Petite/Atelier

I teased you about this before.

Saturday June 8th is going to be a very busy day for me. Thankfully, Chalk the Block and Fan Mail will be happening in the same vicinity on Dundas St. for the same festival. It’s going to be “hella” fun!

The Fan Mail Project:

Participants will be encouraged to create Fan Mail for businesses and neighbours in our community.They will then leave their mail, but pick up someone else’s and deliver it on their way to their next destination. So if you notice Fan Mail that is bound for a business that you’ve never been to, but have always wanted to check out, or perhaps is destined for a street that you’ve never walked but want to explored, here is your excuse. Or, if you notice a letter that is destined for your street, why not deliver it and say hi to your neighbour while you are at it.

Come by, write some letters, then chalk some art directly across the street!

et Voilà! This year’s Chalk the Block poster!

If you are in Toronto and want to join us, email ichalktheblock@gmail.com for details.

Rowanwood - It’s Rainy Day Forts!

You will need:

1) at least a couple larger editions of a daily newspaper

2) masking tape

3) a stapler or duct tape

I made one of these this past winter. I don’t have a picture of it because it didn’t last very long. Which was my fault because I didn’t double up on the newspaper I used. Initially I did, but I quickly had to unroll them and re-roll single sheets, because I ran out of newspaper.  And, I only used a stapler to fasten the triangles together. If I had used duct tape, I am sure the thing would still be around.

So to make this, you will need to roll 10 double ply triangles (3 sides per triangle = 30 rolled wands). Roll the paper from corner to corner to make the wands the longest possible and hold the edge down with masking tape in the middle of the wand. I suppose you could get all creative and use washi tape instead, but then that would be expensive.

Also, those single newspaper sheets won’t work unless you roll 2 side by side with a large double piece. Once you’ve made all 30, you can start making your triangles by stappling, or like I said for sturdier joints use duct tape. Follow the shape of the above picture. The structure should have 4 sides. Throw a blanket on top when you are done, and voila, the perfect fort for your little ones.

Forget rainy days, make a few for the backyard and use it to shelter them from the sun.

This is just a teaser for an upcoming project that Shirley Street School will be hosting at the inaugural launch of the Dundas West Fest June 8th.

Stay tuned for more details. It is such an amazing project. I am getting very excited about it. 

Rowanwood - I am a bit of a hoarder…

Ok hoarder is a bit harsh. I was “collecting” these tea cups for a while. You know, for the cafe I will someday own. So I had amassed a bit of a selection. The cafe being closer to reality last year, and now further off into the future, I decided I needed to do something with them. Why not, I could always shop for more later. I also needed the space where they were congregating. 

So I bought some succulents, some grassy stuff (what I have since learned is Irish Moss) and some hardy flowers (still don’t know their name). Then I dug up some earth, and picked through rocks in the garden. As you can probably tell, I don’t know a hoe from a spade, but I remembered somewhere that you can put rocks at the bottom of pots that don’t have holes to help circulate water, hence the rocks at the bottom of the cups.

I got the kids to help a bit. They were more interested in giving them to their teachers and claiming authorship though. 

Perfect end of the year gift for teachers or perhaps a Mother’s Day gift?

Also, if any of you out there are interested in a little joint venture cafe in the Brockton area. PM me. I have an idea ;)

I forgot to show you the final product.

Whady’a think?

Chalk the Block is BACK! 

Join us this year in conjunction with the Du’West Street Festival. This time all of the artist will be together along the North side of Dundas, between Lansdowne and Brock Ave. 

For more information check out our Facebook Page (and the above hyper links):

https://www.facebook.com/events/541724342544896/?ref=ts&fref=ts

If you would like to participate as an artist, email us at: ichalktheblock@gmail.com

There will also be chalk and room for those of you who want to dable. And, there will be chalking activities for kids to do too.

So exciting!

Love this!

I just got this back from Selfless Portraits. That really awesome project I posted about a while back. Where you draw someone random and post it to their site, then someone else random from somewhere on this planet draws you in return. It takes a couple of weeks for a photo of you to come back, but it’s totally worth it!

This is a pic of G from about 2 years ago when we were hanging out just the two of us in Kensington Market.

Rowanwood, I am on a mission. An Art display mission.

I am trying to find a new way of displaying Sascha and Gabriel’s Art. Up until now I have been covering a large space in my kitchen with taped Art on the wall and rotating said Art out every so often. This is fine I guess, but I dream of having one of those modern/clutter free/glamorous houses. Where everything looks effortless and lived in, yet clean and inspired. With pops of colour and lots of Art, but where nothing is ripped/broken/coloured on. 

I digress… what I mean to say is that I think my kids Art deserve better presentation. A place where they can show off their Art and be proud of it. A display that will inspire them to make more and more Art… and wrestle less and less like hyper maniacs. 

Oh to dream.

I found a few boards dedicated to Kid Art display on Pinterest. Check them out. Maybe you’ll be inspired too:

http://pinterest.com/hope_benziger/display-kids-art/

http://pinterest.com/hellobee/displaying-children-s-art/

This is GENIUS! Creating a book of their Art by photographing it and using websites like Snapfish, and Shutterfly to publish it. While you are at it, why don’ t you take a picture of them at the age they were when they created the Art. Imagine your kids grabbing the books to take to school for their show and share? Oh the pride! Or sharing their art books of THEIR Art with their grandparents.

I guess if I did this instead, I wouldn’t have to remodel my kitchen.

Rowanwood - Super Easy Dino Feet.

I quickly made these yesterday at my studio and I wanted to take pictures with my kids wearing them and didn’t get around to it until today.

This is where I first saw them:

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/dinosaur-feet-craft.htm

S and G loved them. I didn’t even need to use the extra ribbon that is supposed to tie behind the heels. I just used a simple elastic. I poked small holes through the cardboard and fastened them with duct tape on the back. They stay on fine. They are quite large mind you and they are made from a cardboard box, so I’m not sure they are supposed to last long. But a super fun activity in any case. The kids could have easily painted them themselves too. I just did it to save time. 

Rawrrrrrrrrrr

You guyse!

Check this out! Selfless Portraits.

It is so amazing, seriously. I’ve done 2 thus far… and I am going to keep doing it.

Selfless Portraits assigns you a picture from someone anywhere in the world to illustrate, and then a random stranger will draw you in return.

My fabulous and crafty cousin Heather sent me the link. Heather does a great many things. She is an inspiration really. This is her company Veridian Communications and Design. If you need help branding a business and launching it, she and her husband are your people.

She has also taken up Hooping. And even makes her own hula hoops. Gah! Can she get more cool? No, no she can’t.

K, enough already with the unsolicited plug.

Do the Selfless Portait. It will make you feel good.