Category Archives: Educational Posts

Looking to learn a little bit about something? Then click here!

Oodles of Doodles

Posted on by
2

Doodles_0002Did you ever get in trouble for doodling on your school work when you were a kid?  I certainly did! The funny thing is that no matter how many times I was reprimanded I couldn’t give it up. And today, I doodle just as much.

According to Wikipedia the definition of doodling is this:

“A doodle is an unfocused or unconcious drawing made while a person’s attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes.”Doodles_0004Doodle_0001If I am at meeting or required to do any form of auditory learning, my compulsion to doodle is irresistible. My childhood impressed upon me that doodling was bad but recently I discovered otherwise:

According to a study published in the scientific journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, doodling can aid a person’s memory by expending just enough energy to keep one from daydreaming, which demands a lot of the brain’s processing power, as well as from not paying attention. Thus, it acts as a mediator between the spectrum of thinking too much or thinking too little and helps focus on the current situation. The study was done by Professor Jackie Andrade, of the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, who reported that doodlers in her experiment recalled 7.5 pieces of information (out of 16 total) on average, 29% more than the average of 5.8 recalled by the control group made of non-doodlers. (Thanks again Wikipedia!)Doodles_0003Doodles_0008In light of those statistics I say > DOODLE ON!!!

~MichelineDoodles_0006 Doodles_0009

 

 

 

 

 

Busy Bees

Posted on by
Reply

Bee_smallMost of us complain, “I’m just so busy!” We often use the expression “busy as a bee” or “ants in your pants” to describe our incessant activity. But how much does our busyness really compare to that of a bee or an ant?

Apart from producing one of the sweetest nectars on earth, bees are essential to pollinating our ecosystems. If bees were to stop their “busyness” it would negatively impact all of us. Pollination helps preserve our natural forests and wildflowers providing the seeds, fruit, and nuts that sustain wild animals. Pollination of our own vast food supplies sustains us. Our very survival relies on these tiny, magnificent creatures.Paint-2a_smallAnts are equally magnificent; they turn over and enrich the soil more than earthworms, they spread seeds, pollinate plants and control the pest and spider populations. Additionally, they keep the environment clean by consuming dead animals and they themselves are a food supply for many other species.

In all honesty I can’t profess that my “busyness” even remotely compares to that of a bee or an ant. While much of my time is spent caring for my family and community, in all honesty I take on a lot of things that actually reduce the time I have to spend on the people and things I care about.

I suppose the issue isn’t necessarily our “busyness” but instead it’s what we are busy doing.

~ MichelineSpring_2011_17_smallIMG_8178_smallMy Father-in-law found this spectacular “Ant Castle” last year. It has roads winding round and round – all the way up to the top!

Best Foot Forward

Posted on by
Reply

Thom is excited about putting his costume together for Halloween. (Actually, he’s been excited since July but that’s just how he rolls.) Thom has always loved to dress up –at any time of year—and when he does, he expects the world to sit up and take notice.

And on this particular day, three years ago, everything about the eight-year-old Thom-ster demanded his father to take notice. (Well, almost everything…)

Thom strode –very intentionally—into the kitchen early one Saturday morning. He waited for Dad to take notice; waited for the nod of admiration and respect he knew his attire commanded.

Photo Credit – ZEROCHAN

Thom was after all the embodiment of Star Wars’ commanding villain, Darth Vader.

Check out the mask & voice simulator on > Squidoo

True, the body of his costume was by definition a polyester onesie. But his cape, long and dark and impressive, covered most of that. Besides, his helmet was the full meal deal complete with voice simulator box.

Thom’s stance was formidable. In his right hand he brandished the appropriate red light saber. Voice simulator on, his every breath echoed menace. Still he waited.

Impatient, Thom finally blurted, “Impressive. But you are not a Jedi yet”.

And it was impressive –Thom did sound rather Vaderish (in a decidedly Thom kind of way). Sadly, his Father’s reply did not acknowledge this fact.

“Dude, what’s with the bare feet?”

Thom looked down to witness his folly. Unfortunately Darth Vader just isn’t very intimidating when sporting small, bare, pink feet in place of highly polished, tough-guy black boots –especially when one’s polyester onesie doesn’t quite come to one’s ankles.

He’s even less formidable when he gets the giggles.

Happy Halloween to all the Vaders, ghouls, villains, superheroes, princesses and other creatures who’ll be roaming our neighbourhoods shortly. And please, don’t be barefoot!!

Be sure to check out the following link on Halloween safety: Halloween Safety Tips

~ Trina

 

Pyromania

Posted on by
2

Never put a 60-watt bulb into a 40-watt socket. Apparently it can be a fire hazard, as my favourite chandelier and I discovered a few years back.

Upon selling our home in Cranbrook I admit that I was a little sad my favourite chandelier wasn’t joining us in Creston. Perhaps that’s what possessed me to replace her ailing 40-watt bulb with the more powerful 60-watt version. At least I like to think it was that and not simply stupidity (carelessness, lack of fire-safety knowledge, etc).

Regardless of the reason, the loud crack and instant flames coming from my dear chandelier after a simple flick of her switch was enough to render me momentarily frozen –apparently I’m not the person you want around in a crisis. My husband Shane is the person you want around in a crisis and fortunately he was home at the time of my little, um, “incident”.

Emergency abated, we replaced our damaged chandelier for the new homeowners and brought her to Creston.

Why? Because I collect beautiful things; beads, crystals, bits of odd paraphernalia. As an artist, I just can’t help myself. I see their beauty and wait for the opportunity to spotlight it.

In this case, opportunity came in the form of one beautiful (albeit damaged) chandelier, my electrician brother-in-law, my assortment of collected bits ‘n’ pieces and some light brown spray paint.

The chandelier before and after.

And while I hope my photographs will inspire you to look for and encourage the beauty in all things (including people) I also want to do my part in encouraging ongoing fire safety awareness.

Fire safety and prevention was observed in Canada last week, October 7th – 13th and the following link contains important fact sheets you can download as well as some fun and educational children’s activity sheets: FIRE PREVENTION CANADA

~ Micheline

Mish Mash

Posted on by
2

One of Micheline’s newest creations – available in her Etsy shop.

A few weeks ago Micheline called me, excited about the idea of opening an Etsy shop. For those of you who don’t know, Etsy shops differ from shops like eBay in that they only sell items produced or upcycled by the shop owner.

For those of you who’ve followed our Whimsical blog you know that Mich is an artist. She draws and paints, does amazing photography and makes lovely jewelry. Me, I write.  I also sew –thanks to Micheline— and I like to decorate but that’s for future blogs so stay tuned. :)

Bottom line: Unless I want to start mass-producing cushion and duvet covers (and I don’t!) the Etsy store is pretty much Mich’s baby. My contribution? We’ll be selling our book Miss Emily Goes to Bat at the Etsy shop and Micheline let me name the store. (I am a writer after all, so I’ve got the cred).

As a writer, I love words. I love knowing where they come from, whom they’re related to and any little quirk they might have. Mishmash (yes, it’s one word but we took artistic license and broke it into two) has both interesting relations and a few quirks.  The word mishmash is what linguists refer to as a reduplicated word; where two syllables differ only by a vowel variation, like crisscross and riffraff. To me, that’s just fun.

In contemporary English Mish is not only short for “mission”, it’s short for Micheline –and Micheline is on a mission of sorts to bring art and beauty into people’s lives. And, as Mich confessed when I first approached her with the name, her childhood nickname was “Mish-Mashilene”. As Sheldon on the TV series, The Big Bang Theory would say, “Bazzinga!”

The origin of mishmash is late Middle English with a bit of Yiddish thrown in just for fun. (Well, not really, the Yiddish contribution is mishn, meaning, “to mix”). It’s first known use was the 15th century and it refers to a collection or mixture of unrelated things. It’s been around for about 500 years; it’s also got street cred.

The ultimate connection? Mich’s Etsy shop is a collection of, well, sort of unrelated things. I mean sure, you can make the argument that it’s all “art” but let’s not go there –it’s a lot more fun that way. :)

Another new & “yummy”Mich creation.

If you happen to be a word geek like me check out these interesting sites on etymology (the history of words):

http://www.etymonline.com/

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/history/index.html

http://www.krysstal.com/wordname.html

And don’t forget to check out Mich’s Etsy shop,

Mish Mash!

~ Trina

Rossland: Home of Skiing, Cycling, Hiking and —Crafting?!

Posted on by
Reply

For those of you who read Micheline’s recent blog on the grand opening of the Kootenay Child Development Centre you’ll know that my son, Thom, spent most of his time at the craft table there. When I finally went to collect Thom I met and thanked the host of the craft table, Darcee O’Hearn. Imagine my delight when I discovered that she, like I, is a local Kootenay author.

Minister Pierre Trudeau, 6-year-old Michel Trudeau – Photo by Andy Clark.

Darcee lives with her husband and son in Rossland BC. Some may recall Rossland as home to the youngest son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Michel Trudeau, who died tragically in an avalanche accident in 1998 at the age of 23.

Located high in the Monashee Mountains, Rossland is a Ski town that’s also known as the “Mountain Bike Capital of Canada” for it’s extensive biking trails –32 in all, covering 170 kilometers of alpine beauty. As an outdoor enthusiast it’s no surprise that Darcee, a former forestry worker, chooses to reside, write and craft there.

Photo Credit – Dan Barham

The Cover – click image to enlarge.

I purchased her book, the first of her Legends of the Forest series, Leonard the Larch for Thom. The story, illustrated by eighteen-year-old Ximena Abresch, is about a mischievous larch tree, Leonard, who wishes to have the best Halloween costume in the forest. The book also includes a hidden acorn on every page, craft instructions for how to make amber and fun facts about amber and Larch trees.

Darcee can often be found at fall fairs throughout the Kootenays. With a table full of forest artifacts, puzzles and interactive games she’ll be selling her book and putting her profits toward the next book in her series, Wendy the White Pine.

Please have look at Darcee’s beautiful book on her website >>> http://www.legendsoftheforest.ca/ Or on her blog darceelegendsoftheforest.blogspot.com.

And if your child is interested in being a tree for Halloween this year, check out National Geographic Kids “Cat Up a Tree” costume how-to @ http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/activities/crafts/costume-tree/

~ Trina

No. 3 and a Word of Advice (as Promised)

Posted on by
2

Thanks for tuning in again. As promised here’s assignment No. 3 and a word of advice on helping your kids with their writing awesomeness. I remind you however that my advice comes with no guarantees. There’s a high probability that my kids are responsible for their own awesomeness… ;)

Picture courtesy of Royal Books

So, No. 3 was an assignment for grade ten English. We’d been studying The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton. It’s a great short story set in some barbaric fantasy world where justice is left to fate. In the story a commoner is tried for the crime of loving a princess. At his “trial” his fate (and guilt or innocence) is determined by two doors. Behind one door is a maiden and behind the other is a tiger. If the guy chooses the maiden they are married on the spot. If he chooses the tiger, well I think you can guess the logical consequences of that…

Anyway, the princess discovers who the maiden is and which door she’s behind. Now the maiden is a rival of the princess and the princess has a bit of a jealous streak to boot. Obviously she’s not too thrilled with either door. But she’s promised to signal her lover which door to choose and finds herself pondering whether she’d prefer her lover dead or married.

The catch is that the story ends just as the guy opens the door. And we, the readers, never get to know what’s behind the door.

Photos Credit > redbubble

Okay, back to me. For some reason I was away from school on the day our book report was assigned. It was a straight-up book report we were given but for some reason I thought we had to write our own ending to the story so that’s what I did.

I don’t remember how my ending went except that I really tried to capture the style of Mr. Stockton, the author. Aside from mimicking his style I figured I’d leave the reader hanging at the end as well.

Photo Credit > Animals Wall Papers

There were some flaws in my assignment (not the least of which was doing the assignment wrong). For one I kept referring to a lion instead of a tiger. Despite the story’s imperfections I ended up getting the highest mark in the class. Guess I had a pretty understanding teacher –and maybe a really good reason for missing class the day the assignment was handed out?

I wish I could remember my teacher’s name because I’d love to thank him. If he’d failed me on that assignment I might not be writing today (or at least not writing with a whole lot of confidence). Lucky for Miss Emily and me he was an “outside the box” kinda guy.

So, encourage your kids to keep writing. When they’re younger, let them use “inspiration” from other sources. Encourage them to try on others’ writing styles –and remember that it’s okay for them to “write outside the lines” of your expectations. They just may surprise you with their awesomeness! :)

~ Trina

First (and Second) Works

Posted on by
Reply

Once again a blog post of Micheline’s has got me thinking –and writing. Perhaps she (or one of her faerie drawings) is my writer’s muse. Or maybe just my blogger muse…

Anyway, I thought since Mich shared her early artwork I would do the same with my writing. Not very original of me, I know but as you’ll read below, I draw my inspiration from wherever I can get it. :)

There are three school writing assignments that still remind me of the joy of writing and the pride of completion. I’ll share the first two now but I’ll have to leave the last for another blog ‘cause it’ll need it’s own page to explain. Besides, isn’t suspense one of the tools us writers rely on?

So, my first pride was a story I wrote in grade three or four. It was called The Million Dollar Egg. I don’t recall the premise (although I know I had one) but the story was about a giant egg filled with a million dollars that rolled into town.

I don’t recall the ending either (sorry) but I’m pretty sure the whole thing was “inspired” by some book I read. If my story rings a bell for you, let me know –I’d love to give the author kudos.

My second (and to my thirteen year old mind, biggest) achievement was a book report I did in grade eight on Gone With the Wind. The book report was several pages long (no double spacing).  Rather than summarizing the book I decided I’d retell the entire book in rhyme. I don’t recall the whole thing but the first verse is indelibly etched in my mind:

Scarlett O’Hara wore a low cut green dress
Though mammy was suspicious, she couldn’t care less
Her plans neatly arranged inside of her head
Were the result of many hours thinking in bed

Yeah, I know some of the rhythm is a little clunky, and technically speaking “were” should be “was” but man was I proud of that piece! I spent ages writing it and it was my first really ambitious endeavour with rhyme.

So that’s one and two for me. If you’re at all curious about No. 3, tune back in later. As an added bonus I’ll also include advice for encouraging your own kids as they write. I won’t promise results but I think it’s helped my kids with their writing awesomeness. Then again, they may just be responsible for their own awesomeness… ;)

~ Trina

All Things Art

Posted on by
2

This is the first time I’ve ever blogged in response to my partner, Micheline’s blog but having just seen her Hockey Night in Canada blog and painting, I just can’t help myself.

I’m lucky enough to have two of Mich’s original works of art in my own home, have attended art galas of her work and have ten years of family photos taken by her when she ran Ryckman Photography. I really thought I knew her!

I must admit that it’s nice to know someone as long as I’ve known Mich and still be pleasantly surprised by them. I’ve always considered Micheline a great talent but now I’m thinking she just might be the Don Cherry of the art world –or the Andy Warhol of the hockey world, lol!

And it’s got my wheels turning.

Elvis Presley by Alfred Wertheimer

I have an Elvis room (perhaps I’ll post pictures one of these days) and I find myself wondering, “Could Mich reinvent the “Black Velvet Elvis”? Or perhaps I could employ her talents in my den that hosts a number of replicated Egyptian artifacts. Perhaps Mich could do for King Tut what Warhol did for Marilyn Monroe…

Obviously the possibilities are endless. But I’d love to hear from you. Does anyone have an idea that we could put Mich to work on? I’d love to hear it if you do! :)

~ Trina

Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol

Hockey Night in Canada

Posted on by
2

I grew up in the 70s and 80s watching Hockey Night in Canada every Saturday night on CBC with my family.  My father grew up in Montreal, played hockey as a boy and even though he moved to BC as a young man he always remained a die-hard Canadiens fan. One would think that with this kind of heritage I would have caught a smidgen of hockey fever… alas I did not…

In addition to illustrating children’s books like; Miss Emily Goes to Bat, I also paint – not walls – but canvases. ;)   A couple of months ago I received a commission request to do a hockey painting. My client was an avid hockey Mom and she wanted a semi-portrait of her boys in uniform playing on the ice. Funny enough, I said no at first – I felt very hockey illiterate and I wasn’t entirely sure I could pull it off.  My client, however, was quite insistent (in a  sweet and encouraging manner) and I eventually agreed to the commission. I was nervous about doing this piece – typically I paint landscapes and so this one felt quite outside my box. I learned it can be a good thing to push yourself beyond what you think you are capable of… The painting turned out solid and my client loved it (which is the most important part!).

I have added a new section to our Whimsical Publishing blog called, ‘artist’s gallery’ and I am planning to post many of my illustrations, paintings and drawings there. So check back soon!

I gave my dad a call this morning to get an update on today’s hockey scene and apparently we are in the midst of the Stanley Cup Playoffs! (See how out of touch I am… har!) My dad says LA is in and now it’s between NY and NJ to determine which two teams play in the finals for the cup. Enjoy the playoffs folks!!! :)

~ Micheline