Sketch book re-intro

Reposting, just as a back-up of my reglar site. If you are seeing this, you need to come on over to the Home page. :-)

During that period of over-activity, I neglected my sketchbook (and my downtime.)

For the last few nights, I've been happily penning away before bed, just drawing anything that comes to mind, or any object that strikes me as inspiration.

It feels good to have a pen in my hand again.

These are the latest (click to enlarge):

Building on the Rock

My coffee press (which, yes, deserves its own picture.

I plan on adding watercolor to this one soon.)

I truly believe...

Just draw. Paint. Sew. Make music. Cook. Create. We were made to.

Sketchbook

Basic, quick "from-life" sketches with the kids today. I'd like to start adding watercolor to pictures, as time allows.
We've been working on mini-books and homemade tags, cards, too.

Stay tuned for more art and activities.

This is a double-post. Blogging on the Main Site now, with this only as a back-up.

Loving People

"Contentment," I call it.

The kids and I were talking today about love. Why? Naturally because sibling rivalry reared its ugly head, and needed to be dealt with. Nature Man (2nd grade) and Dash (pre-K) have very different personalities. Simply put, they drive each other nuts.
I console myself with the fact that they are getting early lessons in important matters:

1) not everyone is like you;

2) not everyone should be like you;

3) just because someone is not like you, does not mean they are wrong or strange;

4) the people who are distinctly different than us can often teach us the most important lessons;

5) Loving God helps us love others and, in turn, the love pushes out frustration. It's a beautiful overflow effect.

So, we drew Loving People in our art journals (and more art journaling.) Nature Man's people look a lot like mythical nature fairies to me.

I love them.

He said, "they love animals, they help things grow, and they give beautiful gifts." I enjoyed his description ...summed up: "Love, Encourage Growth, Give."

Perhaps because of his influence, my loving people followed the same theme. I love learning from kids. (Dash is not done with his People, and did not want me to take picture yet. I'll add his in when/if he wants me to.)

So, Nature Man and Dash, how can you get along better with your brother?

"Love God, love him [my brother,] help him, give to him."

Bingo. Give of time, encouragement, positive words, hugs, consideration, gifts...
Good lesson for me, too.
Of course, my husband I get along perfectly ALL THE TIME (*cough*)...but on the occasion when I feel entitled, demanding or unappreciated, that's when I can Talk, Love, Give, Pray, and Encourage...
We are near-opposites, so I'm quite sure our character-development is growing by leaps and bounds and *hopefully* we can be great examples to our children of how to deal with difficult people. ;-)

I made our People into cards. Of course.

After this post, I'm going to be primarily blogging on my main site. I'll use this as "overflow," additional pictures, etc, but not as a different blog anymore. Our lives are creative in every aspect, and I can't even attempt to compartmentalize certain areas anymore. :-)

Labeling Plants

We had a wonderful, jam-packed day, lunching with cousins at the lake, learning about power, and planting. This year we decided to get a little more creative with our plant labels.

Painted extra-large Popsicle sticks painted clothespins

small rocks, labeled with permanent pens

itty bitty hand-painted signs

house objects, labeled and put to good use

more clothespins (this was the easiest one for the younger kids to do)

clothes pins, painted and put in the soil upside-down to hold the plant placard

and, one of my favorites, nestled eggs with special messages.

We have many more things to plant, including our raised garden this week. Let me know if you have suggestions for other fun, artsy tags.

The Painted Sandals

My parents always led us to believe that we could accomplish anything we set our minds to. They had no idea what sort of things I would set my mind to do! Alisa Burke at Redefine Creativity painted some fabulous wedge sandals. Totally inspired, I went hunting through my closet for shoes to paint.

Because I'm absolutely normal, right?

Wishing I had taken a "before picture." These were solid white, leather sandals. They were my Mimi's years ago, and she passed them on to me. They are quality shoes, and in excellent condition, but the leather on top was beginning to show signs of wear. I love these shoes and had no plans to get rid of them, so they were chosen for a make-over. I used acrylic and fabric paints, with a spray for whatever-it's-called over that to protect them.

What do you think? Would you paint your sandals? Check out the other amazing created wearables at the Train to Crazy's Make It, Wear it link list!

simple "pop-up" cards

These are truly the fastest and simplest "pop-up" cards you can make. It's wonderful, because ALL ages can participate.

All you need is paper, stamps and scissors....and maybe those tiny fingernail scissors, if you have some.

Just have the kids fold their cardstock. Then unfold and lay flat, right-side up. Next, let them choose a stamp, and decorate the front of the card, with one or more images going above the fold-line.

Older kids can then carefully cut around the part of their stamped image that goes above the fold line. Younger kids will need some help with this part.

Store-bought cards are super sweet, too, and hand-written notes are always fabulous. It's a disappearing treasure. Every once in awhile, though, we just like to do it ourselves, for the fun of it. I'm not a "Super Card Maker" like some of my amazing friends. In fact, one of the first cards I ever made and gave out had squiggly eyes on it. ;-)
I'm much more comfortable with the quick-and-crafty elementary-age approach!

The "house project," stage1

We've been painting houses, planning to do this project by Alisa Burke. With no ocean nearby, we'll be taking our village traveling to the Falls, and perhaps even on a camping trip this summer.

Painting from magazine models

I sketched out this woman's face...easier to do, when it's a black-and-white picture.
Next modge podged it to a small 8x10 canvas, and painted over it all with watercolors.
It's not done yet, and I'm just enjoying the process. I plan to add the title somewhere:

Be Yourself.

3 Steps to Painting Wooden Plates

1. Grab your wooden dishes and add a solid coat of acrylic paint to each one. Kids can do this at almost any age! This step takes about 2 minutes for older kids, and about 10 minutes and 2 shirts for younger kids.

2. Add simple stripes along the edges and polka dots to the middle, (by dipping the eraser of a pencil in paint.) 5-10 minnutes, depending on who is holding the brush.3. When that dries, paint or spray a layer of varnish over them for durability. You are done. In 10-20 minutes, you have a new set of whimsical dishes!*Use clear glass plates on top when you eat.

Sorry for the gross hot dog picture; we had a firepit night tonight!

Poetree

The kids and I have been working on "poetrees" to aid our writing on certain subjects. It's a fun way to encourage artistic brainstorming, for kids who aren't old enough (or excited about) outlining or list-making.

Choose your topic, which can be written on the tree trunk, and brainstorm on the leaves or branches.

The Artist-child decided to write a poem about herself. Her leaves were descriptions about her appearance, personality and interests: natural, horsey, artistic, and so forth.

For our sketchbook work, we did "free draw." The Artist chose horses. Again. NatureMan and Dash drew monsters, using a library book as a guide. They claimed their pictures are not yet ready to be "published." I worked on the human body.

Desert Landscapes with watercolor and black crayon

These scenes are extremely easy, and you need only a few basic art supplies:

white paper

red, orange, and yellow watercolor

black crayon


Paint a simple sunset (which can include the sun, or just layers of red, orange and yellow.)

Draw cacti and other small plants, and then go over all of the foreground in solid black.

(Below, one of my children, who shall go unnamed, could not stick to the color scheme. He is a *unique* little rascal!)

It creates a beautifully contrasting landscape.