Spoonful of Imagination

Add it to a Family for Something Beautiful

What I Noticed From My Social Media Break

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Hello friends!

Most of you probably know that we have closed our non-profit art studio this summer. With that big change, a lot of questions, comments, and feelings from within myself and from people came as a result.

Change can be tricky, right!? It is one of those layered things that can mix both beautiful and hard. I have found that during change is a tender season, which makes you really moldable. It’s all the more reason to protect what voices you listen too and how you invest your time. I knew for this season I needed to pull back from social media and be more present with those who know me… and more quiet to hear God’s voice.

I took two months off social media, and it was a great break. A few things I noticed:

I looked up a lot more. Have you found yourself saying you wish you had more time in the day?

I got so much more time back in my day when I went off social media. I don’t play games on my phone, so other than normal phone calls, texts, and emails, my phone is a camera. When I stopped using social media, my phone time went down from 5+ hours a day to less than 1 hour. I often would pick up my phone in an empty moment and realize I had nothing to do on it, so I would sit it down and go look to see what everyone else was doing. I’ve watched a lot of live basketball 🙂

I processed my own stuff a lot more. When our mind is full so are our emotions.

I found that not seeing and absorbing as much information, pictures, reels, videos, and content my mind was more freed up. I was able to think through my own thoughts, feelings, and emotions; as well as, have energy to do the same for those around me. As an ennegram 4, I am a big feeler. I can feel what others may be feeling in a situation. That can be considered a gift in a lot of social settings, but it also can be a big weight in processing and carrying things that were never mine to carry. In this time of not seeing others lives so upfront, I did feel a little lost at first. I quickly then got to really understand what I was carrying with closing a chapter of my life (with the studio) and where my kids ages and needs are today.

I focused on what I enjoyed. Take a picture of what catches your eye.

For the first time in years, when I scroll my phone’s camera roll, I see my family, experiences or things that I love. I had no pressure in this social media break to “market” something, or showcase the latest at the studio, yet I could be present in what I loved. As I still took a lot of pictures, I found myself reaching out to family more. Another added bonus, my growing teens were more agreeable to take pictures. They no longer had to worry ‘where was this picture going?’ or ‘who is going to see this?’. They knew their pictures were staying on my phone or going directly to family.

I was more present with those I love. We never outgrow the need for friends.

Without interacting with friends online, I found myself getting together with friends and family more. Sharing laughs over meals, drinks, sweat in the sun or swimming in the rain, I was creating real moments and memories of knowing and being known.

I did activities I enjoy! What things are life giving to you?

I love to read, be in nature, and create. You would think if I love it, I would do it more, but life is so busy. As I had more time in my day, I found myself reading more. I also planted flower bulbs and tomato plants. I even re-did a room in my house that started with pulling up the carpet! As I created time in my day to do things with my hands that I love, I was reconnecting with things that build me up.

Life can feel so urgent. The pressure to see something when it happens, to “be in the know” and to respond to messages immediately can create days that feel like riptides pulling you through. What I noticed when I said no to social media, I was saying yes to living intentionally and life just moved slower.

It’s ok to rest. We were all made to have seasons in life just like there are seasons in the year. Some years are more obviously producing and some are more restful (or work behind the scenes) in nature. I hope if you feel a nudge to step back and take a social media break that you too can make it possible. Time goes so quickly as I can clearly see in these time lapse photos of when we opened the studio and when we closed it five years later.

Thank you for all the support. Remember, you can imagine the possibilities! We only have one life. Go out and creatively live it!

_____________________________

 

What does a Nature Shelf Collect?

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Time is going so quickly.

Can you relate? Nothing makes you feel the years slipping by quite as much as having a high schooler.

As I process my kids quickly getting older, it has me reflecting on what things I do with my time, how we interact as a family, making memories, and doing things that make our spirits full of purpose and JOY.

Two things that I love are playing with my family and being in nature.

There is something so special when that combination intersects. Times slows down. I have always loved collecting little sticks, shells, leaves and bits from my time outdoors. As a kid, I used to ask to go on family hikes for my birthday celebrations. Being in nature takes me back to my roots and smooths the stress of the world for a bit, so when I come out of it, I am better for it.

One day, I had this idea of creating a nature shelf. I was staring at this little shelf in my kitchen holding pictures and art and thinking how special it would be to have a nature version. I pictured a shelf dedicated to holding small things collected out doors, yet I knew it would be collecting so much more than just those treasures. Let me show you what I mean.

I went to Hobby Lobby one day for paint and as Hobby Lobby can do, it had me wandering all the other aisles. I saw that wood shelf above and immediately recalled my need for a nature shelf, so I brought it home and played around with where it would go.

Since we are a family of artists, we don’t have a lot of empty walls in our house. The walls are full of our passions, creative processes and journeys of exploration in time and who we are. I view them as a living museum of us. But, I found a space for this new shelf. It would live in my art room. Right where I sew, paint my journals, and even type this message out to you.

A few weeks passed and nothing happened to my shelf, but then we left for spring break and guess what we found!?

We found shells! The first two days of our break, I sat in a chair happily just decompressing and watching my kids play and enjoy their youth. It was like my body literally was saying, “It’s ok to just be.” Then I found myself walking, reading, playing, and the shell hunt began.

I am an Enneagram 4 (a creative with all kinds of feels) so it’s probably no surprise that I now look back at these shells collected, and I remember the joy of the moment, the fun of the hunt, the youthful innocence in each of us as we shared the joy of new treasures with one another.

We had brainstormed best ways to collect, techniques to try as we waded through the cold waters, and light heartily embraced pain as broken shells hit our ankles in the hunt.




The shells are like souvenirs of memories made with my family. The nature shelf holds those shells and those memories on display.

This nature shelf represents me slowing down and making time to see beauty in the everyday ordinary things and the most of each moment. How often do we walk past a bed of flowers, blooming tree, or intricate stick and miss that extreme beauty because we are racing to our next thing? How often are we sitting with our people but not really sitting with our people?

I’m really excited to have this growing reminder to tell me to slow down, notice the everyday beauty and make more moments count with my family.

There’s lots of empty squares on this shelf. I can’t wait for summer and warmer weather to finally arrive, so I can do more fun outside with my people. My shelf treasures will grow as a result as well.

What about you? What is a reminder you hold that allows to pull you out of the fast pace and make time for that inner child in you to play with your family? It’s never too late to start something new.

Do you want a nature shelf too? See my shelf come alive in this short YouTube video.

 

The shop is open!

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It’s been almost 12 years since this blog was born.

It began in the spring of 2009, as a way to update our extended family on our young, growing family. This was before apps and phones became the big way to stay connected that they are today. We had a 2.5 year old and a 6 month old and were getting ready to travel the USA as part of Matt’s job. One day I shared one of my crafts and thus was born the Spoonful of Imagination re-branded as a DIY blog. It was such a fun hobby/border line side gig for years.

In the spring of 2016, God gave me a vision of opening an art studio. It came out of a hard season of fostering two separate hurting boys, moving away from family, and landing ourselves in a new small town. Opening an art studio was nothing I had ever thought or dreamed of but after years of encouraging others to create through blog posts, videos within craft kits, and hosting ladies nights out of our house…it all made sense as the next thing. We opened the Spoonful of Imagination Art Studio in April 2017.

It felt like over night I went from a stay at home, foster, homeschool mom to an entrepreneur running up hill and scrambling to figure out how to be a working mom, a start up business owner, and an advocate for continually educating the importance of the creative process in our small mid-west town.

It was beautiful. It was hard.

It is fulfilling. It is confusing.

It is also everything in between.

We opened the art studio to exist to overcome boundaries and redefine art as a critical and healing component of community life. That is our fancy way of saying we help take away reasons why people might not be enjoying the creative process. It’s been a dream that only God could write. We are definitely still in the midst of running it and trying to figure out how it can best serve our community. I have learned a lot, yet I know I am still a work in process trying to lead a small, non-profit art studio.

Leading this studio through a pandemic was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but also one of the things I am most proud of. As we have come out and up of an extremely hard season, I have realized I need to re-exam priorities in my life and work less. Running the studio consumes a lot of time in my life, head and heart. A lot of parts of the gig is why I wanted to start it, but there are lots of hats and others parts that are not in my giftings and are extremely hard to carry. I’m lucky to have a job I am so passionate about, but even in all the good…it can be too much. That is what leads to burn out, and between you and me…I have been hovering on that line.

I have missed creating. This blog was born out of sharing my journey and creations, but I haven’t had a lot of time to create for the last four years. Opening an art studio and learning how to run it has been a lot, but the COVID-19 pandemic has taught me I need to make regular time to create and need more space away from my work.

My mental health and spirit are better and more balanced when I practice what I teach. So, I started creating again and then had things to sell again. One thing led to another and I was dreaming for me again. I was dreaming and it wasn’t for a workshop or for the studio, but it was for me in what I wanted to make or what I wanted to do. I felt my spirit awakening and life breathing into it. As a result, this little online shop of my creations is now back open.

It is my place to play. I aim to use recycled, inexpensive and creative materials to make things that spread love and joy in this broken world. I hope this shop inspires you to create, and maybe you find something you love!

Thank you for journeying with me and being here after all my years a way. If you too are weary from work, I hope you will do the work of finding time and space to do life giving, soul filling activities that breath life back into you. You are worth it!

Keep imagining the possibilities!

Launching a New Chapter

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We started blogging a little over 10 years ago. I know for sure because we started when I was pregnant with Jeremiah who turned 10-years-old a few months ago. It all started as a way to stay in touch with our family and friends while we were spending a lot of time on the road. In between my family updates, I started posting Friday Project Spotlights as a way of sharing simple DIY craft projects for my friends to do with their kids. With no attempts to market these posts, somehow they picked up a groundswell of momentum. Before I knew it, hundreds of people were tuning in each week to craft with me. We rebranded from our family blog into Spoonful of Imagination and those hundreds became thousands. It’s so humbling. Truly. As someone who struggles with dyslexia and the fear of stringing words together, it never stops surprising me that people keep showing up.

This blog has stretched me to grow and try things that I would have never ever imagined. Matt and the kids have gone from cheering me on to becoming my partners in this platform. They have helped me write, build, take pictures, brainstorm, share my posts, develop craft kits, ship out items from our shop, and eventually build a non-profit art studio. What a ride!

But we are keenly aware that it would have never happened if it weren’t for you – our loyal friends, readers, and fellow creators of Spoonful of Imagination. Thank you. No seriously… THANK YOU!!!

As we’ve grown and our kids needs have shifted and changed, I’ve honestly put this space on the back burner for a while. For those of you who have felt that shift, I’m excited to announce that is about to change.

With Matt working full time in video and film production and me working full time at managing the art studio, we’ve both found that our creative energy is being poured out like never before. We are so thrilled and privileged to be able to help so many people and organizations create. What we have found though is that we need to have a creative project that is “ours.” Something that we can do together, as a family. That brings us back to here, Spoonful of Imagination.

Now, as an all-hands-on-deck team, we are working on putting together new content for you, our loyal friends and readers.

We will have new posts and DIY tutorials just like the one I posted the other day. But it’s better than that! Starting today we are launching (well kinda re-launching, but I’ll get back to that in a minute) a YouTube channel dedicated to Spoonful of Imagination vlog content!

This is something we’ve been talking about, dreaming about, and planning for months. Oh my goodness, let me start by saying, “RESPECT!” to all of the faithful YouTube creators out there. We have spent a lot of time studying other channels out there. We have learned so much from people like Peter McKinnon, Casey Neistat, Art Hub for Kids, Matti Haapoja, That YouTub3 Family, just to name a few… and we’ve decided to toss our hat into the vlogging ring. We have a couple of new videos on the channel now. You’ll also see some OLD videos. We decided to leave some of those up for memories sake and to serve as a reminder of how far we’ve come.

Here’s a quick introduction from Matt and me just sharing the heart behind the channel and our vision for what we hope to accomplish. It’s the most boring video we will create, we promise. After this, it starts to get super colorful and very fun.

Like everything we’ve always done, our desire is to help other people create. We believe there is life changing power in being creative and if we can encourage someone to add a Spoonful of Imagination to their life, then we consider that a win!

Here’s our first DIY Tutorial. Enjoy! Oh and as we’ve learned from our YouTube mentors, please subscribe to the channel, like the videos, and share with your family and friends. Your comments, likes, and shares have been the fuel that have kept this blog going for so long. We would be honored to have you join us in stoking the fires for this latest chapter of our journey!