I recently felt drawn to revisit the words in my original story with Little Bear. This book has been inspired by our time at home and the continued discovery of creativity both at home and in nature.
. *Proceeds made from this book will be donated to heroes in our community making a such a big difference during these uncertain times.
“Stay home, Little Bear. Take a moment, Take care.”
Share a moment together and join Little Bear on a discovery. Sit and stare at the starry sky. What will you see? Be patient and you may just see a “river of bright” or “rainbow at midnight.”
Stay home, Little Bear is available in all Amazon stores
Thank you, as always, for your support! You are all wonderful!
So excited to let you all know that my first picture book, Bright Blue Balloon, is now available in paperback on Amazon. It is also available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.
Paperback
Kindle
Owen and Carson win something special at the carnival…
A bright blue balloon. “It floats on its own and has a long string.
Oh, what a wonderful thing to win!” They have so much fun with their bright blue balloon until it accidentally floats away. Little do they know they will see it again in an unexpected place. In order to save it they make something using materials from the recycling box.
Join Owen and Carson on a great adventure and bring the bright blue balloon home.
Bright Blue Balloon is a picture book aimed at young children (but can be enjoyed by all ages). It has rhyming text and brightly coloured illustrations.
Autumn is in full swing and you know that means an excuse to do crafts – to be honest any excuse will do!
In April we made decorative Easter Eggs out of honeycomb board. The kids had such a great time making these. They were made from recycled materials and made little mess. We couldn’t resist making pumpkins for Autumn and Halloween.
Materials:
Honeycomb board
Seperated corrugated cardboard – cardboard box which has been peeled
Construction paper / magazines / newspaper / paper for recycling
Garbage bag twisites
Sticky tape
Scissors
Pen
Green marker (or any one you choose)
Glue
Honeycomb Board
Corrugated Cardboard
Separating Corrugated Cardboard
Construction Paper / Tissue Paper
Garbage Bag Twisties
Tape / Marker / Scissors / Glue
Directions:
Draw a pumpkin shape on one side of the honeycomb board
Cut out the shape
Peel paper off one side of the shape
Tear small pieces of construction paper (or magazines, newspaper etc)
Crumple the small pieces of paper and place in the holes of the honeycomb board
Cut a strip of corrugated cardboard (wide and long enough to go around the pumpkin shape, we used one strip for the pumpkin and a smaller one for the stem)
Glue the corrugated strip and place around the pumpkin shape, add some sticky tape to help secure it to the shape)
Take two a garbage bag twisties and colour it green (or any colour you wish)
Tie one garbage tie strip around the stem of the pumpkin
Twirl and attach the second garbage tie
Draw pumpkin shape
Cut out shape
Peel off one side of honeycomb board
Tear pieces of paper, crumple and place in board
Mix and match the colours
Cut a strip of corrugated board, glue and stick around the shape, secure using sticky tape
Colour in two garbage bag twisites and attach to the pumpkin stem, then twirl the second one and attache to the stem
Both boys (and I) really enjoyed making these pumpkins. Most of the materials were used were recycled. Clean up was pretty easy as it all went into the recycling box. It also gave the boys an opportunity to be creative with the colours they chose. Carson chose to make a purple pumpkin and Owen added black construction paper to make a Halloween pumpkin face.
Halloween pumpkin
Purple pumpkin
We would love to know if you make your own honeycomb pumpkins. Take a photo and let us know in comments / Instagram @bright.blue.ballon / email abrigthblueballoon@gmail.com
What do you do when you have spare honeycomb board in the house?
Make Crafts of course!
And since Easter is on the way let’s make some decorative eggs!
Materials:
Honeycomb board
Corrugated cardboard sheets
Magazines
Sticky tape
Scissors
Pen
Directions
After drawing an egg shape on the honeycomb board I cut it out and peeled the sheet of cardboard off one side.
The fun followed as to the boys tore pages out of the magazines, crumpled them up and placed them in the holes on the board.
After they were finished I used some of the corrugated cardboard sheets to make a border around the eggs, which was stuck on using sticky tape.
My kids thoroughly enjoyed this craft and were happy with their decorative eggs. It was easy for them to do and they had fun ripping the paper and crumpling it. There was little mess to clean up afterwards, in fact it all went in the recycling!
We have been indulging in Halloween festivities and reading. And I am happy to report I have been taste testing the candy😂😂 a very important part of the preparations!
I am also so excited to tell you all about HOO AT THE ZOO, a picture book all about a Halloween themed adventure that takes place at the zoo.
Do you remember how joyful it was to draw when you were a kid? To draw something just because you wanted to, without worry about whether you could or what the result would be. Imagine how wonderful it would be to revisit that feeling and just sketch something for the joy of it!
Last year I took part in a #sketchtember challenge and it was rewarding in so many ways. Mostly because it reminded me about the excitement of a blank page and the challenge/ joy of attempting to recreate images captured in imagination, even if they didn’t always turn out as planned. One of the biggest lessons was realising that doing is more important then perfection.
I also met some amazing people and artists along the way.
I really would love to recreate that #sketchtember joy so I have created a prompt list.
30 prompts, 30 days, 30 sketches. They aren’t any rules really just sketch something using traditional or digital means and post on stories or your grid. I have created a new hashtag #wecreateforjoy for the challenge so we can all see each other’s creations. Also pls tag @bright.blue.balloon so I can see and share your creations.
That’s it from me. Thanks for reading and hope you will join in and sketch, sketch, sketch!!!
I want you to know This is not a crossroads I know which way I’m going to go But for a moment in time I let you enter my mind And now you think you’re Here to stay
There’s only one thing to do To get through to you, The you that’s messing with my mind
I need a song, A song Just to get out my mind And all the things you told me All the things you said
That mountain’s too high Don’t reach for the sky, It’s just not meant to be, Dreams are just make believe
These words always play on repeat, But I am learning to skip your beat And find my own, Show you how much I’ve grown
I want you to know I followed my own road To the mountain high, So high it touches the sky
Poised and ready to climb But paused for a moment in time Because you entered my mind And now you think you’re here to stay
There’s only one thing to do To get through to you, The you that’s messing with my mind
I need a song, A song Just to get you out my head And all the things you told me All the things you said
That mountain’s too high, Don’t reach for the sky It’s just not meant to be Dreams are just make believe
These words used to play on repeat, But I learned to skip your beat And found my own, I have grown.
I want you to know, I climbed that mountain high, One step at a time Your voice slowly left my mind The journey was mine But you were right about one thing I didn’t touch the sky, I went beyond and touched the stars It was meant to be My dream is reality
My little dream Whispers in the morning “Please make time for me, Just a little moment, While you have a cup of tea.” I make my dream a promise “Let’s check in a two” Then I go about my day, Listing things to do. It’s all so very busy And soon enough it’s two. My dream is right on time, But I’m nowhere to be seen… My little dream, Shouts in the evening “Where were you?” I say “I’m very sorry, Tomorrow is anew. Let’s arrange a meeting, Just me and you I’ll be there – let’s make before two.” My dream says “Will you really? You’ve promised for a while. I’ll only wait so long, Make some time, Don’t let it pass you by.”
“Sit and stare at the starry sky. Be patient, It has something to share.”
Illustration from Stay Home, Little Bear
Sometimes it takes a little patience to experience wonder. Patience to sit and be, to sit and stare at the starry sky. I am trying to take more moments to sit and be, to feel the breeze and absorb nature’s palette. Even if it is just a few minutes…
This week I will be sharing illustrations from and inspired by my new book Stay Home, Little Bear. Get ready for some polar bear love and “a rainbow at midnight’” *Proceeds made from this book will be donated to heroes in the community making a difference during these uncertain times.
It’s available on Amazon kindle and Kindle Unlimited.
Sometimes sunshine and rain collaborate to create a rainbow Each time they do it’s a fantastic sight Colours vibrant, Colours bright I’ve tried to capture all the rainbows unique But I’ve learned to rather observe than seek Moments created to stay with me, Long after they find new skies and flee
Sometimes sunshine and rain collaborate to create a rainbow ( Illustration created using Procreate 5)
brightblueballoon.com 