SouleMama Sponsors ~ Artterro

Today, we bring you a giveaway from SouleMama Sponsor, Artterro. In Forrest Espinoza's words:

"Artterro Eco Art Kits inspires creativity with gorgeous, natural materials—wool felt, recycled handmade paper & more. We make it easy to unplug and enjoy art with family & friends! Assembled by hand in WI.

We love getting to know our customers on our Facebook page. "Like" us to stay in touch"

SouleMama: Tell us about the beginnings of your business.

Forrest: I was inspired to start my business after a frustrating shopping experience. I wanted to find a fun arts & crafts kit that I could do with my young son. I had always loved making art with beautiful natural materials and wanted to find a kit that was affordable and easy so we could make gifts together. After searching everywhere (I really mean everywhere), I thought, if I'm having this problem then there must be other parents with the same issue.  I created my first kit soon after. A couple years later I found my business partner Jen, who shares my passion for art, creativity and family life. We now have twelve products that we assemble by hand here at our Madison, WI office.  We sell them to specialty stores all over the US and Canada, and directly to customers from our web store.

SouleMama: Tell us what you envision and dream for the future of your business.

 

Forrest: We dream of a company that continues to help people tap into their creativity with easy and fun products for all ages and all abilities. We have many ideas for new kits in the works so stay tuned! We also look forward to growing our art outreach efforts in the community and our sustainable business mentoring work. We have so much we would like to do, but we also want to create balance in our lives and the lives of our employees. I hope many of your readers join our Artterro community and like us on Facebook (and/or Twitter and Pinterest) we would love to hear their thoughts and suggestions.

 

SouleMama: What advice do you have for people wanting to be more creative?

 

Forrest: It’s so important to make creativity convenient and easy! For busy families, it can seem like a huge undertaking to plan a project, get the supplies, clear a big work space, supervise and clean up. That’s why I recommend stocking a mini art supply area that’s easily accessible to kids, like a low shelf in the kitchen or a bin under the coffee table. That way kids can grab what they need to draw or collage without needing help. Here’s a good starter list: blank and colored paper, pencils, scissors, glue, tape, crayons and recycled materials like magazine pages, newspaper and small cardboard boxes. You can also keep an actual folder or a virtual Pinterest board stuffed with easy project ideas from magazines and blogs. For adults who want to be more creative, it’s always a good idea to start small, with one project that you work on for a little while everyday. I have a little “mobile art station,” which is just a bamboo tray with a nice lip around it, where I can keep a knitting project or a beading project, moving from the dining room table to the couch as needed without having to pack and unpack a bunch of materials each time I work on it. I love crafting with a TV show on in the background, or while my kids are busy with a board game. The key is not having to go out of your way to grab a little relaxing, creative time to yourself. 
 

 

For today's giveaway, Artterro is generously offering the following gifts to THREE winners:  

~ Set of the following three kits!

 Wool Felt Bug Kit: Fun and easy to sew, colorful wool felt is perfect for making one-of-a-kind creepy-crawly friends. Ribbon and beads make great wings, eyes and antennae. Makes up to 7 fuzzy art bugs. Ages 7 and up.

Canvas Storybook Kit: Explore your story with fabric art! Combine gorgeous hand-dyed batik and solid cotton fabric with ribbon, beads, and artist quality acrylic paint to illustrate a unique canvas book. Sew or glue fabric shapes onto the 6x8 inch pages. Multiple award winner! Ages 8 and up. 

Art Journal Kit: Artterro teamed up with Strathmore Artist Papers to create the Art Journal Kit, a unique product for budding artists to easily explore their creativity through art journaling. Artists of all ages can learn fun doodling, drawing and collage techniques with inspiring materials. Available in 5 fun colors!

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In addition, Artterro would like to offer SouleMama readers 20% off your entire order at www.artterro.com through December 16th, 2013. To receive the discount, enter " SOULEART20 " at checkout. 

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To enter today's giveaway, please leave a comment (one entry per person, please) in today's post. I'll close comments by 8 am EST on Sunday, and announce the winners, chosen via Random Number Generator, shortly after. Comments closed! The winners are...

How nice for Christmas, thank you!
Posted by: Mama Nuru

What an exciting offer! Love their products!
Posted by: Linda

would love a chance to win - my daughter would LOVE this for Christmas!
Posted by: Jaime

Thank you, Artterro!