Recycled paper flowers Workshop

Yesterday we had a great fun in the Hands Gallery creating paper flowers and hair accessories with kids and adults alike. I do love creating pretty things from materials destined for the bin, therefore I do collect almost everything - from old glossy mags pages to shiny sweet wrappers. This project is perfect for using it all, so you can create a beautiful item, that will not cost the Earth (literary). ;-) Pinterest is full of good tutorials for flower making, (just take your pick) but instead of buying expensive supplies from the craft store, look around your house. The only thing you need to buy is a wire ( I used the cheapest green garden wire) and maybe some beads but they are not crucial. The only thing I "splashed" on, was my light green tape (2,50 Euro). ;-)

The base of the wreath is made of the cheap brown packing paper. To achieve the vintage look of the flowers, I scrunched up the glossy pages first. The middle of the flowers are made of sweet wrappers.
And there you have it... Don't hesitate to ask, if you have any questions...

Funky Frottage (Workshop for children)

We are back after 2 weeks holidays and here are some pictures from yesterdays workshop.

This time we cut out, drew and and stitched some pretty faces and added lost of hair to create a base for our frottages (from French frotter, "to rub"). To achieve a successful frottage, you need to use a thicker paper (card similar to the supermarket pizza packaging, not cardboard!). The thin white cake boards would work.

The fun and unusual thing about these doll faces is, that you can change the hair styles as many times as you wish. That means, that you can make many different pictures using just one doll. Crazier the hair style, more fun it is!We made ours under the title: "Bad Hair Day" but nothing is stopping you to design monsters or even animals with  lots of hair, if pretty faces are not your cup of tea. ;-)

We used soft pastels for the rubbings and we sprayed them afterwards with a hair spray to stop them smudging.

It is also possible to rub the image through a metal craft foil but you need to rub it pretty hard. We used scrunched up paper towel to get in all the nooks and crooks between the hair.

Drop me a Facebook message (here) with a picture of your work, if you get to try this out... I would love to hear from you.

Here is how it goes, have fun!

The mystery Art Teacher - Part 2

The second surprise art package is on its way!
The lucky recipient will be again the 7 years old boy in Berlin, who had such fun blowing & drawing bubbles with the first kit back in May. This time, I packed two projects with watercolours. Lets see if he will enjoy them too. According to the mum, the first package really caused an immediate creative response and lots of joy for everyone involved.

This time I am offering some creative fun with masking tape, watercolours and salt. The idea is, to make quirky trees using the masking tape, then paint over it with watercolours, creating "dreamy" atmosphere (e.g. dusk, sunrise, snowy morning...) and then sprinkling some salt over it (adding unexpected textural effect).

The second photo tutorial in the pack offers the exotic birdie project featured earlier on the blog. Click here to see it.

Fancy a creative surprise package for your child? Let me know... ;-)

Painting exotic birds (Workshop for Children)

Today we painted some funky exotic birds using watercolours and white acrylic paint.

First we painted a random labyrinth of swirls and then we filled the empty spaces on the paper with other colours. When it all dried a bit, we added little dots and other marks with almost dry brush and lots of paint.
While the painting has been drying completely, we drew our crazy birds using some pictures (cards with birds) for inspirations but we added some crazy crowns and longer tales, so they looked cool as silhouettes. Then we cut the birdies out and stuck them (with removable double-sided stickers) to the painting and carefully painted over with white acrylic. The brush strokes always need to go AWAY from the bird, so the paint doesn't get under the stencil. Have fun making yours! Get in touch if you have any questions.

Playing fashion designer (Workshop for children)

Most Mondays I have the pleasure to do Art with 3 little girls. They are 7 years old now, but I have been working with them since they were 4. Yesterday we played fashion designers. We looked up some real dresses with vegetable prints, which made the fashion headlines back in 2012 and then we set to work. Here are some of the results...

Painting Flowers (Workshop for children)

Yesterday I had real fun with three 6 years old girls, closely examining variety of fresh flowers and then painting them with water colours. Here are the results...

You can find out more about the workshops for children here.

The mystery Art Teacher

Recently, I have been asked, if I can send the tutorials to my Art projects to my friends (mothers with young children). Since I am always happy to share, I agreed immediately but then I got an even better idea! Why sharing only tutorials, when I can send the entire pack for a project! And the idea of the secret Art Teacher was born! My first SURPRISE art project will be shortly on its way to Berlin to a 7 years old little boy!!!

Since I am an Art Teacher, I have all sort of materials always readily available (you should see my work room!!!), but I can appreciate, that not every mom has the time and the energy to source 5 different items for one specific art project. Now she does not have to! The little pack will show up at her door, complete with a mini photo-tutorial and handwritten note addressed to the budding artist (the child). It will hopefully feel like Christmas! Unexpected present from the Mystery Art Teacher, that offers lots of creative fun!

The wonderful soft watercolour pencils can be, of course, used later for many more creative projects.

This set is for some bubble fun. "Blowing and drawing bubbles"