4 Cats

How cute are these? My 3 & 5 yr old just got back from an Orca Whale Workshop at 4 Cats Art Studio, where they made these whales.. whats that you thought? cats? I suppose I should have done the side profile. Oops. My 5yr old's on the left and 3yr old's on the right. I'm loving 4 Cats and heading off to sign them up for more!

i'm still here

January was a very busy month for us with many changes. So I'm happy we are on to February and it's already shaping up to be my favourite month of the year. (with valentines day and our anniversary is usually is)

In preparation for Valentines Day E & J have started hand-made valentines and we are in pretty good shape so far.

We used Melissa & Doug paints, but you could use any crayola or kid safe paint.

talk about good timing!

As my knittingness hits its peek, well don't I just come across this! Now that I can combine my love of decorating with wool, I think I might be unstoppable! {evil laugh}

The wonderful Life Through The Lens blog posted this tutorial today.

keeping the memory alive

Yes, I've found yet another way to save those pictures, paintings and crafts that have come home with the kids. Take a picture like this:


And turn it into a template to embroider on a pillow, canvas bag or t-shirt.

mosaics

When I was younger I worked in a Stained Glass studio. We did repairs, custom pieces and helps others pick out materials for there home projects. We also taught classes and my personal favourite was the mosaics class. Any skill level could turn out a charming mosaic and we enjoyed finding new ways to create them. We did table tops, lanterns, lamps, garden stones, door stops and fireplace surrounds. Until today though, I'd never considered doing this and I think its just brilliant! Now to find an enormous rock..

Check out Sweet Creations by Stephanie here for more info.

painting ceramics

I had a date with my daughter a few weeks ago. We went to the Ceramics studio and painted mugs. She made this one for Daddy. What a great activity to do with kids! You can have a great afternoon out, create one of a kind artwork or a present and have it be something functional!

In Ottawa check out Gotta Paint. Shops like this often do birthday parties and other functions on the premise too!

family

I want to try this and with family in other cities.. it might be a really neat thing to pull off. Go here for details.

butterflies

The snow is melting and spring is in the air! I know because I actually opened my windows today for the first time in about 6 months and I didn't start to freeze till they'd been open about an hour! Yippee!

So in honor of our newly visible driveway we did butterfly crafts today with a few things we found at our neighbourhood Dollarama. Precut butterflies, pipe cleaners twirled around a pencil and loads of glitter glue and pom poms.

giving good news

There are many nifty ways to announce an engagement or baby on the way.. and I love the creativity in this pregnancy announcement from Inchmark.

cutest birthday invites

I will have to file this away for E's next birthday. Wonderful idea from Inchmark.

jan eleni interiors

Another wonderful idea that can help condence the pile of art work currently filling our hall closet and it will look beautiful for years to come! Click the link for more info.

heart hand stamp

Yet another simple but beautiful Valentine Idea. This one comes from BKids

Valentine's Craft

This is just the coolest Valentine's card I ever did see! The wonderful TheLongThread.com has all the details on how to recycle left over crayon pieces into this beautiful Valentine's Craft! Love it!

Valentine's craft #2

The Idea Room.. one of my very favourite blogs did this Valentine's craft last year and I just love it. Check it out here: theidearoom.blogspot.com

I heart faces

Ever take a fabulous picture of your little one and there is one CRAZY RED SPOT that stands out more than your cutie-patutie? Ever hang out for a while at Google Images just looking at great photography? Well Amy and Angie of I Heart Faces have taken it to a hole nother' level. Their very popular blog is jam-packed with great photography tips, editing tips and lots and lots of beautiful photos!

a new piece

I would really like to frame this soon, but there are others higher on the list. I'm happy with my recycled magazine artwork though.. perhaps I have more of these in my future.

snowpeople

Another fun Christmas craft that a four year old can really get into. Take white paint (white ink pads work the best) and use your finger pad to print the face and your thumb to print the body. Then add a carrot nose, clothes and last use your favourite sharpie to add the face and arms! So many possibilities with this one!

A new tradition

I suppose I didn't notice the first year or two, but it seems I've started a Holiday tradition for MY little family and I love it. But first.. I've got plenty of posts planned for the holiday season- some I'm so excited about I can't help but spill the beans a bit. First I have some great crafts planned including Fingerprint snow men. Then I'll be posting about the newest baking and decorating ideas I've come across.

Today's post is one of my favourite! Our family likes to seal the memory of Christmas in ceramic at Gotta Paint. Every year since my first was born, I've been going to Gotta Paint and making something with the kids hand prints to commemorate the year. This year I'm thinking of a plate with the kids hand prints as the antlers. I've done hand and foot Christmas ornaments and plates. Here's last years plate- E's hands are on the bottom and J's hand is on the top. Then E decorated the tree with ornaments. She got a little crazy with the trunk and I always smile when I see it.

playing with letters

I have been playing again on alphabetphotography.com hee hee hee!

These people have that creative magic. It's fun to write out names and see what comes up and it's beautiful to look at the designs and inspirational messages they have pre-packaged. I'm dreaming about a big "Welcome" framed at my front door.