Ebook: I Hear You

In 2019, my good friend Valerie and I, were sitting at an indoor playground at Funan. Our kids were having a playdate. And our conversation led to an idea. Valerie wanted to write a book about emotions and she asked me to illustrate it. We gave ourselves a 1-year deadline to complete it.

Little did we know that Covid will strike. But we spent 6 months in 2020 to edit and illustrate the book. And on 14th October 2020, we published the book in paperback. (Read the book reviews here)

Since 2020, we've sold about 1000 copies, given away a few hundreds and also donated many copies to the library. 3 years on, we've decided that to make "I Hear You" available as an ebook.

About the Book

I Hear You is a book about giving voice to a child's emotional world. It explores 8 emotions child might feel through the eyes of a snail.

The illustrations might look very raw and amateur as it was my first real project in illustrating a children's book. But most importantly it got the point across. And I love how 'snail's were inspired by Valerie's everyday life:

Nature and snails have a very special meaning for my family. It has almost become a daily routine whenever we walk past the neighbourhood garden. We will look out for snails resting on the walls, snails moving slowly on the pavements and snails climbing very carefully on the lamppost.

Every snail has an emotion to inspire you to slow down to hear your child's emotions. Slow down like the snail. There's homework to complete, dinner to be finished and bedtime's coming. Slow down a little to hear your child's emotion. Every behaviour has an underlying emotion that wants to be heard and acknowledged.

This is a story for children, parents, educators. And even for adults. Adults who were never given that emotional validation as a child.

Ebook now available for purchase

• PDF file download: https://ko-fi.com/s/f31caf53e1

• Most major digital book platforms like kobo and overdrive: https://books2read.com/u/4EN0az

Get the ebook today to engage and connect with a child's emotions (and your emotions)!

P.S. If you still prefer a hardcopy, you can borrow the book from any Singapore National Library Branch. Or if you would like to make a bulk order to give them out to clients, students or community groups, do reach out to us at cartwheelssg@gmail.com

Dahlia Flower Card @ Gardens By the Bay

On 14th January, we had a lovely time painting at the Flower Dome @ Gardens By the Bay. Organized together with THIRTYTWOCM, this was CARTWHEEL's first art workshop conducted in the gardens (technically still indoors) and for walk-in participants. Inspired by GARDENS BY THE BAY annual Chinese New Year floral display Dahlia Dreams, participants got to create a Dahlia Flower Card.

Dahlia Flower Card Painting At Flower Dome Gardens by the Bay

We explored creating a mixed media artwork

In this mixed media art activity, we explored creating a colourful blended background using scrape painting techniques with tempera paints. On this beautiful painted paper that we created, we painted a dahlia with sumi ink.

Dahlia Flower Card Painting At Flower Dome Gardens by the Bay

Dahlia Flower Card Painting With Sumi Ink

Dahlia Flower Card Painting with Sumi Ink

A Process Art Activity for All Ages

What moved me during the whole process was seeing people of all ages, from all walks of life, countries, coming together in one space to create art. There were grandparents bringing their grandchildren, a couple on a date, father and daughter one-on-one time outing, and so on. It was truly an art activity that is suitable for the whole family, all ages, children to seniors!

The beauty and safety of the gardens also played a part in inspiring us in the expression of our creativity. This is what process art is all about. Creating everyday, everywhere, just enjoying the process and exercising our creativity.

Dahlia Flower Card Painting At Flower Dome Gardens by the Bay

Learn to paint a Dahlia Flower Card at home

The painted dahlias were inspired by the ball and pompon dahlia types, you can try this out on your own with any kind of paint! I like sumi ink because it flows smoothly and it also dries fast. Kids think this looks very easy, adults think this looks very difficult. But it's all about exercising your creativity!

Dahlia Flower Card Painting Materials

What do you need to paint a Dahlia Flower Card?

1. A5 cardstock / watercolour paper / drawing bloack paper

2. Tempera paints. I used the IKEA MALA Paints because I love how vibrant the colours pop.

3. A plastic scraper. You can simply use an old credit card or a dough cutter.

4. One small round tip paintbrush.

5. Sumi ink. I bought them at this link (amazon affiliate)

6. Dahlia Flower Drawing Guide (click here to download for free)

How to Paint a Dahlia Flower Card

This is an optional step, but before you begin, you can use masking tape to tape the edges of the paper to create a frame. Dot some paints over the card and then use the plastic scraper to scrape the paint from the top to the bottom. Follow the drawing guide, dip your paintbrush into the sumi ink and paint the dahlia on the painted paper. When you're done, gently remove the masking tape from the paper and you've a beautiful dahlia flower card!

You can also view the process in our video reels at our IG page:

Pom Pom Dahlia

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cn1q66OjvA4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Single Dahlia

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnMhOzGDY6w/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Gather a friend or two over tea at the comfort of your home to make these Dahlia Flower Cards. They would make wonderful greeting cards for special ocassions! Tag us at @cartwheelssg or #cartwheelssg to show us your creations!

Easy Kindness Rocks Painting

Last December Holidays, the kids and I got down to a project that we've done before many years ago but I decided to re-visit it since they've grown quite a bit and the youngest also hasn't done it before. It was December and it was the Christmas season so making kindness rocks was a great holiday activity to spread some kindness around the community. At CARTWHEELS, we believe in"meaningful creativity" and spreading kindness through kindness rocks is one way to express how creativity is meaningful.

What are kindness rocks?

A kindness rock is a small, painted rock that carries a message of encouragement or inspiration. These rocks can be placed in a park, on a hiking trail, or even left on someone's doorstep. The purpose of kindness rocks is for someone to find the rock and feel uplifted and inspired. He or she may even choose to pass on the kindness by leaving their own rock for someone else to find.

What do you need to make kindness rocks?

1. Rocks with a smooth flat surface. I bought a a few bags of them at a wholesale florist.

2. Posca Paint markers. I bought them at this link (amazon affiliate)

3. Fixative sealer spray (only if you're placing the rocks outdoor)

How to make kindness rocks?

I laid out the rocks and chalk markers on the table and explained to the kids that we were making kindness rocks to encourage people. I left it up to them to think of symbols and words. Then they got down to designing their rocks with the paint markers. When they were done, I sprayed the rocks with a fixative sealer. Do not brush the rocks with a sealant as the paint will smudge. Here are some kindness rocks ideas and examples:

I actually made a big decision to buy these POSCA Paint Markers. For a long time, I couldn't' bring myself to pay so much for art materials. We've been using a cheaper OEM version. I saw the paint markers on sale during Black Friday and decided to invest in them. Look at how vibrant the colours are! Even the kids could see the difference and refused to use the OEM ones. They also work great on fabrics and a variety of surfaces like glass as well. You can click on this link (amazon affiliate) to purchase them.

The best kind of process art activity is the ones that you can re-visit every few years and the kids still enjoy the process a lot. They were so excited to leave the rocks for someone to find. How about creating some kindness rocks to spread some joy, love and positivity in your community?