JourneyLeaf: Life a Page at a Time: Creativity

Creativity

20 December 2016

National Gingerbread House Competition 2016

We make a trek to Asheville, North Carolina's Omni Grove Park Inn to see the display of the 2016 National Gingerbread House Competition. The elegant old lodge was something to see in and of itself -- vistas of the mountains, a lobby with two hearths of amazing proportions, and dozens of themed Christmas trees. (https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park)

And then there's the National Gingerbread House Competition on display from November 27 to January 5. Scroll down to see some of our favorite entries. (Rules and judging details are at the end, for those who are interested.)

The Grand Prize winner? This...

The Contest Details...
There are categories for four age groups -- Adult (over 18), Teen (13-17), Youth (9-12), and Child (5-8). Entries are judged on Overall Appearance, Originality & Creativity, Difficulty, Precision, and Consistency of Theme. The rules state: "Everything above the base of your entry must be constructed and composed completely of edible materials. The main structure of your entry must be constructed of at least 75% gingerbread, some of which should be exposed. Edible materials are not limited to candies and icings. Use of gum paste, fondant, pastillage, chocolate, modeling chocolate, royal icing, isomalt, cast sugar, gelatin, and pressed sugar is encouraged." (Only teens and adults can use high-temperature sugar techniques.) Also, "Candies must be unwrapped and free of any non-edible materials, for example: lollipop sticks. Non-edible materials such as paint and/or ribbon are approved (and encouraged) only to decorate the outer edge of your plywood base only." (Click HERE to see the entry form.)

Some Articles About the Competition:

Explore Asheville (with visit details)
Citizen-Times
Country Living

Posted at 04:07 PM in Adventures -- Around the South, Creativity, Food & Cooking, Seasons & Holidays 1 -- Winter | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Asheville, Christmas, National Gingerbread House Competition 2016, North Carolina, Omni Park Grove Inn

08 January 2015

2015 Revamp

The book got turned in. The holiday preparations and celebrations began in earnest. Then there was a soft, quiet week of family time left of the vacation.

It was just lovely.

School started back on Monday, which means office hours for me at last.
I've spent the week digging through my email box, gearing up for thank you notes, and generally getting life back in order. An autumn packed with unforseen work means the garden beds never got mulched or the leaves raked before winter. My office looked like I was soon to audition for an episode of Hoarders. Getting organized again feels wonderful.

I miss blogging a good deal and will be back to it soon. Thank you, faithful readers, for your patience.

Posted at 01:40 PM in Creativity, Writing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: creative process, Getting reorganized

23 October 2014

Ripening

Earlier this month we went down to South Georgia to visit family.
Cousin Tina lives on a little slice of heaven with a cotton field in back.

Today while taking a break from my computer, I got to thinking about the photos I took of the cotton. So many stages to go from flower to boll...

I don't know how long it takes for cotton from start to finish -- soft, pretty flower to strong, useful fiber. I don't know how long it will be from start to finish on my book project either. I've been at it for seven years already.
Now is the home stretch for the text, due to my editor in four days.

I can't quite imagine that this will soon be out of my hands. No more tweaking. No more adding or subtracting. No more combing over it and second-guessing what a reader might want, what a reviewer might say.

Today I finally stopped and thought, "It is what it is."

Here's to hoping what I harvest is strong and useful too.

Posted at 09:43 PM in Creativity, Learning About the Past, Nature & Gardening, Writing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

13 September 2014

Georgia Museum of Art Family Day: Exploring Color

Last month we had a great time attending our first Family Day at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens. The theme for the month was exploring color. Each kid got an activity sheet and a pencil. Soon Eli was wandering through the galleries looking for the first piece of artwork of a treasure hunt.

There were questions about how various artists used color and Eli worked diligently to spell each word of his answers. All through the museum there were kids pointing and pondering and discussing art with their parents.
As somebody with two degrees in Art Education, it made me happy to see!

There were also hands-on stations scattered throughout the galleries.
Brilliant! Eli loved leafing through color swatches or seeing the world turn colors through sheets of plastic.

After he was all finished with his activity sheet, Eli got a button to wear
on his shirt and then joined other kids downstairs doing an art project.
The kiddos cut pieces of thin colored plastic and placed them on a rectangle of clear contact paper. Once they had their design the way they wanted it, another rectangle of contact paper sandwiched their work and this was placed in a paper frame. Eli's finished piece looks lovely in our kitchen window.

One Mama's Two Cents:
We had a great time at the free Family Day. I always mean to take Eli to the art museum more than I do, and this was a great way to have a fun and meaningful experience that didn't last too long or require too much listening. Families can go at their own pace and we stayed about an hour. Family Days are on Saturday mornings once a month. You may wish to go early as it seems to get more crowded as the day goes on!
Click HERE for more information on GMA's Family Days.
Click HERE for another blog post about visiting GMA.

When we got home, we broke out Eli's Learning Resources brand Color Mixing Glasses. If you haven't seen these things, they are really fun and help teach color mixing. The glasses have two slots for slide-in plastic lenses. Kids can mix the three primary colors -- red, blue, and yellow to create the other colors on the color wheel. There is also a pair of clear "prism lenses" that give the world a kaleidoscope effect.

Posted at 03:00 AM in Adventures -- GA, North, Creativity | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: Athens, color wheel, exploring color, Family Day, Georgia Museum of Art, kids and art

02 July 2014

Art Week: Finding Patterns

For Camp Rainbow's art week, we wanted to get the kids looking closer at and appreciating the world around them. I love Jane Brocket's series of children's nonfiction picture books that help kids explore art and design concepts through photographs, so we read aloud Brocket's book on patterns -- Spotty, Stripy, Swirly.

Thus on a trip to Atlanta to explore the Asian markets and go to Stone Mountain, we brought a point-and-shoot camera along that the kids could use to capture the patterns they saw. Here's what we found...

Explanation of Camp Rainbow
Week One: Careers and Jobs -- Restaurant and Bank
Week One: Careers and Jobs -- Pizza Parlor
Week Two: Native Americans
Week Three: Wet and Wild (water creatures and wetland habitats)
Week Three: Wet and Wild -- Home Aquarium
Week Four: Natural History (mud pies and fake rain count, right?)
Week Five: Art All Around Us -- Georgia Museum of Art
Week Five: Art All Around Us -- Patterns

Posted at 09:05 PM in Creativity, Kid Crafts & Games/Pastimes, Photography | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: Children's art, kids and photography, pattern

29 June 2014

Georgia Museum of Art

Our summer "Camp Rainbow" theme of the week for June 22-28 was
"Art All Around Us." One morning we ventured to the Georgia Museum
of Art in Athens...

Eli loved that the museum provides kids with an activity bag to use during their visit. There were brochures, children's picture books about art, a sketchpad with pencils, and a small flannel board with felt shapes. Eli worked hard on a sunset image and then sorted the shapes by color to start over on a new picture...

He also loved wandering the sculpture garden. There are six steel plant-filled sculptures by Patricia Leighton called Terra Verte.

He wanted to draw one of the cube-shaped sculptures and spent a lot of time on it.

There was a little frustration because he wanted the lines to be straight, but we talked about how sometimes art doesn't show exactly what is there but rather how something feels to the artist. Eli ended up being happy with his drawing.

Aside from the sheer peacefulness and creative juices of the museum, this visit I particularly enjoyed the decorative arts section and this wonderful old handmade baking cabinet. Now I am daydreaming of teacakes from scratch...

We only stayed about an hour. From my studies in Art Education back in college, I learned that it is far better to give little sips of art that kids enjoy rather than wear them out on it seeing everything. Museums are quiet places where kid joys like touching, jumping, and climbing are rarely allowed, so it can be a little stressful for them. To help with that, we let the kiddos lead us to what interested them most, gave them time to absorb, and then got them talking about what they saw. Everybody had a good time.

Other posts about the how-tos of visiting art museums with kiddos:
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco

One Mama's Two Cents:
The Georgia Museum of Art was free and there is free parking in a shady deck adjoined to the museum building -- which made it easy to visit with kids even on a rainy day. There is also a cafe area where kids can take a break to have a snack and sit for a bit. The front desk staff and the guards were all friendly and welcoming, which earns the place a gold star in my book. And the Museum offers monthly Family Days that show off portions of the collection along a theme and get kids involved in the creative process with activities. We'll be back often!

Georgia Museum of Art Website: http://georgiamuseum.org
GMA Family Days: http://georgiamuseum.org/calendar/family_days

Posted at 03:06 PM in Adventures -- GA, North, Creativity | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

14 May 2014

Tidy Up

What is that?! An acorn. It is a crushed and dried-up acorn that my child squirreled away in his pocket and it managed to go through both the washer and dryer before I found it.

This week has been messy like that.

I've been feeling disquieted. My office is a mess and I keep shifting things here and there, stacking and re-stacking. I half-heartedly start new, small projects yet daydream about the larger ones I'm supposed to put on the shelf for the summer. One and a half weeks left before I'm a full-time mom again. I'm excited and ready to roll into a looser schedule full of more Eli time. Yet... There's a little bit of me that clings to writing and researching and the creative life with regular home office hours. Eli and I had a good balance going this year between his school, my creative work, and free time together. Reaching for a new balance...

Posted at 02:28 PM in Creativity, Seasons & Holidays 3 -- Summer, Writing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

08 May 2014

Giant Tinkertoys & Keebler Inc.

My mom was good at saving box tops from various products to be redeemed for merchandise. One of her scores was a free Richard Scary compilation picture book from Tide detergent. I still have it and I believe it is becoming as beloved and familiar to Eli as it was to me growing up.

Mom's other big score was a free play house from Keebler brand cookies. Made of sewn-together sheets of plastic printed to look like the Keebler elves' hollow tree, this cover fit down over a standard card table and converted it into a play space.

Along about the time the Keebler table cover came into our lives, my brother, Eric, and I were given a set of Giant Tinkertoys. Mom let some other kids borrow them after we were grown, but eventually they ended up in my brother's attic. Not long ago he pulled them out for Eli. Just looking at the box was a trip down Memory Lane. I remember climbing into that box for hide-and-seek.

Our dad worked with us to build each creation pictured on the box.

I had a Dressy Bessy doll just like the one in the swing below!

Can you tell that Little House on the Prairie and Holly Hobby was popular back then?

Once we'd been through the box designs a time or two, we started to branch out and come up with our own creations. And then somebody thought to pair the Giant Tinkertoys with the Keebler tent.

"Keebler Elves" became a regular game for my brother and me. It was perfect. I got to do lots of imaginary baking and gardeny gathering while my mechanically-minded brother designed harvesting machines. In our Keebler world, the hollow tree baking kitchen was on the edge of a lush forest and all around us there were cookies and treats growing on various bushes, in trees, and across the fields. Eric came up with a Tinkertoy design that looked like a lawn mower and had spinning rods -- perfect for harvesting those low-growing chocolate chips. On other days he invented a teetering tower harvester to scoop up those wafer cookies growing on tall-climbing vines. Even all these years later, when I think back on that game I can vividly remember the images from my mind's eye. That sunny Keebler world stretched on forever -- an endless wild landscape somehow held in the confines of the living room of our small ranch-style suburban house.

Such kid-magic!

The Giant Tinkertoys were indoor toys for us, but whoever borrowed them from Mom must have taken them outside. They were filthy -- dusty but also with red mud packed into some of the holes. Once spring warmth came, Eli and I took them out for a good soaking and scrubbing.

Does my child look soggy? That is because five year-olds have NO IMPULSE CONTROL. My son shot me in the stomach with a jet of cold water, so I had no choice but to wrestle the hose away and give him his just desserts. After much shrieking and giggling, we got the job done.

The Giant Tinkertoys were clean at last. I couldn't help but grin when I saw some kid-lettering left on them...

Sadly, the old Keebler tent died in the attic. The heat turned it into a sticky mass that could no longer be unfolded. But the Giant Tinkertoys -- undeniably one of the best toys of our childhood -- have lived on for another generation.

I can only hope that Eli will somehow find his own magical world within the confines of that same dusty cardboard box.

Posted at 04:58 PM in Creativity, Family History & Memories, Kid Products & Problem Solving | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

14 March 2014

Lego Art, Lego Marketplace, & Lego Rentals

The blog is on a Lego theme this week, if you hadn't noticed.
Three more spiffy things to share...

1. Lego Artist Sean Kenney
This Christmas we got Eli a book called Cool Creations in 35 Pieces by Sean Kenney. The author is an artist who works in Lego bricks and his book is a how-to guide for building all sorts of things with the same 35 Lego pieces -- robots, buildings, vehicles, etc. Not only is it wonderfully creative and inspiring, but it is also a fun book for travels because Eli can make various small Lego creations while riding in the back seat or in a hotel room.

Check out Kenney's other Lego books for kids and art pieces: Click HERE for Kenney's website. You can buy his books but also the set of 35 pieces.

2. BrickLink is a great source for Lego pieces. I used this unofficial online market at Christmas to buy Eli's 35 pieces but also to find some interesting minifigures and pieces for stocking stuffers. Click HERE to visit BrickLink.

Below: We got a Spongebob Lego set at a consignment sale for $2. Once we laid it out and figured out which instructions to look at on Lego's website, we were only missing one piece (which we easily replaced). Now the Krusty Krab restaurant is part of Eli's Lego Town.

3. Pleygo Lego Rentals
Got a kiddo who loves to put together kits and then forgets about them? For our family, we found used Lego from garage sales helped us break free from the put-the-kit-together-and-leave-it syndrome that sometimes happens with Legos. Lots of random pieces makes for more creative play. But there is also a "Netflix" for Lego called Pleygo. Basically, you can subscribe and rent sets for your child to put together. All the pieces are sanitized and shipping is free plus they forgive if you lose pieces. Subscriptions start at $15 a month, which is less than many sets. We haven't tried Pleygo, but we're considering a subscription as a gift. If anybody has experience with it, please share!

For an article on Pleygo, click HERE.

For Pleygo's website, click HERE.

Posted at 12:02 PM in Books & Reading for Kids, Creativity, Kid Crafts & Games/Pastimes, Kid Products & Problem Solving | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: 35 Pieces, Lego, Lego rental, Pleygo, Sean Kenney

12 March 2014

Lego Minifigure Adventures

Mysterious. Collectible. What kid can resist?

Like tons of kids across America... and probably the whole world... several months ago Eli fell in love with Lego minifigures. They come in most Lego sets but can also be purchased individually in sealed packets. Each pack contains one figure from a series of sixteen, but you have to pinch and poke to detect which figure might be inside. Eli and I stand around in Target squeezing packets and creating a discard pile. Usually we're right and get the one we were hoping for. Sometimes we get a duplicate.

The packets cost $2.99 each. And I don't mind that Eli gets one on most visits to Target. A while back I wrote a blog post about our storytelling jar where we use tiny toys to tell stories. (Click HERE for that post.) Minifigures work much the same way. The more kinds of figures Eli has, the more varied his adventures become. Over the years I've bought up random piles of used Lego at garage sales and thrift stores, so we have a lot of pieces we can use freestyle. A bunch of crazy figures ups the creativity quotient even further.