Showing posts with label arts and crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label arts and crafts. Show all posts

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Quentin’s Vernissage

Qvernissage (1) Qvernissage (2)

On Friday, Quentin had his vernissage for school. Every spring, for the last 8 years, I’ve had a vernissage at our daycare. Each kid has made a painting that has taken a few weeks to make (in stages – see pictures below). I was blown away with Quentin’s painting this year – it’s even got a picture of Quentin climbing to the moon! His painting is based on an Eric Carle book called Papa Please Get the Moon for Me. I’ve got a little artist on my hands. I can’t wait to find a place to hang this up on the wall!

Qvernissage (3)

 Qvernissage (4)

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Mr. Sean

seantooth3

Sean lost his 3rd tooth on Friday. We knew it was loose, but we didn’t think it would come out so quickly. He ran to me just before bedtime and said “Look mom! I pulled it out!” Brave kid! It’s his 3rd tooth on the bottom lost. He hasn’t lost a top one yet, though his teeth keep spacing further apart on the top, making room for his adult teeth. The top front teeth are loose, but not loose enough to fall out yet. Soon enough! The tooth fairy brought rainbow loom elastics (a mega 1200 glow-in-the-dark & two-tone mix pack) and 2 loonies.

seanflowers

For Mother’s Day recently, Sean made me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers (from construction paper and tissue paper) at school. They’re better than real flowers, as they won’t die. He was so proud of them, I love it.

He’s growing up too fast. The blink of an eye, and he’s just about done the 1st grade.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Pompom Monster Tutorial

pompommonster

This is my pompom monster for a project I am doing for a presentation in my son's kindergarten class in April. His teacher does an "enfant vedette" project where one child is highlighted for the week and one of the child's parents comes in for an hour and talks about their job or hobby so I will talk about knitting and my yarn shop and make these pompom monsters with the kids as the activity I will do with them. It's a cute and fun project to do with the kids. This was my trial monster to see how much yarn I need I prepare for each kid in Mackenzie's class. He has 18 classmates.

To make the pompom I used this free printable PDF from Mias Craft Ideas. I chose the size I wanted and I cut out the shape and traced it on cardboard from an empty cereal box (you need to make 2 of them to hold together when wrapping the yarn). Then I used a worsted weight yarn and wrapped the pompom tool. I cut around the edge of the yarn to release the strands & then I took a string and tied the pompom together. To see how that is done, you can watch this youtube video. I did trim a bit of the pieces afterwards (like a haircut) to make the monster even. Then I used my handy glue gun and glued on 2 google eyes & voila! A cute/adorable pompom monster!

monsterside 

(Side view of my monster)

Sunday, September 30, 2012

A little project

Now that Sean has started school, he’s been bringing home papers from school. Instead of losing them all over the house, I decided to figure out an option to hold all his school papers, in one spot, and I came up with this:

paint1

A canvas, some paint, some paint brushes & a clothes pin.

paint2

I painted the canvas (and the clothes pin).

paint3

And once dried, I glued the clothes pin on in the middle of the canvas and stuck on some fun foam stickers (from the dollar store that I had on hand from another project a while back). And now I just need to bug my husband to hang it on the wall in the kitchen. It’s been sitting on the window sill in the kitchen, and I am hoping to get it hung up soon. Now all of Sean’s school papers (the few that there are, as the school is trying to be as paperless as possible), are in one spot, and we’ll hopefully never forget anything that is needed for kindergarten.

You can totally use this for holding anything, a calendar, or birthday invites or clippings from the newspaper, etc. If you make one similar, drop me a note or comment to let me know!

Friday, September 07, 2012

4Cats Art Studio

4catssplatterroom

Last week, just before Sean started Kindergarten, while we were babysitting his best friend, I took the boys to check out a new local Art Studio that is opening it’s doors tomorrow, called 4Cats Art Studio (Facebook Link). Trisha & Catherine were really nice, and we had a great time. We got to choose a Star Wars themed workshop to check out and each of the boys got to make a piece to take home, while I made a piece to leave on display at the studio. Here’s a quick peak at the studio. (Above is the awesome splatter paint room, I wat to go back and try that out sometime).

wall

They have beautiful art work on the wall, and also inspiring famous artist posters to go with the artist of the month. The first artist will be Van Gogh, who has done some pretty amazing paintings.

artwall

The Studio will hold classes, and the Fall session begins this Monday, September 10th and will run for 10 weeks. You can choose from:

To view their class list, view/download their schedule, or to register online please visit here. 4Cats classes qualify for the Children’s Art Tax Credit, to learn more, please contact the studio at (514) 505-3727 or by e-mail at westisland@4cats.com

Looking for something fun to do for your child’s birthday party? 4Cats studio has party packages that include an afternoon filled with Paint Splatter, Pop Art and much more! They can also host corporate events.

gettingpaint mypiecestart showingus

We chose a Star Wars Workshop, and it was a ton of fun. The boys at 5 and a half and six are totally into Star Wars, so that made it so much more interesting. The other option was doing a Warhol inspired Pop Art piece, but knowing these 2 boys, the Star Wars one was definitely the better choice.

spraypaint

We even got to do a bit of splattering on the pieces, in the splatter room. After a few tries, the boys finally got the wrist movement down, and had fun. I think they wanted to continue splattering things with paint.

workingonart smushclay workingclay 

After the painting was done, we got to work on the clay sculpture to put on our canvas. Since we were working on a Star Wars piece, we did a Yoda clay sculpture. Mine was Mme Yoda though, I made a lady one!

clayparts

We sculpted and formed all the pieces, mainly with just our hands. The mouth indents for the boys pieces used a tool to make the markings. We even used glow-in-the-dark clay for the eyes, how fun!

claydone

These are our 4 Yodas before they went into the oven to bake. Top are ones belong to Sean’s friend & Sean (purple light saber) and the bottom two are mine (Mme Yoda) and Catherine’s.

gluing

Then Catherine glued the Yodas onto our canvas once they came out of the oven. The boys did some oil pastel coloring while they waited for the clay to cook in the oven.

doneclay

And lastly, our 3 finished pieces, Sean’s, his friends & mine on the right.

jabseanart

The boys were soooo proud of their work. They had a great time at the studio, and I hope to take Sean and hopefully Mackenzie there again soon. Quentin is still too young for this type of thing, but one day he’ll be old enough to join in.

Everyone is invited to the GRAND OPENING this Saturday, September 8th from 1-4pm.  Tour the studio, make a polymer clay sculpture, create spin art, try silk screening, splatter painting & more!!!  Snack & refreshments will be served, fun is guaranteed!  Don’t forget, dress for mess!

Thank you so much to Catherine & Trish for the wonderful opportunity to check out your studio before it opened, and attend a private mini workshop. I am absolutely keeping this idea in mind for Mackenzie’s next birthday next year. I think he would have a blast at the splatter painting party!

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Vernissage

Last week I attended a vernissage at Sean & Mack’s daycare. Vernissage is held every April, to raise money for the daycare. In the past the money has gone towards new library books, new toys for the gymnasium, and stuff like that. Every set of parents buys their kids work (20$ a piece) and the pieces the boys did this year are fabulous. They are shown artists’ work and they get to pick which piece they are inspired by and they work on their piece, which takes weeks, I’m told. It’s an entire process.

mackvernissage

Mackenzie’s piece was inspired by L’Horrible Chat des Neiges. He did an absolutely fabulous job on his piece.

Seanvernissage

Sean’s piece was inspired by ‘Sin Owl” Foliage Kenojuak, (this piece). Sean also did an absolutely fabulous job.

Now, to find where to hang these pieces in the house. We must find the right spot. If you are curious to see the pieces that the boys have done in the past, you can find them here: 2011, 2010, 2009. Next year, Quentin will join in on the fun, since he’ll be in daycare.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Other Crafting

I have been doing some other crafts around here. A few things that I'd like to show you, mainly random things, actually.

pantsfixed

I had bought some patches from Fabricville to fix 2 pairs of the boys pants. They were iron on. However, when I tried to iron them on, it didn't work so well. So I borrowed some Heat-n-Bond from a friend of mine, and voila... it worked ironing it on the 2nd time. I think I might have to get my hands on some of this Heat-n-bond stuff - it's quite handy.

mackspillow

Next up, when Sean brought his Habs pillow to school for "nap time" (he doesn't nap anymore, but is require to lie on his mat from 1-2pm and then gets to go from 2-3pm to non-nappers), Mack requested one too - for a more comfortable nap time. So I whipped him up one too, and he loves it!

MyaFrame

Lastly, since the recipient received these today, I'd like to show you these name frames that I made a pregnant friend for her daughter. The colors weren't my first choice, but I had to work with the blocks that came in the set. I still like the way it came out, and I hope my friend does too. I love creating fun & unique gifts. I gave these alone with the first Girl Cap that I knit just a few weeks ago.

I have a few other projects up my sleeves, but I think that some of the recipients may read my blog, so I will keep those secret until the gifts have been given! Stay tuned!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Lite Brite Fun

pegs

I got the boys a second hand lite brite recently.

litebrite

I picked up refill pages at ToysRUs and we've been having fun this week making images. I had picked up some generic images as well as some Tonka truck ones and Transformers. Hopefully the generic pages aren't too girly.

transformer

I used to have a lite brite as a child. I wonder if my mom still has it.
(I think she actually might... I'll find out later!)

flamingo

Do you do lite brite with your kids? What kind of images have you made?

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Colours to Go

rolls

Colours To Go owner Susannah Findlay and I bonded over the fact that we were both reading the same book (I'm still reading it... as I got distracted from it). I asked her if I could review one of her products, and that an upcoming trip with the kids was a perfect time to do so, and not only am I reviewing this product, Susannah has donated not one, but TWO colouring wallets (with gel pens) for me to giveaway to 2 lucky readers!

crayonsinroll

These crayon (or gel pen) colouring wallets are very well made, and are in super bold colors.

rollopenrolls2

They fit nicely into your purse, diaper bag, or into a kid's backpack. This product is fantastic and a great thing to bring along to keep kids entertained.They are super handy and I was glad to test out this product. They also make a great gift.

atairport mackatairport coloringwhilewaitcoloring2 planetimecolor onplane

My boys absolutely loved it, and kept going to the pad in the wallet to color on, instead of the colouring book that was in their carry on bag. It was a great hit! If you'd like to win one for your child, or if you don't have a kid, to give away as a gift to a kid you love, here are some ways to win:

- Leave a comment on this post only, after subscribing to my blog & let me know you are now a subscriber!
- Leave a comment on this post only, after following Colours To Go on Facebook & let me know you are now a follower.
- Leave a comment on this post only, after following Colours To Go on Twitter & let me know you are now a follower.
- Leave a comment on this post only, after following Me on Twitter & let me know you are now a follower.
- If you are not on facebook or twitter, please go to Colours To Go's website, and let me know which of her products besides the colouring wallet (which I am giving away) you just love!

You can leave ONE comment for EACH thing you do. If you do all of them, that's 5 ENTRIES! You have until February 29th (a leap year this year!) to enter this comment, at midnight EST. I will announce the winner shortly after that time.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Organization

I've been trying to tackle organization chez Knit & Purl Mama. Let's take a look:

dotsystem

First, I came up with an organizational idea for my yarn room. I bought a few packs of these dot stickers. In order to make sure that every single skein in my yarn room is listed on Ravelry (in my personal stash AND on my trade/sell page), I'm checking each skein to make sure it's photographed & listed, and once it is, I'm putting a colored sticker on it, to mark it as done.

2skeindot

You see? These two are listed in my stash! I think it's a great system to make sure all my yarn is cataloged. I still have a long way to go, but it's coming along (slowly) (whenever I get the chance to work in my yarn room). When you have as much yarn as there is in my yarn room... you need a system to figure out what's what in there... and this is what came to mind!

patternorganization

On the theme of organization, my (printed) patterns are all now in protective sleeves in binders, categorized by type. (Sweater, socks, cowls, scarves, baby... you name it, there's a knitting binder for it).

habsfixture

The boys got a new light fixture in their room.

habsboysroom


They love it. And there is now more light in their room than what the last light fixture was giving off. So glad we can finally see when we're in their room.

framedcomic

While we were at Comic Con two weeks ago, I got to meet Lynn Johnson, who does the cartoon For Better or For Worse. It's one of the comics I actually read when I actually read the newspaper.

tous

Edited out my kids/hubby's last name. (Cuz in Quebec the wife (like myself) doesn't take their husbands name legally when they marry. Some b.s. about too high of a divorce rate and they don't want to do the legal paperwork - how encouraging to get married, eh?)

signaturelynn

onthewall

Hubby got around to hanging it up this past weekend in the kitchen.

extrachairattable

And speaking of the kitchen, we re-arranged a bit in there. We moved the water cooler over (it was in the corner where the green swiffer mop handle is) so that we could move over the table to give more room for all of us to be around it. We took the high chair out of the kitchen and now Quentin is at the table in a booster seat instead of in the high chair. This new way takes up way less space in the kitchen. He likes being at the table with us now. It's nice. Now, hubby is just waiting for Quentin to outgrow our Jumperoo, so that it's no longer taking up space in the kitchen. Though, I still put Quentin in it more than once daily, while I'm in the kitchen, he likes to jump the shit out of it.

showerorg

And I picked up an awesome corner of the shower stall caddy thing the other day while I was out. Jamie loved it so much in our ensuite shower (which I use) that he made me run out the next day and buy a 2nd one for the hallway bathroom (which he uses to shower). Why I didn't think to buy 2 at the same time? I'm not sure. Neither shower stall has shelves, so this was a perfect solution. I was getting sick of the little caddy that hangs over your shower head. There wasn't enough room for all my stuff on there that I was keeping stuff on the floor of the shower stall. New caddy is awesome.

bathroomrack

While I was in that same department, I saw this and had to have it. Things were piling up on top of the toilet tank, and it's nice to have shelf space in the bathroom now. Now I don't have to worry about things on the top of the toilet tank possibly falling into the toilet. Cuz in our house, we all know that a certain someone (cough, cough, Mackenzie) is good at flushing things down the toilet. Just two nights ago we lost a toy Lightning McQueen down the toilet. (It was really tiny actually, so it shouldn't block anything, it was from a book game).

Things are starting to get very organized around here. (And de-cluttered too!) I like this progress. I'm ready to pat myself on the back. I hope to get everything done that is on my list before my maternity leave officially ends in November. (Though, I'll be staying at home (and working from home) with Quentin until he has daycare in the spring - as soon as he turns 18 months old as our daycare has no baby room). But, I do want to make sure my "to-do" list is done before my actual maternity leave ends (mid-November).

Lastly, today, I want to show you something I made that my parents framed & hung up in their house:

scrabblegift

I think it was for their anniversary last year, that I made this for my parents. It has all our names in the family (pets included). My mom finally found a shadow box frame that fits this and she finally hung it in their house. I totally want to make one for our house now (just need to find the time to actually make it). Isn't it an awesome gift? I picked up some old board games at Value Village and had extra boards to make this! I still have 2 or 3 boards left, from my Value Village finds.