Jen Bowles Design

Altoid Tin Nature Box

I have approximately 372 empty Altoid tins in my studio, thanks mainly to my Dad.  372 may be an exaggeration, but I certainly have plenty.  I've pinned several Altoid tin crafts on my Inspiration for Creating board, including this Nature Box.

Source: The Crafti Yogi on Flickr

Sometime before Christmas, I decided that I wanted to make a couple of these Nature Boxes as a gift for some preschool friends.  I did the first part of the project, creating and inserting the cardboard dividers inside the tin, along with the interior decorative paper, back in December.

I finished them this morning.  

It's not really a complicated project, it only takes 3 months if you do a lot of procrastinating...

I do love how they turned out.  They may be a bit fancy for toting along on a nature walk, but is that even possible, really ;-).

Hand cutting each individual letter from book pages for the interior wording may have been a bit much.  What can I say, it soothes me.

Hopefully the recipients will have some fun with these!

Urban Art: Boston's South End

One day in July Ebby and I spent the afternoon exploring Boston's South End.  We visited several shops, a bakery and an art gallery.  Along the way we saw a couple of great examples of colorful, outdoor, urban art. 

Painted by Japanese artist and current South End resident Yuko Adachi, this electric meter housing warranted a special trip across the street so I could inspect it up close. And photograph it.

The colors and patterns are at once whimsical and psychedlic.  Pretty rad combination.     

This mosaic wave wall is near a playground/dog park/ball field.  Love the quasi-ombre effect of the small square tiles.  

Finally, this amazing mixed media mosaic wall, otherwise known as the Betances Mural.  The project was a cooperative effort that involved artists, residents of the Villa Victoria housing complex in which it is located and local children.  The mural depicts Ramon Betances, 'father' of the Puerto Rican nationalism movement.  The collection of ceramic tiles is full of incredible details.  We could've spent all afternoon examining and enjoying the wall.     

I loved stumbling upon such great public art in one of my favorite cities.  And discovering it with Ebby?  Double bonus!

 

  

 

Fun with Salt Clay

Back when Ebby was, let's see, 4 yrs. old, we used to "do salt clay" fairly often.  I'd create the shapes using cookie cutters and after they were baked and hardened, Ebby (and sometimes the boys) would decorate.  We used all sorts of embellishments:  paints, glitter, chalk, acrylic gems. 

That summer Ebby's preschool bff Danielle couldn't make it to her birthday party.  Instead we invited Danielle and her sister Rachael over to decorate salt clay and eat cupcakes.  The afternoon apparently made quite an impression.

 A few weeks ago Danielle slept over and the girls asked if they could decorate salt clay--just like they used to do ☺.  Sure I'd spent the afternoon with Ebby and another friend making cake balls, but how could how refuse such a nod to crafty nostalgia??

The girls picked out the cookie cutters, I made the salt clay and baked the shapes.  The next morning it was time to paint.  I love this zebra shoe that Ebby did.   Danielle (and Ebby) made several adorable gnomes by turning the ice cream cone shape upside down.  So clever.

Who knew, salt clay, fun for all ages!

In case you're interested, here's the salt clay recipe I use:

SALT CLAY

2c. flour

1c. salt

1c. warm water

1t. oil (optional)

 

• Mix salt & flour
• Add in warm water and oil (if using)
• Combine until all dry ingredients are incorporated
• Form salt clay into a ball and knead several times until pliable
• Roll out clay on floured surface 1/4-1/2 inch thick (or you can sculpt shapes freehand)
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or  implement of your choice
• Bake at 250 degrees until shapes have hardened and clay is no longer moist (usually 1 1/2-2 hours but varies)

Decorate and enjoy!

Pirate Crafts from Camp

Tomorrow the boys start their 2nd (and final) week of Y camp for the summer.  Ebby and I will be holding down the fort at home, hoping to get lots and lots accomplished.  I thought I would share a few pictures of the craft projects I did with the kids during my week as Arts & Crafts mom--so here we go.

• Pirate Islands

I did this project with the older kids (Grades 4-7).  It was a last minute idea and a lot of campers really got into it.  The base is a ripped piece of corrugated cardboard.  They covered the island with wrapping paper/map pages & paint.  I gave them lots of materials to pick from  for embellishing the islands including salt clay, cork and styrofoam.  The kids did a great job making palm trees (from tissue paper and straws), rafts, boats, and assorted other creations.      Campers were able to work on these projects over 2 days (25 minutes each day) and they turned out great.  I love putting out the materials, giving a few ideas and seeing what kids create!

• Paper Bag Pirate Puppets. I did this project with the younger kids (K-3rd grade).  I made the 3 project samples, explained what we were doing, and let them go to town with the scissors & glue sticks.  Amazingly, the kindergarteners seemed to need the least assistance.  They referred to the samples, made some choices and stared working.    They made some adorable puppets.  Unfortunately I only had the chance to take this one picture (sniff, sniff).  Trust me, they were cute ;-) The rest of the photos are my samples--which I had waaaay too much fun making!      

• Eye Patches.  Nothing really original here--except that I was able to score a bunch of leather samples from EXCL.  Amazingly, most of the scissors we had were able to cut the leather.  Very authentic, leather eye patches.  And a bonus:  lots of the older kids loved the smell ('Smells like new shoes!')

• Pirate pencil cup.  This one was actually a back-up project that I didn't end up making with the kids.  I thought it was cute though. I made it out of a toilet paper roll, scrapbook paper and covered chipboard, along with a few die cuts I colored in with marker.

I had a great time thinking up the projects, making the samples, and watching the campers interpret my ideas.  I must say though, it was a lot of work.  Very hectic pace with only 25 minutes with each group and no break in between groups--just straight through from 9:10 until 12:30.  With a wide variety of ages.  It gave me confidence though and allowed me to get my feet wet again back in a classroom-type setting.  I'm sure that not every camper enjoyed every project, but overall, we all had a good (and creative) time.

If you have any questions about the projects or would like more detailed instructions, just shoot me an email or leave a comment : )

{Materials sources:  EXCL, my recycling bin and Oriental Trading}

Beach Art

Gathered up the children and headed to one of our town beaches for a few hours yesterday afternoon.  The water felt warmer than it did on Monday at the drive on beach.  Go figure.  I'm pretty sure water temperature is irrelevant to my children anyway.  They just love the waves.
After some intense body surfing, some of us set about to create in the sand.
Behold, our works...
This is my fish.  I can't believe how long it took to find enough orange-y rocks to fill in the tail area.  The shells were easier to come by.  The metallic gold hair elastic found by Cuyler added just the right touch of sparkle, don't you think?

Next up, Ebby's 'Chromatic Flower'.  She was also quite dedicated in finding just the right colors to create the petals of her lovely flower.  And I just love the touch of pizazz in the center :-)

Will built a fortress of sorts for the Mama T-Rex pencil topper he found in the sand.  That didn't cause any problems between him and Cuyler, now did it (*cough* of course it did *cough*)      

Cuyler chose not to create any beach art today.  He did however collect a bunch of green speckled rocks with which he plans to create a gecko.

All I have to do is find a child-safe glue strong enough to hold together fist-sized rocks....

How I love beach days!

Crafting Like A Pirate

I am spending this week as the Arts & Crafts mom at our local Y camp.  They have a work exchange program that I'm participating in.  For one week of Arts & Crafts "momming" you receive 3 weeks of camp free of charge.  It just so happens that I have 3 children.  So, we are all going to camp this week.  Right now I'm in the midst of prepping projects for tomorrow.  Sure, the organized people prep their projects weeks or at least days ahead.  Then there's the last minute Lindas like myself...
Anyway, to start the week today we made: Pirate Medallions.
Here's Will, showing off his:        

Most of the kids seemed to enjoy making them and I spotted many campers still wearing their medallions at the end of the day during pick up : - )

To make your own medallion, here are a few steps/pointers:

• we used mayonnaise jar lids.  I got 100 of these at the EXCL center but they're easy to collect at home when you just need a few.  I used my handy-dandy Crop-A-Dile to punch holes in the edge of the lid ahead of time
• the kids picked a color of gimp (you could use cord too) and threaded it through. Then they added beads on either side.
• after they finished beading, we tied up the gimp so the beads wouldn't accidentally slide off (ahem...)
• the younger children just picked out a self adhesive foam shape (from Oriental Trading) and stuck in on the center
• the older kids had the option of tracing & gluing a piece of paper to go over the mayo lid and then added a paper die cut shape they colored and/or a foam shape.

These medallions would be easily adaptable to almost any theme and would make an easy & fun party activity.  Enjoy!

WIP: Recycled Birdhouse

About a month ago, I joined the EXCL center in Boston.  EXCL is "an amazing upcycling center in the basement of the Boston Latin Academy".  I never would've known about EXCL (Extras for Creative Learning), much less be able to find my way there, without the help of my good friend Sue who works for the Boston Public Schools.  When she first told me about EXCL my eyes nearly popped out of my head.  Free art stuff??  Helping the environment?? Yes, please!
From their website: E.x.C.L. is a shoppers paradise – well that, and a clearinghouse that recovers tons of material from being burned or thrown away and redistributes it for creative educational use. You won’t believe all the amazing supplies and products we have available every time you visit. This isn’t junk, it’s terrific materials of all sorts.
Yep, I certainly was in paradise when we went.  My first visit was definitely a learning experience.  A bit overwhelming with all the materials and possibilities, especially when you aren't sure what you're going to do with all your treasure.  However, I was provided with some direction as soon as I signed up to join.
Currently, EXCL has a fundraising effort underway.  The deal is this:  members get a whole bunch of materials from the center, go home and create a birdhouse out of said materials (functional or decorative), bring your birdhouse back by 5/1 and then stop by and view and bid on a birdhouse for the fundraiser between 5/5-5/9.  Oh, and you get a free visit if you donate a birdhouse.
Whereas the clock is ticking, yesterday I got started on my Oiseaux Chateau.  I'll go in to more detail when I'm done with it, but here are a few pictures in progress...

Very fun and pretty close to what I pictured.

In the meantime, if you're in the Boston area, check out ExCL.  You can join and become a member or if by some chance you already have too many supplies, you can make a donation : )

I'm excited for my next trip to the center.  I am teaching a series of art workshops for children this summer (well, if enough kids sign up I am...) and my overall mantra is "re-use, re-cycle, re-create".  I am recruiting my own children and a few of their friends to make some sample projects next week during vacation.  I am also doing a week long stint as the Arts & Crafts mom at our local Y camp during Pirate week in early July.

Yep, I'm going to be a woman on a mission on my next trip to ExCL.  On a mission and armed with several re-usable, oversized tote bags!

My Gingerbread in Ruins

The other night the children got to decorate their $2.99 deluxe Wilton gingerbread houses.
I picked them up on clearance at Michaels.
I was in charge of assembling the houses in the afternoon so that they would be dry and decorate-able by evening.
Unfortunately I only bought 3 kits.  For my 3 children.
And since they are all quite capable of using candy as a decoration, I was pretty much left out in the cold save for the occasional assistance with piping the royal icing.
What was I thinking??
I really wanted to play so after they finished up, I busted out the graham crackers to make my own house.
Unfortunately I thought I could forgo the drying time.
Not so.
Oh well, instead of decorating a gingerbread house, I decorated my gingerbread ruin.
And let me tell you, it was fun!     Reminded me of when I was little and my mom used to decorate cakes as a home based business.  Often times when she was done with the parchment tubes of frosting, I'd get to take over.  I'd flip an empty cake pan over and go to town.  The frosting tips and colors would all still be in place so let me tell you, I created some masterpieces.
At least one or two anyway ;  )
And here is my latest...

It's good to know I can still amuse myself!

Holiday (Art) Gathering

Hope everyone (who celebrates) had a wonderful Christmas.
As I'm sure is the case for many, the celebrations and get-togethers just  keep on coming : )
Yesterday I loaded up the children and a tub of gifts and headed to my mom's for a gathering of
some of our more artsy family members--Pen, Audrey and Catherine.
The funny thing is, whenever we all get together we incorporate some sort of project for our 'crafting day'.
Since this was so close to Christmas, it was decided that, eh, we'll just visit, chat, eat and open gifts.
No crafting necessary.
Uh huh.
That lasted about an hour and a half.
By then the rumblings of needing to be creative overcame us and Bubbe busted out the supplies.

The project:  Paper Quilts
The supplies:  wrapping paper & tags (from the just opened gifts), assorted scrapbook paper and a few choice ribbons.
Much fun was had by all (of course!).  In all, we completed 6 paper quilts (including one by Will) and a fabulous and fashionable outfit for her new wooden paper dolls by Ebby.    

Check out a few more pictures of the day on my flickr photostream : )          

And next time, we won't kid ourselves.
We'll have a project ready from the get-go!            

Tales from a Crafty Sunday morning

Some of my favorite little (and big) people came to visit us this weekend.
Julia, Caroline and Ruby.
They like to craft.
I like to craft.
It was a lovely way to spend a rainy Sunday morning.

Our first task:  mixed media snowmen a la Cloth Paper Scissors.
Ebby decided to observe and entertain during this project.  She sang, danced and helped me pick out parts for my snowman.  Meanwhile, J, C & R went to town with the snowman crafting.     I love how Julia's shirt fits right in with the winter projects mood and I love the fun foam "pusher handle" Ruby made for her snowman ; )     

After finishing the snowmen, they were begging for more--and even convinced Ebby to join in.  I only had the one project planned so I had to think quick.  I came up with winter scene Altoid tins.  They sanded and painted, I tried to speed up the drying with my embossing/heat gun.  They made little snowmen out of the air dry clay and picked out paper scraps t0 line the tins (check out how Caroline re-worked her tin, taking the lid off the hinges and turning it horizontally).  They glued and glittered, I fired up the hot glue gun.  

Nearly two hours passed quickly by.   

The girls' projects all turned out so cute, lots of personality in each one.  It was lovely to have so many little (and big) crafters in the basement studio area, enjoying all the creativity.  And of course, I've already been instructed to start working on coming up with projects for our next visit!

By the way...Happy December?!