color wheel

For the past three days Martin and I have been working on our first book: about colors. We started with red, and then added yellow and green. Each time, Martin painted the background with everything we could have found: yellow markers, yellow crayons and pencils, yellow chalk and paint... then we went through our boxes and found yellow scraps of papers, some feathers, stickers, drinking straws, pipe cleaners, fabrics, ribbons, foam, felt, nuudles, etc. Then we either tore them or cut them (first time with scissors... pretty interesting ;)) and then we glued them onto the paper (either Martin put the glue on or showed me where to put it, it was a real mission cooperation). And then some glitter to finish it off. We really had a good time and are looking to start working on the blue...

Martin's AutoMall

This was supposed to be Martin's 18-months-old gift but he found it even before I finished working on it, so... here it is. It's a car dealership, repair shop, car wash, and a gas pump. I think Martin's favorite part is swiping the card after getting the gas, lifting the cars up (or using the machine to lift up guys working in the repair shop), and polishing the cars after their car wash ;) My favorite part was getting rid of the broken cars we got to make this all happen. It's been quite fun working on it ;)

KoKo

Our dilemma over what to put on our living room wall was finally solved. We just needed to ask Martin. His answer was simple and immediate: koko. So, rooster it is. The next day Martin created couple of finger painting/brush painting (and whatever-else-he-could-get-his-hands-on-painting) papers and I cut it out Carle-style. Now, we need to start working on a cow.

Easy Easel

Every artist needs an easel... and after seeing the only one we liked (for $50), we finally made one (all we needed was a box, paint, paper, and duck tape). And it's not bad ;) It has chalkboard/cloth pins for paper on one side and magnetic/dry-erasable part on the other one. It's pretty big and after some adjustments it even fits on our art table. Well, gotta go... we need to try it out.

Practical Bowl / Stylish Hat

Couple of days ago we got a new issue of FamilyFun and thought their yarn-into-bowl idea is worth of trying. So, we got some colorful yarn, dipped it in glue, put it on a ball and the next morning, got a neat bowl (or, in Martin's eyes - a newest hat).

Carle's Look-Alikes

I have always loved Eric Carle's books and thought it's a high time Martin tried doing something similar. So, he painted couple of papers yesterday and this morning, while he was still in bed (he was so exhausted after our Oregon weekend that he slept till noon), I cut them out and made couple of pictures for our friends. I'm seriously thinking about starting a business with these ;)

Cute as a Caterpillar

I rediscovered oriental trading company and got a package of their stuff... including these cute caterpillars. So, today we painted the bubble wrap (mostly with cars) and printed it on the paper caterpillars, then glued on some eyes, put a pencil through them and voila... here she is.