1st post- yeah!!
 

I'd like to add some of my photos & pics of my watercolor paintings.

well- not on my harddrive at the moment- but here is a link to my photos on webshots.

http://community.webshots.com/user/turbo245

I'm so glad we have this forum.

Does anyone think they can help this totally creativity-lacking person with projects as my little man continues to grow?

I'm being serious...I can't do any kind of craft or anything. My best friend can imagine things and put them together and it's amazing. I seemed to lack seeing it in my brain to do anything. For instance, I can do a paint-by-number fine! I can do cross stitch, etc., when they're clearly marked for me. That's about it.

I want to do good for my boy but don't even buy glue and popcycle sticks because I don't know what to do with them.

Help? He's four next month.

KD

Nice artwork jo55 :)

I love to draw and also write poetry, as well as doing anything creative. Both my sons are very musical and compose their own stuff, with the oldest a music major in jr year at college

kd, i am asure you'll get lots of help here with craft projects

my kids would come home with project assignments and have to "hands off!" me:D cuz I would try to take over:o

My son likes to make stuff out of seashells. Around here, you can get a huge bag for 5 bucks, glue is 1 buck. It's cheap entertainment!

http://wow.fohguild.org/gallery/d/19...icture+009.jpg

Some of his 'work'. ;)

:D Wood carving is what I do. I was doing it full time but about 2 years ago my poor little brain really slowed down :o . After surgery things are looking up and I'm trying to get back up to speed. It's slow going but I'm trying.

jingle you have an amazing talent :)

WOW and WOW again
 

jo55, jingle

WOW and WOW again...very nicely done! jo55, I met my husband when he was teaching art classes. I never could master watercolor, I'm envious as well as being impressed. jingle, you really have done an amazing piece, I hope that you can get well enough to continue.
jo55, i am including the url for a website that I think you will enjoy a lot and might provide some inspiration. There is a man who decided to start taking pictures along a 1 mile stretch of a country walkway that was being refurbished in his area. He has been doing it for 5 years now, in all seasons and weather and has documented this one area to an amazing level. Makes one realize that we just don't stop and look around us very closely. Check this out sometime.
http://www.performance-vision.com/airline/index.htm

Ellie, I have several shell pieces that were put together in the shape of butterflies. I got them from a retired man who made extra money at a local flea market selling them. He also used to make little animals out of them. Your son already has an eye for this.

KimmyDawn
I used to do craft projects with one of hubby's aides when she had to bring her girls to work. I would pick up things at the local dollar store like foam shapes and plain vases and picture frames. We would sit and glue those shapes and create "our own" art. They would give them as gifts to Dad and grandparents for birthdays, Xmas and such. I let them do whatever design they wanted so they could see what worked and didn't work so they would develop an "eye" for their creations. I would also buy bags of beads at the craft store and we would make bracelets for gifts and once we made beaded decos for hubby's Xmas tree. They are now treasured items for us since the family moved to another state. Most craft stores have beginners kits, often on sale so you can stock up for rainy days and summertime fun. These will help both you and the children to develop confidence and the "eye" for creative works. It also lets you try different things and if you find something you really like their are guidebooks and sometimes classes at craft stores. One of the things that I like to do is personalize gifts. If you have a printer, get some T-shirt transfer paper and download things from the web. Many magazines and even printed companies have free downloads of designs or for the grandparents you could take something that the children colored and scan it into your computer and put it on a t-shirt or tote bag. I found some plastic glasses at the dollar store that you can put photos into and I downloaded pics of angels, sites that people told me they went on vacation, places that they had lived as children and made photos with my printer to put in them. I would give them a set of two or four glasses and everyone just loved the personal touch. I have a friend who buys plain tote bags at crafts stores and sometimes dollar stores and she paints designs on them or glues fabric cut-outs, or ribbons, things like that on them and gives them as gifts. You will be surprised at what you can do once you start. Keep it simple at the beginning. One hint...if you do try the iron on transfers to the T-shirts print your design on a plain piece of paper before using the more expensive iron on clear sheets to make sure it come out correctly and looks like you want it to.

I hope you will consider posting a poem or two here. I , for one, would very much like to read one or more. Have you photos of your drawings?

I have written some poetry. that i can do at times. :)

Y'all are soooooooooooo talented!!! Beautiful!!!

Thank you also, so much for the suggestions!

Ohhh!! I have a specific project coming up that I could soooooooo use ideas and help on. I'm so excited this is here!!!

I want to make my little man's room into an insect forest...walls, everything. He loves insects already and I so want to nurture that.

any ideas? should i start a new thread?

thank you!

KD

kimmydawn

many crafts stores have rubber models of insects that you could use to make mobiles to hang from the ceiling, make drawer pulls out of, make hooks to hang stuff from etc. They also have insect stencils so you could use them to paint a border, or a chair rail border, or stencil the walls, a plain rug, plain curtains or the curtain shade. You could buy him an ant farm or stock and aquarium with crickets from the pet store. Look in the childrens section of a craft store and you'll find other insect inspired items. Also dollar stores have bug inspired toys in the toy section...kits to catch and study bugs...kits with butterfly nets to hang on the wall. You could get mosquito netting at a sports store to make curtains or some sort of canopy over the bed. Make a beehive shaped box with a flip lid to hold stuff or better yet see if a local beekeeper would sell you a regulation bee box to convert into a bookcase or toy box. try a local used book shop to find used book on bugs to display and for him to read. Does this start the ball rolling?

OMG (((((((((( trekker ))))))))))))) you just single-handedly decorated his room!!! I can't believe it! How do you think of things like this off the top of your head? I tell you, that's a genius...a gift!

Do you mind if I print all this out when we're done? anyone?

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. mosquito netting canopy...OMG. i'm loving this stuff. i honestly could've never thought of one of those things...ok, i did think of the stencils for walls. ;)

He already has a nice little butterfly/insect catching kit. The net is nice and would look great hanging on his wall.

OHOH, a hat with a netting over the front hanging beside the net?

KD

Jingle, that is awesome! Talk of talent... wow!

Jo55, I peeked :). Beautiful! I'll post some links to some of my photography at the end of my post. I think you might possibly recognize some of the scenery. I travel to Oregon approx. once a year or so.

Kimmy, what a great idea for decorating the lil' man's room :cool:. Trekker's ideas appeal to me, and, goodness knows, I'm not all that fond of insects :D.


I make jewelry and sew (soft gift-bags I designed for friends; 36"-round tableclothes I design and give to friends in exchange for them giving to a charitable organization what they deem as the tableclothes "worth"; snuggle/body pillows and binkies for my dog). I also like making holiday stuff.


Here's some of my photos... the first two are probably among my favorites...

http://goofy2u.addr.com/snowshore.html
http://goofy2u.addr.com/snowy.html


My search for "BigFoot"
http://goofy2u.addr.com/big-foot.html


http://goofy2u.addr.com/shasta2004.html
http://goofy2u.addr.com/shore.html

My search for the Logness Monster rumored to be in Oregon
http://goofy2u.addr.com/logness1.html
http://goofy2u.addr.com/logness2.html

The hat is a great idea....here are some sites that might give you more ideas or ones that you can explore with your son together

http://www.naturepavilion.com/livekits.htm

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/yth...fal01.htm#meat

http://bugclub.ifas.ufl.edu/Bug_Bytes/Bugbites.htm

http://www.petbugs.com/

http://www.bloomingtonwebguide.com/insect.htm

NICE jewelry Bobbi :)


kd, an idea for making a cool butterfly is to stuff a black sock with that cotton wool stuffing, then use black hairbands to divide up the body segments. Stiff felt, painted and glittered, makes good wings and black crafters "pipecleaners" work for the proboscis, legs and antennae. Those little black fluffy craft eyes glued together make awesome compound eyes and one blob on the end of each antenna

can you tell we did one of those for a school project:D The teacher asked tokeep it as a classroom display so I dont have any pics, but it was real easy to make.

The stuffed sock thing is a good base for most insect creations too...eg caterpillars, bees, ladybugs etc

aaaaaah, i have the urge to make something and instead I gotta work at this 'puter all day:D

Bobbi

Ha-ha...In my belly...

*smile! THANK YOU!
 

I love the arts!
I love poetry!
and the people who are creative are very cool!
I appreciate this more than you know! ;)
Bless your Artistic hearts!

poem by lavenderlou / aka tenalouise

The Walls of Discontent -

This fortress of walls that I have built
To suppress my rage, impatience and guilt
I need them there to keep me sane
To keep silent the knowledge of the pain

I have subconsciously put up these bars
To halt the tears and hide the scars
And forget the years the locust ate
To forgive myself and those I hate

I’ve put them there to save my heart
In case it heals from being broken apart
These are my walls of discontent
To hide my hell to a greater extent

and this is from my friend who shared his poetry with me!
The Next Day
Written by J Lloyd Manring

Dawn crept up - as if unwilling
It’s prospects already dimmed by events
Transpiring before it’s birth
Harsh words were spoken - the tears shed
The emotional blood spilled
Even the door was slammed on cue
And only now does reality
Seize me by the throat -demanding attention
That I am alone…

tenalouise it is so good to see you here :) and to have you share your poetry, and that by your friend.

I have a special love for poetry and so I am very moved when I read yours

hello chemar!
 

here is one that is less depressing - written by Gilda Radner :)

for chemar...


Doctors are whippersnappers in ironed white coats,

who spy up your rectum and look down your throats,

and press you and poke you with sterilized tools,

and stab at solutions that pacify fools.

I used to revere them and do what they said

till I learned what they learned on was already dead.



Gilda Radner 1986
;)

(((tenalouise))):D

that was a hoot! I am going to let my son read it...he will especially appreciate it;)

Gilda was one real special lady and had a gift of humour that was so unique

My son loves dinosaurs, I got most of everything at storeforknowledge.com. He got to build most of his decorations.

Here is the bug section: http://storeforknowledge.com/Bugs-Insects-C155.aspx

Great website, stuff is cheap and they deliver very fast. It's similar to the discovery channel website, except it's waaaay cheaper!

I want to thank those that offered suggestions for the bedroom!

I've printed them out. When I read them to my mother, she went off into her own.."Oh, yeah, I can do this and that!" She was way excited. It's her winter project. :)

KD

Trying this>
http://community.webshots.com/album/554406275AsOyuU
These are a few of the things I make. Oil paintings and carved clay wallhangings. I roll clay out, carve it and paint it, etc.

Note: We recently bought this 1930 house and are in the process of restoring it. We have most of the downstairs and stairwell completed BUT we have not touched the upstairs yet. The ribbon wallpaper you will see is not staying!!! ha.
margie

margie, those are really good! :)

the rolled clay paining is something new to me...I like that concept

Thanks Chemar:
Its pretty easy to do. Roll out a slab of clay and then add some where you want to carve the items. Carve them, make holes for hanging, have it fired to bisque ware, then primer, base coat 3 times, paint the items, antique, and clear coat.

Then solder copper wire to each piece hooking them together and hang on metal rod. It is not hard to do, just time consuming. m

I think if you want to do a room like that you need to get Milvicias input... over on the autism board.... its her thing.

I work in the arts with my patients as a therapist, getting them to be expressive and creative is my thang. The best way to get your little man to be creative is to steer clear of the kits, coloring books, fill in the lines etc.. Give him raw products, like pompoms, seashells, craft sticks, toothpicks, pinecones, paint etc. Not neccessarily all at once.. if he has developmental issues limit the variety, but let him pick what he wants to use.

Make a little work shop for him or a art tote out of an old laundry box. I made a cool one a few years ago.

Try not to spend money on it (or much) and try not to limit how messy he gets.