Arts Activity

It is my aspiration not to be a Tiger mom but to focus on a well balanced and holistic childhood for my kids (Sound too ambitious?) I always think being a Tiger or helicopter mom is easier cos we are more in control. I choose to put my kids happiness and safety as the first priority whenever I have to make decisions for them. 

Somehow, we are at the situation of having 3 enrichment class for lil Joy every week which she enjoys. I am tempted to send her for art classes to expand her horizon in the world of Arts which I love so much but I reckon it will be too heavy on our schedule. 

Instead, I try to incorporate an art activity every weekend. Here is us, redrawing a scene from Dr Seuss's book. I introduced to her chalk pastels and she gets to use the tongs to work on her pinch grasp.

Things seems fresh and fun for a moment.

Then she decided that it is easier to scrap the pigment onto the paper directly. 

We ended the session with a very brown hand and no photos of the final artwork. So sorry about the lousy documentations but I will work on it better next time.

DIY Do A Dot Markers

Have you seen the Do A Dot Markers? I have seen activities done on the blogs of some preschool homeschoolers using these Markers. I checked the pricing of these markers and they are sold at SGD39.90 for a set of 6 markers.

I have tried to look for DIY solutions but is not convinced with the alternatives that I had found online mainly due to the concern that lil Joy is only 26 months old and I need something that is more leak proof. This project has been on my mind for more than a year before I finally see the solution at Art Friend, a local art and craft supply shop.

It is the Paint Applicator! Price is about SGD 6.90 plus for a pack of 3. I never knew such things exist and soon realise that Martha Stewart has similar products under her branding. So I grabbed a pack and  tried it out with watercolor paint.

Here is how the paint applicators look. I used a palette knife to coax the paint in, add a dribble of water, replace the top, give it a shake, start dabbing and the paint comes out shortly. It will be a slight mess during the preparation stage but everything is easily washed under a tap before I handed these paint filled applicators to lil Joy.

And yes, these applicators comes with a cap and so far it has been leak proof.

Here is how the sponge part looks like up close. The control of the paint flow has been good.

Here is the end product. We only did some sampling during the first session and I am happy with the results except for the vibrancy of the colors. I will experiment with the different kind of paints and consistency to find something that I like. In the meanwhile, lil Joy is having a blast with dotting on the paper and discovering that she can draw with it. I love the price and the convenience that I can just put the caps of the applicator on for storage and easily do this activity with just some papers.

Sharing this little find of mine and hope it helps some moms. :D

Crochet hook handle

I have gotten myself the full set of the Clover Amour Crochet hooks and I never look back again. They are comfortable, colorful and useful tools for people who crochet (aka me).

There are times when I have to use hook sizes that do not come in the set, like the 1.0mm hooks for my crochet bead bracelets and they are a pain in the fingers to work with. I have planned to make handles for them for a long time and ideally, I want to use polymer clay. However, the thoughts of digging my clay out and setting up my oven has made me procrastinate this plan for the longest time.

That day, an idea lighted up and it's the perfect opportunity for me to use up those felt fibres that I have gotten to try out felting (which i realised quickly that it's not my cup of craft). So a felted handle was made for my 1.0mm..

Tadah...

I will say that it works to reduce the pain caused by that extremely skinny handle but it takes a lot of time to felt this thing up. I am still using the felting needle to poke it once in a while when i feel like it to make it firmer. I suppose I am the only person who felt by instalments. In conclusion, the amount of time I used to make this felt handle is most likely enough for me to make clay handles for all my steel hooks. Well, i have to find some good use for the felt somehow so it is still a good attempt.

Watercoloring by the Mommy

Recently, I am reminded of the arts and crafts activities that we have been taught in our school days but with a new light.

Honestly, it frustrated me at times when I rediscover an activity that I knew from my school days which has been classified as boring in my memory. An example is watercoloring. 8 years of primary and secondary school education with arts lessons have left me clueless about this art medium. Every year, our school book list will have watercolors paint set in it and every year, at some point in time we might be asked to bring it to school but was never taught any skill, any knowledge or any examples on how we can use that medium. The teachers' idea of art lesson is giving the command 'Draw this'.. and they relax for that lesson. Seriously, tt is such a bad bad thing to do. I grew up with the impression that watercolor is a weak, difficult and cheap art medium and it is used by boring uncle artists to make those light washed sketches.

Can you imagine how much I wanted to bash myself when i realised that those uncle artists are not boring but very talented? How shocked I am to know that watercolor need not be only in light washes but can be used for the most beautiful blending on your painting. It is such a versatile art medium with so much possibilities that I only got to know recently. This was bed by my interest in watercolor pencils and pastels and my wishes to do blending which seemed to be only achieved by the very expensive Copic Markers.

I am not an artist, my job is at the other spectrum of the creative rainbow. I only like to doodle with little crafts and arts things for joy to create happy things and happy thoughts.

After all these ramblings, I started my watercoloring with a new interest and a purpose on what I want to create. I started with cute drawings and inked them in waterproof inks.

Then I use my watercolors and I am really very very surprised by the final products and still cannot digest the thoughts that it is being done by watercolors.