Hand-made Coasters Tutorial

Long long ago in the depths of winter, I published this picture on my Facebook Page of these coasters that I'd made:

and at the time promised to write a tutorial on how to make them.  Well, finally here it is - just in time for a bit of Easter Holiday crafting. It's a bit brief so if you need any more detail, then please just get in touch and ask away, and apologies if the photos are a bit dull - they were taken in deepest darkest winter too!  It's a nice project to do with older children, but does require quite a bit of patience and accuracy (Good Luck!)

What you'll need:

- Basic 10x10cm plain tiles (I got mine in Homebase - end of line so really cheap)

- Mod Podge or similar water-based sealer glue with a matt finish.

- Plasti-kote Acrylic Sealer Spray (or similar) I went for matt finish but you could go glossy!

- Decorative Papers - I've tried free decorative/designer paper samples from craft magazines, wrapping paper and thin wallpaper (wallpaper can be a bit thick, something normal paper-weight is fine though) The paper here is a Habitat wallpaper (free sample piece from DIY store!)

- Black felt roll or squares

- Scissors, Pencil, Ruler, Foam Glue Brush.




What you do:

Lay your tiles out onto the paper, centering the part of the design where you want it on the tiles.

Allowing for a 3mm border around each tile, carefully cut out your paper pieces

 Using the foam brush, spread Mod Podge onto wrong-side of paper,

 and firmly press tile to centre, leaving that border around each edge:

 Using sharp scissors, snip off the paper corners at each corner of the tile:

and carefully fold over the edges, pressing down firmly to cover the sides of the tiles:

 Complete process for all 4 tiles (or more if you're making a larger set)

Then, going back to the Modge Podge, paint on a layer of glue over the surface and edges of each tile and leave to dry:

They will look like this when drying.  The drying process can take anything from 30 minutes to a good few hours depending on how thick the glue is, and how warm your room is. It's really important to let the layer really dry fully so some patience is required!

When dry, the glue will be clear - like this:

Repeat the process 2 more times, allowing each layer of glue to properly dry. If you don't, you will get unsightly bubbles on the surface of the coasters.

Once the 3 layers are fully dry, take your set of coasters outside to seal with an acrylic spray.  This spray is pretty potent - full of stinky solvents, so don't let kids do this bit and work outside or with LOADS of ventilation.

Spray each tile with sealer, including the edges, and leave to dry. Repeat with another coat or 2 to ensure the coasters are fully wipe-able.

Once coasters are dry (the smell will soon go!), you need to finish off with the felt backing.
Simply draw around your tile onto the felt sheets and cut out.

 Then apply glue to the underside of each tile either using Modge Podge or if you have a fancy glue gun - use that! Wait to dry (again!)  Sorry - lots of 'waiting to dry' in this project......

 Finally, trim off any excess felt sticking out around the edges to make the coasters nice and neat....

 ...and tah dah! You're done. if you're giving them as a gift, you can tie with ribbon or make some binding as I've done here with kraft paper:

Give it a go. Let me know if my instructions are or aren't any good and enjoy making lots of lovely coasters....you could even print off family photos and use those - great gifts for Grandparents.....makes a change from an Easter Egg.

Bye for now,

Emma xx

Creative with Kids Series: The Dot

This is just a quick post about a brilliant little book with a brilliantly conveyed big message. I came across it just recently (it was actually published in 2003) when helping T overcome a crisis of confidence over his ability to 'draw'. It's a children's book by American author Peter Reynolds, called 'The Dot'. 

Whilst primarily being a book for kids; it is, like any truly great children's book, also very relevant and engaging for us adults.

I don't want to ruin the story for you by going into too much detail, but it's just the perfect read for anyone, young or old, who thinks they can't do something. It encourages self-discovery, self-expression and a broadening of the concept of  'art'.

Quite apart from the story itself, the charming, whimsical illustrations are simply stunning.

Clearly something he is passionate about, Peter Reynolds gives some further suggestions of activities to capture the creative spirit of children, here on his website.

I love the dedication at the end of the book. How wonderful that Mr Matson was such an inspiration and remains in the author's memory as the adult who encouraged him to 'make his mark'...Exactly what all teachers should be capable of doing.

So, if you or your child have ever said "..but I can't do it", or "I'm rubbish at it", then I urge you to buy this book. Buy it and leave it lying around for everyone to pick up and read.

Righto, I'm off to draw some dots.....

Emma x

p.s If you like The Dot, Peter Reynolds has written 2 follow-up books: 'ish' and 'Sky Colour'. Enjoy!

Paper cuts

Shame on me...I just found this post that I wrote A WHOLE YEAR AGO but didn't get round to publishing. Oh well...Mother's Day has nearly come around again, so here we go...as relevant now as it was 12 months ago!!



Something I've been meaning to get around to for absolutely ages, is having a go at  the art of 'paper cutting'.

I've always much admired the amazing, intricate work of Rob Ryan

*Apologies for the quality of the photos in this post. They were taken whilst I was carrying out the project at about 8pm - so the light is not great.

I purchased this wonderfully clear and concise book and a paper cutting knife almost a year ago and then it sat neglected and lonely on the shelf waiting desperately to be an inspiration and of use.

With Mothers Day coming up, I thought 'ah ha', now is my chance to have a go by making some paper-cut cards for our Mums....and a 'go' it was...(I certainly need to hone my skills where this one is concerned),  but Mums are very forgiving so I knew they'd appreciate the effort rather than the result.

Pressed for time, as usual, I used the templates provided in the book as this was my first attempt and I didn't want to start designing my own artwork without seeing how tricky it might be. I selected and copied these 2 floral designs to then attached to my card. School-girl error on my card selection though - WAY too thick which meant that I had a VERY sore hand when I finished and the edges weren't as crisp and neat as I would have liked. 

So, the process basically involves attaching the template to the card and carefully (very carefully) cutting away the 'empty' areas. You are then left with the design on the card

Find some contrasting card or paper to fix to the back and 'tah-dah', the card is complete.  I added some text by applying clear stickers to the top of the cards, which, in hindsight didn't give a very professional finish but did I mention this was my first attempt?!!

Although far from perfect, I do love the effect that paper cutting produces and because it is all done by hand, even if you are using the same template, each piece is completely unique.  Next up I will have a go at creating my own designs....watch this space.....

Creative Upcycling

Source: Pinterest

It's that time of year, when we start looking to new life after hiding away for the winter...the snowdrops and crocuses are popping up all over the place, little lambs will soon be a frolicking and a skipping through the fields and the evenings just get longer and longer. Spring is my very favourite time of the year. It's when I look ahead, start new projects, dust off the gloom and cold of winter and Salute the Sun (there I go again with my yoga-obsession!).

So with this in mind, I thought I'd write a bit about one of the more fun little creative pastimes that I like to indulge in...bringing new life to old things - especially textiles. It must be something to do with a childhood spent watching those post-war upcycling and recycling pioneers from Wimbledon Common: The Wombles. 

Often outgrown or now unloved, we all have something that languishes in the back of a cupboard or bottom of a drawer...sad and sorry...It was once the star attraction...but now there it sits - feeling old and thinking it's life is over; that it's resigned to a future in the dark..but NO!..what if we take these once-loved items, throw a bit of magic in their direction and give them a new, exciting future?

I think this is an especially lovely thing to do with those little children's clothes...the favourite pieces...the special party dress...the t-shirt worn on a first holiday...the items that have a sentimental attachment...a story behind them or just remind you of the little one(s) that are growing up way too fast.

So here's a quick look a little Upcycling Project I undertook recently.  Taking one little much-loved but out-grown embroidered chambray dress and turning it into something functional and pretty - to be used and admired again. The Caterpillar becomes a Butterfly. 

Before: Front

Before:Back

Work in Progress: Creating a flat piece of fabric

Work in Progress: Removing the pockets

Add some coordinating lining and trims and Ta-Dah: New things

Now, my upcycling attempts are hugely small-fry in comparison to those who have made it their life's work. I've mentioned some of these guys in previous posts, but check out the work of these artists who take, what is essentially someone else's 'rubbish', and with their creativity and imagination, turn it into something amazing:

Paul Firbank and Lizzie Gosling at The Rag & Bone Man, who transform vintage machinery and modern scrap into bespoke lighting, furniture and accessories. Then there's Kirsty Elson, who takes washed-up driftwood and other bits & pieces found at the beach near her home in Cornwall and produces the most intricate little houses and other models. Leamington Spa-based,  Rachel David - Textile Anarchist - works her magic on vintage fabrics. making them into new clothing and accessories, and finally the family team at Ruby Rhino up-cycle vintage furniture and can teach you how to, too at their Staffordshire workshops. These are just a (very) few of the UK's up-cycling experts but there are many many more artists out there doing amazing things with previously unwanted 'rubbish'.

So, next time you're about to reluctantly chuck something you once loved, into the bin or take it to the tip...have a good long look at it....maybe it might just have the potential to be a Butterfly too?

Emma x

Creative with Kids Series - Half Term Boredom Busters

Off skiing this half term...or maybe somewhere hot?? Nah, me neither.  Instead we'll be 'enjoying' the arse-end of winter at home. The February half term is, I think, the most challenging of the school holidays.. the ideal would be either SNOW...lots of proper, crunchy, thick, white snow that you can turn into snowmen and sledge down with wild abandon (until the snow gets down your wellies, makes your feet freezing cold AND wet and you've still got the walk home to do!) OR the early arrival of Spring with a week of mild, sunny days to enjoy. BUT the reality, in the UK at least, is cold....grey...rain.

So, in the first part of my new series on ideas to get children creating and imaginations flowing, here's some inexpensive ideas for those chilly February days.

DISCLAIMER ALERT - None of these tutorials or ideas are actually mine...I've just done the trawling around on t'internet so you don't have to!

I will just point out here that you should be under no illusion that I am some kind of wonder-mum who fills our 'days-off' with exciting, creative, fun things to do and make. Oh no, I am WAY too lazy (& allergic to mess) for that. However, I will endeavour to drag T away from the TV for the odd half hour to indulge in something that doesn't involve crashing cars into the skirting board or removing all cushions and blankets from around the house to make an indoor den (exposing the shockingly disturbing 'back of the sofa' crumbs, pieces of lego, dog hair etc as the sofa seat pads are utilised in said den-making, sending my inner-OCD psyche into turmoil at my ability to neglect such mess)

Anyway, back to the point:

Half term kicks off with Valentines Day. It's not exactly up there with Christmas or Birthdays as special occasions go for kids, but hey, it's an excuse to do something THEMED right? ..and us creative types do love a good theme. It also means you can basically get your children to make a gift for your other half....Unromantic? Probably...but hey, it kills 2 birds with 1 stone - it's something to keep the kids busy AND produce a (made with such love) gift to give your other half

Source: Pinterest

These Stained Glass Heart Cookies  are a pretty easy bake  from the Good Food Channel...and if you or your children are a little bit artistic you can probably get away without a heart cutter and just cut the heart shape with a knife...obviously ensuring artistic child doesn't stab themselves or you or the dog or cat or anything else with the knife.

Or for a bit of the WOW factor, how about making a whole darn heart-shaped cake....But "WAIT", I hear you cry, "I don't have a heart-shaped tin..." Ah-Ha...I bet you've got a square one (or at least a rectangular one) and a round one though. In which case, you can do this clever cake-hack, whack on some icing and let the children go mad decorating with red and pink smarties, or jelly tots or edible glitter...or ...(well, you get the idea)

For something that doesn't involve sugar, chocolate and icing sugar mess (that stuff gets everywhere); what about some themed loom banding...? Are we sick  of this craze yet? I'm not sure. It only lasted about 10 days in our household but when the loom band box is rediscovered under a pile of pictures, another creation is usually quickly produced, so maybe there's some life left in these irritating little rubber bands.

I quite like these Loom Band Heart Charm from the people at Loom Love, or these Valentine-themed loom band bracelets from Style Me Pretty.  

Then, we move on to the next 'special occasion of the week': Shrove Tuesday. HURRAH! It is in the holidays - so for those lucky enough not to be going to work, there's no mad rush panic trying to make pancakes for breakfast as well as the usual morning routine of

'get washed'.

Source: http://enflammee.net/post/CrepChignon

'eat your breakfast'.
'get dressed'
'brush your teeth'
'where's your bag?'
 'No you can't watch TV, we need to go....NOW!'

...or is that just in this house? Please say it isn't so.

I reckon a good hour can be taken up with the joy that is making and topping pancakes. Make the whole thing an event....get some toppings in bowls and let the children make their own (possibly inedible, very likely messy) pancakes.  For some ideas of toppings beyond maple syrup or lemon and sugar, try BBC Good Food  for starters. Or just go crazy in the supermarket and buy all the cadbury's pouches of nibbles and bites and sugary syrups and toppings that money can buy.

...and then once everyone is feeling sick from way too many pancakes and blood sugar levels are through the roof, send them outside with the dregs of the pancakes to have some flippin' good fun with an old frying pan, whilst you remove batter from your hair and toffee sauce from the dog's ears.

So, now you've eaten all that valentine-themed baking and your own body-weight in sweet pancakes, you'll all be needing to get outside and burn off some energy (children) and fat (adults)

As the saying goes, 'there is no bad weather, only bad clothes'...so wrap up warm, get the waterproofs on...make like a good Boy Scout or Girl Guide: be prepared and get outside. The National Trust's '50 things to do before you're 11 3/4', is a great place to get inspired and motivated.

Source: nationaltrust.org.uk/50things

Children love a list, so stick it on a wall, work through it together and go and have some creative adventures (although if you are in the UK, I'd advise leaving #42 until it's a bit warmer!). Over the school holidays, many National Trust Properties run (free) events that compliment the programme, so it's worth checking out what's going on at a property near you.

Source: The Stick Book by Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield

If you haven't tried Geocaching yet, it's a brilliant way of turning what otherwise might be a boring walk into an outside treasure hunt. We spent HOURS in the fresh air over Christmas trying to locate, find and record caches on our dog walks....and once you get to grips with it, you can even get creative and start making and hiding your own for others to hunt down.(Again, be under no illusion that we've got round to doing this yet - although we did have some fun thinking up what we might call them, having completed the local 'Wacky Races' series).

If we are lucky enough to get some of that snow I was talking about and it sticks around long enough to get bored of sledging (bored of sledging? NEVER!) here's some ideas from the people at Red Ted Art, (which by the way, is a great resource for creative ideas for children) for things to do with snow and ice. However, given that this amount of snow is unlikely, here's some crafty things that can be made from treasures foraged in the back garden or a countryside walk from The Artful Parent Blog. My favourite is the crayon rock which I might have to have a go at.....and don't forget The Stick Book, which I've mentioned before. It's packed full of creative things you can make and do with a humble stick (or pile of).

Right, so that's all the good intentions for quality, creative family time at home this half term....but let's just have some hot chocolate, sit on the sofa and watch Despicable Me 2 first.....

Whatever you're up to over the half term holidays....have fun,

Emma x

Finding my 'OM'* at the wheel.

I was never very into sports at school.

That's an understatement - I actually hated PE and probably spent most of secondary school trying to avoid it, which I fortunately managed with some degree of success...I had a bit of a dodgy knee due to my lanky frame growing quite fast (think baby giraffe with all those knobbly joints), which meant I had that holy-grail of PE haters across the land: The Doctor's Note.

You see I don't really like competitive sports - I'm just not really very good at them (terrible hand-eye co ordination) and I never really cared enough to try...nor did I like PE Teachers... A tennis teacher once told me to stop messing around on court and concentrate as I'd never get a boyfriend if I couldn't play tennis....SERIOUSLY?! Ok, so I didn't actually have a boyfriend at the time but I'm pretty certain it had nothing to do with the fact I was no Steffi Graf (1990s tennis reference for you!).

However, once I'd escaped the hideousness of organised team sport at school and went off to university, I realised that whilst I still didn't like 'sport' as such, I did enjoy being active, fit and healthy (when I wasn't drinking snakebite and black to vulgar excess). I became  part of the rowing club (ok, this was more for the social events than the rowing and I think I only made it into a boat about twice!), I joined the gym, cycled A LOT and even managed to drag myself round the London Marathon when I was 21. It was around this age that I also found YOGA. My lifestyle at the time didn't sit that well with the whole ethos of yoga so I wouldn't say I was a regular practitioner in my early 20s and my dedication to it was sporadic. That was until I became pregnant with my son. It was then that I really started to embrace it and appreciate how it would help me, both mentally & physically, through the frankly downright scary prospect of giving birth. Since then it has become part of my life and I TRY to practice every day - sometimes for only 10 minutes, sometimes for over an hour but it's something I want to do, rather than feel I should and you know you've found your 'sport' when this is how you feel about it.

(I can't do this by the way...no sir-ee...not even close...probably not EVER..in fact I'm not actually sure this is even physically possible...maybe it's been photoshopped!)

What's all this got to do with creativity and making things though?.....WELL...the one element of yoga I have always struggled with,is meditation and mindfulness. Mindfulness is THE big thing at the moment. There's books and apps and websites all about it - Headspace and the lovely, straight talking, down-to-earth, Andy Puddicombe is my favourite. We're encouraged to be mindful in every thing we do and it's often hailed as the saviour to our busy, modern lives. Being a fan of yoga,  I've been practicing mindfulness as part of the sessions for years but still find it difficult to really disconnect with the jumble of thoughts going through my head.  I appreciate the benefits and when I manage to really switch off, it's a wonderful wonderful thing. Just recently, however, it occurred to me that I can actually reach this mindful state, not by sitting quietly and doing nothing, but by doing something that is so completely absorbing, that my mind is totally and utterly empty of any other thoughts, worries or stress.

...and this is where sitting at a pottery wheel, throwing clay comes in. I recently returned to my Friday morning pottery workshop. I was straight back at the wheel and for those 3 and a bit hours that I sit there trying (and sometimes failing) to produce a not-too-wonky bowl or vase or jug or mug, I am completely and entirely focused on that wheel and that clay and I think of nothing else. It is a chance to totally switch off. So whilst it's impractical for me to continue with pottery for long , it has made me appreciate that by being fully  absorbed in a creative process, I can find my own version of  'Om'*.

('Om' is a mantra, often chanted at the start or end of a yoga class...there's some deep hippy s**t that's associated with it, in relation to a connection between your being and the universe...but on a more basic - let's talk sense- level it's just like a big old sigh, releasing stress, clearing the mind and helping to achieve a more inward, meditative state)

Sound interesting? Check out this article, which explains far better than I ever could, the science behind how concentrating on something creative can be great for combating stress.

..and with that, I'm off to Downward Dog.
Namaste x

Write drunk; edit sober.

Well Hello there! I'm back - it's me - world's worst blogger. I could make some pathetic excuses about how busy I've been...or perhaps it's just that I haven't been drunk enough of late to write...!

So, first glass of mulled cider* of the Autumn in hand, and here I am...

*There is no actual 'mulling' involved in my version of this seasonal warm drink...just good cider (I'm talking Stowford Press, not Diamond White), a decent glug of Winter Pimms and heat on the stove..then enjoy the cosy, fruity, booz-y-ness)

The truth is, I've lacked motivation or inspiration to write anything of late...and reading other people's blogs doesn't help...it just breeds self-doubt and a feeling of inadequacy. How does one find the time to write (interesting) content on such a regular basis? By not watching The Great British Bake Off of an evening, looking at Facebook a few (hundred) times a day, or snoozing in bed until the very last minute, rather than getting up 30 minutes earlier to be productive. THAT'S how!

Enough of the self-criticism though. I've managed to remind myself that I started this blog for Me - to provide a focus and record for my plans, achievements and motivation. So, I've had a few stern words with myself, shall pull up my (fluffy winter) socks, pull my finger out, & just get on with it.

First up, I'm going to make a few changes (again) as I figure a blog should never be static..it should evolve just as a person does..

There, I've said it now so better get to it......

OR maybe another mulled cider first......