This is my favorite re-purposed art project. Use your beautiful scraps to turn your journal page into a captivating display of color, words, and texture. Each time you (or the children in your home or classroom) make art, there are always little piles of scraps left over. Learn to love your mess! Paper used for color…
The Deep Breath Collage (for when everyone needs a break)
I call these my Deep Breath Collages because they require focus, but not too much, which allows my brain to gently sink into a peaceful artistic place without feeling any kind of pressure. They really are perfect for the moment when things feel off, and you need something to make things more calm, peaceful, and…
DIY Garden Homes
Here in the northeast, it is finally time for bellies in the grass and fingers in the dirt. It is the season where my children come home from school, but never actually make it into the house. They wander around, finally sinking into the grass with a book or the toys that were played with…
Community Paper Garden — Teaching Notes
During my April workshop at the Worcester Family Partnership, the children and their loved ones gathered together to plant a community art garden. I brought the garden plot, which was a large piece of kraft paper, as well as the materials to plant paper flowers. We used circle objects to trace and cut circle shapes,…
Begin With The Hair Part Two (using newspaper and security envelopes)
I’m completely addicted to making these mixed media faces. And, yes — I start with the hair! Funny, because when I was a child, I loved to draw all kinds of hair — high swinging pony tails, really curly, kinky, spiky, long and wavy, and more and more. Some things stay with you. Today, I…
Begin With the Hair
One of my favorite ways to illustrate faces is to begin with a hair style paper piece. I like to use fine art paper, newspaper, catalogs, or scrap paper. Paper I painted myself or some old artwork made by my kids is one of my favorite sources for collage material. Once you cut a hairstyle…
Sketchbook Hair
Sketchbook idea: Hairstyles first, faces second. This is fun for everyone: kids, adults, those in between. It also encourages the artist to appreciate and experiment with different kinds of hair. And, hey, if your kids have the urge to cut hair, maybe this will satisfy? 1. Draw hairstyles on various pieces of paper. Use magazines,…
Creative Toolbox: Wood
Today’s creative tool is wood. So simple, right? It can bought or found, raw or finished, milled or fresh from the woods. Pay attention to interesting shapes and textures as you walk through the woods, and watch for bags of scrap wood on deep discount at your hardware store. It is a thrifty, and often…
workshopping !
These are photographs from Thursday’s Creative Journaling workshop. During each workshop, the children will learn a new artistic technique and also work on an experimental writing exercise. During the eight weeks, we will practice lots of different, unique writing styles, and by doing so, the hope is that everyone learns what kind of journal…
notebook
I have a thing for notebooks. I’ve covered plain notebooks with fancy paper and repurposed paper and I’ve collaged on them with felt and bits of fabric. And, just recently, we made a boatload of hand tied storybooks. Notebooks mean that bits of information, bits of the present, are being hand recorded with lines and…
Plaid Giveaway and Story Trading Discs Tutorial
A few busy months ago, I was contacted by the lovely Amy of Mod Podge Rocks to see if I wanted to participate in a super duper Plaid sponsored giveaway. Yes, yes, yes! I really did want to participate for so many reasons, but especially because it coincided with a new little project I was…
moleskine collages
A dear friend gave me a three pack of pocket size Moleskine notebooks for my birthday, and, this afternoon, I was inspired to create little fabric, felt, found paper collages on two of the covers. I’m still pondering the third. I’ve been so caught up in stamp carving and block prints that I forgot how…
bag of wood
Last week, while running into our local lumber yard/hardware store to pick up some paint swatches, I noticed big (huge even) $4.00 plastic netted bags of scrap lumber greeting me on my way in. I asked the guy behind the counter if the wood is loaded up with chemicals and he assured me that I…
r e d
I’ve been enamored by the colors in our backyard. Our biggest maple tree was rusty red on Thursday, and by Saturday it turned fiery red, and by Sunday, when the wind and rain had cleared, almost all of the leaves had fallen off of the tree. Towards the end of Sunday afternoon the light was…
m i x e d
Here are some pictures of the collage ornament project, which I promised in my last post. Chick and I worked on these at home since we have a few birthdays to account for and a Halloween treat to send to her little cousin in California. It was the kind of activity that became sort of…
