Monday, May 26, 2008

Tiny Treasures in "Miniature"

If you have children in your life, you're probably almost as proud of their artwork as you are their photographs! Sometimes I photograph or scan Jonathan's artwork*, to email out to family, but I can't part with the originals. (I am also having difficulty storing all the paper and artwork he comes home with, he doesn't want to throw anything away (even all the practice letter sheets, etc) definitely gets that packrat tendency from his dad and I!


I've been meaning to make this for a few months now, but I finally got around to it this weekend: Create a portable keepsake of your child's "most braggable" creations in miniature by scanning, reducing, and printing out their paintings and drawings, then cutting them down to size, and stowing them in a decorated tin. (This size is much more manageable) :) Makes a great gift to send to the relatives, and send more scaled down "originals" over time as they are made and on holidays to add to their collection!

Scale your pics to approx 2" x 3.5", then stamp on your label from "What's In Your Tin? 1" and trim. Choose a favorite drawing for the top and stamp "Tiny Treasures" on that. Make a label for the inside on which the child can sign his or her name ( see below, I inked up just the "made this" from the "I made this for you" stamp from the same set to put below his name) On the back of each you can write their name, age and "title" of their masterpiece or your (or the child's) description of it. Here's Jonathan's "Red eyed tree frog":I intended to send this to his grandma, but Jonathan came into the room, took one look at it and he said, "My ART! Thanks!!" and ran out the door with it (so now I guess I need to make another one!) I found him in his room leafing through them and he looked up and said, "It is so amazing that I made these..." (Gets his modesty from his mom LOL!! ;)

TIP: You could also make two of each work of art, for a little matching game, would make a nice little travel game tin for your budding artist. :)

*Jonathan is a freakin' art prodigy! IMHO... ;) Here's a little about the ones you see above that I really like, for different reasons (please indulge me for a moment!)

One day when he was 4 he picked up a pencil and divided a sheet of paper into 4 sections with an "x". Then he proceeded to fill the entire page with shapes and color(my Su! markers! he chose the colors, have SCS seens this color challenge yet?? Pink passion, Green Galore, and Going Gray ;)), I was really amazed at how well he balanced the colors and sizes! When I asked him about it, he explained they were "animal textures", this side being "fish scales, this is giraffe, and this is zebra". I thought it was so cool he'd created a kind of collage! Below is the second in what I call his "Quadrant Period" LOL! which is very similar to that first one I just described, he gave it to his grandfather) but this time he mixed the different textures into all four areas...

Here is a crayon drawing he did recently after looking through a prism...I love the way he always fill up the whole page...

He really surprised us last November when we asked him one night at dinner what they did in art that day(kindergarten), and he recounted with amazing detail a film they saw about "Leonardo", including "his flying machine", the "clay horse sculpture shot at with arrows by the soldiers", and "his backward writing"(this is not the kind of stuff they taught me about in kindergarten!) We encouraged him to go give the writing a try so he went and got paper and a marker and quickly wrote his name (in reverse, beginning with "N") without help or aid of a mirror!(or looking at his name forwards) We went to the bathroom to check the results, I just had to snap a pic of him to show his teacher :)
Sidewalk artist: he did this by himself, at age 4(almost 5) Part way through I asked him what he was making, he said, "a girl' s face, with a long braid..."
Can you see it now?(I went over the different planes of her face in my Photoshop here, I'm not imagining it , am I??)
Okay, maybe it is just because he's my son, but I think he rocks! ;) It made his day anyway that I posted his creations here on my blog, thanks for looking :)

Have a great day!

21 comments:

  1. LOVE this idea, Melanie--beautiful and creative!

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  2. No, it's not just you, it's awesome!! What a super cute and fun idea!!I have an award for you at my blog!!

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  3. this is an AWESOME idea I wish we had digital when my child was younger. I love that you share your families life with us

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  4. He does rock, love that little froggie and this makes it so much more personal!! Definitely a great artist, my son loves to draw too!!

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  5. I think Jonathan did an awesome job with his artwork -- I can't imagine what it will look like when he's older!

    Love your clever idea of reducing and capturing his collection in a tin -- totally works for me! tfs

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  6. YES, I think he's gifted, and YES, I totally LOVE this idea, since I have an artist of my own in residence here! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. I think Jonathan is a natural for a Zentangle. Check out this link: http://www.zentangle.com/about-what-is--1.php

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  8. I think his artwork is pretty terrific, too! Great job, Jonathan!!

    Lovely idea, too, Mom with the tiny treasures. :) Kelly L

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  9. This box is such a cute idea! And WOW, your son truly is a budding artist! Can understand why you are such a proud mama! :-) I'm also really impressed by the Leonardo thing - which kindergarten does he go to??? (I live in Austin too & we are in the process of moving...!)

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  10. Wow - Jonathan really is very talented! I LOVE LOVE LOVE his work. I ADORE my own children's work and think the older (8) has a really great eye for color and art! It is SO much fun seeing what they create. This is a fan-tastic idea. My girls would love it! I bet we'll see Jonathan's name in the art world in the future!

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  11. Melanie, this idea is GREAT. Your son's art is wonderful. I LOVE the chalk woman, that's very artistic of him. He's definately inherited your talent!

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  12. Your son is definately a chip off his mommy's block when it comes to artistic talent! I'm impressed that a child of his age can visualize an image and put it on a sidewalk like that! Unreal, and you have truly earned your bragging rights:)
    The tin is a wonderful idea for saving those treasured drawings. I saved my childrens artwork and scrapbooked it, but this us such a fantastic idea! TFS!

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  13. Great idea for the tin. And your sons artwork is great. I love the chalk art...I saw the girl before I scrolled down to see your outline...he'll be a great artist some day...maybe you should make up a bunch of those tins to sell for when he gets famous...his early works :)

    Charmaine

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  14. Look at little Picasso there!! He is quite the budding artist and you SHOULD brag about it! Awesome!

    I'm sure Naomi would love her art displayed in a tin like that too, and I have made little books of her drawings in the past for grandparents but the tin idea is great! :-)

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  15. What a great idea Melanie! Very creative...and so is Jonathan! TFS
    Laurie

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  16. Tell Jonathan Grandma is VERY, VERY proud of his artwork, it is AMAZING, just like he is! [I'm just as proud of every bit of his artwork as I was/am of yours...now you know why I saved it all those years and put a scrapbook together for you. Your tin idea is absolutely inspired, what a wonderful idea. LOVE IT!] The girl with the braid is so abstract and colorful with such detail, and I love the little red-eyed tree frog. He looks like he's having fun playing the piano. Keep up the great artwork, Jonathan! You're a star!

    Hugs, Grandma

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  17. Mel............he DOES ROCK!! That is amazing talent for such a youngster.......he is definitely gifted!!! And your keepsake Art Tin is inspired!! Besides being a very fun gift....it's an incredible self esteem boost for the budding artists!!! Our kids need as much positivity as we can all give them!! What an amazing Mama you are!!

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  18. What a great idea. Our little one is just 20 months old, so only a few random lines right now, but you bet this will be gifts down the road. Thank you for sharing your creativity with us.

    It's a good life!
    Terri E.

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  19. How cute is this treasure tin of art!! I love it. Great job on the sidewalk chalk - you indeed have a little artist on your hands!

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  20. wow...he is a super artist..just like his mama!

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  21. this is so cool! I agree, Jonathan is quite the artist!

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