light, drawing, hands

We've all been sick this week and finding slow, peaceful activities has been key. We made a light table for the first time and we were all entranced. I didn't know but this same box with lights can be used for starting seedlings as it becomes slightly warm. My avid gardener of a sister in law passed on this tid bit.

R's beautiful gum ball machine drawing lying on the warm radiator in the afternoon light.

My sketch for an illustration of Woodie Guthrie's song containing the lyrics "Tom cat, Mama cat".

R's hands working those fine motor skills. He hummed and sang to himself as he worked, calm and happy.

M's sweet hands doing what she loves best right now - drawing.

going with the flow with salt dough

Another title for this post might be 'How to go with the flow when your preschooler wants to do something completely different than the activity you planned to do with her'.

I didn't tell her what I had in mind as I do like to go with the kids creative ideas, but today I did have what I thought would be a fun idea brewing.

I wanted to make salt dough people and creatures and then make a diorama for them.

She wanted to feel the ooey mixture of salt flour and water on her hands.

                           

I wanted to add one color to each ball of dough that would then get made into a specific shape.

She wanted to splatter color all over the big mound of flour and salt.

I wanted to be careful not to get food coloring all over our hands.

She wanted to smoosh all the colors onto the ball and see how many she could get on her hands.

I wanted to break the ball in to smaller pieces and color each of them.

She wanted to make a volcano.

I wanted to play with the volcano.

She wanted to cut the ball in to smaller pieces and bake them 'into candy'.

Before baking on parchment paper for 2 hours at 200 degrees. You can also let them air dry over night.

The stained counter top before I scrubbed it with Bon Ami. 

 It was a wonderful lesson for me to remember to listen and have patience. Do you find it true that you have agendas and lists for the day and if they get derailed it can be very frustrating? If you are a parent, have you become more or less patient when this happens (since having kids)? 

Losing track of my agenda is a daily occurrence for me and sometimes I am more patient than others.

I tend to be more patient if I've slept well, not drunk a glass of wine with dinner the night before, and had 30 minutes to myself before the kids wake up. 

What about you? What helps you to be more patient with your children / co-workers / spouse? 

left-overs

"I want to make art" is M's latest refrain. Now this isn't once a week, or even once in a blue moon, it's every day. Yes, every day I hear in a loud clear voice, usually from across the house "Mummy, I want to maaaake aaaaart".

On the particular day that I am thinking of M was sitting on my lap at the end of lunch. She saw the Mod Podge perched at the end of the table and asked to make a robot. To be honest I didn't have the energy to get out paper, scissors and odds and ends for collaging so I said "use what's on the table already". 

Sometimes it's a good idea to let go of our perceived notions of what art should look like, or how a child should do an art project. Look at what is in front of you in a new way. Tooth picks and cheese could be a tower, paper and forks could make a tent, and left overs could become an orange rind and pretzel robot.

These moments teach children to look at every day life with new eyes, to be fascinated with the world around them, to practice non-linear thinking, and in this case we also talked about what shapes she was using to create her robot.

I'd love to hear what fun and quirky things you have made with your kids that surprised even you?

studio set up + stamped valentine cards

It's been a long time coming and finally I have a studio with light (It is a very gray day here in the midwest so please excuse the lack of sunshine). This sun room (next to our living room - see the corner of the couch?) was my kid's play room and I have claimed it! They now have the office for a playroom and it is so cozy and chock a block full of toys, lego and art supplies.

I love setting up a new space as I try to cull out the objects and tools that are obsolete or have just been hanging around too long. I have a much more edited version of a desk now (below) and the trick will be keeping it this way. Any suggestions welcome!

This (below) is my box o' collage goodies. It sits right next to me on the warm radiator, and when the cat is not trying to lie on top of it I can easily access it. 

So far I am loving it, although I think the rules about using this space are still a bit like this day - gray and fuzzy. We'll work on that.

We did make some valentine cards yesterday at my studio table. R + M were so excited to see how I carved a lino heart  and glued it on an old stamp handle we had hanging around in our stamp box.

We used these exquisite name stamps carved for my kids by Molly Carlson of Emerson Street Creative.
I met her at my kid's school Artisan Fair in December and we talked about what I was looking for. Low and behold a couple of weeks before Christmas she emailed me with photos of these stunning stamps that she hand carves.

You can see more of her stamps in her shop on Artfire. She also has beautiful prints of Gulf coast wild life paintings she has done (they were originally sold for a fundraiser after the oil spill).

R + M are going to write each child's name on a card and hand them out at school. It is a custom that I am still getting used having grown up in England where we did nothing for our class mates for any holiday. There are some very fun and beautifully designed packs of cards to buy these days, but I couldn't pass up a chance to use our beautiful stamps. Thanks Molly.

washi tape cards

"Mummy, where's the tape"? I think I hear this question 25 times every day. I'm not sure if you've found this but kids are addicted to tape like I am addicted to coffee. I could drink it all day and they could stick, wind up, bind and hang tape just as often. 

Washi tape used to be off limits to the kids in our house, but then I thought why just look at it in all it's prettiness on a shelf in my studio when I can have it all over the house? It also doesn't need scissors to cut and peels off walls without taking paint off too. What could be better?

Yesterday we made a birthday card for R + M's grandmother using washi tape, oil pastels and, of course, our current fave - glitter!  Make a simple design with the washi tape on paper or card stock. 

Color with pastels, pens or pencils around the tape. With this heart we also added glitter. We put a thin layer of Mod Podge inside the heart, careful not to touch the tape so that it wouldn't glue it down too.

Carefully peel off the washi tape to reveal the designs underneath. For the letter B we then painted a thin layer of Mod Podge and added glitter to the open area. The kids thought it was hilarious when I wrote on the envelope of the card "Beware: Glitter Galore"!

(I did put a thin layer of Mod Podge on the cards when they were dry to seal the glitter on to the page).

Going in the mail today! Late, but not forgotten, dear B.