Stepping Off The Beaten Track

I get so energized and inspired after experiencing other people's creative work. Something about their passion, hard work and inventiveness gets my creative juices flowing.

Well, if you're looking for your own creative jolt then it could be your lucky day! I heard about an event going on in the neighborhood and I thought I would share...

On August 14th & 28th, from 5pm to midnight, the LA Craft Experience will be taking place in the historic Chinatown district of Los Angeles! The event promises to be an exhilarating experience of sights, sounds, tastes and smells. As mentioned on the LA Craft Experience website...

"The smell of dim sum wafting through the alleyways, the red lanterns swaying on high lines, and the eclectic little shops and galleries convinced us that Chinatown was right for LACE."

So what is LACE (or the Los Angeles Craft Experience) exactly?

"LA Craft Experience is LA’s premiere outdoor market located in historic Chinatown's Central Plaza and features unique vendors from all over Los Angeles. The show includes designers, crafters and artists selling unique, handmade, original or hard-to-find items. Shoppers will be able to meet and shop from vendors selling screen prints, art, apparel, jewelry, home accessories and décor, children’s gifts and accessories, letterpress stationery, pottery, handmade books and much more"

Not only that, but LACE will be held alongside Chinatown Summer Nights, presented by Community Arts Resources, the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles, and KCRW.

What is Chinatown Summer Nights I hear you ask? Well it is...

"...a nighttime festival unlike any other! Part food event, part summer party, Chinatown Summer Nights presents an exciting hot spot for Angelenos this August. Taste the many culinary offerings of Chinatown and LA’s gourmet food trucks; sample the neighborhood’s wares; watch Chinese chefs perform cooking demonstrations; experience large-scale, outdoor video projections; view site-specific public art; take part in hands-on, Chinese cultural workshops presented by local organizations and museums; sip on Chinese beer, shop at LA Craft Experience and dance in Central Plaza with KCRW’s DJs: Raul Campos, Anthony Valadez, Jeremy Sole and Aaron Byrd".

Sounds pretty cool, right?

The event planners do indicate that, with the combination of the Chinatown Summer Nights, the event could get pretty busy on the 14th and 28th (a good heads up if you are planning to take children along). I imagine that the hustle and bustle will add to the energy of the whole event, but if this does not appeal to your sensibilities, then you'll be pleased to hear that LACE also occurs as a separate event (without the festival) on the second Saturday of each month beginning Sept 11th to Oct 9th from 11am to 6pm at Chinatown's Central Plaza. So you can still get your creative fix on!

Admission is free. Check it out if you're local. If not, then I'll be blogging about it here so you can still share the experience.

Happy Ventures!

My Submarine To The Future

Inspiration and Chance Encounters

This week I am being inspired left, right and center! I feel really plugged into the world and everything going on around me. It doesn't happen often, because I'm usually so rushed that I don't have time to engage in the things going on outside of my own little day-to-day world and worries. But when it does, it makes me feel... alive! My pulse races.

Simon Ouwerkerk sculpture.
Photograph from the Garboushain Gallery website.

I was out and about today with my son and, as we headed to our destination, I happened to pass the window of a, very chic, store front. It was a private gallery. The Garboushian Gallery in Beverly Hills to be precise.

An amazing sculpture reached its way across the glass window of the gallery, as if leaping from a perch to jump out at us. It was the most curious thing. A dragon. Which upon further inspection, I realized, was constructed entirely from toys! A magical thing! Both my son and I stood there beaming from ear to ear staring at it.

Something about toys brings out the kid in me, so, despite my disheveled attire and the fact that I (quite obviously) was not in any position to purchase this wonderful piece of art, I found myself drawn to the sculpture. Before I knew it, I was inside the gallery!

The whole studio was full of (I imagine) very expensive artwork that was all made from toys. Then I realized, I'd just brought a toddler in here! The phrase "bull in a china shop" sprang to mind. As I entered the gallery, a woman greeted me and asked me to "be careful", and I immediately went on the defensive with my response. "Don't worry, I won't let my son touch the art", I said. But she said, "No, I mean, be careful in case you trip. It's wonderful to have you here". She informed me that they were preparing for an exhibition happening in a few days, and that the work was still being assembled. She just wanted me to be careful that I didn't hurt myself tripping on the stuff on the floor. I was immediately set at ease.

She gave me the dates of the upcoming exhibition and I, carefully, looked around the studio for a brief moment, marveling at the amazing work. My son and I both oohed and ahhed, then the lady introduced me to a man who I had passed on the way in. He was dressed in work attire and was moving ladders around. I figured he was a guy working on the exhibition, but no! He was actually THE artist putting together his collection!! I couldn't believe my luck! He stopped what he was doing and said hello.

Simon Ouwerkerk, the artist, was a very nice guy. Very gracious and friendly. I felt a little embarrassed that I had been so vocal about how amazing his work was, without realizing he was in the room, but I figure that he would only see it as a compliment (as if he needed my approval anyway!).

His work was truly captivating and if you would like to see it, or find out more about him, then check out this article (from Luxury Life & Style magazine) and go to see his current exhibition, curated by Homeira Goldstein, at the Garboushian Gallery from July 31st - August 26th 2010.

That chance encounter (a step off my usual route) left me feeling inspired, in touch with my creativity and with the city and people around me.

I learned a valuable lesson today...

A spontaneous detour from the well trodden path can land you somewhere quite unexpected, and leave you feeling all the better for it. You never know what you might see, who you may meet, or where you may end up! Don't be afraid to explore.

Happy ventures!
My Submarine To The Future

Chair Mini Makeover

They say a change is as good as a rest and our tired old dining chairs either needed to be put to sleep, or given an overhaul.  Being tight on budget (who isn't these days?) I decided we'd try to salvage these babies with a mini makeover!

After a trip down to our local fabric store, which co-incidentally was having a blow out sale that day (hooray!), we came back with 4 yards of 100 % cotton (for $25!) and a plan to give our seats a face lift.

We busted out the tools... a flat head screwdriver, a Phillips screwdriver, a large pair of fabric shears and a staple gun (with staples), and we set to work.

First step was to remove the old seat cover. To do this we had to detach the seat from the chair frame which meant unscrewing the three screws holding it in place. 

With the frame detached, we placed the seat cushion (bottom side up) on our work surface.
I then proceeded to remove the old staples that were holding the old seat cover in place, with the flat head screwdriver.
Once all the old staples were pulled, we unwrapped the cushion part of the seat.

There goes the old fabric...

...and now for something new.

I cut the new fabric down to approximately 3/4 yard squares (four of them in all), then started to wrap the seat with one of the squares. It's a little like wrapping a birthday present but, fortunately, only the top and sides have to look pretty.


I remembered to include some extra fabric in my measurements, so that I could fold it to make a hem underneath the seat. Then I stapled the fabric to the underside of the seat, making sure that the fabric on top (where I sit) was pulled flat and looked nice.

NOTE: if you are working with a fabric which is just one color this is much easier a task than working with a pattern. Stripes, in particular, have a tendency to go all wobbly if you don't pull them straight, and constantly make sure that the placement is right while you're stapling it down.


The trickiest part came when I had to do the corners. Now I'm no professional so I don't know the ideal way of doing this, but as long as the corners look reasonably tidy I'm happy. I gathered the fabric at the corner, making sure the sides of the seat didn't have too many wrinkles and stapled it down underneath. I then cut off the excess fabric.


Not too bad when you see it the right way up, right?...


Once the new fabric was stapled down all the way around the seat, we screwed the seat back to the chair frame and... voila!

A new chair!

Four more chairs and we had a whole new dining set for little expense!

Here's the before and after...

I had a little fabric left over so I decided to knock up a little cushion for my son's little red chair too. Now he has a comfortable place to rest himself when he has his breakfast in the mornings too.


I'm a terrible seamstress, which is why I have no tutorial for the cushion but if you really want to know how you too can make a bit of a wonky pillow then please do drop me a note and I can send you details :)

Have you given a new life to anything in your house, with a makeover? Please do share if you have. I love seeing before and after shots.

Happy crafting!
My Submarine To The Future

The Sketchbook Project

Here's a sneaky peek at what I've been up to this week....



I'm looking forward to sharing more soon but, in the meantime, I want to call your attention to an amazing project I read about over at Ohdeedoh, called...

The Sketchbook Project

In case you haven't heard of it, here's a quick outline of what it's all about....
Imagine creating a sketchbook that will join thousands of others, which will be exhibited at galleries and museums on a tour across the United States! After the tour, that sketchbook will then be entered into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library, where it will be barcoded and available for the public to view!

Sounds pretty awesome, right?

Well, here's how you can be a part of this incredible experience...
Sign up here before the end of October, to receive a blank sketchbook. Upon signing (and paying $25) you will be asked to choose a theme for your sketchbook. This theme is just the starting point to motivate you, to get you thinking. From here you can go wherever you like with it....just sketch and sketch until your little book is chock-a-block full. You must then return your filled sketchbook to the organizers by 15th January 2011, so that it can start its journey on the tour in March.

The parts of this project that I find most exciting are that...

• It is open to anyone in the world! (Just imagine the diverse range of submissions they must receive!)
• The organizers will notify you when someone views your book (you can keep track of how many times it is viewed and maybe also find out who has been looking at it too - if the viewer leaves their name).
  
• A piece of work created by my family will have the honor of sitting in the Brooklyn Art Library.
  

My husband, son and I are going to be doing a sketchbook together, which will include work by the three of us. Needless to say, I'm very excited about this project and view it as an incredible opportunity for our family to go on a creative venture together. We look forward to a busy few months of sketching!

Let me know if you decide to take part in this too! I would get a kick out of knowing whose sketchbook we may be sitting alongside in that lovely large library.

Happy ventures!

My Submarine To The Future

When Good Craft Goes Bad

A friend of mine asked me...

"How on Earth do you get your (three year old) son to just sit, focus, and craft quietly with you while you make stuff? My kid won't do that"

My answer...

"Mine won't either!"

For example, this (photo below) is what happened when we were creating our Surprise Lucky Dip Gift Box...

After getting his hands on the blue spool of ribbon, he decided to construct his own maze. There he is tying it up to our chairs.

Here he is tying it around the door handle a few hundred times...

...and there he is leaving the big knotty mess on the floor for me to spend the next 30 minutes trying to untangle.

Remember the Mars Rover with the Red Planet project? Well, this was my lovely white Ektorp Jennylund armchair from Ikea, before we started this project...

And this is what happened to the back of it after....

My son got up from the designated area we were painting at (the one covered with sheets and newspaper), walked over to the armchair and decided to flick his red paintbrush all over the back of it.

A scrub with water, soap and stain remover did little to improve the situation (photo above).

And although I appreciated his efforts at trying to have the Mars Rover suck up the stain (below), more heavy duty methods were called for.

A couple of cycles in the wash and the stain had faded considerably. However, once the seat cover had air dried completely, I tried to pull it back on to the chair and this happened...

Oops!

It shrank!

Now our armchair looks like this until we can get over to Ikea to buy a new cover.

So yeah! Some times the craft tutorial pictures might make it look easy to do art with your child but trust me, I know your pain! There are days I sometimes find myself wondering... is it worth the hassle of even getting all the art stuff out with him until he gets a little older? But then I remember one important thing...

Kids learn more from what you DO, than what you SAY.

If I want my son to have an appreciation for art, and be creative, then he has to be able to see my love for it and understand why I want to do it.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if he sits for just a couple of minutes of painting, or if I have to finish the rest of the project myself (I often find he pops in and out to see how things are progressing anyway). It's not about how good, or bad, the final piece is, or my level of skill as an artist. It's not about making him stick to the plan (if he wants to do something entirely different with the materials then that's cool too). It's about the benefits he gets from the experience he is having exploring art, and about him being exposed to creative possibilities.

The ways in which he gains are plenty...

• He gets to create, converse and spend time with the people he loves most... his parents!
• He gets to see his parents being creative - it's about him seeing us attempt it, whether or not we fail. Often successful projects spring out of failed ones.
• It's about him seeing the creative potential in everything! - I get such a kick when he picks up a yogurt pot after breakfast and says "What should we make out of this?"
• He gets to express his own creativity, thoughts, emotions and personality
• It actually does improve his focus - little by little (and it's probably with age too) I have noticed he will sit for longer as he begins to understand the process of how things are created.
• It has saved us money! - we make so many simple things that are expensive to buy at the toy store (e.g. cardboard boxes make great playhouses, garages, puppets, cars, trains, etc.)
• He learns that homemade is better than bought - an important lesson, I think, especially in our materialistic world. To me, something which takes time, has love, effort and thought put into it is always more valuable then something I just picked up at the store. (Of course, it's not always possible, with the limited time we have on our hands, but I want my son to be able appreciate his own and other peoples efforts).

So if you are worrying about the mess, or losing heart because your child is not focusing, or thinking that you're not skilled enough to craft.... don't fret. Just bust out the art supplies and go with the flow. If it goes well, your child will learn. If it fails, your child will still learn! Either way be proud of what you make, enjoy your time together and just have fun!

My Submarine To The Future

This post is for my mother, who would never claim to be artistic in any fashion, but to whom I owe my creativity, passion and appreciation of all things art. She created a childhood for my siblings and I where sewing beautiful tapestries, painting portraits and being inspired by books and classical music were a daily thing.

Keep our Kids Creative!

You wait and wait for a post to come along and then two arrive at once!

Yes indeed, things have been quite hectic here this week, which explains why I haven't had a chance to update My Sub very frequently, but I'm making up for it today by giving you a double daily dose.

So what's been happening here then, you may ask?

Well, aside from a multitude of chores (none of which are exciting enough to write about) we've been party to a few noteworthy escapades...

First, we have been entertaining a guest. Flat Stanley (in the picture at the top of this post) came all the way from Chicago, mailed to my son by his friend of similar age.

If you've never heard of him, Flat Stanley is a little, laminated, paper man who (after being decorated by a child) is posted around the world to various locations for adventures. You welcome him into your home. Take pictures of him spending time doing family activities and seeing the town. Then send him packing back to sender with all the info and pics of his trip. The kids get a real kick out of doing it and seeing what he's been up to.

We've also been making the most of this gorgeous weather with nature walks

And we've been ticking off some of our Summer Loving wish list activities...

Beach picnics (check)

Finally I have been crafting (Trash Man Marionette) and jazzing up My Sub (new colour and new pages - check out My Sub Makes where you'll find all the step by step tutorials for the projects on this blog from now on).

Phew!

But, the real reason I have hooked you up with the double shot today isn't to talk about my latest shenanigans, but to share with you this fascinating article on Newsweek, that some parents have been discussing on the internet.

It's about the significant decline in the creativity of our children in the States. It's not just referring to the arts being cut, or undervalued, in our school systems but the actual recent decline in the ability of our children to THINK creatively, and how it could effect their future.

It's a very interesting read and, fortunately, ends on a positive note - it suggests that there are ways we can change this current creative lull. One of it's more bold statements claims that creativity can be taught! Now that's something to think about.

My favorite line from the article...

"In the space between anxiety and boredom was where creativity flourished"

Please leave comments and let me know your thoughts on the article, or anything else regarding this post, or My Sub in general. Always so great to hear from you.

Enjoy!

My Submarine To The Future

My Sub Makes: Trash Man Marionette

Look who came to visit!

I'd like to say that he was called something delightful like "Count Monticrumblecristo" or "Sir Bumble Tumblebottom" but his name is actually... wait for it... Mr Man.

Yep, indeed. That's it.
I told my son he could name him whatever he liked and, well... he liked Mr Man!

Mr Man was born from a dare and a suggestion. The dare was presented to me by my wonderful friend, Claire, who threw down a pile of these things (see pic below) and said, "What can you make from these?"

Any ideas what they are?
Here's a better look...

Yes! They are the cardboard tubes that sit on wire hangers, that you get from the dry cleaners. How nifty of her to think about collecting them! I have given away many in my time and not thought twice about recycling them for art projects. But what to make with them? ...hmmmm.

Well, co-incidentally, that's when I received a suggestion, that sparked the idea!

My friend Gina, who writes a fabulous blog called The Twin Coach, handed me a magazine clipping she thought I might like. It was an article about Todd Oldham (a very well known designer) who recently published a book about kid's art called Kid Made Modern. It outlined an idea he had for a toy theater, constructed from duct tape, a torch, and a cardboard box (sorry! my scanner has busted so no picture available for this one).

Anyhow, the clipping got me thinking about puppets and old fashioned marionettes, and that's when I took a walk down memory lane.... I recalled watching the scene in the Sound of Music movie (when I was a kid) where the Von Trapp children got a huge toy theater as a gift and they put on a show for their father (Captain VonTrapp) and the Baroness.

"High on a hill was a lonely goat herd, layehee ohdelayhee ohdelayhee hoo".

I remember wishing, with all my heart, that I could get my hands on one of those Lederhosen decked out dolls. What kid didn't?!

Kapow!...in that moment of merging ideas and wistful daydreaming the concept for the Trashman Marionette was formed!  He was created using recycled materials and a few craft supplies. As demonstrated by my son (below), he has movable parts.

As you can see from the photos, I used the hanger paper tubes for the puppet sticks but also to enclose the puppet strings, both for safety reasons and to avoid many hours (which I don't have) having to untangle the puppet. A note of caution: I would not allow young children to play with this unsupervised. Although the string is encased they could become tangled. Keep it safe, and keep it fun!


For full instructions on how to make your very own Mr Man (or Mrs Woman, for that matter!) check out the My Sub Makes tutorial for Trash Man Marionette. You'll find other tutorials there for all the crafting projects that you see featured here on My Submarine To The Future, and more!

Happy crafting!
My Submarine To The Future

Happy 4th July!

It's Independence Day weekend so, as well as marinating the mountain of meat we plan to grill up at tomorrow's BBQ, I'm also preparing this weekend's batch of summer time lemonade.

As you may remember from my most recent post Summer Loving, throughout the summer we have been whipping up pitchers of fresh lemonade as weekend treats to share with the family. The best part of this is that my son LOVES to be involved, helping (or trying to lick!) the lemons while we squeeze them!

As this is a holiday weekend, I thought we should take things up a notch and jazz up our regular lemon routine by adding a twist to our much loved thirst quencher. I didn't have to search too long before finding this heavenly recipe for Strawberry Lemonade on a wonderful blog that I follow called Cooking with my Kid.

Check out this picture from her blog!!!...

...doesn't it make your mouth water just looking at it? Yummy!

I followed the recipe and tried out a test batch today on the troops (as I wanted to be sure that it would work for tomorrow's festivities).

The verdict?... a unanimous YES!

In fact the whole pitcher I made was gone in under 5 minutes! It is possibly the most delicious lemonade we have made so far this year! Refreshing and just the right combination of sweet and tart. Tomorrow I'll have to double the quantities!

So, while I sit aboard My Submarine and sip my strawberry lemonade, I just want to wish you all...

A wonderful holiday weekend.

Enjoy yourselves!

MSTTF

P.S. You may have noticed a few subtle changes here and there on My Sub's blog. I've been experimenting with layouts again. I hope you like the new look!