Tissue Paper

What a fun holiday season and I have enough tissue paper to show for it!  With about 8 sheets of tissue paper fold it like an accordion and tie a string in the middle. Cut the edge in round shapes.

 

Then gently pull away the layers and a flower is born!

 

- JM

Planetarium

I made this by popping holes into the bottom of a disposable tin pan.  I put white Christmas lights underneath and shaped it into a dome...very pretty!  

Festive Paper

It is so much fun shopping at craft stores during the holiday season.  At Paper Source I found festive paper which I cut out in different shapes and pasted on simple drawings or made collages for holiday cards, etc...

  - JM

Recycled crayons

I have been saving crayons that my kids used while at restaurants.  I melt them and put them into molds.  These ones are for a little friend of my daughter :)

Spritz with Paint!

Using a spray bottle, fill it with watercolor paint and a little bit of water.  With a real or stencil leaf, spray the paint on a paper bag.  Once dry, put an electric candle in the bag and a lantern is now created,  Place bag(s) on a window sill, deck rail, door steps, etc. and have a festive time!

Here is the link of a similar project I posted on You Tube two years ago on watercolor paper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCSaJruNxJE

~ JM


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Robin eggs in nest

   I made these mini Robin's nests with acorn tops and dried grass.  For the eggs, I painted soy beans.  I used a hot glue gun to hold it all together and attached very thin string so they will hang.  I found an idea similar to this on Pinterest.

Photoshop, etc....

I am so lucky to have an art gallery/school in my neighborhood.  Browsing the course catalog I found a class dealing with Photoshop and another class using art apps on your iPad.  I took Photoshop.

The four day class focused on all the nifty things Photoshop can do like layering and filters. I created something that Andy Warhol would have done.  The Adobe website has great tutorials.


Photoshop Before

Photoshop After

Also, I researched "art apps" to see what the class was all about.  There is a whole universe of apps out there for the iPhone and iPad that are helpful to artists or for those who just want to have fun.

A free one I downloaded to my phone was ArtStudio Lite.  One can draw, paint, filter and photo edit.

ArtStudio Lite

JM