Make your own Card
Just a quick post to highlight these birthday cards which have just been added to the clearance store. Available in 4 different designs, they offer an easy way for kids to create their own very special card using their own artwork, to send to a loved one or relative. Embellished with glitter detail, they are also supplied with a colour co-ordinating envelope. The 4 designs are available individually or as a pack of 4 assorted, and you can purchase them here. Alternatively while stocks last, I am offering a free pack of assorted designs with every order from the clearance store with a total value of £25.00 or more!
Artful Kids Pop-Up Clearance Shop
The Christmas Pop-up shop was quite successful in shifting some of the excess stock in our stockroom, so as Artful Kids changes its focus away from being an online store, it seemed like a good idea to add a few more items for clearance purposes, (though it has taken me rather longer than originally planned to get this on the site!) The items listed in the shop are all deeply discounted from their original price, and will not be replaced – there are very few left, so if you want to grab a bargain, now is your opportunity. The shop will remain live for about 6 weeks (possibly less if…
Creating Artful Christmas Tree Ornaments
Who says that art materials can’t be festive or decorative in their own right? If you’re looking to create an artfully themed Christmas Tree for a studio, creative space, or just at home, here are a few ideas you might like to try… Festive Paint Brushes Give those old worn out paintbrushes a new lease of life by transforming them into decorations. Decorate the handles with brightly coloured paints in any style you choose, and then dip the tips into glitter paint, or PVA sprinkled with glitter. Use the hole in the handle to thread a hanging ribbon through, and away you go. Alternatively you can just arrange them in…
Further Adventures with Spray Inks
For those of you who are familiar with this blog, you will know that spray inks are one of my all time favourite mediums – I get huge enjoyment from their use and love the effects you can create with them. It’s been a while since I’ve used these inks, but having lent them to my son for his art homework, I was inspired by some of the accidental effects he had created, to dig them out again. This time I have used the medium rather differently, so I thought it would be worth sharing the results. As usual at this time of year, I have used the latest experiments…
Using Decorative Papers
If over time, you find you or the kids have created a whole stack of decorative paper, it can be a problem what do you do with it all. Personally I find it really therapeutic to create decorative paper – there’s no (entirely self-inflicted) pressure to perform, and quite often when I’m creating it, I have no end purpose it mind, so they just get added to the collection, then when the time comes that I need some, the resources are there, ready and waiting. Of course the range of uses for these is endless, and you could just as well use commercial papers if you don’t have any of…
Creating Decorative & Painted Papers
If you have kids who enjoy painting and drawing, you may find yourself acquiring quite a large stock of painted papers. For every masterpiece produced there will be a whole stack of less impressive artwork, and the temptation is always to put them straight into the recycling bin, but these painted papers can have a second life recycled into further artwork, saving some money in the process. In fact now my kids are older and no longer want to paint and draw (sob) my stack of painted papers is much depleted, so that I now have to create my own! It has however, become one of my favourite occupations, as…
Nature Art Project Round-Up
Working with art and nature is a popular combination, and one that I find I return to again and again, yet it occurred to me that I have never brought these posts together into a single location which can be used as a resource for parents and educators. The activities and resources listed below offer a wide variety of cross curricular activities, suitable for a range of ages and circumstances, from outdoor education to activities which combine art with science. I have also listed a few inspirational books on this theme which may be helpful too. Projects Beautiful Nature Art Books to Inspire & Inform The books listed below are…
Five Ways to Use Tissue Paper for Artwork
Tissue paper is a wonderfully versatile medium for artwork which can be used in so many ways, either on its own or in combination with other art materials. It’s translucent qualities give its colours a brightness and luminosity and also make it perfect for layering. It also lends itself perfectly for use with texture. For the purposes of this post I’m going to be looking at ideas for using tissue paper as a medium for 2 dimensional artwork – there are of course lots of ways to use it in 3-dimensional work too, but I think you could probably write an entire book if I was to include that too!…
‘My Art Gallery’ Free Printable Sheet
It’s been quite some time since I last added a free printable here, so to get the Artful Kids blog back up and running, I thought it would be worth adding one which I created a while back, but never got round to uploading. I have added a few free printable sheets here over the years, and always find it fascinating to see how far they spread, and how people use them. Perhaps 2 of the most popular have been the Flower Fairy (ready to ‘dress’ with real flower petals) and the Doodle Sheets which I think were the very first free printable sheets I made available. I think I…
Pixelated Papers
I find it’s always useful to have a stock of decorative papers to use for creative projects of all kinds, and of course for gift-wrapping. There are some beautiful papers out there, but it can be difficult to justify the expense of buying them sometimes. Having your own unique papers is always very satisfying, and there’s the added enjoyment of creating them. They don’t have to be complicated, you don’t have to have any artistic skill in painting and drawing, and if you are mess averse it doesn’t even have to involve paint! They are fun to produce for both kids and adults alike, and anyone can join in. This…
Decorative Fused Plastic Leaves
This project is one which has evolved out of my recent experiments with fused plastic. It’s a way of recycling old crayons and plastic bags creatively and I love the finished ‘leaf-like’ feel of these. The finished leaves can be used for a wide range of purposes, or alternatively you could cut the fused plastic sheets up into any shape you like. Materials Plain white plastic bags – or bags with large areas of white that can be used. Roll of Cling film Old wax crayons Metallic Gold Ink Pen Baking parchment Equipment Old kitchen grater Domestic iron Pinking Shears Heat Proof board (I used a toughened glass chopping…
Creating Abstract Sea and Landscrapes
No, that’s not a typo! I’ve always been a fan of ‘accidental’ art, and this technique is one of those eminently satisfying yet essentially very simple ways of painting, that can deliver stunning results. That’s not to say that every single piece will create a masterpiece, but that if you do a whole bunch of them, you’ll end up with at least one or two that are frameworthy, and part of the joy of this activity is the very unpredictability of the results. You never quite know what you are going to get! The result is very like the technique that the artist Gerhard Richter has used in his work (on…
