creative jewish mom

Summer Camp Crafts: How To Make An Acrylic Pour Painting

Summer is here, which means whether or not summer camp is a part of your summer, you can still do messy, activity oriented crafts (outdoors?) that one might do in summer camp. Acrylic pour painting fits right into that category perfectly, so lets take a look at this trendy painting process.

If you are like me, you are slightly familiar with acrylic pour painting, but have not yet actually thought about trying it, as you've got so many other projects on your to-do list or a whole closet of craft supplies yet to be used? When I was asked to write an article about pour painting I was really excited to do the research and find out exactly how those dazzling multi-color paintings are made, and whether it would be something I'd consider trying. This article is a brief guide to help you determine whether indeed you'll spend the time and money to make some acrylic pour paintings or whether you'll pass. For a really great and in-depth article on acrylic pour paintings with how-to photos, and everything you need to know check out the post: Learn Everything About Acrylic Pouring. Just a guess, since I've discovered that one can actually make pour paintings with some inexpensive supplies, I think you'll be tempted to try, I know I am! Plus, one can do pour paintings on paper that has been coated with gesso, meaning you could even use those pour paintings as art journal backgrounds, or for something less precious than dictated by doing art on a canvas or wooden cradle board, not to mention that practicing on paper is a good idea. Ah yes, and since acrylic pour painting does not require any drawing or painting skills is it a fun craft/art activity that can be enjoyed by just about anyone over the age of around eight, so get a group together and enjoy! Okay, lets get into the specifics of acrylic pour painting.

Simple Watercolor Poppy Wall Art

After sharing a few posts last week showing the watercolor poppies I used to make holiday decorations I decided to hold off and publish this watercolor poppy wall art separately so that it wouldn't get lost in all the gorgeousness of the watercolor poppy cut outs and the watercolor poppies centerpiece! After making those watercolor poppy cut-outs with straight stems, I realized that I could paint a panorama (two sheets of large watercolor paper used horizontally) of curved stem poppies to fill the width of my kitchen picture ledge for some more lovely decor! And yes indeed, simply painting a long row of poppies with no added background looks quite good, and can be done fairly quickly. Best of all, flat art like this is certainly simple to store until you need to add a festive touch once again. Of course these poppies are so great looking you'll likely leave them up for a while! I have 3 picture ledges in my kitchen that are used to display art generally, and I love to change them up, so these poppies have been a nice addition, and quite a bit more calming than my flower paintings hung clothesline style! The great thing about watercolor paper is that I was able to simply stand the sheets on the shelf, and with just a bit of masking tape to secure them, voila, lovely art was born. Okay, I did have to paint the poppies first, but that was pure joy! Want to make some painted poppies to decorate a spot in your home? Let's do it!

Ink Blob Figures Creative Exercise For Any Age

With the never-ending school vacation possibly coming to an end within a few weeks here in Northern Israel, I am reminded that now is the time to seize the precious moments with my teens and try to fit in a few more creative activities! We actually created these fun and creative ink blob exercises, (which is a similar exercise to the paint blob pictures here) courtesy of a free video from Carla Sonheim, before Passover, but only now had the time to photograph them. They are truly a perfect example of a creative activity that can be done relatively quickly, or not, and the results can be used in many ways. We did our activity on brown paper bags, because that is the brown paper I had on hand, and now I'm thinking it would be great to use them for a collage project, or a collage project in a journal. Or, how about, as I'd originally planned, making a poster using all the results from various family members? Certainly a memorable piece of art to treasure in years to come! Though truthfully this ink blob exercise is best done with no plans whatsoever, just enjoy the creative process and let that lead you down the wonderful road of creativity! Okay, lets do it!

Oatmeal Can Tzedaka Box Craft

A tzedaka box (charity box) made from an oatmeal can is just as cute as can be, and quite useful right now! As you may know, due to the Corona virus all the synagogues are currently closed, though prayer groups of up to 20 with proper distancing is permitted. While many neighbors have formed prayer groups from their balconies, we have formed one with the neighbors, which consists of my husband and my 2 teen boys from within our house (via a huge window that opens fully) and the neighbors gathered in a courtyard and on the stairs just outside this window. There is a custom to give charity before praying, and when I spotted my handmade ceramic tzedaka box sitting on a table out in the prayer area I of course freaked out and ran to rescue it. I quickly made a replacement, inspired by my walk to photograph the red poppies in bloom, and voila. True, not nearly as lovely as the ceramic hand-built version, but it was made with love, so there you have it!

Oatmeal can tzedaka boxes are likely made by kids in kindergarten every year, but that doesn't mean that one can't make versions that are something you would use! There are so many ways to decorate an oatmeal can, so have fun with this one! Just one word of advice, take into consideration the color of the plastic top and make that part of the overall color scheme. Okay, let's get crafting!

Q-Tip Painted Brown Paper Bags For Gift Giving

Whether you want to use up or re-use some simple brown paper lunch bags, or even better, recycle larger brown paper. bags, you can create festive gift wrap or gift bags with the addition of some festive Q-tip painted patterns! I had planned to create a whole Q-tip painting primer with patterns and ideas, but since that has yet to happen, I now present you with Q-tip flowers and polka dots which is fun to create and looks amazing. One of the great things about painting with Q-tips is it is great for little hands as well, and really so much fun. Beware, you may want to Q-tip paint the whole house, though that could be great too! For starters lets hone our Q-tip painting skills with these fun gift bags!

A Peek Inside My New Landscape Format Sketchbook

I just love the idea of a creative practice that involves a sketchbook, or even multiple sketchbooks and while I have yet to actually develop a consistent sketchbook routine, there is always hope? I am starting to realize that patience and persistence are key when it comes to developing yourself or your skills, be it in a creative arena, to not, so rather than sigh about the lack of progress in the landscape sketchbook that I purchased last year, I'll share with you what I have accomplished, which is certainly a start. Now if I can just figure out how to fill some more pages.......but in the meantime, here's a little peek inside my landscape format sketchbook!

Use Magnetic Poster Hangers To Display Your Art!

The Jewish Holiday Season is now officially over in Israel, while folks in the rest of the world are currently celebrating the holiday of Simchat Torah. Packing away the Succah is always a bit sad for me, as I just love the holiday of Succot, especially when celebrated here in Northern Israel, nothing quite like it, truly! I was able to get my famlly to give me a day to take some more photographs before the Succah disappears into boxes, and first I thought I'd share with you an amazing way to simply display your art with no committment. Introducing magnetic poster hangers! I have been aware of this product for some time now, so when I spotted the wooden poster hangers in the gift shop in The Nordic Museum in Stockholm I just had to purchase 2 sets. Little did I know they'd come in handy in our Succah, as I used them to add some color to a blank wall via a little collection of my floral paintings. You know, those paintings that I worked on for a few months a whole year ago, sigh......In any case whether or not I'm successful at picking up where I left off at the end of last January at painting #77, it was truly wonderful to add some artful color to our celebration! I just saw that Ikea is selling something similar, with clamps I believe rather than magnets, so either way, do add some poster hangers to your home (or Succah), you'll be glad you did!

Simple Seven Species Ink Paintings For The Succah

Last year I added some seven species paintings to our Succah decor, but didn't have time to share then with you as they were created the night before the holiday. The good news is that I came across the photos and I now present to you a creative way to get the symbolism of the seven holy species into your Succah and have fun painting at the same time! I made my paintings to go inside these ornate Moroccan frames, while you can make yours to fit into any frames you might have on hand. Okay, shall we get painting? Lets do it........

White Gouache Illustration On Watercolor Wash

As you can see, I am just loving the idea of illustrating with gouache, and so I have one more simple technique that produces great results. Ready? One of the benefits of gouache, as opposed to watercolor paint, is that is is opaque, meaning you can layer one color over another, yes indeed! So, one simple way to take advantage of this attribute is to make a beautiful background with either watercolor paint or gouache, though or course something rich, like my blue backgroud, and then paint lovely details on top of this background with white gouache. And if you want to take it one step further, add some ink details, and voila, you've created something wonderful! Need a bit more information to make this happen? Let do it........

Simple Gouache Illustrations With Ink Details

Yesterday I shared with you some simple botanical illustrations using gouache, and today I am sharing some more results in my little gouache painting series. Introducing gouache and ink floral illustrations! I painted these in New York a few weeks ago having just spent two plus glorious weeks in Sweden. And now I can see that all those fields of tiny wild flowers certainly did make on impression on me, as these suddenly look like Swedish summer, or at least my version of it! What I learned here is that very simple gouache shapes or a simple painting that doesn't quite hit the mark can be transformed by adding black ink via a fine-lined permanent marker. So go ahead, paint a bunch of wonky flowers and then transform them with some inkm shall we?