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Creating a site and a mailing list
First of all, I would like to say that I am one of those who think that having a website and a mailing list is something mandatory when you want to be an indie author. And yes I know that there are a plethora of sites that talk about how to create a site and its mailing list. What I want to talk to you about is what no one is telling you. When I decided to make my site, (the one on which you are reading this post) and create a mailing list, I skimmed author sites, mainly in English, because, I do not know why, English speakers are…
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Fun activity: self-hardening dough
Self-hardening paste is an alternative to salt dough. Because the problem with salt dough is that you can quickly do modeling, but after that you have to wait a long time, or even bake it in the oven. And if your children are like mine, waiting is not really their thing. But here, with the self-hardening dough, they wait BEFORE starting. So it doesn’t feel like waiting. This dough still requires the presence of an adult at the beginning, because it has to be heated in a saucepan. What you will need: 1 glass of cornstarch (or mazaïna) 2 glasses of baking soda glass of water Water-based paint to paint…
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Painting activity, or how to paint like Mondrian
Here is a fun activity to transform our little plant monsters into painter’s seeds; Mondrian, roughly speaking, is that: So, how do you make a painting “à la mondrian”? Nothing’s easier. You’ll need, 1) Take your sheet of paper, and glue lines of scotch tape in a geometric fashion, leaving a little protruding outside the sheet. 2) Paint the spaces left free 3) Peel off the tape before the paint is completely dry. 4) You can paint the lines black or leave them blank 5) Admire the work This one if from my 9 year old daughter: And there you have it, a nice little activity to do on rainy…
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Creating a picture book with InDesign
I got the illustrations from my illustrator. I’m super happy about it. Now it’s just a matter of creating the picture book. Just a matter of … Since I decided to do everything myself to reduce costs, but seeing that I want my album to be as professional as possible, I still invested in the InDesign software which is the one everyone uses to create books. And now, I say, thank you to Youtube and all the tutorials on how to use this software. Thank you to all those illustrators who took the time to explain how it works and how to successfully work on this software. Just type “How…
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An Aquarium in your home
Without the mess and the cleaning. Sounds fun? Here is how you can do it. If you don’t feel like having a real aquarium in your home, but your kids are asking for one, this is a cool activity that everyone can agree on. A do-it-yourself aquarium. What you will need. 1 box of morning cereal, or other container. Paper Markers and water-based paint Thread and tape Some small pebbles 1) Cut out one of the long sides of the box to form the aquarium. 2) Paint the background in blue, and the floor in green. 3) Cut small fish of different sizes and shapes out of paper. They can…
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90 days planner
I found myself in a kind of technical limbo, not knowing how to move forward. Because yes, I have my goal, to publish books, sell them and make it work. But it’s a bit vague as a plan, anyway, I just didn’t know what to do. Because it’s all well and good to want to sell books, but how? How do I successfully reach my audience, and who is my audience? In short, the more I thought about moving forward, the more I found myself faced with questions piling up and the more I felt like I was throwing my arms around and wasting energy for nothing. I came across…
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Another Stroll with clues
What I love about living in Paris, is that the city is beautiful. So you can, for absolutely free, see beautiful things everywhere. Now if your kids are like mine, walking for the sake of walking is boring, it stinks, it hurts your feet, it’s useless. But walking to find clues and have to scan them in a smartphone, now, suddenly it becomes something cool to do. I’ve discovered this app which is truly fun. Furthermore, there are walks all over l’Ile-de-France. So you walk, you learn stuff and you have a good time with your kids. What’s more to ask? For the app, click here. We did the one…
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Play-doh recipe
So, yes, I know the net is full of play-doh recipe, but as I’m sharing here what I love to do with my kids, I thought I might as well share my recipe. Again, this recipe is simple, easy to do and doesn’t take hours to do. INGREDIENTS Mix: 1 cup Flour ½ cup Salt 1 tea spoon Vegetal Oil 2 tea spoon Baking Soda 2-3 drops food coloring ( optional) Boil 1 cup Water Mix the water with the flour Be careful not to let your kid deal with boiling the water or pouring it. you also need to take a wooden spoon to…
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A stroll in Paris
So, lock-down being what it is, it’s difficult to find fun things to do. Plus it’s starting to be sunny, so we all feel like going out, and the kids needs to move even more, if that’s possible. So here is a fun stroll that I did with my ten year old daughter and she loved it. The Parisian “passages”. These are covert pedestrian shopping arcades that dates from the late eighteen and nineteenth century. There are quite a few in Paris, but I suggest you go and do the simplest route. And by doing that you’ll also see the most beautiful ones. Go out, Métro Cadet, ligne 7. In…
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Cooking with the kids: chocolate cake
If your kids are anything like mine, they love cooking and baking. It must be the authorized mess that appeal to them. But if you’re like me, uber complicated recipes that last for hours, it’s boring. Or worse, recipes where something that you never ever have in your cupboard is required. I like when it’s simple and good. Of course, because clearly if a beautiful cake that makes your mouth water ends up being dry and unsavory, this is just too much of a downer. So here is the recipe of a chocolate fondant that is simply marvelous. It’s easy to do. If you whisk the egg white, it’s better,…