I Got a B+

Art was one of those subjects I really liked in elementary school.  I tried really hard.  I always thought, this is the year that my skills will have improved.  Then I got to painting, or drawing, or anything.  What was in my head, never made it on the page.  I was a constant B+ art student and I think that was just because I was a nice kid who tried hard.

It is summer time and Matthew is on break from school so I have been working to increase the amount of art projects that we do at home.  Father's Day was approaching and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for projects.  Matthew has given homemade cards to family before, but this time I was aware that he was capable of more than painting and wanted to give him the time and support to be creative and grow.  Thea also joined the action this round.

Here's what we had a blast making:

(They require explanation for you to know what went into them.)

The first card we made was for my brother John.  Matthew painted the rocket and then pasted the stars, planets, moon, rocket and passengers in the sky.  The fire coming out of the rocket is Thea's handprint.  

The card below is for my brother Paul.  Matthew pasted all of the balls to this card and cut one of them out himself.  Can you tell which one?  If not, it's probably because I'm a B+ artist.  He then used the stickers as a guide for drawing the lines on the balls or placing the black shapes on the soccer ball.  Then, of course, each ball sticker was placed directly on top of the corresponding ball.

Matthew painted the tie and pasted it to this card which was for my dad.  Thea and Matthew both painted the inside together.  It is hideous because Matthew really wanted Papa to have a card with all of the colors.  When he was finished he said that it looked "yucky," but that Papa would love it because it was from him.

This one doesn't need much explaining, other than it's for their mountain climbing Papa.  Matthew pasted/placed everything on this card and both kiddos painted the back and it looked pretty.

  

This is where my talent in cutting really shines through.  Below is a picture of ice creams (uh huh) and it reads: Being with you is a special treat!  This card was sent to Mike's grandfather, the kids Great-Papa.  Matthew pasted everything here and picked all but one of the stickers.  Thea's choice was the cherries.

A bonus card here...my dad turned 69 the day before Father's Day.  Matthew helped cut the red balloon and decided Mommy would just do the rest.  There is a 6 on the red balloon and a 9 on the blue balloon.  Matthew wrote both with a guided hand and then colored right over both of them.  Both kids got to color this card after Matthew pasted the balloons to the paper.

Fingerpainting

There are really only a few things from my early years that I remember. Fingerpainting is one of them. I remember thinking it was so unusual that you were allowed to get so messy. And not only that, it was encouraged!! I was totally intrigued by this piece. Plus, I'm super good at art (read: that's a lie, I'm still at the first grade level). 

So today we fingerpainted for the first time.

Thea wanted nothing to do with it. Well, now wait a minute, that's not fair. She did put her fingers in it...and tasted it. 

Matthew loved it. He is the kind of kid that doesn't love a mess (he used 5 paper towels during the painting time just to try to keep some sort of cleanliness going), but he really enjoyed it. 

The picture in the second row, on the right is the hand prints of Matthew and I. And the purple smattering...let's just say we gave feet painting a try! 

Messy but delightful!