Student Pottery Sale

This weekend went went to the student pottery sale at Millersville University. Was nice to be back at the Alma matter and supporting some very talented art students. Shout out to Alyssa Zimmerman, she made the two lovely pieces on the right. I love the form of the mug, and we can't wait to use the bowl for some guacamole! So excited to have these pieces as part of my art collection!

Ethan would have bought just about everything there if we had let him. He left with two small clay pendants of his own.

So my shopping tip? Keep an eye out for student sales. You'll be amazed with the quality of the pieces and you'll be supporting some wonderful artists who are just trying to get started. Win-win.

Six Little Paintings

It's been a long time since Ethan's fingerpainted. So when he asked, we went down into the studio and he got to work. One of my favorite parts of the studio space is our drying line. Not only does it look awesome when all the little paintings are hanging in a row, but I can see the excitement and sense of pride when Ethan gets to clip his masterpieces up there. It's really just a $9 retractable clothesline. Great for hanging artwork, but nice that it can easily slide away when not in use. 

I'm actually quite a fan of the red one in the middle. That might show up in a frame somewhere. Anyway, my main point is a just a little reminder that if it's been awhile, get out the paints again. It really is a lot of fun...And who doesn't want to preserve some little hand prints? They sure don't stay little for long...

Pom-pom Toe-ga Game

Recently at a yoga class, my instructor was having us do some "toe-ga" or feet strengthening exercises. I was doing a little research, and came across this great little children's yoga game. Basically, you dump a bunch of pom-poms on the floor. Each player gets a yoga mat. Picking up the pom-poms with your feet, you bring as many as you can back to your mat. Whoever has the most at the end, wins. 

We tried it out this weekend and it was a hit. At first, Ethan was pretty sure he couldn't possibly pick up the pom-pom with his toes, but once he did, he thought it was pretty cool. The game part fell apart a bit when I was only allowed to pick up the colors that he "didn't like," but it was still some good, fun, active play. And I'll tell you what, at then end, my feet were feeling pretty tired! 

I didn't get a photograph, but Ethan also thought it was fun to pick up the pom-poms with his feet and try putting them into an empty tissue box, similar to our old fill and spill game (in fact, it's the same pom-poms and the same tissue box).

Pom-pom Toe-ga game for the win.

Weeee!!!! Photoshop 101 Homework

Sorry for the double post today, but I'm taking a Photoshop 101 class with Melanie Burk though Nicole's Classes. Even though I have been using Photoshop for years, I've still learned quite a bit. It's been great! Anyway, I learned how to create an animated gif in Photoshop today. This is just a set of cell phone pics of Ethan and his daddy at the park the other evening, but they animate quite well I think. :)

PS- I created the images in my last post as part of the Photoshop 101 class as well. Good stuff. Do yourself a favor and check out Nicole's Classes!

Pretty Potted Plants on a Dime

I bought these pots for a dollar a piece at Target back in the spring. (They were actually ice cream cups from the kitchen section). I love the brilliant colors and had really good intentions of buying some artificial succulents to put in them... until I saw the price tags. No way I was going to pay $7 per piece to fill my dollar pots. I ended up getting these $1 aquarium plants from the pet store and dropped them in. 

Small inexpensive pots (I imagine you could paint some cheap clay pots at around $1 each) and aquarium plants. Easy-peasy!

3 Minute Recycled Ghosts

I really wanted to go outside the other evening. Cool and crisp fall air was upon us. 3 year old Ethan was less than interested, so I suggested we decorate for Halloween. Suddenly, going outside was a cause he could get behind. I really didn't have much, and I hadn't planned ahead (silly Mommy)...and so I decided I'd make ghosts while Ethan played with the materials we'd quick whip up some ghosts.

I headed to the basement (where the treasures are) and got some old white t-shirts that Daddy was saving for when he works on the car. I also grabbed some scissors, plastic grocery bags, and fishing line.

I balled up 1-2 bags and wrapped the t-shirt around it. I'd hold the shirt tightly around the plastic bag ball, and then rather haphazardly, I'd cut the "tail" of the ghost. Tie with some fishing line and ta-da! I said each ghost took about 3 minutes, but after I got rolling, it was probably even faster than that.

Ethan directed where to hang them in the tree, and we were done!

If I were to do it differently (aka, didn't have a preschooler chomping at the bit), I may have threaded the fishing line though the top of the head to hang them, but I like to think when they're leaning, it's like they are really flying! Ooooooo! Weather pending, I may add some spider web to the base of the tree for Trick or Treat night.

Either way, they really do look quite spooky out there! Happy Halloween!

Crayons are for Adults

This week I broke out the old box of crayons. I'm not kidding when I say "my old box"...my name is written in poor penmanship, in pencil, on the back of the box. The box copyright is 1990. I'm pretty sure those 8 new colors aren't so new anymore. 

They may have been with me for awhile, but the crayon sharpener on the back of the box is just as lovely as always. (Remember how cool that pencil sharpener was? And how much it sucked when the bottom of the box would open up in your school desk?) Oh, and they still smell just as fantastic too.

I've been keeping this box and paper on my desk at work during the day. 

I spend all day creating. Typically, when I need to think, find an idea, or work though something, I'll take to the internet and look all over the web for inspiration. I look at art, design, color, blogs-- all rather mindlessly until I work through my creative block in the back of my brain. Sometimes what I'm looking at sparks an idea; Other times just the break helps. It's my tried and true system. 

This week I've been replacing some of that mindless surfing with a little coloring. It's a bit more meditative. I try and really focus just on the colors and the act of coloring, and clear my head. Only a minute or two at a time, but it's pretty good for a quick recharge. I'm 3 days in, and you can see from the image how little I've gotten done. It's not a lot, but it seems just right.

Regardless, it's been a nice change, and I have this wonderfully colorful piece of art to look at. :) Really, isn't it pretty?!?  OH yeah, and it's so nice to be making marks on paper (that are not part of a to-do list).

You can download and print your own copy from my pin here. I repinned from Pinterest and I'm not real sure where the original is (If you know, please help me and give me a link so I can give more proper credit). Looks like it's a design from Dover. They have some amazing adult coloring books that are quite affordable...Love that the pages of the books are perforated too. Will have to get some of those!  (Sorry, I digress).

So- do you love to color?