The Story of Creating with Kids

Have you seen the all-new Big Picture Classes website yet? With its recent launch, I wanted to share a little bit about the site with you. I'll be teaching some classes online with Big Picture Classes this year, and I'm so glad to be able to work in such an all-around amazing place to find inspiration, advice, and creative content from experts all over the world.
If you're not familiar with Big Picture Classes, it's an online learning platform for all things crafty, offering classes that cover all the crucial topics about crafting, creating, and documenting memories that you'll need to excel and then some.  Become a member of our learning family, and you’ll get access to as many classes as you want for only $9.99 a month.  Each class brings you a variety of topics and ideas, not to mention videos, PDFs, prompts and so much more! Stop on by the BRAND NEW Big Picture Classes website to find out more about how you can learn everything you need to know to document your memories beautifully every time!

The first class I'm teaching this year has already launched and it's called 'Creating with Kids'. This installment focuses on Cardmaking. Yes I'm giving you a great big hint there! ;-)
I'm really excited about this topic. I think there's something very special about sharing your talents and imparting your passion to your kids. My girls were so chuffed to be invited to collaborate with me on this class, and every morning they were asking me "what project are we going to do today?" They pretty much consider themselves as co-teachers in this class now!

The way the class is structured is that I teach you 9 different art and craft techniques that you can do with your kids. They're fun and different and messy and awesome! They'd work great just on their own for keeping kids busy during boring weekends and school holidays. But then I take it a step further by showing you how you can take their finished pieces and turn them into 9 different greeting cards that you could give to anyone.

And no, you totally don't even need to have kids to do this class! I've had plenty of women say to me that they're excited to try out the techniques for themselves, and they're coming up with some spectacular results.

Big Picture Classes is also offering a FREE 14 day trial at the moment where you can take my class and as many other classes as you can handle during that time. So what are you waiting for?! You can find out all the information about Creating with Kids | Card Class here.

Happy Scrapping,
xx

The Story of Making More

You may have noticed there's been an absolute flurry of kid-art happening around these parts recently. I think that comes down to the combination of me being on maternity leave whilst the girls were still on holidays which meant we needed to fill in the day with as much quality time as we could manage. Luckily for me what they kept asking to do was "scrapping"!!

'Scrapping' is their term for anything crafty by the way. It usually doesn't actually mean scrapbooking! Their favourite activities usually involve painting. That's their medium of choice most of the time. But anything goes around here.

Apart from documenting all our creative times, I also want to make more effort to actually capture the artwork their creating. You may have seen the watercolour fruit series Bethany made that I shared as free downloads. That was one method of getting the art off the paper and into the computer. But I also want to get them into albums, so that's what I did here for this Handbook spread. I literally just stuck Moriah's drawing onto a spare card and cut it down to size so it could fit right in.

So I guess I'm just giving you fair warning that you're going to see quite a bit more kid-art around here if all my plans come to fruition!

Bethany's Fruit Series

In the last couple of weeks since I started my maternity leave and the girls have been on school holidays, something remarkable has happened. I've been spending all my time with them, and we've been doing heaps of crafting, and it's been really amazing!

Not unexpected. I never said unexpected :-)
But super cool!

We've been experimenting with different crafts and lots of techniques. The girls have always enjoyed painting the best of all, so I thought we could take it to the next level and try and learn a thing or two about the technical aspects of waterpainting.

We just starting simple. After all, the girls are only 8 and 5 and they're not really that interested in colour theory or which brush is best or what paint to buy... they just want some simple tricks to paint some more realistic pictures, but mainly just to have fun! So literally all I taught them was the idea of creating layers of colour. Starting with a lighter colour and then layering different tones of the same colour over the top.

Seriously. That was it.

Bethany got the idea into her head about painting different fruits, so we looked up examples of other people's work on Google for inspiration and then I left her to it. And over the next few days these are the pieces that resulted...

A pineapple, kiwifruit, mystery red fruit (it began life as a cherry, but we've decided it probably looks more like an apple!) and a passionfruit.  Not bad for a first effort hey?

I was so impressed even with just the first one (the pineapple) that I immediately made it the wallpaper on my phone. And the whole collection has been added to my inspiration board in my scrap room.

Since I started sharing them on Instagram it seems like a lot of you agree that these are pretty cool. And there were even requests for copies so that you could do the same! So I'm pleased to announce that at the bottom of this post you'll find the links for you to download each of the four fruit! Then you should be able to use them for whatever you would like - art prints, phone or computer wallpapers, journaling cards etc etc. Can I please just request that if you download her pictures that you leave a comment to let us know, and to tell us what you plan on doing with them? I'm sure Bethany would love to hear! And if you are on Instagram, it would be absolutely awesome if you shared something there and tagged Bethany or me into your post. My user name is 'natalieelph' and Bethany and Moriah share an account where they post all their artwork and photos with the user name 'elphiekids'.

And just to prove that anything her sister does, Moriah can do too, she came up with her own series of fruit paintings!

So proud of my two artistic girls :-)

Link to Apple pdf
Link to Kiwifruit pdf
Link to Passionfruit pdf
Link to Pineapple pdf


PS. I've also been asked what we used to create these paintings, so here's some links to the products:

Transparent Watercolour Papers Waterbrush Watercolour Paper Pack

InLinkz.com

We use this system for almost all our waterpainting for a couple of reasons. I find the colours in the watercolour papers really vibrant, you get heaps of variety in the set, they're very easy to use and because it's virtually mess-free!

In comparison, Moriah's painting was done with a cheap supermaket set of 12 watercolours in a palette, a normal brush, and plain ol' printer paper. Good results, but you can definitely see the difference.

Hope that helps?

Elphie Kids make Christmas Cards

Monday was a good day.

Monday had the happy coincidence of being a day off work for me plus a curriculum day for Bethany, which meant we could all spend time together doing whatever we wanted. You may have seen these recent adventures with the girls if you follow me on Instagram, but on Monday we all sat down to make the biggest bunch of Christmas cards you ever did see!

Here's the thing. Every year Bethany insists on giving every single kid in her class a handmade card. She also insists that they're not the same as the year before, and that she of course gets to be the one to make them. I love this idea. In theory.
Of course, if Bethany says she's going to do something then Moriah will jump straight on that bandwagon and want to go for the ride.

So how do you make 40 odd cards created by kids in the space of a single morning?
You gotta keep it simple!

I cut plain white squares of paper ready for them to decorate. These will later get mounted onto card bases, but for now it's best to keep them separate in case of stuff-ups and the need for spares. I first taught them to spray ink through a stencil to create the stars in the sky. Pink and yellow and aqua is what we used. The best thing about stenciling is that it's not supposed to be perfect anyway (or at least, that's my opinion) so if only half the stars come out then I say it's part of the effect!

Next it's stamping. My girls have been stamping from the time they could hold an acrylic block, so this is no biggie for them. I started with a single design in mind, and that was to stamp the row of buildings from this Mama Elephant Stamp down the bottom, and Kellie Stamps sentiments at the top. And that's how a great chunk of them ended up. However, the appeal of mixing and matching the other pictures and designs on the stamp sets was too great for my intrepid Bethany and she came up with a few other combinations of her own. 

I always let the kids use my Studio Calico Color Thoery Inks as first preference. Not only because the colours are so bright and juicy, but because they're water soluble and will wash off their hands relatively easily.

But the fun doesn't stop there. Because the next stage involves glitter! We're all big fans of glitter in the Elphie house and Christmas is the best excuse to get it out.

I mixed equal parts of PVA glue with water and used a paint brush to splatter each card. Yes, I made sure that I was the one doing this part! But I'm happy to let them be the ones to sprinkle drown it in glitter. I used a scrap piece of paper to catch the excess so it was easy to pop back into the jar later.

And here they all are drying merrily in the sun.
Time to wash up, get some lunch and get distracted by other activities for a while.

But come the afternoon we're all eager to see this project through to completion. So Bethany gets out her class photo and addresses a card to each kid in turn. This is her method of making sure she doesn't forget anyone. She has also made sure to have a few extra for those other special friends that aren't in her grade as well. Plus all the teachers. Yes we made a LOT of cards for Bethany!

Thankfully, Moriah was a little more down-to-earth and only wanted to make five for her best friends and teachers at kindergarten. She also addressed each one by hand as I told her each letter in turn for all of the kids names. Love her cute bold penmenship.

And that's how the Elphie Kids make Christmas Cards on a Monday off from school.
xx


Supplies:

Mama Elephant: Holiday Joy Stamp Set Kellie Stamps: Joy Stamp Set JBS June 2013 Stamp & Stencil Colour Shine Spritz Mint Green Mister Huey's Double Yellow Color Theory Ink: Inky Black Color Theory Ink: Purple Rain Color Theory Ink: Emerald City Color Theory Ink: Deja Blue Color Theory Ink: Poppy

InLinkz.com

Park Avenue Reveal

It's Reveal Day at Studio Calico and the new December Park Ave Kits are now on sale. Here's a look at the Main Scrapbook Kit to get you in the mood for what you might expect....

How would I describe this kit in one word? Vibrant!
The colours in this is what really grabs your attention and sparks the imagination. And that splash of purple dotted throughout is really unique and massively awesome if you ask me. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I think it makes this kit stand out above the rest and adds an unexpected element in an otherwise more traditional colour scheme of pink, teal and white.

And here's a real-life walk though of what it looks like in person, as well as the 3 Add Ons... as described by the Trophy Husband and Moriah. What's he going to say this time? I honestly have no idea - I actually haven't even watched it this time around. So you're in for as much a surprise as me!

      

Here's what I've done with Park Ave...

Obviously I'm inspired to scrap some Christmas pics at this time of year, and I've got such a backlog from the photos I took last year that I'm starting there!

This layout came together really quickly once I started working with the Digital Templates that Shanna Noel designed this month. They're technically supposed to be used as card templates for your Project Life albums or Christmas cards, but I wasn't the only one on the Creative Team that couldn't resist the temptation to blow this up to an 8.5 x 11" size and create a layout with it. They're super cute aren't they?

I've used the one on the left for another layout I'll share later on in this post too.
But whilst I was perusing the digital shop I came across something else that immediately had me wanting to put together a certain layout. Here's what I was inspired to make...

I'm sure all of us as parents have that massive pile of kid art that we've been given that we're expected to keep forever. I love my kids and I love their art. In fact I've even got a hashtag on Instagram where I help catalogue it all (#ElphieKidsMakeStuff) But in all honesty it's just not possible! There are those special pieces though that you really do want to treasure and I've been trying hard to help incorporate them into my own layouts and PL spreads as a way of immortalising them.

So when I saw the Project Life Digital Stamps with their crafty vibe I knew they would be perfect to create another page featuring some spectacular kid art ;-) Because I already had the photo printed off I chose to convert the stamps into cutting files instead and used them here for my title and the scissor embellishments.

Because the Main Kit was packed with so many things I wanted needed to use I was able to very easily whip up a third 'Main Kit Only' layout - this one inspired by my very favourite paper, the colourful one with all the houses on it.

Yes it's true, sometimes a single product can steer the whole direction of a page! So I started with the house paper and the idea that I wanted to journal about this wonderful city of Melbourne that I live in, and then everything started coming together. First I noticed that one of the Printable Journaling Cards included a quote about a city, and then I also saw the chance to create a skyline of high-rise buildings with the Card Kit Digital Stamps converted into cutting files (again!)

But as much as I love the Main Kit I also couldn't wait to get stuck into the Add Ons. They are just gorgeous. I'm really finding it hard to chose a favourite, and think I should give up altogether. Check them out...

I started working with Ritz, added in some papers from the Main, and then the embellishments from Waldorf (namely those cork snowflakes that everyone on the CT is raving about). Because I just had to work them into a layout somehow, so I made this page about Moriah's latest obsession with the movie Frozen. Totally works right?

Lots of journaling on this one - documenting the events of her birthday just gone. Because I feel like I'd been a bit slack with the amount I'd written on some of the others, so I over-compensated! But it tells the story, and that's what it's all about for me.

The photos scored a bit of digital love in the form of some stamps from the Lizzy Birthday Set which obviously suited the occasion perfectly. I'm seriously considering knabbing the acrylic set for some real-life stamp action because these would make some cute birthday cards don't you think? 

Or if you're in the mood for birthday scrapping, there's also an alternative set that's a bit more funky, called 'Happy Something'. Love the brush script on this one. Another difficult decision. Might just get them both ;-)

My last layout for the month was another hybrid attempt. These Digital Templates will make it so much easier and quicker to get some Christmas scrapping done in the busy season. And I'm ridiculously in love with the bright colours and ability to add so many photos on this particular template.

Although I didn't find the space to add any journaling, I think having 6 photos is probably enough to get a good sense of the story behind the occasion. It really captures the essence of the happy event doesn't it? And I've managed to get 90% of the family on the one page which is usually quite a remarkable feat for our gatherings!

Being a Christmas layout I couldn't resist the temptation to add some gold touches - especially since we're all wearing gold crowns in the photo. I created my own hand-drawn versions with Gold Glitter Zing and coloured in with Gold Mister Hueys. Loving the sparkle this adds.

And if you're thinking you love gold as much as I do, and you're fascinated with the latest craze of scratch off cards, then you might want to check out this 'Upcoming Year Card Set' designed by Marcy Penner. I could easily see these being used as a little desk calendar, or in my Project Life album.

And that's my lot for the month. And for the year really. I've still got one or two little projects coming to various blogs during December which use these kits, but ultimately this is the end of the line as far as the current CT are concerned. Who will be around next year, and what 2015 holds is yet to be announced. I think we're all holding our breath on that one! But I don't think it will be long before announcements are made.

In the meantime.....
Happy Scrapping!