In all that we do

Sizzle here and today I am sharing a totally different creative perspective and that is being creative in all that we do. There are creative ways to do anything - be a mom, in our job, in our schooling and in our communities. As someone who studied public relations I realize the creativity in marketing, in commercials (on tv and radio), in community events, in incentives and in public speaking. The way we do the day-to-day things and make them work for us is where the seed of creativity is planted.

Over the last three years I have held the same calling in my Church; I am the primary chorister. For those of you who don't know primary in the children organization in the LDS church where the children attend classes and learn about the Savior through music. The music part falls on me.

I am not a musical person really, I have never been in choir so I don't know how people teach songs professionally so I have to be creative and try to do things that capture the attention of the children and get them to sing the songs. It is challenging for me BUT I have really felt my creative muscles at work. I have come up with things that I NEVER would have thought of otherwise and I use them on my kids at home too. BONUS.

So today I thought I would share a little bit of creativity under fire. When you have to come up with something- on a time line and it has to work...

This one I had to do because there are kids esp older kids who just look at me as I sing solo. So I made this so if everyone watches me and sings they put one bubblegum ball in the machine and when it is full I will give them a treat. They have to work hard to get a ball - if one person isn't singing I don't give them one - it has to be a team effort. It works. They have sung a ton better.

One week I did a lesson on dynamics and the symbols so they would pay attention to my hands telling them what volume to sing. I made these signs and the kids get a turn to control the dynamics of the different songs we are learning. They love it and it allows us to repeat the songs dozens of times without boredom kicking in.

One of my all time favorites and I still can't believe I thought of this is Brother/Sister potatohead. This is for when we have to review a lot of songs - like the end of the year when we are getting ready for the primary program (when they sing in front of everyone and put on a program).

I made a dozen eyes, nose and mouths and the kids pick from one or the other. They especially like it when I accidentally say "come pick a nose." I couldn't find the faces to show you they must be at church but I used a jack-o-lantern face, a scarecrow face, an owl face, braces, glasses, big full red lips, a long pointy nose, one with a wart---you get the idea. On the back of every piece is the song we have to review. It is funny to see the face come together.

So you see how having to do something can inspire you to think in creative ways and try new things. Not everything I have tried has been successful but I have to keep trying and some things end up being great.

Try to add some creativity to your everyday life this week, you might be surprised with what you come up with.

Sizzle

How to find Craft Supplies at Hardware Stores

Hi, Sizzle here.


Today I am going to open the curious world of hardware stores. I get a lot of supplies at Lowe's (they are closest to me) and it is cheaper than getting them at craft stores. KK always tells me I should show what you can get at hardware stores because they are scary to some people; so here we go...one project at a time.

This week we are going to be making magnet boards today - Thursday, we would like you to do it with us and send us a link to your project so we can showcase them. This is a good project to split the costs with a friend because if you had to buy all the supplies (you'd have enough for multiple projects) it would cost you about 20$.

You'll need

metal (galvanized steel)

boards

glue and

the biggest expense is going to be tin snips

Okay so here is where you find your supplies:


First lets find the metal - roofing section.

See those tubes under there - that is what you are looking for.

You DO NOT want aluminum - it is not magnetic. Look for galvanized steel.

You can get several different sizes. Maybe bring a magnet so you can test.

We got 8' by 10" for ours.

Second thing you'll need is a board, you can buy ready cut boards that you can use.

Lowe's will cut them down for you for free if you want it smaller, Home Depot charges per cut but I think the first one is free, it is like fifty cents or something like that afterwards.

Go here and press the little help button to get someone to help you anytime. You shouldn't need to get cuts for this project though but it depends on the size you are looking to create.

The last thing you need is those scissors - find them in the tool aisle. You need snips - they will say on the package that they cut metal. I got mine at Lowe's for 9.99 - I got the Lowe's brand.

The last thing you need is glue - I got epoxy glue but I heard liquid nails works too. I used both so I think either will work. The epoxy is supposed to be stronger but it is harder to apply to large areas.

That is all you will need for this project but here are some other things you can find at hardware stores:

Pre-cut boards for your vinyl projects and home decor (thinks hooks for coats/accessories).

Pre-cut circles for home decor (think colored circles on a wall), you could mod podge them with pictures or do a modern looking art project!

You can get normal stuff here too like glue guns (3$), staplers for those upholstery projects and also bulletin boards.

You can get tons of decorative objects too, this aisle has a ton to offer:

You can add them to wood frames, furniture, mantles etc.

Ever wanted to add bead board to your kitchen island? The back of bookshelves or to your walls? Get it in white or natural wood to paint any color.

Think make your own lamps or replace table legs with something with more Humph!

Do you feel excited to go visit your local hardware store now? I hope so!

What is your favorite thing you have used from a hardware store?

Did you learn something new?

I hope you'll join us in making these simple magnet boards this week!

What to do when you don't have time to be creative

So, it's Monday at 1 pm MST, my day to post, and I instant message KK on Googlechat, and say - "I don't have time to post anything today". She's says "Why Not" and I say "Cause its finals week and i have a huge presentation and 65 page paper due today, a 35 page paper and prez tomorrow, a 10 page on thursday and a 6 page on friday, and a law exam and i just don't have time to be creative."

So I feel bad, because no one has missed their designated day to post since we started, and I don't want to be the slacker. So I quickly stop working on my paper and Google "What to do when you don't have time to be creative." The results were pretty interesting - they said "You don't have time to NOT be creative," "Why do I need to be creative," etc. I quickly read over the articles and got pretty inspired, and realized that being creative is just about commitment and not making it such a big process. 


ArtJunkGirl told me "Creativity is all around you. You CAN fit it in. You can live a creative life as much or as little as you want to. No one is stopping you but yourself. Being creative has So many physical, mental and emotional benefits that you don't have time NOT to do it!"

She talks about just committing to do little things, like taking one picture a day, to carry a sketchbook around and try to draw one picture when you are sitting waiting for something, or carry a creative magazine to go through and get inspired, or just go outside on a walk and look at the clouds. She recommended g great book for those of you that would like to learn how to see the extraordinary in the ordinary is, "How to be an Explorer of the World" by Keri Smith.

I wanted to share one of my favorite websites Ted.com. This site has speakers from around the world that give 20 minute presentations on any thought or new idea "Ideas worth Spreading", and they give the most amazing speeches. I try to learn from this for my presentations in school, but some of the things they talk about are just so mind-opening. Here is a talk from Ken Robinson who talks about how creativity can be killed - something to think about.


So in conclusion, you might not have time to sew a new dress or paint a picture, but being creative is a process and a commitment, just like knowing that you have to eat and drink water. I did pack my camera today, and on the walk to my next class I'm going to take a picture. The snow has fallen in Denver and the sun in shining, and just recognizing that is being creative.

Until next week! Muah! Jules

Creative Excercise

****Don't forget to enter the giveaway - I will draw a winner on Thursday!****

Hi - Its Tuesday and that means it Sizzle's turn to blog. So here I am with a creative exercise. I think that creativity is an exercise, sometimes you have to try something new, get out of your comfort zone and learn by doing. Scrapbooking is my creative exercises. It does not come naturally to me, I stress about it; it takes me ALL day to do just one page. For most things I don't think it is worth it but I do it sometimes because it helps me think creatively and using that part of my brain. I don't follow patterns in scrapbooking so it all has to come from ME. That is different from what I usually do. I like to follow a pattern that I know works; that other people have tried and had success with. I feel uncomfortable without instructions or a pattern.

Thus scrapbooking is my creative exercise. Get it?

The only thing I scrapbook are first year baby books. I try (I haven't finished my 2 year old's yet) to keep a scrapbook of each babies first year. It is so hard for me but I try.

Today I started the baby's (Let me warn you that I was so excited to be able to use flowers). Here is what I came up with.

Can you believe that it took me all day (actually part of two) to come up with these two pages? That is a record for me too, usually it would take longer but now I have a Cricut and that really helped me. I suppose part of the time was in getting used to how it works and experimenting.

I am new to it, this was only my second time to use it but it is a pretty cool tool when you get the hang of it. Most everything in my layouts came from the Basic George cartridge with one exception (miracle came from Home Decor). I just have the basic Cricut so I can cut things from 1" to 5.5." I am pretty sure that is all I would ever use it for. I used to want the bigger one but now I think I am glad I got this smaller one.

Let's take a closer look

The letters for Bloom are American Craft thickers and the In is a Memory makers rub on. The brackets came from the George cartridge, I cut them at 1" I figured in bloom was a nice way to say REALLY PREGNANT. Don't you think so?

The little flowers came from a punch and the bigger flowers were cut from George. This page is for my pregnancy picture - which I had to photo edit a wee bit so I don't have the actual picture yet. (I am not clever enough to print them on my own computer even though I am pretty sure I could if I tried)

All the above flowers (the bigger ones) came from George I just printed them at 1" in white and then 2.5" in blue and inked the edges and layered them. The orange flowers are from that punch again.

I have a hard time figuring out how to journal. I HATE my handwriting, it is terrible so That is NOT an option for me. I guess I could feed the card stock through the printer but I am not sure how I would cut shapes around the words if I did that first.... so I use vellum. I run the vellum through the printer and then use vellum tape. It took me awhile to find out about vellum tape but it is the only thing that you can't see - at least as far as I know.

The word miracle was on the Home Decor cartridge, I used the shadow feature for the white and left the cutouts in the a and the e and then cut it again in the orange paper just regular.

(the Cricut has a shadow, blackout and image feature so you can layer and get three different effects)

I haven't figured out the bottom half of this page for the journaling, any ideas? I had a decorative box there but it was too small so I have to re-cut one tomorrow and maybe I will just use my crappy handwriting. Journaling is definitely the trickiest part. What do you guys do? Tips?

Your assignment this week is to try creative that is OUT of your comfort zone, something new or something you don't normally enjoy. Then send us an email with a picture of what you did and what you learned and I will post it next week. Our email is cjuices2@gmail.com

Keep the juices flowing!