Using Kids Artwork for Handmade Books
I think I have mentioned before how I have huge problems throwing any of my boys artwork away. I know (and have acted on) all the advice to keep the best and sling the rest (well maybe not this one), to photograph or scan into the computer, and have photobooks made. But having done all that I still can’t bring myself to throw away the originals. It is of course very useful having a never-ending supply of personalised wrapping paper to hand, or material for collages etc., but the pile still grows ever larger. However this project is perfect for recycling some of that artwork in large quantities,…
Children’s Art Temporary Tattoos
Temporary children’s tattoos are undergoing a resurgence of popularity again at the moment, and I thought it might be fun to let the boys create their own tattoos using ink-jet printable tattoo paper This took a bit of tracking down, but eventually I managed to find some. It was easy to use, and the finished product was not only completely unique and personal but also worked really well. I ‘cheated’ a little, in that the artwork the boys produced for the tattoos were just drawings with no colour, so I digitally coloured them in Photoshop first before printing out the tattoos. However this really isn’t necessary, and I…
Artful Origami Heart Cards
I discovered these origami hearts when I was invited to review Origami for All. As I mentioned in that post, I have always found origami rather challenging, but these origami hearts which are included as a project in the book, (and which you can also find out how to make here), are really so simple to make that even I can do it. They look fabulous made from children’s paintings and drawings, or indeed decorative paper of any kind, and I used them to make a selection of Valentine cards. They have a wonderful 3 dimensional quality to them, and a little ‘pocket’ at the back which is perfect for…
Adventures in Feltmaking
I hope everyone had a relaxing Christmas – ours was wonderfully uneventful, offering time to pause and draw breath after the madness that was our run up to Christmas. A chance to catch up on the housework, spend time with the family and have lots of long lie ins. I even had the chance to do something creative, and add lots more ideas to the growing list of projects I want to tackle – eventually! I’ve been meaning to have a go at feltmaking for quite some time – and have had the raw materials sitting in a cupboard for over a year now. I decided to start with making…
DIY Sketchbook Bandoliers
Its been a long time since I last had my sewing machine out – I used to do a lot of sewing pre-kids, but it’s been gathering dust a bit since I’ve had the 2 boys. Amongst all the many and varied interests I have and would like to devote my time to, something has to give, and textile crafts such as sewing, knitting, hand-spinning, quilting, embroidery, etc. etc. all of which I once enjoyed, is one major area of interest that has on the whole been sacrificed since children came along. So it was nice to know that I hadn’t actually forgotten how to thread the machine, and to…
Children’s Artwork Mobile
This project offers an alternative three-dimensional way to display children’s artwork. It’s a simple concept with multiple potential variations so you can make it as basic or as complicated as you like. I love it’s kinetic qualities, but unfortunately this made it astonishingly difficult to photograph properly, so all I can say is that the photos don’t really do it justice. You can make them as big or as small as you like depending on the space available. I think a few really long ones would look fabulous suspended down a stairwell. However we don’t have the house for this, so a corner of my kitchen had to do! …
Concertina Sketchbook Display
Much of what goes on sale in the Artful Kids store goes through a ‘testing’ process when it arrives. This is partly for practical reasons, and partly because we often can’t resist trying the products out. This was certainly the case with one of the latest arrivals, the Concertina Sketchbook. I’d heard of these before, but not often seen them, and was therefore quite keen to try one out. It occurred to me that this would be the perfect place to store and display some of the numerous samples of painted paper we’d produced in the last few years using different techniques, which were currently hidden away in a drawer.…
Book Review – Origami For All
The whole recent trend for origami has been passing me by somewhat. I became interested in it as a child when it was popular back in the 1970’s (yes I am THAT old) but struggled somewhat to do most of the projects by myself – perhaps I wasn’t old enough, or more likely, as I usually do, tried to tackle the most complicated projects in the book. I’ve dabbled here and there since, but not being the neatest or most precise person in the world, often ended up with indifferent results which didn’t encourage me to do more. So when I was invited to review ‘Origami for All’ by Ioana…
Experiments with Doodlebots
We recently visited Manchester’s latest Mini-Maker Fair. There was lots there to entertain my 2 boys (or 3 if you count the husband) – especially my eldest son. Amongst the various activities on offer, he did his first soldering session to make a flashing badge (and has a small burn to show for it) attended a Minecraft hacking session, and 3D printed a miniature robot. We also attempted to make our own doodlebot. This involved using a simple motor which was wired to a battery, and taped to a piece of card. Holes were punched into the corners of the card, and the tips of the pens pushed through. We…
Creative Mess Door Hangers
It’s been such a long time since I last posted anything here. The combination of a 2 week camping holiday in France, an astonishingly long heatwave here in the UK, the kids being off school, and a sudden glut of commissions for children’s wall art products have all combined to keep me away, so as it has been quite a long time since I last offered a free printable on here, I thought I would add something which you might find a use for. Creativity and mess often seem to go hand in hand – well they certainly do for me – once I’m in a state of creative flow,…
Mixed Media Experiments
It seems to me like the more creative projects I get myself involved in, the more I want to do – my mind seems to be in a state of creative overdrive at the moment so that I have at least half a dozen projects on the go. Of course I don’t really have time for it all, hence I have been somewhat quieter than usual online! At some point they will hopefully all come to fruition, but in the meantime I wanted to share one of the projects I’ve been working on. This combines several different areas I’ve been exploring of late – layers, spray inks, and oil pastels,…
Children’s Family Tree Display
I recently dug out a family tree to show my kids. I’d researched it back in the dim and distant past, and realised that they hadn’t been added to it yet. It’s a long, though not especially illustrious, lineage that I’d managed to take back to the 15th century. This kind of timescale however can be difficult for young children to grasp, so I thought it might be a nice idea to make our very own family tree, for just 3 generations of our more immediate family. For this activity we used the printable frames which I created some time ago. If you want to print these out…
