The Wonderful Words for This Wednesday are ‘School Supplies’
Does anyone else LOVE this time of year when you go to the store and there in front of you, in all of its splendor, is the school supply section?
You behold shiny new markers, pencils and pens of all kinds, sizes, and colors, erasers (new and interesting shapes every year!), rulers can be bendy or solid, clear, sparkly, or wooden, short or foot long. And then there’s the cases in which to put all of these beautifully smelling new supplies! You smell them too, right? NO? Your loss! And then there’s the paper and the PeeChees and Trapper Keepers… oops, I think that may have dated myself, but you get the idea.
It really doesn’t matter if you have kids in school or not, THIS is the time to replace worn out pens, pencils, and notebooks and get your school or office supplies all freshened up and organized.
Pro Tip: for regular #2 pencils, the very best is Ticonderoga. Don’t get the lesser #2 pencils – life is too short for that!
Personal Side-bar
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been quiet for awhile as we took the time to move from Bellingham to Seabeck and get our house in Bellingham ready for our renters. We are getting pretty settled in now in our new home and this week I registered the kids for their new school. I’m ready to get back into a normal routine and schedule (as much as one can!).
One of my favorite routines is sending these ‘Wonderful Words’ each Wednesday to YOU! So let’s get back in touch, shall we?
Here is a piece of news that has happened in the last few weeks…. I got a job! It’s a teeny part time job but I’m very excited about it. I’ll be teaching Level 1 and Level 2 art to kids on Saturday mornings through the Kitsap Art Center. Check out their site! And if you live in Kitsap County and have kids between the ages of 5 and 12 who love art, get them signed up for Saturday mornings (or any other day of the week). Thank you for hooking me up Kathy!
Back to the School Supplies
So, with kids going back to school and sports, and a new job on the schedule, I got out my new planner and my new Gelly Roll pens and proceeded to lay out the next few months. As I opened each pen and turned each new page in my planner, my creative self started to emerge from the depths. There is something about the tactile activity of filling out a planner with fun colors, handwriting, and doodles. Furthermore, you don’t feel guilty about the time you spent doing it because you’ve got to have a calendar!
Here are some ways to be a full blown grown up but still use school supplies like kids:
- Pick a different color pen for each month and fill in the basics with that color. I use a pencil for everything else as not much goes into the calendar in pen these days!
- Use a ruler and make a little banner around the month name.
- Doodle month or holiday specific things around each month’s page. If there’s nothing too special about a month, just add vines!
- Use colored pencils to lightly color a background image over the whole month. Examples: mountains, sunset, beach/ocean etc.
- Keep your planner specific supplies in a favorite zipper pouch with your planner at all times. My pouch includes my black fine liners, Gelly Roll pens in various colors, my favorite mechanical pencil, a white eraser, and a small clear ruler.
What are your favorite school supplies? Do you stock up this time of year? Have you gotten your planner all filled out for Fall? If you haven’t been getting to your creative practice lately, filling out your planner is a great way to ease back into your creative practice and new ideas will start to spark.
Happy planning and playing art friends!
Kimberly Snider, Virtuoso, Signing off
For link to all the things, go HERE