Art from Armenia and Nevada

Having children that are full-time missionaries is a tremendous blessing.  It is, however, also a burden in that we don't get the luxury of seeing of kids and grandkids nearly as often as we'd like.  We're SO grateful for FaceTime and for our "magic window" picture frame that allows us to "keep eyes" on our grandkids as they grow.  When my daughter randomly sent me some of Bennett's art the other morning, I shared it in the Simon Says Stamp Kids' Summer Vacation Challenge.  Since I told her about it, she sent me a few more pieces of their Summer art to share in the challenge.  How FUN!  I also enjoy seeing their art and their artistic growth.  Bennett is especially smart.  You'll see below how nice his handwriting is for a Kindergartener.  (I'm a proud Grandma, can you tell).  lol

The above picture shows off that writing.  Bennett put a lot of detail into these animals.  I was so proud to see the offspring for each one.  He's so smart.  I sure do miss him.  In the photo below, I think Bennett was trying to paint the planets.  I'm not 100% sure on that one.  Mom texted me some of the details, but that one wasn't clear.  It sure is cool, though.

In the next picture, Bennett drew a mountain against the sky.  He wanted the sun to come shining through.  Where they currently live is not terribly far from Mt. Ararat (where Noah's Ark was found), so he has seen that beautiful sight many times.  They travel a lot and he's seen a lot even at the age of 5, and he tends to draw things that he's either seen or things he has read about.  He started reading at age 3 1/2.

In the next picture, Bennett drew a Viking Ship that he read about in a story.  I would LOVE to hear his entire explanation about this picture.  What's that on the right that the man seems to be afraid of?  Or what's hovering over the boat?  Oh, believe me, he's got an explanation for everything, I'm sure.  What an imagination he has.

This next picture was one he titled "Friends".  I'm not quite sure who he's been hanging out with over there in Europe, but apparently, they're very tall.  LOL  If that's Bennett in the lower left, these people are scary large.  And who is that hiding in the closet on the top left?  Perhaps that's me because I'd be scared if three "friends" who were three times taller than I am stopped by to play.  lol  Isn't art FUN?  Again, I'd love to hear the explanation and story behind this picture.

The next picture was created by Bethany, age 3.  She's Bennett's little sister.  I didn't get any narrative on this picture, but I'm guessing she's got a reasonable explanation as to what's going on here.  I'm not sure why the girl has cat ears.  Maybe that's a headband?  And oh my, those fingernails are long.  I'd love to know what the little circles are.  People?  I'll have to ask her on our next FaceTime visit.

And then my daughter said that Bethany insisted that she send me this last beauty.  She used pencil to do this sketch.  I have noticed that she tends to draw more things with pencil or colored pencils as opposed to using crayons, etc.  I don't think they have any markers yet.  My daughter did say that art supplies (for kids and adults) were difficult to find over there.

In addition to what Bennett and Bethany are sharing with you today, Taylee and I came across a couple more things that she created this Summer.  The first one is "a computer" that she drew for me.  It has a keyboard there so I can type on it.  She made one of these computers for Grandpa (my hubby), for her Mom, and one for her Dad.  This is the photo of the one she made me.

And then this very last photo (below) is another project made by Taylee (6).  This is what she called "my book"...meaning me (Karen), and now that she knows my first name, she likes to write Karen on things rather than Mammie, which is what she actually calls me.  Anyway, this "book" opens so that I can write things inside.  Or at least that's what she told me.  These two projects were upstairs in my bedroom, so that's why we didn't remember them until today.  (good thing I hadn't thrown them out or there would have been some explaining to do....lol)

Thanks so much for stopping by to take a peek at Taylee, Bennett and Bethany's Summer artwork.  I'm SO grateful and blessed to be their Grandma.  I hope they all grow up to love art as much as I do.  Here's the FUN challenge where I'm sharing their sweet creations.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for visiting.

Simon Says Stamp Kids Summer Vacation Challenge - Anything Goes for Kids - I'm sharing art from three of my six beautiful Grandchildren - Bennett (5), Bethany (3) and Taylee (6).

Have a blessed day,

Karen

My Grandchildren Sharing Their Art

If you've visited me here on my blog recently, you know that my Granddaughter, Taylee, (our oldest Granddaughter (6) and the only one that lives with us, has been creating art this Summer that I've shared here over the past several days.  Because I'm in my craft room making cards much of the time, she likes to be right there beside me crafting.  In fact, today she didn't even get dressed until late in the afternoon because she was so busy.  lol  The photo below is Taylee creating the lovely rainbow picture you see in the photo.

Well, the most coincidental thing happened today when I looked at my IPhone and saw that our middle daughter had sent me a picture of some art from our Grandson, Bennett (5) and Bethany (3).  What a great surprise that was.  First asking for my daughter's permission, I decided that I wanted to share Bennett and Bethany's art in the Kids Summer Vacation Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.  Our daughter and her husband are full-time missionaries, and they live in Armenia.  We don't get to see Bethan & Bethany (or baby brother Emmett) very often other than FaceTime; for which we're SO grateful.  But when their sweet Mama sent me those photos today (which is tomorrow for her...lol) I got excited to share them.

The one above is Bennette's sticker creation.  They can't get a whole lot of craft/art supplies for the kids over there, but I can (very) occasionally send them a box.  It's exciting for them to receive treasures from back in the United States where all their loved ones (family) reside.  When she sent the above photo this morning, she was mentioning that stickers would be a great thing to stuff in our next box.  Lightweight and so fun.  It's always a joy to know that your children are truly doing and living the Lord's work, and I do praise God for that!  The photo below is Bethany's lovely self-portrait sketched in pencil.  She asked her Mom to mail it to me because "I would definitely need it".  lol

The final card seen below shares two more of Taylee's projects.  The top one is her IPhone.  She looked at my IPhone and drew what she saw to try to create for herself an IPhone.  Rumor has it that this new phone actually texts and receives incoming calls.  Just saying!  The final piece of art, just below the IPhone is "a crown".  She asked me to help her "add some string so she can tie it around her head".  It's so much fun seeing their creativity and joy for creating things.

Here's where I'm sharing Taylee, Bennett and Bethany's lovely art projects.  Thanks for visiting.

Kids Summer Vacation Challenge at Simon Says Stamp - Thank you so much, Lorraine, for the comment you left Taylee on her earlier entry.  Hearing you say that she is "a real artist" absolutely made her day.  Your heartfelt comment was greatly appreciated by both of us.  This post gives me the pleasure of sharing art from two more of my six grandbabies.

Have a blessed and creative week, friends!

Karen

Taylee's Fun w/Kids Summer Vacation Challenge @SSS

When Kindergarten ended in early June, my husband and I wondered how we'd survive the Summer watching our 6-year-old granddaughter, Taylee, and not run out of fun things to do with her.  Well, we made it - praise God!  School starts this coming Tuesday, and Taylee has surgery to get tubes placed in her ears on Monday.  She's got a LOT going on medically, and has to have an endoscopy the following week.  I won't get into it all, but it's a lot for her.  Anyway...one thing we did pretty much every day to help pass the time was ART.  While I was making cards, she'd be right there at the craft table with me making her art every day for at least part of her day.

To be perfectly honest with you, I couldn't even count ALL the things Taylee created, colored and designed this Summer.  I had to make a few things "disappear" there was so much.  However, today I'm sharing a few more of her wonderful creations.  She loves to paint more than anything else.  The river rocks are her favorite thing to paint, but she's always taking them from the front yard to color and then placing them in her self-proclaimed "rock garden" in the back yard once they've been painted.  You'll see that photo near the bottom of this post.

Another favorite for her has been making necklaces and bracelets.  She got a cute little bead bracelet making kit from the craft store mid-Summer, and she's been making a necklace and a bracelet for just about everyone she knows.  Not only is she having FUN making her art, she's also thinking about others as she creates.  We've mailed pictures, necklaces and letters to just about all her friends and relatives this Summer.  She's been a busy little artist.

In the following project (photo below), Taylee used some "stencils".  She found paper scraps on the table of things I had die-cut and she asked if she could have it.  She used those empty spaces as a stencil to color in the images.  Like I've mentioned, she's just learning.  But I absolutely love how she's trying new things and enjoying herself as she finds her creative side.

Coloring and using her markers is another thing she enjoys.  Lately, she's been asking me to stamp images for her and then she likes to color them and place them on cards.  She'll often add stickers, bows, you name it.  She's still learning, but she has FUN and I'm pretty sure that's the whole point of creating art.  She was SO excited when I told her that she is an artist.  She asked, "a real artist"?  I assured her that anyone who creates art is a real artist, and that I think she has a bright future in art.  You'll also notice that she loves doing projects with paper piecing.

She used random shapes that I either punched or die-cut for her.  Please remember that she's only six (6) and I don't ever "help" her with her art.  I'm not saying that I won't assist her when she has a problem, but I'm just saying that I don't do any part of her art for her.  It's all 100% whatever she dreams up in her head and creates.  I've been impressed with some of her ideas, and I know that her art will only continue improve over time.  The photo below shows Taylee's ever-growing "Rock Garden".

It's been a lot of fun creating with her this Summer.  I didn't really plan on entering a bunch of her projects in the challenge, but when I saw that other people were adding multiple projects, I figured that Taylee may as well throw her hat in the ring several times as well.  She sure made plenty of creative things, so why not share them?  She's proud of them, and I'm just glad she enjoyed making them and that we survived the Summer.  On to our next great adventure.

Simon Says Stamp Kids Summer Vacation Challenge - Here are few more of the many art projects Taylee created this Summer.  Each one is described, and each project brought her creative time of pure enjoyment.

I truly hope your Summer has been creative and happy.

Blessings,

Karen (and Taylee)

With Gratitude

This is something that I find myself saying a lot, but it's so completely true.  All of the stamp sets, dies and products from Stamp Simply are absolutely beautiful.  They work well all on their own, and they also work well in conjunction with other Stamp Simply sets.  The card I'm sharing with you today uses just one single stamp set from Stamp Simply.  That's it.  Just one stamp set.

I used a dark kraft cardstock for the base of my card.  The next layer is a piece of cream cardstock that I rubbed with Vintage Photo Oxide Ink and then stamped using the awesome Falling Leaves Border Gratitude Stamp Set.  I stamped the Falling Leaves Border once on the left-hand side of my card, and then another time onto cream cardstock.  With that extra piece, I cut out the images to place on my card.

This goes to show you that a card doesn't have to be complicated or use a whole bunch of different stamp sets.  When the stamps are as lovely as those from Stamp Simply, it becomes easy to quickly create beautiful cards.  The finishing touches on this simple card were the brown and cream acrylic paint that I splattered here and there.

Stamp Simply also has a beautiful New Blog where you can get lots of great inspiration every day.  The talented Design Team hopes to inspire you, and Stamp Simply hopes to be your one-stop shop for all your stamps, dies, stencils, embossing folders and more.  Don't forget to stop by again soon.  I really appreciate your visits here.

Before I sign off here, I'm also sharing a couple of the (many) art projects my oldest granddaughter, Taylee (6), created this Summer.  She's been living with us for a whole year now, and she's becoming quite the little artist.  She loves watching me make cards and share them on my blog, so when I told her that there's a Summer challenge just for kids over at Simon Says Stamp, she wanted me to share some of her creations.  Although Taylee has made a lot of art this Summer, these are the projects she asked me to share.  For these two art projects, Taylee used strips of construction paper (her design) to write down attributes or things that she's grateful to have, or things for which she can strive.

Taylee wishes to share her artistic creations in this FUN challenge.

Simon Says Stamp Kids' Summer Vacation Challenge - Anything Goes - Designed and created by Taylee M., age 6.  Taylee has been doing a lot of art this Summer.  She's getting tubes in her ears next Monday, and she starts 1st Gr. on Tuesday.  Prayers appreciated.