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If you've ended up here follow this LINK on over to my updated blog. I'm no longer posting to this site and will be closing it down soon. Thanks!

Mommy Child Summer Art Journal

A monsoon rain welcomed us into our first official day of summer, and my youngest child woke up at her normal 6 a.m., so what's a mom to do? I'm trying to make a conscious effort to avoid turning on the T.V. every "bored" moment this summer, so I tempted her with my favorite past time...art. So far this has been her favorite thing to do this summer! We have had so much fun together-great quality time, plus we are creating a memory book that we can enjoy for years to come.

I challenge you to start one with your child this summer. It's really simple and I will be posting our ideas on Facebook (follow me on Sleepyhead Designs Studios) weekly, so you can steal from us! We started out with a Visual Journal from Hobby Lobby. Any type of notebook will do, but I like this one because the pages are thick and will accept all kinds of medium.

We wrote our "rules" on the first page. They are:

1) Can only draw in journal together, at the same time.

2) Can't copy each other, but can steal ideas-Same, but different.

3) Can't say, "Yours is better" or "Mine is terrible". Can say, "Next time I'll try it this way or that way"-learn from our mistakes.

We did the first day with a hot glue gun and water colors paints. My daughter picked the subject.

We accented with sharpie and learned about how God cares for us. Luke 12:24-25 and Matthew 6:26.

My girl picked this activity out-she wanted to draw fruit people. She drew a Pear Woman and I did Grampy Grapes.

Well...daughter #2 got a little envious of all my creating time with daughter #3, so we started journal #2 :) One of our favorite things to do together is to take turns drawing a person, and being surprised at the results. One person draws the head, other person draws the eyes...you get the idea?

When we are finished, we name the person, describe some things about them and color them in. Always a fun activity that gets some giggles. You can even do "creatures".

Here's a simple collage created with Mod Podge and scrapbook papers.

I promise you don't have to be an "art person" to start one of these. Your child will love your creativity, and love whatever you draw together. If writing is more your thing you could even write stories or poems together. It's great bonding time and creates memories that you can treasure forever. I hope this gives you enough ideas to get you started. I also have a board on Pintrest titled "Art Journals" that has some great ideas. Remember to follow me on Facebook and I will post a weekly idea that we've done together. I'd love to see some of the ideas you come up with.

Fun Recycled Crafts

This week I just finished holding an amazing Recycled Art Workshop. And when I say amazing, I don't mean my workshop, but I'm referring to the amazing creative kids that attended. Using all "trash" and a little inspiration, they took the info I presented to them and ran with it. I was really amazed at the unique creativity of each piece of art.

Here's project one of three.  Thanks to Pinterest, I found this great idea for Recycled Picasso Portraits by United Art & Education. Just click the previous link and they have a wonderful tutorial to follow.

Using "trash" like cardboard boxes, phone book pages, paper and fabric scraps, old magazines, discarded buttons, and paper bags, along with some basic art supplies like glue, scissors, construction paper and oil pastels, students created these amazing portraits. 

I can't tell you how much they enjoyed coloring on the cardboard with the oil pastels! If you ever want to entertain a child, give them something textured to color on :)

Click Photo for details

Love these Crayola Oil Pastels for classes!

I also encouraged them to use a warm/cool color combo for the back ground verses the foreground.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! To see more craft and art ideas for kids, visit my art lesson blog at www.sleepyheaddesignsstudio.blogspot.com!

The Power of Pinterest

I know it's been forever since I've posted anything on my blog here at Calling All Sleepyheads. The truth is, I've really been focused on my art and teaching art to kids, so most of my posts, when I can find time, are to my other blog, Sleepyhead Designs Studio. If you are interested in art and children's art, check out my regular posts there.

I have been amazed, however, the amount of people that continue to visit my site, and mostly all because of Pinterest! I am a big fan myself, so I understand the draw, and love the fact that people continue to "pin" and share my projects.

I wanted to recap my top three posts that have received an incredible amount of traffic because of Pinterest. I also have a couple of projects I hope to finish this summer, so hopefully I'll have few new, fun things to share. In the meantime, follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or my art blog. Click on the titles below to see the full post.

Easy Burlap Door Decor Tutorial

Homemade Rustic Frames

Pizza Box Art

Scripture Art Give Away

Enter to win!

I just love Easter-my favorite time all year. I just finished a little series of paintings inspired by this celebration, and Amanda over at My Heart's Desire will be giving away a piece of my scripture art this week. Stop by, visit her lovely blog, and enter to win!

Handcrafted Bookmarks for Valentine's Day

So, since Valentine’s day is coming up, I thought I’d show you an easy gift idea for friends and teachers.  Here's an simple and inexpensive, yet unique and handmade idea created from cotton duck canvas fabric. Why canvas fabric? Well, it's sturdy and easy to paint on...and I had a bunch of scrap pieces at my house that I was needing to recycle! Cotton duck canvas is also great for creating floor cloths, placemats and fiber art hearts. This is my favorite style of book mark because it not only holds up, but the elastic band holds the pages in place, even in large bulky books.

 

Here’s the supplies I used for this project-but the wonderful thing is, you can make it as elaborate or simple as you like, and it’s not limited just to Valentine’s Day. Just put your own spin on it! This would make a great gift for a best friend, teacher or classmate. 

-Small scraps of 100% cotton duck canvas fabric (You can get this at any fabric or craft store that carries fabric for usually around $5 per yard.)

-Acrylic Gesso (this primes the fabric so you can paint on it)

-Acrylic paint and paint brushes

-Scrapbook paper pieces

-Gel or gloss Medium

-1 elastic headband-9 inches (I have these all over my house, but you can get them at discount stores everywhere) or just use a piece of elastic

-fabric or craft glue

-Black permenant marker (Sharpie)

-large needle and embroidery thread

-scissors

Optional Embellishments:

-thin ribbon scrap (4-6 inches)

-Printed words or sayings

First: I started out with an approximately 4 inch by 10 inch piece of canvas material. Cover both side with a layer of gesso and allow to dry. Next, mix your paint with the gel medium and paint three even sections with different colors. I recommend selecting three colors coordinated with your available scrapbook papers. The gel medium makes the paint glossy and flexible when it dries, plus it gives it a cool painterly look. While the paint is still wet, tear up coordinating scrap book paper pieces and stick into the wet paint. Allow to dry. 

Note: Since the desired look of this craft is fun and whimsical, don’t worry about doing it all perfectly. This also allows this to be fun and easy for kids to do.

 

Cut out one color (3 x 4 inches) and fold over so you can out a heart with a front and back-you can draw your heart on the back first with a pencil if needed and then retrace for the backside. My heart was about three inches in length and two inches wide. Cut the remaining color strip to about 3 inches wide and 6-1/2 inches long. Fold in half lengthwise and make a good crease.

Next you will need your elastic piece. I used an old elastic headband, because with three girls it seems like I can find one lying on the floor at any time. You can also use regular elastic. My band measured 8-1/2 inches long. Using a big needle and thick thread, poke two small holes in the canvas and then secure the band from the unpainted side of the canvas. I left the finishing thread ends out on the painted side so I could tie on a cute little bow.

Now glue the long sides together to cover the band. Next is the fun part; to decorate and embellish. I used a black sharpie to add designs, cut out words printed from my computer (Free Fonts by Kevin and Amanda), and added the cute little dangling heart with a ribbon. The heart is lightly stuffed to give it more dimension.

 

Happy Valentine's Day!