January Crafternoon

      The Littles and I have this favourite shop we go to as often as we can- for the Littles to want to go into a shop any where it must be pretty great- and Collage Collage is just that- great! Located in a quirky strip of shops just off Kingsway by Robson Park in Vancouver, Collage Collage is part art emporium and part book shop- a little something creative for everyone.  Recently we popped in for a quick look around- we needed a bit of inspiration and some new projects- wooden stars were perfect, as were the pre made bug bodies (more on that later) and who can leave with out some stickers- we were set!

      These little wooden stars give us the jumping off point for our project- a multi media necklace which helps the kiddos practice their dexterity as well as just being plain old fun! The wooden stars were solid so I punched some holes in them for threading through the wool- wooden shapes like these can be found at any popular craft store or Collage Collage. I shared my Gouache with the kids to paint their stars funky colours- gouache is an opaque watcher colour paint essentially- Holbein brand makes amazing colours and I would say is one of my favourite paints to use.

       We raided our studio to see what other goodies we could come up with to compliment the brightly coloured stars- pom poms- of course, bells, pony beads and some home made tassels were gathered and then the creating began. There are no hard and fast rules to this project- what I had in mind though was showing the kids a bit of restraint- showing them how with just a few beautiful objects you can create something wonderful.

    The end result was bright, colourful and totally fun- the Littles got to work on their needle skills ( not shown is the giant darning needle used to help thread all these wonderful things onto the string) as well as working with different materials- they really let their crafty freak flag fly on this project!

     I am always on the look out for items or ideas that will help us be creative in new and wonderful ways- as an artist myself I get really excited about new supplies- I think our Littles have caught that vibe as well! Collage Collage is such a fun resource to have close by- check out their web site for drop in Crafternoons, classes as well as kits and books- I guarantee you will not leave with your hands empty!