Saturday, January 24, 2009
Come on Over
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sketchbook Stickers
Sketchbooks have been on the brain lately. I have kept many sketchbooks over the years. I tend to use lots and chose the one right for the occasion. Small ones that fit in my pocket for quick outings or larger ones for a museum trip but the problem is I don’t keep one cohesive sketchbook that I really pour myself into. Some ideas never develop because I will put that sketchbook down and may not pick it up again for several weeks. My goal for the year is to keep a sketchbook/journal with me at all times so ideas have pages and time to develop. Sketchbook/Journals have also been on the brain because my 10 year old is becoming a wonderful writer full of ideas and creativity. I can see how important it is for me to encourage her to keep a book with her to record experiences and thoughts. And I think if I start with my younger one now it will become a natural part of life.
So I have been trying to come up with ideas that encourage sketchbook use for me and my daughters. My idea is to create
My initial idea was to create sticker packs and sell on Etsy but during the process I decided I just want to share them with you all here and create a place on the blog where we share sketchbook activities and ideas to help all of us become better artist.
I have lots of stickers already planned and some more ideas in the pipeline. I am going to post stickers periodically on the blog. You can pick up a pack of label sticker sheets, save the stickers from the blog, and print them off. Then you will be all set. You could just print them out on paper and tape them into the books, but I really like stickers. Don’t you?
I have two stickers to share with you today.
Because I want to offer high quality images for you and I cannot post PDF files on the blog I will be sharing them through another website.
My only request is that you use the stickers for personal uses only. Make some for yourself or send them to you awesome niece who you don’t get to see nearly enough (love you KK).
Monday, January 5, 2009
Daruma Love
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Corn Husk Doll
My little girl had a surprise in her backpack yesterday. Her preschool class had made native american corn husk dolls.
She told me this morning that little boys and girls made these dolls a long time ago.
you can find the legend of the corn husk doll here.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Moss Terrariums
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Werewolves and Fries
You can use it to make a brooch for Halloween.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Spoilers
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sometime you need to draw a Giraffe
The diagram helped me gain confidence in my giraffe drawing. I typically draw what I see and it’s hard for me to draw from memory or imagination. It turned my horse with a really long neck into a giraffe. Diagrams can be a great tool for artists because they help fill in information really quickly.
There is a link on the giraffe page that leads you to a list of other animal diagrams. I printed each one out and slipped them into those plastic page protectors and bound them. Now I have a whole book of animal diagrams and should the need arise to draw a bison or a kangaroo, I’m set. My daughter and husband used the binder this afternoon and it got the ball rolling for them.
I wanted my younger girl to get in on the action so I created a binder just for her. I printed out some realistic coloring pages from http://www.letmecolor.com/ and slipped them in the page protectors then gave her an expo marker so she could have her own fun. After her fun we can wipe the marker right off.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Bunny and Carrot are Friends
Monday, August 25, 2008
Staying up late
I have been wanting to creating some shadow puppets when quite by accident I stumbled upon the awesome etsy shop owlyshadowpuppets. Check out the puppet screens here. These super cool puppets are created by Chicago artist Andrea Everman who offers instruction for making your own puppets on her website. I hope to create my own this week.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The Perfect Repurposed Jar- Peanut Butter Jar
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Yarn Cup Revisited
I received a question about the yarn cup weaving project I posted about some time ago. The instructions are a bit unclear so I thought I would give a more detailed tutorial on the project. I enlisted the help of my older girl, she looks jazzed!
Supplies:
Variety of yarn pieces
Plastic Cup
Scissors
Sharpie
Template
You can create a template by tracing the top of your plastic cup. You need an odd number of strips to weave the yarn through. My template was for a 16 oz cup. You can use a variety of cup sizes just create a template where there are an odd number of equally spaced strips. The more strips you have the tighter the weave, but if you have a younger child then you may want fewer strips.
Cut straight lines down the side of cup to the bottom. This is how you create the strips you will use to weave.
Once all the strips are cut you can choose your yarn. I like to begin with smooth yarns because they are easier to work with. Save the bumpy, frizzy, speciality yarns for when you have the hang of it. Always start with the yarn tail on the inside of the cup.
Keep on weaving. Now that you have some experience add the fun yarn if you like. You may think it works up really fast but really you will need to tighten it up often. Keep pushing the yarn down in order to have a nice tight weave.
My girl finished her cup in under 2 hours.
when you are done simply clean up the inside of the cup by trimming all the tails with scissors. With the wide variety of speciality yarns the options are endless.
Tips:
the plastic may splinter causing these little thorns that will catch on the yarn. Pull or cut them off.
The beginning can be frustrating. It just takes a bit to get accustomed. I did this project with our Girl Scout Troop and all 11 girls finished a cup and then another. Just a bit hairy to begin with.
I got the cup started and then remembered my daughter is left handed and started it out weaving right. If you have a lefty just weave in the left direction.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Washer Dial
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sculpey Fun
I was looking through the Dick Blick site again and I noticed this project. I liked the idea of pressing crayons into the sculpey and then melting it but wanted something my toddler could do.
I took balls of sculpey and let my 3 year old just pick up crayon shavings with it. I took several pictures of the process that you can see here you can click on the photo for a description if you like. Once the pieces are ready I baked them at 325 degrees for around 10-15 min.
It was fun for Allison and super easy to do. They can make a lovely pendant or stones to place in flower pots. I especially like the metallic green crayon one.