.

Journey is the story of a young girl who is bored at home one day. Her family is seemingly busy doing other tasks, and activities.

(on the picture above Scarlett always reads it as her mummy is cooking ,her daddys working, and her sister is "on facebook".)

She finds a red marker on the floor and draws a door. A door that transports her to another whimsical steampunk world. Her first glimpse of this world is a magical looking forest. There are fairy lights and lanterns hanging from the trees and it is my favourite page in the book. The forest looks scary and beautiful at the same time. I would love to get lost in it for hours.

She gets to a pier and can go no further. She has to solve a problem using her imagination. Her decision leads her to a world filled with citadels, flying ships, and flying carpets.

She must overcome obstacles armed only with her marker and imagination .At one point in the book she even nearly loses her magic marker! A mysterious bird turns up and helps her along the way but where did it come from?

 I wasn't sure how scarlett would react to not having words in her bedtime book. She really took to it right away though. As soon as we were finished she asked "can you get me more books with no words?" Its amazing how observant kids can be! Little details I didn't think she would pick up she would notice right away.

 The pictures in this book are so beautifully detailed. I'm thinking of possibly getting some of the pages in print form to hang on the walls of Scarletts room. They really take you on a journey and tell the story wonderfully. I think everyone should  try a book with no words. With your kids or even on your own. Its okay to read kids books. I do. They are some of the best stories ever written. I'm just glad I have a child now and I have a viable reason to be hoarding childrens books.

You can purchase this book on amazon here. Thanks for reading. stay creative!   -Kass

"Hello" card tutorial

      Sometimes theres no particular reason to give a card other then just to say "hello." Thats the inspiration behind todays project.
 

       I knew I wanted this card to be bold, bright, and contrasing.  So first applied salty ocean and squeezed lemonade Tim Holtz distress inks directly to my craft sheet. I spritzed water on it then ran my paper through. This technique is simple and can give excellent results on its own! I love how the colours run together and make new shades. If you dont think there is enough colour you can repeat the teqnique over again.

     I then heat dried the paper. This is important because if it needs to be completely dry for the embossing step. I took a "hello" stamp from a kaiserkraft set and stamped it with versafine ink. I then heat set clear embossing powder on it. The paper needs to be dry because if it isnt after the distressing part the emboss powder will stick to the inky water from that. No good. I then took a small arrow stamp from the same set as the sentiment and stamped it 3 times under the sentiment using salty ocean distress ink.

      I then went in with a swirly stamp from unity stamp company in momento ink. I used my momento because it is water based and wont smudge when coloured over with alocohol markers. I coloured in some swirls with complentary colours like green, yellow, and blue. Also with contrasting ones like orange and red. A handy tool to have around is a colour wheel. It can save a lot of time with making a guess with a colour and then it going terribly wrong. I speak from experience.

     Lastly I just went around the card with a black fineliner and made whatever line and squggle pattern took my fancy .It seems to be a common technique with my art these days. Super fun, fast, and creative. Thats what its all about!!

                                                                            Thanks for stopping by! x
                                                                                       

                                                                                              -Kass

DIY family memory box

Awhile back when I was having a bad day, my friend Max gave me a good idea. She said "take a jar and when any tiny little happy moment happens write it down. At the end of the year sit down and open the jar and reminise about all the happy times." I thought it was a lovely idea.Well, life got busy and I got into one of my "funks". I didnt really feel like making anything. Im happy to report im feeling much better and officially out of my "funk". (What a stupid, non descript word for depression). Anyway, I got back to thinking of that jar and decided to give it a go. I know its not the beginning of the year. I figured its cool to jump in any time. What matters is the memories put in, not when we start, right?

                                          

After a trip to Hobbycraft with a buddy , I decided to make it a decopatch project! I grabbed some essentials including: The box to alter,decopatch, mod podge (or simialar decopaging glue), a paint brush, some scissors, and tissue paper.


                                          



 I went for a blue crackly paper . I thought it would look good since I was going for a (dare I say it) "shabby chic style".


                                                   
 It was all pretty easy and starightforward from there. Cut the paper into smaller sections that are easier to work with and apply glue to the suface you are adhearing it to. Also add a coat over the top. This will act as a seal or glaze. I used another paper with houses to glue a row of houses along the bottom. I stuck some transparent stickers of a sun and a kite from an American Crafts sticker set I had. I then went to my project life stash and got the ephimera card that says "the little things" from a Heidi Swapp PL kit.

                                                 

 I thought it was a perfect bit of ephimera as it states what I want to put into the box. The little things.  The minor overlooked smiles and jokes. Its easy to remmeber big events. Good, or bad. Thats what tends to take up most my brain sometimes. Recalling on past experiences. Wondering where I went wrong or right in certain situations. Some would say not to dwell on the past and I would tend to agree. However its difficult to practice sometimes when I have anxiety. With all that going on in my head all the happy little moments get lost.THAT is what this box is for. To quickly grab the moment, jot it down, and put it inside. So when the storm cloud of bad thoughts come I can open them up and remmeber its not all that bad. Maybe you could to?

                                                                                

                                                                               stay creative and live inspired. x

                                                                                                       -Kass