Misting with wax pastels

What do you get when you leave a crafty kid and my craft supplies alone in a room, unattended for an hour?

 Ok, atleast this is what I got (and loads and loads of mess which I went crazy cleaning!)

 

My 9 year old niece had pulled out my stencil and started using it on water color paper to sketch it with a white wax oil pastel. Kids are very patient indeed! I had made homemade ink sprays and stacked them for another use. She beautifully sprayed these on stenciled sheet. When water based ink and pastels react, this is a fun  result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really liked the whole shabby texture and colors that were created so we converted it into a simple card.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stamped a pattern onto various card stocks , while she colored it and cut out butterflies from these. We added a dab of glitter to the background. We arranged it to create a nice color palette and added lace for a nice look.

  

Am sharing this with

http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-childrens-summer-vacation-challenge/

http://lulupu.blogspot.in/2014/08/challenge-37-plus-step-by-step.html background stamps used for butterflies and sprays

 http://blog.kraftzone.in/2014/08/challenge-8-cas.html CAS

 http://bunnyzoescrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/august-challenge-summer-colours.html summer colors

http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ warms and shiny colors

 

 

Finger puppets

This is a fun activity to do with a child and they love it

Cat and dog

These finger puppets are easy to make just using felt cloth and fabric glue (you could also stitch it if you like)

Mouse and Lion

You can narrate an entire story between 2 or three animals in different voices. The kids will also enjoy narrating a story to one another or make these puppets themselves...

Here is an entire set of 5 animals my 8 year old niece made to entertain my 2 year old....I love her mouse...its cute and ugly!!!

 

I have attached a printable of a caterpillar for you to try. However if you want of any other animals do leave a comment and I will get back to you.

 

Plus my niece will be glad to share the sketches of her 5 animals above!!

 

 

 

Also linking this to http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-childrens-summer-vacation-challenge/

 

nursery rhyme pop up card

Here is another fun filled nursery rhyme inspired learning card….Do you remember this one?

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey;

Along came a spider,

Who sat down beside her

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

 

 

Here is my functional card with pop up features inside, a ribbon scroll to roll up and play with, some learning for the little ones and loads of imagination.

 

Every word in the nursery rhyme is used to the fullest and there is a clear transition. The Ms Muffet sketch cut out is stuck with spring (aligned to the tuffet) and appears bubbly enjoying her curd and whey (hope the kids get less fussy about food watching this!). Her tuffet is 3D, made by wrapping a matchbox with patterned paper. I have cut green polka dotted patterned paper (stuck on cardstock) in thin strips and twirled it for fun grass effect. Well you can also use is as an handle to open and shut the card!

 

For the face of the card I used a combination of yellow and orange card stock, cut out birds, a cat, grass and trees from various patterned papers. I have used pearl embellishment to decorate the brick wall.

 For a wall (brick) effect, I made my own stencil (from an OHP sheet) and an home made modeling paste

For writing the poem, I have simply used a piece a ribbon attached to a straw wrapped in glitter paper. Got my kid to write the poem on it to  personalise the card.

 

Inside the card is the fun part. Again, have used a combination of yellow and orange, but instead of modelling paste have misted with stencil for brick effect with white ink (or else it would become too thick).

Note the pop up spider web (have used the traditional origami technique for cutting the web) and a big black spider  (have dabbed it with white ink). The other pop up features are simple pop up cuts, so when you open the card, Ms Muffet, curd bowl and the startled cat stand up.

 

Once again to create the effect and fallen curd and whey I have used home made modeling paste mixed with some colors, and used a paw punch to create and effect of pug marks of the frightened cat.

On top don’t miss the ribbon scroll to which I have attached a small piece of Velcro. Firstly it is thrilling to open the scroll , secondly since I cut out the patch for creating a 3D tuffet, this scroll functions as a cover for the cut out patch. Once done, you can simply stick it back and fold the card.  
Lastly I have cut the polka dotted patterned paper in semi circles to create a scene.

Here are some other pics depicting transition after the spider appears and Ms Muffet shouts

 

 

 

 

Am entering this to

 

http://craftingfromtheheartchallengeblog.blogspot.in
http://blog.imaginationsonline.com Challenge 2 bingo.Have used pp, pearls, ribbons and punch

http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.in team-b-anything-goes
http://catchychallenges.blogspot.in cscc6 PP
http://craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.in/

http://memascrafts.blogspot.in Anything goes

http://reves2scrap.blogspot.fr Challenge 3

http://thesistersofcraft.blogspot.co.uk anything goes

 

http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.in/2014/08/challenge-162.html

 

Mixed media altered art 3D..A Fairy Home

For some days now I have been planning to make something with this 5 ltr plastic water jar. . . Finally I was inspired by the fairytales I read out to my kiddo and decide to make this..

I simply cut and carved out the plastic containers, folding plastic in ways to make it appear in different shades I used a drawing marker, cutter, glass paints, acrylic paints, pollen sticks  used for making flowers, mseal, PVA glue, varnish and  beads and other embellishments.

Below are some of the work in progress pics...

This is what I started with

WIP



birds nest

Add caption

French window

Fairy Home
 



Final look



I have two uses in mind for this...Place tea lights in it and make it a lamp shade or plant a indoor plant to make it a planter (I have made enough air circulation cuts and water proof too!)...Ah!...Im torn between these two ideas...What are your suggestions for this fairy home?

As a planter

As a light hanger

Gift wrapping idea

Time for bday returns gifts!

 

For years we have purchased school stuff, toys, tiffin boxes etc as return gift. This time I wanted to try something new and fun that my and the other kiddos would enjoy. We decided on gifting the kids a pair of activity sticker books ( I see that the kids love these illustrations, activities, stickers and stories) with a coloring set. But a simple plain Jane wrapping would make it monotonous. What is more fascinating than balloons, patterns and load of imagination!

 

This is what we finally gave.

 

It pretty simple and quick to do still attractive and fun.

 

We used loads of patterned papers (which I bought online from ebay), balloons, paints, tapes, ribbons/ lace. Also I like the mdf call outs  (enjoy a current 5% discount on lulupu.com bubbles wood veneer )  as they make these gifts personalized.

 

The balloons are blown small and then painted with acrylic colors. For the spider I twisted the balloon to make a head. You could also make a snail, tortoise etc on a pebble or stones patterned paper (which I couldn’t find. Actually I was keen on using white and any single colored paper so that it doesn’t steal the thunder of the balloon creature)

 

 

For the legs I used wire. After wrapping the books and the crayon set, we decorated the packet with crumpled ribbons to give it an edgy  effect while for the spider we used lace (making it webby!). We used other embellishments and charms for decorations. Although I could picture all , we made sets of lady bird, beetle, colourful spiders and bumble bee

 

And we finally made 17 of them, with each persons’ name written on the call out mdf.

 

The kids were extremely glad and comparing their insects and decorations.

 

 

animal friends  http://greatimpressionsstamps.blogspot.in/2014/07/july-challenge-animal-friends.html

 

http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/challenge-123-animals-anybirdsteddy.html

 

BGC 54, lets get Kiddish http://beyondgrey.blogspot.in/

Mixed media learning Toy Box

I have been planning to this for a while now and now that its done, I am (with my kid) super excited!.....

 I got a huge cardboard box from a local grocery store which fit perfectly into the cupboard where I stock toys and books. I have been wanting to work on a project which will teach my toddler alphabets and make it a fun utility box. Inspired by the rain, I decided to go with a frog theme. Working on each side of the box was like working on 6 pieces of huge canvas.

To start with, the box had very useful cuts meant to carry the box when heavy, I decided to make it the mouth of the frog. On either side I have a female and male frog. Have used loads of Patterned paper, pearl embellishments, glitter liner, ribbons, Heart & bubble call out MDFs, beads. As you must have noticed, the eyes of the frogs are old contact lens cases (in which I have put beads which wobble when the box moves!...)

 To start with the female frog…I have used my fav flora fauna pp to make her suit, have used another set of checked PP to make her eye lashes and  have inked and stamped the butterflies. I have outlined her with pearl stick and ofcourse the pearl necklace...

 

 

The ribbon in her mouth is not just a tongue but is an aid for my kid to pull out the box easily from the cupboard.

 

For the male frog have used a simple checked pp, call out MDF, Stamped image clock

 

The box sides, I have worked with  alphabet F; ie; frog, fly, five flowers, feet. Have added loads of pp, ribbons and embellishments

 

 

The other side I have worked with alphabet  L; Leaf, lunch, lazy, lick, lake….Once again have used pp, ribbons and embellishments.

 

On the top 2 flaps I have used decoupage techniques and collage.  I have worked with

alphabet M (This flap is by personal fav); Melon, Mango , Music , Magazine.

 

 

 

Alphabet B (My kid’s fav) ; Boy, butterfly, ball, blue

 

 

 

 

Here’s a  pic of the box from side and top view.

 

 

 

Top view

And this is my final sigh, organizing work completed!

Linking to

 

BGC 54, lets get Kiddish http://beyondgrey.blogspot.in/

 

Imaginations http://blog.imaginationsonline.com/ pattern paper, pearls, dies, ribbons, butterflies

 Fruity www.thecraftingcafe.blogspot.com

 

 

Kraftzone Challenge PP, stamped image, embellishment http://blog.kraftzone.in/

http://fairytale-challengeblog.blogspot.se/2014/07/95-furmitvon-kindern-vorwith-from.html

http://corrosivechallengesbyjanet.blogspot.se

animal friends  http://greatimpressionsstamps.blogspot.in/2014/07/july-challenge-animal-friends.html

 

http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/challenge-123-animals-anybirdsteddy.html

 

Kids creativity workshop...an art synergy

Every 3-4 months I conduct a Kids workshop where kids of different age bands work together on art and crafts for a series of days when they learn about drawing, painting, paper crafts, basic craft techniques like collage, gift packing, card making, simple origami, basic quilling, flower making, stamping, misting , embossing etc.....These sessions are great especially because kids come with no reservations and are always willing to unlearn, not copy and think unique.


Add caption

However, this was the first time I had kids below the age of 4 attend this one day session. Of them 3 kids (including my own) were between 16 to 19 months, who cant speak, read or write (while their mommies were sitting in the room n chit chatting). I thought to myself it would be challenging to get them to do artwork. But I was wrong, they were wonderful. I am completely amazed at them and myself!

Here is the final artwork they produced.


With the toddlers I used safe non toxic colors with special toddler grips, and home made paints like turmeric (haldi), Spinach (palak), beetroot extracts and their hands/ feet.

For the kids above 2 years let them use crayons, paint brush, gum/glue.


Now here is what they did  simultaneously but independently (I couldn't capture all pictures as I was too involved with the children at times, plus my hands were messy with veg colors.

This is how beautifully the toddlers smeared haldi all over a huge sheet...The other kids pointed out that their finger traces looked like tree barks or animal stripes...

I taught the 2.5 yrs old drip painting which is a form of abstract art where you intentionally pour paint in some spots and turn the canvas too let it flow on its own.

 

 

After practicing on this sheet of paper she ddid the same on the haldi smeared paper to create black / red trees effect (when you mix spinach green and beet red in equal proportion you get black..they discovered it!)

 

Initial session to get the kids acquainted to each other

 

 

In the mean while the 3 year + olds made some random sketches, paintings etc.

 

 

 

Then finally came the fun part. They cut the pieces to their own imagination and stuck it together and color over it using similar techniques. The team (without speaking) mutually decided to let the eldest 4 year old take over this job....

 

The leaves that you see are not painted but are vegetable prints made from a cut okra (bhindi) and little gourd (tindora)

 

......And finally what a beautiful piece of art they put together. . . This was a great learning from me, them and their mothers (especially some who thought their kid didn't like arts and craft)...It was great to see the otherwise helter skelter kids sitting in one place, taking inspiration from each other and producing this beauty of synergy..Will do something similar soon. I hope you feel inspired too