Craft-a-doodle

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In my quest to get those creative juices running again (and to push myself to draw by hand), I’ve been amassing stocking up on all sorts of books with drawing prompts and other creative exercises.

The stack has grown and I haven’t made a lot of headway through them, but my currentĀ favorite of the bunch is a book called “Craft-A-Doodle.”

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The FUN ART-ivity book

Here’s a nifty gift idea for kids this Christmas, courtesy of my friend Sana (aren’t my friends brilliant?!?): the FUN ART-ivity book!

Sana’s line of novelty products, ArteSana, encourages fun and creativity, and this book is her latest venture. The FUN ART-ivity book is a 100-page book featuring the freehand art of renowned children’s book illustrator Beth Parrocha Doctolero.

“I want kids to discover the simple joys of doodling & writing at the same time using their imagination or creativity,” Sana says. “This book taps the budding artist in every child and child-at-heart to show their creative and artistic talents.”

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Sticky tape and post-its

I’m an office slash art supply junkie, and I must confess that whenever I hit the bookstore,I spend as much time in the supplies section as I do browsing books. And I end up carting out a bagful of supplies I don’t actually need — from yet another set of soft paintbrushes, or a new set of markers, or a nifty paper cutter — but I can’t seem to help myself!

Two supplies I really need to constantly replenish, however, are sticky tape (I’m partial to the Tartan brand) and post-its. I use, maybe, a roll of sticky tape a week for covering books (of course, I also use plastic cover), removing sticky price tags, and other random tasks (taping down a half-eaten bag of chips, labeling items in the fridge — I scrawl on the tape with a marker, etc), while I use post-its for marking passages I like in the books I’m reading and making notes about them, as well as putting up everyday reminders on my computer station at the office.

I write about sticky tape and post-its because I just read two books about them: Transparent Tape: Over 350 Super, Simple, and Surprising Uses You’ve Probably Never Thought Of by Vicki Lansky, and the Post-it book Ideas that Stick: 222 Ingenious, Creative, Practical, and Simply Preposterous Ways of Using Post-it Notes.

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