New Artwork

Look who started middle school this year!

My girl loves to draw, doodle and create. She amazes me with her talent! This is a drawing of her new sneakers. 

We visited a diner that has coffee mug drawings on napkins displayed around the whole place. This is what my daughter created. I love her creativity and her ability to show a story in her art work.

This year she's in middle school so she is taking Spanish for the first time. She loves it and it's coming out in her art. Here's a Spanish speaking kangaroo wearing springy shoes and jumping on a trampoline. I love the worm in the apple on the tree.

Puffy Re-do

This pink blanket has been with my daughter since she was an infant.  It's a down blanket and it's name has always been Puffy. For her whole life Puffy, Blueberry and Pinky(the same bear as Blueberry only in pink) have been her three most precious possessions. Over the years Puffy has developed a few holes and required repairs. With frequent washing, wear and tear he needed repairs more often. Then about two years ago Puffy had a major feather explosion and was placed in a bag in the back of the closet until we could figure out what to do with him. He was replaced by a full size down comforter but was never forgotten.  For her birthday this winter I dug out Puffy and made a new covering to contain him and prevent future feather explosions. You would have thought I gave her the most amazing gift, she loved it.

Here's Puffy with his new blue cover. He looks a little different but she still loves him. He once again has a special place in her bed, though now she's taller and doesn't quite fit under him like she use to.

I found this is the picture in a pile of her drawings. She had drawn the new Puffy on a recent car trip when she took Puffy along to keep her warm. I guess ten years later Puffy is still one of her most precious possessions, even after his puffy re-do.

Sweet Portrait

Nature Girl drew this sweet little portrait of me with a raccoon while we were at school on Wednesday. I was impressed and think it is just so cute! She drew it while hanging out in one of the fourth grade classrooms, so even the 4th graders were impressed with her drawing ability. I wasn't sure why she picked a raccoon to draw next to me, but funny enough when we got home on Wednesday night we could hear raccoons outside in the trees around our yard. They were really chattering out there.

May Artwork

Nature Girl created this crayon rubbing landscape in art class today. I just love it! The textures are perfect for each section of the landscape. This one is definitely a keeper. I'm thinking I might even frame it and hang it in my office. Of course the last piece I did that with cost me $70 for custom framing. I think I can buy a regular old frame for this one. Phew!

Nature Girl takes pride in her artwork and even took this picture of the paper mache piggy bank she made in art enrichment at school. She already owns several piggy banks so this one is purely for decoration. The paint has peeled from the plastic cup used to make the snout so we have been planning to re-do it. We just haven't tackled that yet.

Lastly she shared this apple doodle with me. I have to say my first thought was dang that's good! And my second thought was I'm going to copy that and start drawing my apples like that. Is that wrong to steal an art idea from your 7 year old? Ha, ha! I hope not. I don't think she minds as she likes to draw and craft with me and feels very proud when she's created something that is better than mine. She's competitive and a perfectionist.

I just love to watch her create and see her art growing. Not only is it a great way for her to express herself, but it's something she feels really good about. I've framed a few pieces, hung other pieces on the fridge and I've saved a lot of her artwork in a box with her school papers for her to look at later in life. I often wonder what else to do with her artwork. What do you do with your kids artwork?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

As you know, I like to doodle and zentangle. I thought gift tags would be a nice thing to create, so while sitting in a workshop today, I listened to the presentation and doodled. I created these circle gift tags.
It's Valentine's Day, a day to share love and kindness with your family and friends(really everyday is a day to share love and kindness, but I digress.) Since we couldn't send each and every one of you a Valentine we're sharing these zentangled gift tags instead. They can be printed on cardstock, cut out, then punch a small hole and add a bit of string before attaching them to a gift. We hope you'll enjoy them. Click here to download a pdf with the circle gift tags.

Or if you'd prefer a different set of tags, how about these. Click here to download these gift tags instead. Enjoy and have a lovely Valentine's Day!

Lists of Good Things to Do!

The new year is underway. What is it about the new year that makes us reflect on the past and plan for a better future? I'm not really one for making resolutions. I try to live my life a little better each year. So I don't have any resolutions but instead I have a focus for this year. My plan is to focus on taking better care of myself. This includes maintaining my weight loss(25 lbs,) organizing my life and materials (to decrease the chaos and stress,) taking better care of my family by focusing more on them(after all they are an extension of me,) and I want to set aside more time to be creative as this recharges my batteries. I've been thinking that some daily doodles, musings or crafting would help accomplish this. I sat down with Nature Girl to doodle for a bit today and this is what I created! I had a very enjoyable time and was happy with my results. I just love my crayola twist-able colored pencils. I bought myself a sketchpad about 6 months ago so I would have a place to doodle but I haven't been able to make myself draw in it. my reasoning behind not drawing in it is this, what if the doodles are horrible or messy? I haven't wanted to ruin the sketchpad. No worries I devised a new plan to get around this . . . I can doodle on paper then paste it into my sketchbook. I've decided to add my new year's mouse and my owl as my first doodles in my sketchpad. Best of all I spent quality time with Nature Girl and produced a doodle at the same time. See I'm starting the new year on the right foot.
Here's hoping 2011 is filled with good things for you and lots of time to create and enjoy life!

A Belated Happy New Year!

True to form our Christmas cards went out late this year and now our New Years greeting is being posted late as well. Of course I guess it's better late than never. So Happy New Year to all of you! I hope 2011 is your year!
Nature Girl drew this picture of Jingle the huskie to ring in the new year. She received Jingle the huskie pup and his interactive story from Ann. Thanks Ann! Nature Girl loves him as huskies have a new place in her heart, a place right next to orange kitties. In her book orange kitties are right at the top.
This is my new year's doodle. So Happy New Year to all of you from Nature Girl and I!

Merry Christmas!!!

We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Fall Portraits

I love zentangling. When I started to zentangle Nature Girl wanted to join in the fun. I gave her a marker and some paper and let her go. Now she zentangles often and really enjoys it too. She has her own ideas about zentangles and likes to use colors not just black. It's fun to see what she will create. This sweet apple zentangle is one that she recently drew for me. I love it and have it hanging in my classroom.

Apples make me think of fall and school portraits. The last two years she's had a forced fake smile for her portraits so I wasn't expecting them to turn out this year. In fact I had already scheduled a portrait session for our family portraits and had decided to get her pictures done when low and behold this portrait from school showed up. I think it turned out great!

These last two are from our family portrait session. She wanted her picture taken with the fake rock because she loves rocks so much.
In fact she loves rocks so much that she wants a meteorite. I think we'll have to add it to the Christmas wishlist. Last year she wanted Santa to bring an ostrich egg and this year so far the list includes a stuffed husky, a lava lamp and new twinkle toe sneakers that light up. I think a fossil would be cool too but she hasn't mentioned that.

Happy Fall!

Time really files these days! It's hard to believe it's already November! Before we know it we'll be leaving fall and heading into winter. I'm not ready for winter yet and haven't even begun to think about the holidays or holiday shopping. Thinking of it now makes me a little queasy. In an effort to enjoy fall and slow the impending winter I thought I'd share some of Nature Girl's recent fall art. I just love to see what she will create when she sits down to draw. It's fun to watch her!


She traced her hand print then colored, cut out and glued the leaves and the pumpkin. I love that the turkey has been nibbling on the pumpkin.


I also love this squirrel gathering nuts for the winter. He is so cute! He reminds me of Scaredy Squirrel. We love all of those books!
Like me Nature Girl really enjoys drawing and creating. I have been creating too. I'm working on a couple of swaps but I can't share yet. I'll post more when my items have been finished. In the meantime we're wishing you a happy fall and a delay in cold winter weather!

Creative Girl

So what does a creative girl make with some magnets and some rocks? Why a cat of course!

Art and Love

Sometimes art and love go hand in hand. Nature Girl loves her stuffed animals. As an only child they are often her playmates and friends. She's never been one to dress and diaper dolls but her stuffed animals have all seen a lot of love! When we went on our Disney cruise her grandmother took her to the Disney shop on board and let her pick out anything she wanted. She chose this Webkin armadillo that she named Dilly. Dilly has travel with us this summer and has been on many adventures both real and those imagined by Nature Girl as she plays. She loves him so much that she drew this picture of him. You know he's loved when he starts showing up in her artwork. She accidentally ripped the page after it was drawn so part of his tail is missing but I still thought this picture was so cute! It makes me smile.

Then again what's there not to love about a rainbow armadillo?

A Hoot!

Nature Girl drew and painted this sweet little fish during summer camp. I think it's so cute! I added her conch shell for the photo as it went perfectly and leads into a story.


While we we're in the Bahamas Nature Girl bought this conch shell. She picked this particular shell because the man selling it told her it was his party shell. On the boat ride back from the island she practiced until I finally asked her to stop for the sake of all the other passengers on the boat. Of course it wasn't that loud because she hadn't really gotten the hang of it until now. She was a little disappointed at first because it was supposed to be a party shell but it didn't sound like one when she used it. Like most things it just takes a little practice. Here's a short clip of her practicing here at home. It makes me laugh! Of course you might want to turn your speakers down.

Artful Moments

Here is a picture Nature Girl drew of Wall.e. She drew Wall.e then created a background for him. He's riding on Eve's spaceship. I love that part of the movie when he see's all of the stars and wonders of space for the first time. I love that she tried to capture that.
This dragonfly is a that Nature Girl painted. It's hanging on the wall in our entrance. I love dragonflies. I especially like the flowers on her dragonfly.
Lastly this is what a creative little girl makes while her mother is busy packing for a family vacation. She used a hamper, cowboy hat, slippers, barrettes, paper, makers, plastic bags and scissors to create this sculpture.

Artful

From time to time I've posted Nature Girl's artwork. I LOVE her pictures! This time I wanted to share two pictures that she has recently drawn. Nature Girl really enjoys drawing and has gotten very good at drawing people. The first one is a picture of her friend Abby. The second one is a drawing of her Mimi. The photo isn't the greatest. That's my fault not hers. I like to scan in her artwork but the original of this one is on Mimi's refrigerator in VT. I think it's still somewhat visible though. I think her drawings turned out great!