how to: mother's day crayon art

For mother's day this year I decided to try one of the crayon drip paintings I've seen all over the internet these days. It was a real trial & error process but I'm really happy with the end result. Since I had to figure out a few things about the process along the way, I figured I'd share them with you here.

SO to make your crayon art,

YOU WILL NEED:

 crayons,
a canvas board,
white school glue,
a hair dryer,
a tablecloth or newspaper.
an x-acto knife or scissors,
paint (optional)

(click the pictures for the big versions)

After deciding on the kind of colors and design that I wanted, I took off the wrappers of the crayons. This isn't necessary, it's really just about how you want the finished product to look. I wanted less crayon to show and more wax, so I used to x-acto knife to cut a slit down the length of the wrapper for easy removal (dulcie's idea, props). Then I used elmer's glue to glue the crayons on the board.

I put aluminum foil in the shape of the letters I wanted to be on the canvas later. I planned on removing the aluminum foil and hoping the canvas would show through, but it didn't work out as I planned. This was part of the experiment but I worked it out later.

A word of wisdom, do NOT use spray adhesive on these puppies. Just in case you were thinking about it. The stuff is the devil. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING will stick to your hands, and also the adhesive does not hold up under heat. When I used it and started the blow dryer up, the crayons literally blew off the canvas. Boo hoo.

Next came the fun part, the blow drying. :D The crayons were so cool to watch as they melted. My strategy was to sit in one spot (preferably the spot that you want to show through pretty well) for an extended period of time. The colors don't run together nearly as much. I did this on the yellow and orange bit of the painting.

This project gets messy which is why I recommend a tablecloth.

 

I melted the my painting one way but I didn't like the sharp edges of the crayons on top, so I flipped it and blow dried it upside-down.

 As I was saying, the aluminum foil didn't really turn out. So I used white paint to cover it up. After the paint dried I outlined the letters with a sharpie. :)

VOILA!

The finished product.

:)

Check out my friend dulcie's crayon art!

may photo a day: 14, grass

Good morning :) I snapped this on my way to work. I love sun spots / flares in photography, they're quite wonderful. They add such interest to photos in my opinion.

It's funny because when I first got into photography, I didn't know diddly SQUAT about proper lighting. I still don't know as much as I'd like to but I can tell you that my knowledge is growing almost exponentially. Now lighting is EVERYTHING to me, as well it should be. /musings

may photo a day: 13, mum!

This is my mother!

She is like super woman. She raised 7 kids, homeschooling all of us, and also works at our church as the Director of Faith Formation. She loves her job, her family & her faith. She's written a number of books (which I designed the covers for, of course). Back in the day she was a craftaholic and made the coolest things. She's talented at anything she sets her mind to. (Well, except math - our family is chronically bad when it comes to arithmetic) We've had our ups & downs but my mom is a person who I can always count on to be there for me, to be willing to listen and to give advice. The older I grow the closer we get, and the more I appreciate her :) Today is the day dedicated to HER!

So to my mother I say: Thank you for all the words of wisdom you've passed down to me, whether or not I was listening at the time. Thank you for giving me healthy eating habits. Thank you for teaching me to treat everyone with kindness, to help everyone in need and to always be the smiling face in the room. Thank you for being a literary genius and for giving me a head start in life, academically.Thank you for always encouraging me to do hard things. You have given me all of my knowledge, talents & drive to succeed in this world. Where would I be without you?

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  I love you!

May photo a day: 12, something that makes you happy.

Today my brother Ben, my twin sisters Emma & Rachel, and my best friend Dulcie and I packed up my 2 door Honda with all our belongings, and headed on our merry way to Tulip Time in Holland, MI. :)

Although an extremely mild winter and an early spring meant that most tulips have already come and gone, we brought our cameras and walked around the city for a few hours snapping some shots. It was too early for the carnival to be running but the ferris wheel still looked interesting, and the Dutch dancers were out in full force.

We stopped at The Peanut Store and stocked up on some candy as well... Pictures to follow in an edit of this post. After I get them on my computer :P anyway this place is awesome. There can be found a plethora of delectable candy options, and our favorite part is the bulk candy. For $5/lb. you can have your own little white sack filled with your personal picked favorites of sugary goodness. Needless to say, we bought almost two pounds worth...

Also, one of the things we sought on our quest was some classic fair food. Since we're allergic to half the crap (or more) that was being sold (gluten intolerance) we settled, finally, on cheese fries. After buying a bag of cotton candy for the road, we went to Meijer for some sandwich supplies for real protein ha. :) the kids felt so unhealthy.

A fantastic day. I love that my siblings are getting into photography, and I love how we're all older and can hang out like this :) happy Saturday!

may photo a day: 7, someone that inspires you

these are my parents!

they are awesome and have always inspired me to be the best possible person that i can be. they both work soooo hard, for me, and my brothers & sisters. they've taught me to be as nice as i can to everybody i meet, they've taught me to always be willing to help people, they've taught me to keep working towards goals. they've taught me how to survive in this world, they've taught me how to be 'in it but not of it', but most of all they taught me how to love. they are some of the greatest people in the world and they are my heroes in life.

:)

thank you mom & dad for being amazing, always.

may photo a day: 6, you.

ootd, created this beauty using a new app called pic stitch. ha.

thrifted dress, gifted shirt, necklace found at a hippie store in the middle of nowhere while out on an adventure with dulcie. pink hair again.

:)

The Artist is Always Working

     The thing about me that I sometimes can't stand is my overwhelming need to always be doing things. Like if I'm not working towards some sort of goal at almost all times, I'm wasting time. This is some sort of weird drive that I can't explain; I don't know what I'm striving for but I'm striving, alright. It's just like I've just got so many ideas and things I want to do, places I want to go and things I want to make. I feel if I sit idle for any amount of time, I'm wasting valuable doing time. I mean, this has its pros & its cons, but I often get too stressed out with this kind of lifestyle and think that if I could just slow down for a little while, I could sort the thoughts in my brain through a little better and be more productive, overall.

slow down, you move too fast

you've got to make the morning last

- simon & garfunkel / feelin' groovy (59th street bridge song)

     For the past few days I've been not as productive as far as art, or music, or reading or writing. I've been hanging out with friends and listening to music, looking at art all over the internet and photographs of all varieties. That weird drive is inside of me telling me "Dude, you haven't done anything productive in a few days. You're falling behind on your artistic pursuits here." Some people might be able to brush this aside but I'm also a person who is prone to feeling guilty often (ha). So these thoughts are naturally ones that I try to avoid. By doing things.
     But today I had an idea, in the car on a long drive (where I often have my best ideas). That maybe, art has two sides - an active and a passive side. I mean, think about it. Inspiration has to be refueled sometimes! And that's the passive part of it. Like the things I said earlier. Looking at pictures, listening to music, just kind of relaxing and... recharging? Haha.

     So maybe this is just me trying to tell the weird drive that it's ok to just chill sometimes, or maybe this is me trying to justify things. Orrrr maybe I'm on to something kind of cool? I don't know. Ha.

Here is some of the inspiration I've found the past few days.

  
 

aaand a movie i want to see. 

the dark shadows - out may 11th

i love tim burton :) & johnny depp.

may photo a day: 4, fun!

friday niiiiight

picked these up after the end of a verrrryyyy long work week. 

may photo a day: 3, something you wore today.

i made this necklace maybe a year ago when i realized i needed some jewelry with feathers on it. i only had one necklace with feathers at the time and i wore it almost every day hehe :) so i made this one to add to my collection.