Photo Wood Blocks

I love preserving memories and have recently started to create these beautiful, archival wood blocks.  I love how they create a unique collage on the walls.

a new way of painting

I recently discovered the Gellimat and my kids love using it. You paint this mat with a brayer and then put your paper on top to make a print. We would use different shapes to remove paint in areas which makes for endless possibilities.

mixed media card

My background started off with dictionary pages on chipboard. The butterfly I found randomly on-line and did a transfer with Golden gel medium.  The butterfly turned out a bit darker than I had hoped but I was happy that I got the transfer to work.  The original image was still good so I used it on another card, which you can find here. 

Here is a list of the supplies I used:

• acrylic paint (Golden Fluid Acrylic)
• chipboard
• dictionary pages
• embellishment (word 'love')
• gel medium (Golden)

• gesso (white)
• pattern paper (for quote)
• sharpie (black)
• stamp (text over butterfly)

You may not have all these things to use but you would be amazed at what you can create with what you have.  It's worth giving it a try.

mixed media card

My background started off with dictionary pages and then I used some wrinkled aluminum foil on top of it for texture. The butterfly I used was as an image transfer for another card and since there was still a fair bit of the image left, I cut it out and used it here.

Here is a list of the products I used:

• acrylic paint (Golden Fluid Acrylic)
• aluminum foil
• card stock (for bunting)
• chipboard
• dictionary pages
• embroidery floss
• gesso (white)
• mod podge (matte)
• pattern paper (for bunting)
• sand paper (to sand away some of the paint and expose the aluminum foil)
• sewing pattern

painting on canvas

The weather here has been really great which was perfect for painting outside. We bought 11" x 14" canvases and just used inexpensive acrylic paints. I watered down the paints so that they would run and also to be a bit transparent, since toddlers love to paint the same spot over and over. We let each colour dry and then painted the next colour.  The paintings turned out great and the girls had lots of fun painting them. What a great activity.

painting with our feet

It's time to paint with our feet again, a thing my daughter loves to do. I tape down one of those plastic sheets you would use you under a high chair typically.  Then I tape down a piece of paper on top of that, I used the paper from Ikea that comes on a roll called Mala but you could use anything really. A few paper plates with Crayola washable paint and we are ready to do.

As a word of caution, the paint is a bit slippery so make sure your child is up for the challenge.

mixed media

I love mixed media art and thought I would give it a try. I used a 2x4 and 4x6 as my base. My dad has a fancy drill bit that will allow me to hang it once I'm done. I had the two pieces of wood cut square to start and the edges were made smooth. Some modge podge, an old dictionary page and paint and we are good to go. I also used some Tim Holtz distress inks for the edges. I'm happy how they turned out, just need to make it 2 sets of 3 and it will be some fun art for the walls. It was so easy to do that it's worth giving it a try. If you don't have wood for your base, you could also use a canvas.

painting on a big canvas

I saw this idea and thought it was worth a try.  I was initially planning to check out my local thrift store but my father generously gave me this canvas for the project....perfect.

I took washable paint and watered them down slightly as I wanted the paint to run. My daughter tends to paint the same spot over and over so I figured if the paint ran a little, it would give a different look.  I used sponge paint brushes (that's all had in the house) and gave her 2 colours any more would have been too much. I also rotated the canvas so that more of the canvas would be covered. She had so much fun painting and now we have a great piece of art hanging in our hallway.