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How to Support your Teen’s Creative Endeavors

April 4, 2023 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment


Watching my kids create has always been something I love. Before they could even hold a paintbrush, I was letting them play with paint. We would smash a footprint on something and I would turn into something else. We have all turned a handprint into a turkey around Thanksgiving at some point in our lives. As our kids grow and their interests change, their creative process may change. Teen’s will experiment in new creative endeavors, and I believe it is just as important to be present in these efforts, as we were when they were young. We can support our teen’s creative endeavors!

It may look different in the how we support.

When kids are young, some simple ways to encourage their creative efforts may look like…

  • Listen to their stories
  • Hang up their art
  • Watch the amount of screen time they consume
  • Make boredom possible, so they have to tap into their imagination
  • Provide supplies from paper and drawing materials to blocks or legos
  • Plan a project with steps
  • Get them outside to explore the woods and dirt
  • Be present in showing and demonstrating.

When our kids were younger, I had these frames that I could easily switch art out of. It was a constant changing museum in our home.

As they began to grow, they would have their own projects and ideas.

Once they start dreaming up their own ideas, you begin to become a little more of a questionnaire than the one leading the charge. Asking lots of questions gets them processing. Not all their ideas will work, but by asking questions and letting them start to play with an idea, allows your child to figure out on their own if something will work or not. That is embracing the process and letting them grow as confident decision makers.

I will never forget how Caleb painted a cityscape at our studio. It led into us hosting several cityscape sign workshops. He even lead one! Letting his idea develop into something that then inspired other artists and peers was pretty special.

I have to believe that supporting his creative endeavors at this new stage helped encourage him to keep experimenting and doing art.

We all remember when we started feeling like our art wasn’t good enough.

Do you remember that moment that you stopped creating for the process and fun of bringing an idea to life? You started creating and working towards a finished product only if you knew it would be amazing and it would be useful? So many stop creating because of the pressure they feel in creating and lose the freedom to tinker, learn, make mistakes, develop and take a risk.

One of our jobs as parents is to keep encouraging the process and supporting their creative endeavors as they grow.

As Caleb has grown, his love for basketball and shoes has only grown as well. He started drawing shoes, designing shoes, filming shoes and even painting his own custom shoes.

What began as an interest slowly grew into a hobby, and now it is a full blown business.

As Caleb’s dedication to this interest grew, we saw him investing time and his own money into it. Those are all signs that this is something that really matters to him.

My encouragement to you is to not necessarily buy the next piece of equipment the minute an idea is born from your growing teen, but keep asking questions and grow in the interest as they do.

We helped loft Caleb’s bed, so he would have more work space. It didn’t happen over night, but one step at a time.

Caleb says on his website, “I did my first custom a couple of years ago and loved doing it. Back then I had a cheap battery powered airbrush and a couple of colors. I’ve been working hard to upgrade my skills and my gear to professional grade tools. Every sneaker is an exciting new opportunity and I’d love to create some for you. Hit me up on the contact page or check out my Instagram.”

I still love to watch this kid of mine create.

Now, it’s not as much of me setting up a creative project and inviting him in. It’s more of me wandering to his room and watching him do it. The how we support our teen’s creative endeavors can change, but not the why.

A lot of the ways you support your young artists still matters as they grow.

Let them hang their art. Be present in the journey and listen to the stories. There are new ways to encourage their creative endeavors as well. My two biggest encouragements would be one, help invest in the equipment if you can. It can be lofting a bed, sharing your computer and camera, or even buying a stencil machine and spray gun. You can always get creative in how you give it. For example, wrap it up as part of their birthday present. Caleb got one of his paint guns as a Christmas present one year. 

Find a way to connect your interests together.

It’s important that your teen feels supported in their creative endeavors to feel the freedom to keep developing. The second way I think it is important to encourage your artist is to combine your interests and theirs together. Find it. It might not be obvious at first. That’s ok, keep looking. My latest way to connect Caleb’s interests and mine is taking the pictures he took of his shoe designs and turning them into greeting cards.

I have been on this greeting card creation journey, and what a fun way to connect his art with mine for a new card design. Not everyone may want a pair of custom shoes, but they may know someone who is a shoe fanatic and would appreciate a fun card so I listed them in my store.

We can support our teen’s creative endeavors.

The heart behind encouraging your artist, growing teen, and child is that you want them to believe that their ideas matter and the world needs what they got. Maybe those interests turn into a job someday, like they did for Caleb. We just don’t know, but the beautiful impact of embracing this creative journey together is you grow a deeper connection with someone who matters most to you.

I am going to be sharing more ways to connect with yourself and those you love most real soon. If you are interested in learning more, join my newsletter today so you are the first to hear about it! 

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Why Writing Greeting Cards Still Matters

March 31, 2023 By Erica Deuel 2 Comments

 

Do you love receiving snail mail? Like an actual fun piece of mail delivered to your mail box? We all get junk mail. That alone gets so annoying that I have moments that I wish all the mail would go away. Instead, I let that junk mail build up on my counter, before I do a deep purge. That I am guilty of! But, you know what gets opened up right away!? Any piece of mail that seems fun, personalized, and meaningful. This thought has gotten me to actually start writing greeting cards.

Greeting cards are an intentional act.

I have always loved making them, but I am leaning in to sending them more too. Connection to others matters. It breathes passion and fulfillment in us and our relationships. Yet, we often lose it from busyness, anxiety, responsibilities, and work. Can you relate?

One way to create a deeper connection with those you care about (especially those who live further from you) is to send greeting cards. It’s a powerful, meaningful way to say I was thinking of you and YOU Matter!

I’ve been on a mission to write 3-5 greeting cards every week this year. We need more happy mail. Through this new card writing habit, I’ve noticed a few things:

What a gift that we can use our time and words to encourage others!

It’s a crazy beautiful thing that it also builds into us!

New habits can be hard to start, so pausing to see progress and the good that is happening is so powerful. Would you like to join me in this mission to send more love and encouragement out? I’ve made a list of 26 prompts to get you started. 

Pick one prompt to write to several people in a week or pick a different prompt per a day to use for different people. The way you use this list is up to you! 

Fill out the simple form by clicking the button above, and we will give you the PDF download right away! 

Don’t stress that this is another thing to do.

Just add it as an option instead of scrolling on social media or sending a text. This is intentional, meaningful, and investing into relationships that you care about.

I do love making my cards.

If you don’t love making your cards, you could pick some up in my store or so many other wonderful places. The actual card is fun and special to receive, but what really matters is what you write on the inside.

Let me encourage you to be intentional with your words and to build into others! We are all fragile and going through something. What a powerful way to show someone you care about that you see them and they matter.

Send a greeting card today!

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Fireside Chat #1: Encouraging Creativity in a Family with Matt and Erica

February 7, 2023 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Creativity can be tricky in a family. As we talked about family values in a previous post, this conversation got Matt and I thinking more about the ways we prioritize creativity in our family. Join us for our first fireside chat, where Matt and I have a conversation about this and so much more. This is a new series we will be rolling out on Facebook, sharing on our YouTube and circling back here with more pictures. We hope you like it as we are excited to have this natural, connection to encourage you to imagine the possibilities with us!

What is a fireside chat?

Our heart with creating the Fireside Chat series is to be encouraging and open in how we view and do life. Let’s talk real and honest about life and the journey it is.

If you missed the first chat, you can re-watch the video here. We cover a lot of topics like the ones below. Feel free to jump to the topic minutes that most apply to you, if you don’t have time for the whole 25 minute show.

Topics:

  • The Spoonful of Imagination (2:13): How the brand began
  • Imagine the Possibilities (4:04): Going off path, opens up options
  • Reagan’s Room (7:15): She made her room bigger by taking away her closet
  • Learning new skills through risks (13:00): Lessons she has for life
  • The cost of creating (17:00): Learn that your ideas matter
  • How can you take a chance (18:00): Try something new
  • Create More Connection (19:45): Erica’s new course
  • Matt’s view on Erica’s course (20:14): Matt’s endorsement of the course


Favorite Quotes:

“This is our home. We get to live here. So, we need to do things that we get to enjoy.” -Erica

“Paint is one of the cheapest ways to change the atmosphere in a room.” -Erica

“She’s the healthiest I have ever seen her” -Matt (talking about Erica)

“It’s a life skill to try something, it not work out, and be able to adapt and keep going.” -Erica

Takeaway to Apply:

How can you (in your life and/or parenting) take a little risk, take a chance, and imagine the possibilities of something different and grow from it?

We are cheering you on and know that the world needs what you got. If you loved this Fireside Chat, check out my second Fireside Chat with my creative accountability partners, Jonna and Shannon. It’s all about the power in linking arms-even when on separate journeys.

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Spoonful of Imagination Freebies

February 2, 2023 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Hi Friends! 

Erica from Spoonful of Imagination here. Do you ever find yourself feeling stuck in the creative process because “finding the time to start AND finish” can be tricky!? Kids have no problem creating, and we can re-learn a lot from their playful spirits. Being young at heart is a lifestyle that we have to practice.

Thank you for finding my little part of this great, big world. It is my goal to encourage YOUR creative process. You can imagine the possibilities and create the life you want, while connecting to others. Let’s have some fun. Please browse these freebies. Try one, try them all! I hope they can jump start your own creative endeavors. If you love it, it would mean the world if you shared this page with others.

It will ask for your email to get the download. Please know, that I don’t ever do anything with those, other than send you my weekly letter on Tuesdays. It’s full of tips, inspiration and pictures to my creative lifestyle, so you’ll want that anyway. Now, let’s get creating!!

Imagine the possibilities, 
Erica

Let's Get Imagining.

What is it: 

Vision Board Workshop: This video lesson walks you through what is a vision board, why they matter, and how to get started on creating your own.

Watch it now!

What is it:

Collaborative Art Game: Erica is showing you how to create and play one of our most popular art games in this video lesson. It encourages teamwork, play, and FUN!

Watch it now!

What is it:

The Best ‘All About Me’ Form:

Maybe you filled out a get to know you form in elementary school. Do you know what you listed as your dream job? Most ‘About Me’ forms I see these days ask kids what they want to be when they grow up.

What if they grow up and get that job, and they are miserable? There’s better, exploratory questions to ask.

That’s why I created a new kind of form that is all about encouraging kids to see this as a journey in learning about themselves and an exploration of things they care about.

Download it now!

What is it:

Quick Checklist of Ideas:

This list is a quick imagination starter. Imagining the possibilities is part of the creative process. It’s a skill you learn and practice. These quick, little exercises open up a new loop in our brain and can set us up to have a more playful, imaginative day.

Download it now!

What is it:

Free craft tutorial for kids:

In this lesson, Erica walks your artists through how to create their own paper lion. It’s fun, interactive, and encourages options!

Watch it now!

What is it:

Free plan to throw the best art parties: I’ve been throwing professional Art Parties for over 15 years. Today, I want to give you my checklist and roadmap on how to do it! You can create a FUN day, and I can help prevent the stress.

Download it now!

Thanks for letting us help you imagine the possibilities.

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