Monday inspiration : Kids' craft corner

Let’s start this week wit a good vibe and a splash of creativity and colour. 

Do you have crafty kids?

 I thought that all children like to  “get dirty” and create, each time there is a possibility, but it is really not always the case. My older son Frank which is now 9 was never really interested in crafting, except for drawing. He likes to draw very precise and with a lot of details. 

My five-years old Robert absolutely loves to get dirty hands! If he gets tubes of paint,  he will paint not only paper, table but his face and hands too…if allowed! He disappears into another world when he creates, and I call him our little artist. We created a small craft corner for him at our home, which might not look so professional as these ones, but 3 shelfs and a good organising helps to keep it all under control. What is important in my option ? For sure a place close to a day light , desk or a table and above or next to it,  few planks to put all the materials. 

Absolutely love this craft corner so well organised! 

Only the table is really to small in my opinion for all 3 kids which would like to make a use of this corner. Maybe long table next to the window would be more practical and just some little stools. 

This room looks like a dream place to me, and I’m sure to my boys too!

 I don’t dare to even show it to them….I wish we had a bigger house to do something similar. 

Big and little storage, cups, drawers and a place to expose the art work! I’m jealous.

This last example is the most modern and sophisticated one. 

It can be made in a corner of a living room. 

I took some of the pictures from an amazing site at The Artful Parent, 

which I advice to check, if you are looking for inspiration for crafting with your children. 

Thank you for inspiration, photo’s : 1 -2 / 3 / 4 - 5 - 6/7- 8 -9 / 10 -11

Recycled Denim

"…Denim is an incredibly beautiful base material that only gains beauty over time. The fabric is extremely strong while getting softer and gaining character after heavily use over time…" 

The fox, the anteater and the elephant are made from recycled denim. I found it at Shuka shop in Amsterdam, but its coming from a company called Maisonindigo.  They are based in the Netherlands. Their beautifull animals are hand made by people with disabilities. 

The second company is a BluBoxx created by a textile designer Jeannine Oberdieck. Her sustainable new toys are mostly produced from recycled material, also denim. The first prototype is a five-pice set of building blocks which is really looking like fun. I think its a fantastic idea…

 Inspired by all of it I made a small blanket for my son from old jeans and my husband T-shirts. 

He has only blue , grey and black -  perfect selection! ;-) 

Funny accessories for kids from Linda Wary and John Meyers

Fletcher's room  - photographer Seth Smoot

fletchers-room

Do you know the new shop for kids warymeyers created by designers Linda Wary and John Meyers? I can say shortly that the design duo create art installations, paintings, books and illustrations. Linda  and John like to get all of their materials from garage sales and flea markets, and arrange them in the shop and their home in Portland. They have a fantastic taste and sense of humor. You just can't mis it! Their son's Fletcher room is on the cover of the coming issue of Anthology Magazine. Like you see - its filled with all that spacial and precious pieces his parents are talented to find! 

Crafty parents – part 3

Today I would like to present : Arounna Khounnoraj and John Booth from Toronto, Canada, 

owners of a beautiful shop bookhou

Finding recently some nice design objects, it appears they are often a work of an architect. I don’t know if that is only coinsidence, or are architects having similar taste? This time it is John Booth with architectural background too. He is making hand-made, beautifull furniture. His wife Arounna Khounnoraj, is working now on textiles and sculptures. Their amazing shop is a multidisciplinary studio, where you can find hand made objects and small production pieces.

Arounna Khounnoraj is shearing her ideas how to decorate your home using recycled materials, new materials and reinventing vintage pieces :here

I totally adore their work. Beautiful design, simplicity and  high standard craftsmanship.

all photo’s from Arounna Khounnoraj blog : www.bookhouathome.blogspot.com/



Crafty parents - Made by Joel

Today I want to present  :
Joel Henriques from Portland, OR, United States, to follow on his blog Made by Joel. here

Joel is an artist working in his studio at home. He is also a dad of twins, which are now 4 years old. The crafting story began for him with an old sewing machine which he got from his mom. Joel started to make simple toys for his children, and began to write his blog.....the process grew, and now, next to being widely recognised for his work, he is also having his own book published with inspiring ideas to do with kids.
Joel is sharing with people his simple and joyful concepts. Everybody can play with it home with their own kids, and have so much fun. I like it for its simplicity of materials and a great ideas.
Keep a good job, Joel, and Thank you!

Crafty parents– part 1

I get really inspired by reading  the stories of crafting parents. How they stay creative, run own business and keep they everyday life on track.
Today I want to present :
Kajsa Wikman  from Helsinki, Finland, she is a owner of  beautiful Syko Design.
Her firs book “ Scandinavian Stitches” is just published !
She said:
“Sewing is what I like most and is my full-time occupation since 2007. Things that inspire me: children's drawings and illustrations for kids, naive folk art, colours, materials, people and everyday life.”  You can read interesting interview with Kajsa  here 
and enjoy her work on her blog here