I always forget how busy Fridays are, so I am sorry this is a little late.
First, thank you for your interest in Art Lab for Kids! It is so awesome to see everyone wanting to do fun art with the children in their lives.
Without further ado:
Winner #1 is Olivia of MooMama
Winner #2 Nicole Watson
I got the coolest little wide/macro lens for mother’s day. It’s a teeny little 2-in-1 lens that fits on your phone.
I have been having so much fun exploring the teeny world of macro. Everything in the first image is about a centimeter or less in actual size. So fun to get that close up.
Follow me on instagram to see all my macro close-ups! regina_creativekismet
We just fell in love with Bisbee when we went last weekend for mother’s day. The stairways, old building and quirky charm are so much fun to explore, so I wanted to share a few more pictures.
There is a large art community there with lots of art studios, galleries and shops. And the town has the perfect amount of artsy, weirdness that I love.
One of the gallery owners told me that they had made the historic elementary school into studio spaces! I love that idea. They also have a evening gallery walk once a month, which I hope to go back for.
I think it would be a great place to do an art retreat or tour with friends, don’t you?
Today I wanted to share Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media-For Budding Artists of All Ages by Susan Schwake. I bought this book over a month ago and my guys love it, especially my 8 year old.
He was so excited to get it and look through it, that he placed little tab markers on all the projects he wanted to try first.
He’s been busy making art. We’ve done 2-3 project per week so far. He is very good at keeping up on a mission, if he loves it enough, and he plans to get through as many projects as he can. Below is some string art he did.
He also did some oil pastel/watercolor art below(left) and watercolors with salt (right). He’s done several other project too.
He gives this book 2 thumbs up, but I love it because it got him so interested and excited about making art. The book has simple, yet wonderful ideas in an easy to follow format, perfect for kiddos of any age. Each project has great visual and written instructions. We are very much looking forward to Susan’s next book: 3D Art Lab for Kids which comes out in October and Art Lab for Little Kids, which is out now!
Quarry books was very kind to send me 2 copies of this fabulous book to giveaway! Please leave a comment and I will pick two winners on Friday. Good Luck!
My three most favorite guys took me to Bisbee, Arizona today.
It was such a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time together.
Bisbee is such a fun, quaint, quirky, artsy place.
We explored lots of streets, shops and climbed a lot of stairs. Some are shortcuts and some are like hidden passageways.
We ate at a great little vegan restaurant called Poco and had the BEST Mother’s Day lunch EVER!! It was SO good!
Even the two hour drive, there and back, was beautiful.
I have lots more pictures of some great doors, gates and wall murals in Bisbee, but I will have to share those with you later.
I hope you had a beautiful day too!
I finished my jewelry board today.
I couldn’t wait to get it hung up in my bathroom so I could sort my necklaces and bracelets.
I hammered in flat head nails then found some vintage white glass buttons that I had been saving for ages. I screwed off the metal shank and glued them on with e6000.
I’m so happy with it. You can see how I did the relief stenciling HERE.
I’ve had this idea in my head to make a panel with hooks or nails to hold all of my necklaces. They’ve been piling up, getting all tangled together and they really need some organization.
I found the wood I needed and finally got to it today. It was so fun! I need to finish it still, but wanted to share what I’ve done so far.
I used wood icing and a few of my favorite stencils to make pretty stencil relief pattern and texture.
Then a nice thick layer of gesso over the entire thing, stamping and scratching into the wet gessoed areas where there was no wood icing.
After it was completely dry, I added a layer of cobalt teal, rubbing it off in certain areas.
I sanded it lightly to bring out the relief and added some quinacridone azo gold to make it look a little more rustic and old.
I LOVE how it looks. I’m going to add some nails or hooks and I’ll show you when it is hanging on my wall with all of my necklaces.
I made these as swap gifts for three very special friends.
I wanted to make them extra special with lots of color and bits of sparkle. The hanger loop has bells and beads (which are actually bracelets that I had bought, but they were pokey and uncomfortable to wear). I used embroidery thread to wrap them on.
I had the hardest time finding the papier mache hearts. I could only ever find one at a time, but whenever I see one, I will now know to go ahead and get it, because I need to make one for my front door!
I love how they look against my red door.
I think it would be fun to paint one for every holiday or season ~ like my Valentine’s door angel.
They are all packaged up with other goodies and I can’t wait for them to jingle their way to my dear friends.
I’ve made it up to day 10 of my daily portrait painting in 30 minutes challenge. I am really loving challenging myself in this way and I have been a little obsessed with getting my painting done everyday. Even in my messy studio, I’ve been having to paint these faces.
On Friday, I had this wild idea to do some late spring cleaning in my studio. Now I am in the middle of a pile of SO MUCH STUFF!! How does this happen? I emptied out 4 bins of stuff only to refill them with other stuff. I am letting go of some cool fabric that I know I won’t use and I have lots of old original painting that I don’t know what to do with. Out with the old, in with the new. Something has to happen.
Remember these? I painted them a while back with the thought of making this paper blessing banner/prayer flag.
I added little messages, or affirmations, on them and then printed them out on heavy fine art paper with archival inks. They are strung together with recycled sari ribbon and come in mini and regular size. They read:
I celebrate life
I choose to see the beauty all around me
I will be present and enjoy this moment
I will be kind to myself and others
I will expand my heart and love fully
I will be thankful for this day
Another part of my idea was to make Life Kits. This is the Gratitude Life Kit which includes one art print (choose 1 from 4 different designs), gratitude beads, mini blessing banner and 1 hand-painted stone.
Everything was inspired by my Art of Giving E-course. Through the course, we made daily reminders, similar to the ones in this kit, to help provide the daily inspiration needed to live a grateful and beautiful life full of abundance.
Here is an close-up shot of the gratitude beads. They are made with a variety of gemstones and glass beads, strung together with waxed linen thread. I love all those bead colors- so pretty.
And of course, hand-painted stones. I really love making these. So meditative and relaxing.
You can find the banners and gratitude kits here in my shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CreativeKismet
Thank you for looking. 
