by Melissa McClain

Happy Thursday Scribblers! How’s your Scribble Jam going? Have you gotten your colors out and started using them? I can’t wait to see your scribbles!

So, I heard earlier this week from the cool Scribblers at Scribble Blog that it’s National Clown Week and I’ve been following along with the celebration of the clown. It seemed natural to write something fun and creative about the clown today, but…

…Authentic blogging moment…

When I was a little girl I was REALLY afraid of clowns!!

I know it’s silly. It was just a doll and clowns are cute and fun…but irrational fears are real fears. We all have them, and so do our kids. So I decided to use this opportunity to work with my fear and find a creative way to clown around on the post today and move past the fear. After I thought about it, I was inspired by the color red and shapes.

A close-up on a metal sculpture creates shape and color fun. Red and turquoise balloons would make great balloon animals!

Clowns always have fun red hair and big red lips. Their clothes usually have fun colorful shapes and they make those really silly characters by twisting balloons into different animals.

So in honor of the clown, let’s get creative with colors and shapes this week! Look around you this weekend and see how many red shapes you can find.

Shapes are everywhere! Circles remind me of the polka dots on clown pants. I found this fun image only a block from my house. You don't have to go far to get creative.

Take some pictures of them and post them on Scribble Blog or on the Facebook page. The more unusual the better! Get close. Create some intrigue about your subject. Make us guess what the shape really is.  Clowns are notorious for intrigue.

Clown around with your Scribble Jam and use red in your scribbles. Include some fun new shapes inspired by the clown.

Colors reflecting in water created great shapes and colors, a pop of red like the nose on a clown.

If you are feeling REALLY daring, buy some balloons and try your hand at CREATING your own characters through shapes and colors.

Inside of every fear there is creativity waiting to be tapped. What are you afraid of? What fears do your children have? How can you use creativity to overcome the fear and turn it into a creative game that turns fear to fun?

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Hello Scribblers!

It’s Scribble Jam Thursday! Have you been working on your Scribble Jam journal? I’ve been having a lot of fun so far. I’ve played with different colors, papers and ideas. Sometimes I make my scribbles when I feel like drawing, other times, my scribbles reflect how I feel. Today, I am at a special conference and I am having so much fun clowning around (I’m having a blast incorporating Clown Week into my daily adventures!). This scribble was inspired by all the smiles I’ve been seeing on the faces of all the other conference attendees.

A Happy Scribble

This silly face sprang from what I was feeling. That’s part of the joy of scribbling. Sometimes you may sit down with a piece of paper in front of you, and whether you sat down to draw or perhaps you’re scribbling while on the phone, you just start drawing something. You may not even be thinking about what you are going to draw but all of a sudden- there it is!

Here is something I thought might be fun to try, next time you are at a party or you are with a group of friends and you have a really good laugh, remember that feeling. As soon as you get a chance, sit down and scribble how that funny moment made you feel. You can use words, colors, pictures…whatever comes to mind! And then, BAM! You’ll get a new giggle from your happy scribble!

I’d love to see your giggly scribbles! Share them on Facebook and ask your friends to share their’s too!

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“I’m leaving on a jet plane today.  Over oceans, over mountains I am going to fly, in that big bird in the sky!”

That’s what I kept thinking as I was scribbling this morning.  It’s so interesting how when I have something on my mind, it comes out in a Scribble.  I’m leaving for the BlogHer conference in California, and I was thinking about all the fun things I would learn and do on my trip and that’s what I scribbled!

Up and Away!

I really enjoyed creating this one; there were some many little areas to fill with color.   I completely lost track of the time.  It’s important to take some time for yourself.   The scribble will make you smile….So Get Scribbly!

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Hello Scribblers!!

So here’s my first scribble that I did for our Scribble Jam! 

Days Up!

I’ve committed to doing a scribble a day for a month!!!  Do you want to scribble along too?

For me, there’s nothing better than a scribble.  It calms me, makes me smile and I’m always amazed at the images that come out through my fingers from my mind.   I love line and I love color so it’s all about creating lines that form shapes that I can color in!  I never really know what will evolve, it really depends on the way that I am feeling when I put my pen onto the paper and it just sort of happens.   My scribbles always seem to reflect my mood and what I’m feeling while I’m creating them.

This morning’s scribble is a really happy one. I’m calling it “Days Up!” because as I woke up this morning as the day was dawning, I remember thinking that it’s going to be a really amazing day.  I scribbled my daily scribble using a black Sharpie marker for the outlines and filled in the color with these awesome Copic markers.

Copic Markers

Would you like to get scribbley?  Take out your journal and a pen, pencil, crayon or whatever you like (or would like to try) and just start a scribble – close your eyes for a moment and keep scribbling.  You’ll be surprised at what can appear on your paper and even better how it makes you feel!  Don’t worry about how it looks; it’s all about enjoying the process.  So go ahead, join me and connect with your inner scribbler!!!  Enjoy!

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by Melissa McClain

Happy Thursday, Scribblers!  

It’s my first “official” day blogging for Scribble Blog and I couldn’t be MORE excited!  Guess what we’re launching today?

Scribble Jam!™

What, you might ask, is Scribble Jam?  It’s a creative activity just for you!  It’s an opportunity for you to get creative, have some fun, play with color, and connect with your “inner Scribbler”.  I know, I know…I can hear you now, “But I’m not creative.”  Or maybe you’re saying “I can’t draw.”  Maybe the thought of creating something artistic takes you back to childhood and an art teacher, classmates, or parent who belittled your artistic abilities.  Don’t go there!

Creativity Isn’t Learned, It Is Released

This isn’t about being an artist!  It’s not about doing it “right”.  THIS is about YOU.  Scribble Jam is about tapping into YOUR creativity in a new way and discovering what happens in your life because of it.  I listened to a wonderful interview with Brene Brown this week.  In it she talked about one of my core beliefs that everyone is creative, “but, there are people who use creativity…and people who don’t.”  If you’ve got it, you should use it.  Right?

Right!

Scribble Jam is your chance to get creative.  In the privacy of your home, office, local park, favorite coffee shop…wherever you want!  Here’s how it works and what you’ll need.

Make a Scribble a Day!

Make a commitment to set aside time just for you to get creative every day.  5-10 minutes a day to  connect with your thoughts and open your mind to creativity and new ideas. I Scribble first thing in the morning.  Before my day gets started.  It helps me set a tone for the day.

If you think you can’t find time to dedicate just for you then make it a family activity and get everyone Scribbling together!  Set a goal:  “I’m going to Scribble for…7 days, 14 days, 30 days.”  You choose.  I started this pledge for myself almost 60 days ago (it started as a 30 day challenge…it’s hard to let go of something so wonderful) and I’ve only missed ONE day!

Get a “Scribble Journal.”  This is great fun!  Your Scribble Journal is your private, creative oasis (unless you want to share of course…which I HOPE you do!).  It will hold all the thoughts, feelings, and ideas that you will be expressing creatively and colorfully.  Your Scribble Journal can be anything; a notebook, a sketch pad, or a bound journal.  Find something that inspires you and makes you feel special.  Purchase something new as a gift to your inner Scribbler.  My inner Scribbler LOVES to get gifts!

I use a 5 ½ x 5 ½” unlined journal with heavy paper.  It’s easy to carry around in my bag and the pages aren’t big and intimidating.

Excited yet?  Wait…there’s more!

Colors!  Of course if you are going to Scribble, you are going to need LOTS of colors.  Start with what feels comfortable.  My original Scribble started with crayons.  Then I moved to colored pencils.  Now I’m a pastel fanatic with the occasional mix of colored pencils.  Start with whatever you have available.  Markers, crayons, colored pencils…or go buy something new and exciting that you’ve always wanted to try.

Set aside Your Scribble Time and Start Coloring.  Start Expressing.  Get Creative!

Scared of the blank page?  I understand…I was too!  Just start with something,  anything…a shape…a line…a word!  There are no rules.  There is no right or wrong.  It’s just you and your colors and your thoughts.  If you ask me, the world needs a lot more of that!

Some of my early “thoughtful” moments in my Journal

I’ll be writing about the Scribble Jam  once a month here on Scribble Blog and sharing my own Journal pages…and even some of yours!  We’ll talk about the benefits of activating your right brain through the Scribble, inspiration that comes from sharing our Scribbles, and much much more.

I encourage you to share your Scribbles on the Scribbletown Facebook page or here on the blog. You can do this!  I know you can!  So start Scribbling!

"When you are brave, you make everyone around you a little braver." ~ Brene Brown

 Scribbles are inspiring. Sharing is brave!

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