Blogging

“Sit and stare at the starry sky. Be patient, It has something to share.”

| brightblueballoon

“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.

Stay Home, Little Bear: A story about staying home and discovering creativity https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088MNTHTJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_EPbXEbKRKSXTR

Happy creativity!

Sending 💜💜💜

Thank you for visiting Bright Blue Balloon

Do you like to read physical books or books on an e-reader / tablet?

| brightblueballoon

Do you like to read physical books or books on an e-reader / tablet?

I have to say I like both. I think they both have their benefits:

Physical Books

  • There is something about the smell of books (a breakdown of chemical compounds I believe) that encourages a moment to pause and imagine the journey you are about to embark
  • Using a bookmark! Just love a bookmark, especially one made by my kids
  • Being able to easily flip through the pages and refer back to a specific page or chapter
  • I think it’s also nice to physically see how big the book is and see how much you have read
  • It’s so awesome to share your books or donate them when you are finished

E-reader / Tablet

  • So lightweight and easy to take on your travels whether it’s on holiday or to a coffee shop
  • There are literally thousands of titles available at your fingertips at any time of day! Shopping in your pjs is not an issue
  • Provides a great way to discover new authors or try different genres

What do you think?

What are your thoughts? Let me know below 😉

Happy reading x

Image and text (C) Lisa Moralee McLardy 2019

Craft: Honeycomb Pumpkins for Autumn & Halloween

| brightblueballoon

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:

  1. Draw a pumpkin shape on one side of the honeycomb board
  2. Cut out the shape
  3. Peel paper off one side of the shape
  4. Tear small pieces of construction paper (or magazines, newspaper etc)
  5. Crumple the small pieces of paper and place in the holes of the honeycomb board
  6. 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)
  7. Glue the corrugated strip and place around the pumpkin shape, add some sticky tape to help secure it to the shape)
  8. Take two a garbage bag twisties and colour it green (or any colour you wish)
  9. Tie one garbage tie strip around the stem of the pumpkin
  10. 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

Happy crafting x

Craft: Decorative Easter Eggs

| brightblueballoon

We have recently moved and have a number of boxes! Needless to say we have built a number of forts, stores and houses. This week we have put some of the packaging materials to good use and made decorative Easter eggs.

It took a bit of research to name the types of board/packaging materials we used but I can confirm we used honeycomb board and corrugated cardboard sheets!

Materials we used:

  • Honeycomb board
  • Corrugated cardboard sheets
  • Magazines
  • Sticky tape
  • Scissors
  • Pen

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.

Owen and Carson 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!

Happy page turning and crafting x

©️ Lisa Moralee McLardy

Bullet journal for the fridge

| brightblueballoon

I do like a bullet journal and try to make use of one as much as possible. I am a visual person and need to be reminded of things /dates on our schedule.

I decided to try be productive this morning and make these bullet journal calendars to stick on the fridge. That way we can see our schedule and be reminded throughout the day.

Hopefully they will help us on our quest to be super organised!

What do you do to help remember things on your schedule?

Happy page turning x

#bulletjournal #organsing #organizing #bulletjourneling #tryingtobeorganized #bulletjournalforthefridge #fridgenotes #productive #productivity #productivitywithtea #tea #aquarellebrush #pilotvball #staaquarellebrush #colours #colours #schedule

Hold on tight to the string

| brightblueballoon

Just over year ago I felt inspired to start this blog and instagram account (@abrightblueballoon). I had just started illustrating the children’s book I wrote about a bright blue balloon (entitled A Wonderful Thing to Win).

I have always loved to write and its been a part of my journey for quite some time. Additionally I have always loved art and being creative, this unfortunately was put on the shelf for a while. It was something I ironically never had time for.

My children have provided me with a world of creativity and joy which has lead to a rediscovery. An opportunity to clear the dust and explore. This is a place to share and be creative. It’s not easy to allocate time to this space with little ones but I am grateful when I do manage to make time.

Brightblueballoon.com is place to share stories, poems, drawings, photos and books we love. So far I love seeing where the bright blue balloon will float to next, what will we discover and where will it be?

This is a poem inspired by the bright blue balloon journey and the pages we turn.

Hold on tight to the string

Tie a loop in the string,

hold on tight

To the blue balloon, so bright

Float up, up ,up

And begin…

Soar through journeys told,

And yet to be discovered,

Journeys far or just a step in the cupboard,

Journeys with an important date – not to be late,

Journeys to woods of enchantment or caves of wonders

Look below

Remember the things you know

Look up

Soar high

Roam the sky

Question why

Learn the reasons

Enter worlds of imagination

Epic wonders,

Unique creations

Hold on tight to

The loop on the string

Absorb everything

Take a moment,

Take many

Pause and reflect

Before you float down, down, down

Reach the last page,

With the looming full stop

Breath

It’s complete

You are still you but more

Different to before

The words stay with you

They are now a part of your existence

Let them inspire

Let them be free

Until the next journey begins,

With the turn of a page

And once more you float up, up ,up

.

.

.

Happy page turning x

©️ Lisa Moralee McLardy

Craft: Mix and match robots

| brightblueballoon

This week we have had fun creating our own mix and match robots. The boys really enjoyed them and it kept them occupied for a while.

After drawing the robots on A4 paper we coloured them in.

I cut each picture into three strips and then the boys had fun mixing and matching.

What kind of mix and match characters would you make?

I think we will make aliens next 🙂

Happy page turning x

©️ Lisa Moralee McLardy

Happy Pancake Day!

| brightblueballoon

It’s pancake day, yay! This post was from last year but I wanted to share it again.

Hope you get a chance to enjoy some pancakes for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

🥘

Pancakes for breakfast and dinner too

Maybe a salad for lunch – yes that will do

Gather the ingredients there are seven on the list

Get ready to mix

2 cups of flour, 2 and a half teaspoons of baking powder, 3 tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt.

In a separate bowl beat two eggs and 1 and a half to 2 cups of milk. Then add to the dry ingredients and mix, mix, mix

Lastly add two tablespoons of melted butter until you have a silky smooth batter.

Heat up a pan – not too hot that it splatters.

Cook and flip repeatedly, it should make a lot.

Decorate with blueberries and banana

Don’t forget a drizzle from the maple syrup pot

Pancakes for breakfast and dinner too

Happy Pancake Day to you!

 

*We enjoy having pancakes every Saturday/Sunday for brunch. We have a few allergies in the household so we usually substitute flour with gluten free flour, butter with dairy free spread, milk with soya milk and eggs with egg replacer. They still turn out yummy and the boys love them.

Copyright (C) Lisa Moralee McLardy 2018