Behind the Art: Because You've Helped Me Grow

August 28, 2020


I originally designed this card as a Mother's Day card for my own mom (a lot of new designs come out of necessity in my own life) because I had purchased her a small plant and I thought it would be a fun little sentiment to go with it. It's turned out to be a card that's perfect in any situation, regardless of who is in your life!

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Child Development: Providing A Script

August 25, 2020


Earlier this year, I wrote a post talking about the importance of teachable moments: what they are, and why they become increasingly necessary as your child gets older. In the post, I mentioned the idea of giving your child the words that they need to help them through a difficult situation, and I want to dig a little deeper into that.

Giving your child words does not mean that you are telling them what to think or feel, it means that you are providing them with a script (like in a play) that they need to help them express their emotions, and what they need. When a child does not have a certain skill, sometimes you need to teach them by breaking down the steps and providing them with opportunities to learn to do the skill on their own. This is called scaffolding, and it is a really useful way to help young children to be able to develop all kinds of skills (physical, social emotional, etc.). 

All children are capable of learning skills that we may believe are too difficult for them (even toddlers can learn to put on their shoes), sometimes they just need the steps to be broken down for them. It may take a while, or they may catch on quickly...it all depends on the skill, how it is being approached, and what your child does with the information.

Imagine your child has just been hit by another child at the park, and your child hits the other child back. You might tell your child to "use your words", but that phrase means nothing to a child that has not been taught what words to use. 

By getting close to your child (down to their level is even better), and giving them a script to use such as "Please don't hit me" or "Stop hitting me", you are giving them the words that they will need so that eventually you will be able to tell them "use your words" and they will know exactly what to say in response. Most likely, this will need to be done in every situation until your child has enough responses in their arsenal that they will be able to respond to any child in any situation. 

Think of how a building is put together. Is the top of the building put on first, or is the foundation laid, and then the other parts of the building are slowly added on top. Eventually, you won't even have to tell your child to "use your words" because they will know exactly what to do when a situation arises.


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Shop Small: Recently Purchased Items From Canadian Makers That I'm Loving

August 21, 2020


I recently made some purchases from an online market called The Royal Bison, including this amazing lounge set from Colour Me Weird, and it is the comfiest thing I have ever worn. On top of that, Rhandi also sent along a matching mask and a cute scrunchy (which has become one of my favourites).



I also bought this adorable art print from This Might Work, a collaboration between artists Mariah Barnaby-Norris and Erin Nagy. I love the energy in this print, and couldn't pick just one dog that is my favourite (thought I'm pulled towards the top middle pup...I'm sure you can figure out why).



Indie Polish was not part of The Royal Bison online market, but I found them after trying to purchase vegan (and harsh chemical-free) nail polish that ships to Canada. Bonus! Indie Polish is in Canada. I ordered a mystery box so I had no idea what I was getting (this neon green polish is one of them), but I am so happy with the colours that I got, and I'm excited to be able to wear nail polish again after having stopped because of the ingredients.

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Open Ended Toys: Wood

August 17, 2020
Nothing opens the imagination up to all kinds of possibilities quite like open-ended toys. Open-ended toys provide endless opportunities for learning such as science and math, social interactions (social-emotional), and creativity, and include items like blocks of all shapes and sizes, animals and trees, and cameras. They are toys that don't have a single purpose like many battery operated toys, or even things like puzzles and colouring books, and require imagination while using them (let's be honest, your mind's eye has to tell you what your wooden camera just took a photo of). 

As the amount of items I found for this post continued to increase, I realised that I would need two blog posts to share the amazing open-ended items I found from my fellow makers. Here are some wooden open-ended toys that would be perfect for exercising the imagination! You can find the felt and fabric ones here.












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