Creativebug!
- Beth
- May 15, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: May 16, 2020
Creativebug is here! What? Should you be afraid? Is it running rampant in your house? No. Just kidding. Nothing to fear here. Just a lot of creative know-how and fun made available to you for free from the Clarkston Independence District Library. Creativebug is our new database of online video classes for our patrons who love to create, make or DIY. Creativebug is the surprise I hinted about in my last blog post. 😊
To get you started, here is a quick link to Creativebug to use now:
How will you find and access Creativebug on a regular basis? There are currently two links to Creativebug on our CIDL website, www.cidlibrary.org. The first, is from the homepage. You’ll find it in the carousel that’s just below the blue toolbar of options near the top of the page. As the carousel rotates, you’ll see some of the cool programs or services we are currently highlighting at the library. And when you see the picture for Creativebug, click on it where it says “find it here” and away you’ll go. You will also find Creativebug in our A-Z Database list, found under the Research tab on the blue toolbar of options.
Creativebug is, as I previously mentioned, provided to you free by the library. To use it, you’ll need your library card to log in. Type in your library card number, as well as your pin. This is the same pin you use to place holds at the library. As long as you’ve never changed it, your pin will be the last four digits of your phone number. You’ll then create an account using your email address and a password of your choice.
Go ahead and log-in and discover all the joys that are Creativebug! It has thousands of award-winning art & craft video classes taught by recognized design experts and artists. Whether you are looking to learn a new craft or brush up old skills I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for here.
As you can see from the class list above, Creativebug offers instruction on many of the most popular crafts such as knitting, crocheting and sewing. But, there's so much more here to satisfy your creative moods. Are you interested in help with a DIY project around the house? You’ll find that in the FOOD + HOME section. Creativebug can help you plan a party or decorate for any occasion or holiday. If you are striving to bring out your inner artist, then check-out the ART + DESIGN section. There you’ll find how-tos for drawing, painting, textiles and so much more.
Do you have children or grandchildren that are makers as well? Creativebug also offers video instruction for them. To help you pick age-appropriate crafts, they are categorized as crafts for kids five and up, and also ages eight and up. What are quick crafts? Just what they imply, easy crafts that don’t take a lot of time.
Did you notice the tab called Daily Practice? These videos are 5 to 10-minute creative exercises and projects designed to keep your creative skills sharp and your creativity inspired even when you only have a few minutes a day. As the Creativebug site suggests, creatives (that would be you!) can take “a few minutes every day to experience the satisfaction and joy of exercising their creative muscles.”
Let’s navigate around one of the video tutorials to get a feel for how they work. Lately I’ve been interested in, and eager to do, a little creative mending, so I chose “how to mend clothing” by Cal Patch as the first video I viewed in Creative Bug.
Below the above picture of patched jeans is a toolbar of icons that you’ll use to navigate through the content of this tutorial. Description, pictured on the right, will tell you what the class is about and how long the total tutorial will run.
Chapters break down the classes into the different video segments or chapters that they're composed of. In this mending tutorial, there are five chapters of varying lengths. Each is a separate video. You can watch them all at once or watch them one at a time at your convenience. You can also return to them at any time and watch just one segment or all of them over again.
Materials will give you a list of the supplies you’ll need to work a class or project.
Gallery is where you’ll find pictures of the projects in the tutorial.
Discussion gives you the option to ask questions, make comments or just chat with others who’ve watched this class.
Notes allows you to make notes for your self about whatever you want as you view the videos.
Watchlist is a great tool to help you remember the videos you really liked or maybe ones you didn’t finish and will want to return to. Add them to your Watchlist, and they’ll be there as reminders for you to refer back to as needed.
Transcript is just that, a written transcript of each video. It allows you to go back and clarify any point or instruction you may have missed, or would like refresher of, in the future.
We hope you enjoy Creativebug and use it often. There is so much to see and do on this website! It will keep you busy and provide hours of enjoyment and knowledge to you and your family. I’ve only scratched the surface myself. I cannot wait to dig deeper. 😊
If you make any projects from Creativebug, and would like to share them with me and my readers, please send a picture to graib@cidlibrary.org and I’ll post it to the blog.
Speaking of a picture sent in by a reader, I want to share with you one that I received from M.J. last week in response to the gardening talk from the Recycled Tin Can Flower Pots post. This year, M.J. decided to start some lettuce and flowers in pots from seed, just in case the local nurseries didn’t open this spring. What do you think? The flower seeds were just newly planted, but it sure looks like M.J. will be enjoying some homegrown lettuce this summer.
M.J. also shared with me that she’s made my recipe for Grandma’s Chicken Casserole two times since she read that particular post. I’m happy to hear that M.J. says they really enjoy the casserole. Thank you, M.J., for your emails and sending along the picture. Much appreciated.
That’s it from here. I’m sorry I haven’t posted to the blog in a while, but I was working hard this past week on getting to know Creativebug so that I could explain it to you. Additionally, I made a video for our Explore in 4 series on our very own YouTube channel. My video is still being edited, but do take some time to check out our other offerings. They are short intro videos about our online services. We’ve gone virtual!
Here's the link to our channel:
Have a great weekend! Stay home and stay safe. Be creative!
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