Creativity

Last week I spent 4 wonderful days at a workshop on Children's Creativity, at the gorgeous Tauhara centre above the shores of Lake Taupo. The workshop was run by Pennie Brownlee, an amazing woman who's had years of involvement with Playcentre and has an absolute passion for understanding and encouraging children's development. She has a particular interest in children's creativity and is the author of a Playcentre published book entitled "Magic Places".

We were given a journal, pencils, pens, and lovely oil pastel crayons to work with and to keep, along with making finger paint, collages, and playing with clay. We sketched, we 'scribbled', we created, we learned so much, we laughed, we sang, we danced, we ate the most marvellous food. It was a much needed break from the noise and busy-ness of ordinary life, and I loved it. Mind you, I haven't put any new sketches into that journal yet. Sigh.


On the way home at sunset, we stopped on the Desert Road and took pictures of Ruapehu and Ngaruahoe. I don't think I've ever seen the snow so low on Ruapehu, and Ngaruahoe was wearing a cloud cap - so beautiful!

I am so, so lucky

Well, I can hardly begin to say how lucky I feel today. A parcel arrived from the US, from my "I ♥ Paisley" swap partner - thank you so very much Linda!
Inside were the most amazing things. A huge tote bag for me, made from bright, beautiful paisley fabric. It's so vibrant, you can't possibly feel anything but cheerful carrying it. Also in the parcel were two wee tote bags, one for each of my girls, with all sorts of other goodies tucked inside. And shrinky-dinks! which you can't get here! I feel really spoiled.

I'll try and post pictures of the beautiful things once the sun comes out again, which may not be for a few days. Ugh. Meanwhile, I'm posting a pic of my Paisley swap parcels, although not entirely everything was wrapped up, so it's a sneak peek at what I made.

So yesterday I posted that parcel off for the Paisley swap, and a postcard for the hand-made postcard swap went off to Portugal. Now I'm feeling "swap anxiety" about them. Nervously waiting for them to arrive ...