A Valentine
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A Valentine

Is it ever too soon to introduce your kiddo to Adobe Illustrator? Not if you want to spare him a fate of crying and falling apart every time he tries to edit anything he makes on the computer…ah hem…not that I end up in a crumpled heap, speed-dialing my graphic designer whenever I am editing my pattern templates… (hi, Flip!) So, I’m taking the coolest online class in Adobe Illustrator over at Nicole’s Classes and I have learned so much already in one week. Am having so much fun. read more

February 8, 2012
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put a bird on it
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put a bird on it

It seems that I can’t stop putting a bird on things (watch hilarious video here). I was asked to create some auctionable artwork with my daughter’s class for a school fundraiser. I made a diptych of painted and collaged birds and flowers. The two-year olds helped me place and glue all the little fabric flowers onto the stems I had already painted. This exercise was certainly like herding cats. Two-year olds have an amazing lack of understanding about what is up or down or here or there which made the finished pieces so much better. Adult minds are so limited by comparison. I made sure not to edit or correct their choices—they all put the hearts sideways and the flowers not on stems. It was awesome. I must try harder to let go of my understanding of pictorial space in my normal adult life!  🙂 read more

February 1, 2012
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we’re in a little museum show
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we’re in a little museum show

So, I was asked about six months ago if my husband and I would like to be included in a show at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art called Artists and Their Children. I thought it was nice that they included us. My husband is an artist too. We didn’t come up with a plan and just figured it would evolve. Which it has. And because this is a fun opportunity to showcase the beautiful mess that is our family’s creative life, I wanted it to just be playful. So for six months I silently curated the flotsam and jetsam of creative offerings that churn out of the day-to-day. Most things are not actual art objects but instead are creative solutions to homemade toys, which is to say—weapons. I think necessity is the mother of invention and if you don’t give your five year old a light saber he’s gonna make one himself. read more

December 4, 2011
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Craft Camp!
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Craft Camp!



Now that summer is here, it seems that whenever we scrape a few kids together over here for a play date it turns into Craft Camp. Oh, the joy! Last week we had two kids over for a lantern project. I just love Todd Oldham‘s book, Kid Made Modern. This ain’t your grandma’s kids crafting book. It is whip smart, hyper-cool, super gorgeous and just plain fun! Each chapter is introduced by the work of a modernist artist or designer and the crafts relate to that genre…Noguchi, Marimekko, Luis Barragan, Alexander Calder. Tremendously cool. So, this lantern project is from the book. read more

June 5, 2011
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Ladybug Stuffie
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Ladybug Stuffie




Today was one of those dreamy marathon playdate days. We had six hours of peaceful goodness involving one trip to the grocery, a house relocation, swimming and pre-dinner popsicles. Perfection.

Now you know that there is nothing I like more than a kid who wants to sew something and I basically rope every child I can find into making a stuffie of some sort these days. After a year of it, the big boy has grown weary of sewing cute pillows and stuffies, but he occasionally obliges me. read more

May 13, 2011
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Makedo
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Makedo




I just found this jaw-droppingly cool company, Makedo. They sell little connector kits for assembling sculptures and creatures from leftover cardboard, yogurt cups, etc. I see hours and hours of fun for my family when I look at these little plastic bits. Their product is one part genius and one part no-duh! In fact, I have used little brads for similar purposes with the big boy, but they aren’t nearly as effective as these humongo plastic brads. The little accompanying saw tool looks like it cuts through cardboard so easily. Watch their cute video here.
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May 4, 2011
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Sockies!
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Sockies!

The Original Sockie

Lately, we have been making Sockies in our house…that is our made-up name for sock stuffies. There is nothing perfect about a Sockie. They are down-and-dirty, cheap-and-easy fun! All you need is a sock, a rubber band to close it, a marker and some polyfil (or rice…or sand…or crumpled newspaper!) read more

April 28, 2011
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