Dance, Baby, Dance!

Toddler Dance

Hi everyone!   I’ve been uber busy with a couple of projects (i.e.  deadlines).  July turned out to have some unexpected detour activities – that’s life!  We made a trip to Arkansas to lay a dear friend to rest.  The trip took 4 days – but we also got to visit for an hour with my niece in Dexter, Mo and then my Aunt and cousin in Chicago.   There is nothing so bad that some small good can’t come from it as Ma Ingalls used to say.

Anyway – one of the projects has been to finish sketches I did during SkADaMo (November) and  Doodle Day May.  Thought it might be fun to show you my progress and experimenting.

The sketch above  is  based on this sketch from November.  

The original idea was from my daughter’s dance recital when she was 2.  That costume was so stiff and prickly she did not want to put her arms down.  Every time she wore it she kept her arms out straight.

Added the color in photoshop elements.  Tried a few new features to get the netting on the tutu and used a gradient for the background.  I even learned how to do a cutout with the lasso.  (only took 3 tries).

Just looking for a story now for this to go with.

Blessings on your creativity!

Laura (grandmamiller)

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Doodle Day July…Day #13

I’m so thrilled to host today’s Doodle Day prompt, but I am terrified of drawing it.   It makes me hide in fear.   Are you sure YOU want to draw this doodle??  You do?  All right – I guess it’s time I conquer my fears….  (After all, my almost 2 yr old grandsons are not afraid of these. )

…the Doodle Day prompt today is…….  [gulp]….

CARS

…as in VEHICLES of Transportation….Family movers….from vacation carriages…to moon rovers…fun and silly, sleek and fast,  ….. Duckmobiles….Charactermobiles….Inovativemobiles….

So why am I afraid of and so bad at drawing Cars?    I think I try to be too literal with them.  We have preconceived ideas of what cars should look like and we stifle our creative side.  Alison Hertz (our Doodle Day Founder) and I were discussing it.   Here’s a bit of our conversation:

Alison: (who you may recall was a toy designer):   “I agree, cars are scary and I created the Chunky trucks toy line years ago – I also created the star wars pod racers.  Still scary.  When I was a middle school art teacher, I heard [‘I can’t draw’] from adults all the time – my response was “Who told you that?” The general public thinks that an ability to draw means creating a masterpiece fit for a museum – silly. They put too much pressure on themselves. Look at a 4 year old – they just draw – no pressure, just do it and enjoy it. Grown ups lose that along the way for fear of judgment. Society is too judgy – people should stop worrying.”

Me: I love that.  When I was younger (just a few years ago by the way),  I never thought I could draw or that I was ‘worthy’ of saying I could – because of what you just said….because I judged MY work by the quality or style of someone else’s work. We can certainly admire someone else’s work but we don’t have to be them – because then we would only ever be a second best. But we can be the best US! Doodle Day has been liberating for me…thanks to you, Alison!

So when you start to doodle your car, try not to use a picture or preconceived image in your head…don’t overthink –  let your imagination take you on a doodling car trip…..  You could even try a scribble or zentangle and put wheels on it.  Pick a critter to mobilize with wheels….or jet packs….or….?   Try a series of circles or shapes…add a horn and wheels…Voila!

Questions to get the creative juices bubbling…

• Where will this vehicle be taking you (or your character)?
• What ‘era’ is it?   (stone age, pre-auto, space age, futuristic)
• How many and what kind of people/creatures does it hold?
• Does your car have a unique feature  (a pool, library, barbecue…)?
• Are you exploring, or on a leisurely drive or racing off to somewhere?
• Does your car have its own personality or quirks?

Have fun!!!  And here are a few famous ‘personality’ cars to inspire you.

Oh – and if you have a blog or website – share the info in the comments so we can all check out each other’s sites along with our Doodle Day Group page.

Stay relaxed-remember no stress… and doodle away!!!

Thanks, Alison, for this opportunity – I had a great time.

Blessings on your creativity!

Laura (Grandmamiller)

P.S.  I now have to play doodle delay catchup..I was gone all week…

The Flintstones by Hanna Barbera

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Beverly Hillbillies Jalopy

Mrs. Armitage by Quentin Blake

Scooby Doo Mystery Machine

Love Bug

Speed Racer

The Jetsons by Hanna Barbera

If I Built A Car by
http://www.chrisvandusen.com

(super book by the way)

Fishcar by Sylviagarza.wordpress.com

47 passenger elephant car

Moonrover

Cat In the Hat’s Car

The Batmobile

Oscar Meyer Weinermobile

And my grandsons’ favorites….

For all the Doodle Day prompts go to http://alisonhertz.blogspot.com/ and check out the Blog archives.

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Doodle Day May #29, 30, 31 & Can’t Sleep Without Sheep Ebook Release

Two things Today:

The First Thing not to be forgotten, my friend, Susanna Leonard Hill, has a

release of Can’t Sleep Without Sheep in Ebook format for only $4.99.  She held a contest earlier with lots of fun/silly promos, the complete list of all the creativity and links  is here and my entry is here just for more fun.  I bought my Kindle copy and the grandgirls gave it 3 baa-baa-beautifuls. The places to find her wonderful  ebook are here:

iTunes (for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch)

Amazon (for all versions of Kindle)

Barnes&Noble (for Nook)

And secondly –  an opportunity to post the last of my Doodle Day May drawings, I mean doodles.  I posted to the Facebook Page, just didn’t have a chance to chronicle here as we were out of town.   And of course I know you’re all dying, to see them here (ho-hum, I’m probably talking to just myself and my mom…er…I think my mom reads my blog…)  Anyway, the last doodle post was #28….so pencil drum rol-l-l-l-l-l-l…

Day #29  Ribbon

Day #30 Shell

and   Day#31 Wave – and a final goodbye to Doodle Day May the way I say goodbye to people I love…like YOU.

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Doodle Day May # 26, 27, 28

Here are some simple doodles – we were in the midst of parade and carnival  on Sunday/Monday so I kept it simple.

Alison Hertz’ prompts for these days of Doodle Day May were leaf , star and paisley.

Now I have to explain about the leaf…This started out just to be the mouse, the leaf and the tree, but I made a mistake w/my pen where the arrow is pointing.  So I tried to make a little critter – and then the idea of the mice tickling the sleeping mouse just grew.  Sometimes mistakes can work.

I did face painting at the carnival.  The first mom and little girl that came up told me thank you for what our church was doing (collecting donations for care packages for the troops).  I said, ‘you must have someone special in the military.’  She nodded and I looked at her little  girl’s shirt…It said,’ My daddy is in Afghanistan.’  I hugged Mom and said, ‘please tell your husband ‘thank you’ for serving… and thank you for sacrificing.’  We both teared up.

My dad was in the Coast Guard for 20 years.  I know some of the sacrifices families make.  He was at the South Pole (gone for over 8 months) during the Vietnam years, he had different stations of duty where he was also gone for 3 weeks, home for one (if the weather wasn’t bad and prevented the boat from getting him to shore, then it was gone for 7 weeks).  Families sacrifice as well with the absence of the mom or dad.    This is my little salute to them all.

And to get me caught up to yesterday – is paisley – which originated in Scotland.  So this is my Scottish Highland Cow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Laura (Grandmamiller)

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Doodle Day May #23-24-25

Doing some catch up here – we’ve been so busy getting ready for our church’s carnival and participation in the Memorial Day Parade.  The parade was an honor to be involved in and the carnival was a wonderful event.  We had about 300 people attend and between 30 and 40 people from our church helping.  Seniors, adults, teens, tweens and even kids – giving a hand to set up, clean up, serve and be a part.

I’ve didn’t post my doodles from Alison Hertz’  Doodle Day May so on with the exhibit….

#25 was square.  Right away my grandma popped into my head.  She made quilts for all her grandkids, square by square.  She taught me how and I made a quilt for my daughter that took about 8 years!

Grandma’s Quilt

#24 was flame.  This was done in photoshop in about 40 minutes.  I couldn’t get the feel of the fire right away.  But now I’ve learned a new technique.  I’ve been working on some biblical art, so this was what popped in my head to try.

 

#23 was veggies – which I couldn’t get into until I put my tongue in cheek

Well, thanks so much for stopping by.   Blessings on your creativity.

Laura (Grandmamiller)

 

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Doodle #21-22 and Perfect Picture Bk Fri: Big Red Tub

Still having lots of fun with Alison Hertz‘  Doodle Day May.  The subjects today are ‘ shoes’ and ‘design a font.’  I dedicated the Circus font to Alison (if you don’t know why – you need to read her bio/look at facebook pics.)   The shoe doodle made me think of my little girls growing up.

Circus font

I sketched Circus first, then colored it in Photoshop.  I used colored pencils & ink on the shoes.

Shoes

Now on to my pick for Susanna Hill‘s  Perfect Picture Book Friday.

This book reminds me of when my girls were little and it was bathtime. When dad supervised it was always lively with lots of giggling, shrieking and splashing.  The walls were dripping, the floor was submerged and the bubbles were everywhere.  (When I supervised – somehow it never seemed as much fun.)

Title: Big Red Tub  (Note: Released as Big Red Bath in UK) 

Author:   Julia Jarman

Illustrator:   Adrian Reynolds

Publisher: Orchard Books, 2004

Genre: Fiction

Audience Age:  2-4

Themes/Topics: Bathtime, Imagination

Opening Sentences: Stan and Stella in the big red tub.  I splash! You splash!  Splash! Splash! Splash!

Synopsis: Dad is supervising bathtime. The children have lots of fun  especially when all kinds of animals join in.  Dog, lion, kangaroo, duck and even a hippopotamus!  And bathtime ends up going beyond the walls of the house….

Why I like it:  It’s  sudsy fun and the rhythm and rhyme are a rollicking good time.  The illustrations are big and bright.  Matter of fact they are so bubbly and soapy you either need a raincoat or a scrub brush.  When I read this to my grands they immediately wanted a re-read.   This is for a younger audience, but definitely a lively selection.  (You probably won’t want to read it at bed time, tho’ it is such a romp the kids get excited.)

Activities/Resources:   Ms. Jarman has a coloring page from her website here.   And an activity sheet .

 I could recommend something about hygiene, but that’s not fun…. how about   B U B B L E S ?  (Click and scroll down the page to find a dozen bubble activities.)

Availability: Barnes & Noble, Amazon

(Susanna Leonard Hill is the originator of PPBF and you can find all the other PPB recommendations and links  on her blog.)

Have fun enjoying the book.  Stop by tomorrow for another Doodle update.  Blessings on your day!

Laura (grandmamiller)

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Doodle Day May #19, & 20

The challenge was to draw Fish and Triangles.  Simple, quick doodles. . . uh…how many fins does a fish have???  Do seahorses have head fins…..uh…so I drew from my imagination (which is always correct!)…  The top right is a ‘parrot fish’.  My favorite is the little guy swimming behind the bubble.  I don’t know if underwater bubbles would magnify or not – maybe they demagnify – but I liked the effect.

Then Prof. Tri Angle popped into my head when drawing triangles. How many triangles do you count?   There are 50.

Professor Tri Angle

This is all part of Alison Hertz’   Doodle Day May challenge.  It has been so much fun  and discovery.  I’ve met new artist friends and been both inspired and challenged to do more with my art.

Thanks for stopping by and blessings on your creativity!!

Laura (grandmamiller)

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Doodle Day May #17 & 18: Fruit & Swirls

Had to add this pic

Mother’s Day 2013
Ivy, Josiah, Felicity, & Lincoln & Me

Busy weekend- babysat ALLLLL my grandchildren together on Saturday for about 2 hours.   I had my youngest (14 mo)  here for  4 hours and the other three (4, almost 3 and 18 mo)  for only about 2 hours.  Fun wise it wasn’t long enough…stamina wise ….well let’s just say – I felt my age (713 mo.)  tee-hee.

Sunday was also a very busy day as our church had planning meetings for a Memorial Day Kids Carnival and then our Church’s Anniversary Picnic was at our house.  So that’s why no posting done over the weekend.

FRUIT

The First doodle  ‘FRUIT’ is from my memory of last summer.  I had rinsed a big bowl of strawberries and set them on the table to cut up and sugar to go on ice cream.  My granddaughters wanted to taste and I said okay.  The 3 1/2 year old winced when she took a taste and the 2 yr old stuffed one in her mouth and kept reaching for more.

Alison’s SWIRLS prompt was just fun and relaxing to do.   I’ll have to remember that next time I’m stressed!  Thanks for stopping by!  Blessings on your day!

Swirls

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Doodle #16 and Perfect PB Friday: Baby Brains & Robomom

Space

For Doodle Day May #16 our topic was SPACE.  Alison (the creator of Doodle Day May) put no constraint on our imaginations for this doodle.   I decided to doodle this in photoshop.   I’m still familiarizing myself with it’s features so this was a good practice.  Several things in this that I would change, some proportions (those tiny images were hard with the wacom).  I would probably do the skyline in pencil and paper and scan it in next time – but I was at 30 minutes – so I made myself stop.

Short funny story about comets-My husband and I love star gazing (as long as the mosquitoes aren’t too bad, or it’s not too cold.)  The last time Haley’s comet was around our youngest was an infant.  We bundled her up and drove into the country away from light pollution,  and sat for 2 hours in the middle of the night trying to see the comet.  No luck – the only thing we got was a wide awake baby when we got home.  A couple weeks later – my husband worked nights at the time – about 3 in the morning, hubby comes home,  wakes me up and says – you have to get up you can see Haley’s comet plain as day!  So bleary eyed and staggering I got dressed…socks…boots…extra layers…it was COLD…Tom kept urging me to hurry….mittens….scarf…..’C’mon, you’ll miss it’…..stiff-walked into the back yard, squinting at the sky…. “Where is it??   I don’t see it,” I said.   Several yards from me my dear, loving, considerate husband shouts, “APRIL FOOL’s!!!”

Anyway…  on to my Perfect Picture Book pick for the week.

Title: Baby Brains and RoboMom    (Note:  in the UK it is RoboMum)

Author/Illustrator:                        Simon James

Publisher: Candlewick Press (2008)

Genre: Fiction

Audience Age: 4-8

Themes/Topics: Problem Solving, Family

Opening Sentences: Before Baby Brains was born, Mrs. Brains ate lots of fish and nuts, which are good foods for brains.

Synopsis: The smartest baby in the world builds a robot mom to give his tired mommy a break from the chores, but things don’t go as planned.

Why I like it:  This was my introduction to ‘Baby Brains.’  which is actually the third book in the series. The others are Baby Brains: The Smartest Baby in the Whole World and Baby Brains: Superstar.    I definitely plan to find these first two to enjoy.  The Brains parents seem to be an average, loving  and hard working couple who have the smartest baby around.  They patiently hold pencils while Baby sits at the drafting board planning and creating his newest invention… like a remote-controlled, self-rocking cradle or a motorized stroller.   Baby notices how tired his mommy is so he lovingly creates RoboMom.  The busy metal mom hustles to do all the chores and then some.  However, we see Baby Brains missing the human touch and the parents perplexed at how to intervene.   When an explosion occurs (don’t worry everyone is safe–well almost everyone)  the problem resolves itself and Baby Brains learns to be a little more careful with his inventions.

Despite the difference between Baby’s extreme intelligence and his average parents you are able to discern the family’s love for one another.  The parent’s acceptance of their unique child and his desire to help give his parents a much needed rest and provide the heart of the story.  James’ illustrations are delightful sketchy, watercolor and ink.  One comment I read said they have a Quentin Blake (Big Friendly Giant) quality to them and I agree.

My granddaughters  (almost 3 and 4 1/2) liked the story and were really intrigued by Baby’s inventions, wanting to know what he was doing at the drawing board and how he could make those things.  It was also a requested re-read.

Activities/Resources:   Mr. James has an awesome website (check it out), a demonstration page on Youtube and he has colouring pages available.  There is one of Baby Brains where Mr. James leaves it to you to draw in YOUR picture of Baby’s invention. (I ran off one for myself  🙂 )

There are sooo many online resources about inventors and inventions.  Start by talking about what an ‘invention’ is.  Ask your child if they can think of something to invent that would help around your house.  Perhaps a machine to put away the toys.  What would they make it out of?   Have then draw a picture of what it would look like.  Here is a simple lesson plan  to help spark creativity using boxes, pipe cleaners, glue tape and all kinds of scrap material.

Availability: Major book sellers.

(Susanna Leonard Hill is the originator of PPBF and you can find all the other PPB recommendations and links  on her blog.)

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Doodle Day May #15: Heart

Doodle: heart

I went back in time to draw this ‘heart’.  I was chatting with Gayle Wing O’Donnell and Kathryn Ault Noble (both of whose  art work I admire) and found out we all graduated high school within a year of each other. We started laughing about flower power.   So this doodle is for them.  (See if you can guess what year….but be kind.)

I brought out the bell bottoms, love beads, peace signs and granny glasses just for them.

This is part of Alison Hertz’ s Doodle Day May Challenge which has been so much fun to do.  I’ve met new artists, found inspiration, and laughed a whole lot too.

And this is the last day to vote for your favorite jingle promoting her e-book at  Susanna Hill’s  .  Lots of prizes for the winners.  You can check it out here.  Voting  ends Thursday, May 16th at noon EST.

Thanks for stopping by and blessings on your creativity.

Laura (grandmamiller)

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