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Archive for the 'Arts and Crafts' Category
Contents
Posts
Kids Halloween Art
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009Here’s some Halloween artwork my daughter and her friends did this week. I thought you might enjoy seeing it to help get you in the mood for Halloween!
“Bones” by Lila
“Skeleton” by Lila…
“Witch” by Sarina
“Graveyard” by Melisa
“Graveyard II” by Melisa
“R.I.P.” by Marisa
Have a Spooky Fun Halloween!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Czech Rhyme that Sounds Like “Hou-py, hou-py, hou-py”?
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009Anna wrote:
Do you know the nursery rhyme that begins:
Hou-py, hou-py, hou-py,
Ko-cka sue-dla krou-py
Do-cour hruchI’ll try my best to write this poem-rhyme out for you. Of course, I will not be able to add the correct accent marks, punctuations marks, etc. The writing I have to copy is very small, so I hope my letters are accurate! Here goes!
Hou-pa-cka
hou-py, hou-py, hou-py!
ko-cka sue-dla krou-py,
ko-cour hrac
na ka-mnach;
ko-la-la se hue-va-ly,
ze jim ta-ky ne-da-ly.
hou-py, hou-py, hou-py!
by-ly vsec-ky hlou-py.A friend of mine gave me a beautiful framed gift of this rhyme… he says his grandfather would sing it to him. But he doesn’t know what it means.
My mother is Czech, Vlasta, but she no longer can help me with this.
Your help would be very nice.
Thank you, Anna Vdolek Bratney
If anyone knows the correct spelling of the rhyme and/or if you can provide an English translation, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
Gracie’s Art
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009Gracie has sent me some illustrations to post with songs over the past couple of months. What’s interesting is that she doesn’t send them for specific songs, so I have to find songs or rhymes on Mama Lisa’s World to match them up to. That can be tricky since we have over 2000 pieces! I end up doing a google seach on the subject of the illustration with "Mama Lisa" to find a song on my site that corresponds with its theme.
Here’s one of my favorite drawings Gracie did…
I posted it on a Hungarian children’s song page called Cifra Palota, "Adorned Palace". It’s a circle game. Below are the English lyrics to the song. It’s a little abstract or symbolic (perhaps the rose is the princess and the violet is a prince?)…
Adorned palace,
Its window is green,
Come out you, rose,
The violet is waiting for you.I am little,
I’ll grow up someday,
Next year or two years hence
I’ll become a big girl.Here’s another illustration Gracie sent me…
I posted the animal drawing with the song Animal Fair.
I asked Gracie how she creates these illustrations. She wrote, "I like to create art with patterns. Crazy patterns create great compositions. I like to use watercolor and then use a black sharpie to create patterns."
Thanks for sharing your work with us Gracie!
Mama Lisa
Here are links to song pages where there are more illustrations by Gracie:
Comptine pour dessiner (French) – Drawing Rhyme
Sleep, My Child and Peace Attend Thee (English Lullaby)
El barco chiquitito (Spanish) – The Tiny Ship
Barboleta (Portuguese) – Butterfly
Es schneit! Es schneit! (German) – It’s Snowing, It’s Snowing
A Collection of Nursery Rhymes
Thursday, August 6th, 2009I’ve embedded this lovely book of nursery rhymes for you to enjoy! It’s A Collection of Nursery Rhymes… Nurse Lovechild’s Legacy (1916). Many of the illustrations are from the 18th and early 19th century Chapbooks. The book has been embellished by one of my favorite nursery rhyme illustrators: C. Lovat Fraser (1890 – 1921). You can click the arrow below to turn the pages or scroll with the other arrows on the side.
If you prefer to have it on your own computer, you can download A Collection of Nursery Rhymes from Internet Archive ! Just go to the link and choose “PDF” to download it.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
PS You can also come visit Mama Lisa’s House for a HUGE collection of Nursery Rhymes… many including illustrations, mp3s, midis and scores!
A Collection of Nursery Rhymes
ABC’s in New York’s Roads and Buildings
Saturday, July 25th, 2009Rachel Young found all the letters in the alphabet using Google Maps in the buildings and roads of New York. Young was inspired by the idea of Australian graphic designer Rhett Dashwood who made an alphabet of roads and buildings in the state of Victoria, Australia.
I thought the use of Madison Square Garden for "O" in the NY ABC’s was a nice touch…
This shows an important point: there are so many ways to be creative in life… all it takes is an interesting idea!
Enjoy the Alphabet of New York… as a bonus you can hear my daughter sing the ABC’s when you click on the image above!
Mama Lisa
Exhibition of Original Artwork from Golden Books
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009This traveling exhibition presents original illustrations from Little Golden Books. They celebrated their 65th anniversary in 2007. It includes 60 original illustrations from: The Poky Little Puppy, Tootle, Home for a Bunny, The Kitten Who Thought He Was a Mouse, The Color Kittens, I Can Fly, and more. Check out the following link to see where the Golden Books Art Exhibit is currently touring.
Gobolinks
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
A Gobolink is like an inkblot, but it’s made for fun, not for psychological analysis! To make a gobolink, you drop a little ink on a sheet of white paper. Fold the paper in half and press down the ink on the two halves of the paper. Then you open the paper and you have a unified image. (You’ll have a mirror image on each side of the folded paper.)
You can see an old book of these images online at the Library of Congress. It’s called Gobolinks, or Shadow-Pictures for Young and Old, by Ruth McEnery Stuart and Albert Bigelow Paine. (New York: The Century Co., 1896). The authors wrote poems and limericks to go along with their gobolinks.
Here are a couple of my favorites from the book…
The Tail of Taddy Pole
There was a little polliwog
His name was Taddy Pole.
He lived within a little bog
Beside a crawfish hole.
And all the day did Taddy play,
Around a sunken log.
Until he lost his tail one day,
And then he was a frog.*****
The Faithful Notes
An old guitar once broke its strings,
And all the musical notes took wings;
They hurried away to lands afar
But two of them stayed with the old guitar.Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
A Nursery Rhyme Story and Illustration
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009Young nursery rhyme lovers will enjoy this little story featuring Mother Goose characters. Kids who aren’t familiar with a lot of nursery rhymes can learn new ones. I made each character linkable to a page where you can read that character’s rhyme. At the end of the story is an illustration that includes many of these beloved nursery rhyme characters.
MOTHER GOOSE’S MAY PARTY.
BY AGNES CARR.
It was May-day, and the sun popped out of bed early that morning to wake up the little birds and flowers, that they might clear their throats, and wash their bright faces in dew, by the time the old woman had swept the cobwebs from the sky, and left a beautiful blue roof over Gooseneck village; for they knew it was the 1st of May, and that dear old Mother Goose, who taught the Kindergarten, or infant school, was going with all her little scholars to have a May party under the trees in the merry green wood.
And the children knew it too, and they were all on hand bright and early- Tommy Green and Johnny Stout, Humpty Dumpty and Little Bo-peep, Jack and Jill, Little Boy Blue in a brand-new suit of clothes, and Goldilocks with her yellow hair flying in the wind, Tom, the Piper’s son, and poor Simple Simon, the dunce of the school, with many others that we have known and loved-and all brought baskets filled with good things for their dinner.
"Oh, won’t we have fun!" said Margery Daw to Jacky Horner. "I hope you have got something nice in that big basket of yours."
"Yes, indeed," said Jack. "Cook made me a lovely pie, and stuffed it just full of plums. I will try and pull one out for you;" and he lifted up the napkin over the basket, and was trying to break a hole in the pie-crust, when Mother Goose came in, and seeing him, said, "Here, here, Master Jack! keep your fingers out of the pie. I never saw such a boy. He sticks his thumb into everything, from Christmas pies to inkstands."
"Oh, Mother Goose, do let us start!" shouted the children.
"Yes, yes, my dears, very soon. We are only waiting for Contrary Mary. I have sent Nimble Dick for her; and here they come now."
Sure enough, there was heard a jingling of bells, and in danced Mary, quite contrary, with her fingers covered with rings, and her apron filled with flowers from her garden, with which to make a wreath for the May-Queen.
And now they all started, walking two and two, with Mother Goose at the head, holding the youngest scholar, Baby Bunting, tight by the hand, for fear he should fall down and tear his new rabbit-skin overcoat, while Tom, the Piper’s son, played "Over the hills and far away" on his pipe, and all the little folks danced and skipped along to the gay tune.
When they reached the pleasant wood, they were all glad to sit down on the green moss and rest awhile; and Mother Goose said, "The first thing is to choose a May-Queen: now who shall it be?"
"Goldilocks!" "Goldilocks!" shouted the children, for they all loved the dear little girl with pretty hair and sweet blue eyes.
"Oh, no, no!" said Goldilocks, and she hid behind Tommy Tucker.
But they made her come out and sit on a throne formed of Miss Muffet’s tuffet, scattered over with wild violets and May-flowers, which grew all around; and Contrary Mary put a beautiful crown of "roses and lilies and daffadown-dillies" on her golden curls, and she looked just the dearest little May-Queen in all the world.
Then all the children joined hands, and danced round the throne, singing,
"Hail to the Queen of May
On this our festal day!
Gay flowers we’ll bring,
Sweet blossoms of spring,
To crown our Queen of May."The little Queen then gave each one a flower, and let them kneel and kiss her tiny white hand; and then they scattered through the woods, and played "Oats, peas, beans," tag, and other games, until Little Boy Blue blew a blast on his horn, which meant "Come to dinner"; and when they all came running back at the call, they found Mother Goose had a table-cloth spread on the grass, and all the biscuits, cake, and fruit from their baskets set out on green leaves, while in the centre stood Jack Horner’s pie, a bowl of curds and whey that Miss Muffet brought, and a plate of strawberry tarts sent by the Queen of Hearts; and Jack and Jill were bringing a pail of nice cold water from the spring.
How hungry they all were, too, and how good everything tasted! while they had such a laugh at little Miss Muffet, who screamed and ran away when a great daddy-long-legs walked across the table.
They ended the feast with the plum pie, which the little Queen cut, and gave every one a piece; and they all said it was so nice. Jack Horner felt quite proud, and thought he was a bigger boy than ever.
After everything was eaten up, Margery Daw and Little Bo-peep washed the dishes, while Little Boy Blue went fast asleep under the fence, and Mother Goose told all the little ones a story, until the cobwebs began to come over the sky, and the sun whispered to the little birds and flowers it was time to shut their peepers for the night, when they started for home, Goldilocks the Queen riding in the middle of the procession on big John Stout’s shoulder; and when they bade their teacher a tired but happy good-night, all said they had had the nicest kind of a day, and hoped next year Mother Goose would give them another May party.
GOING HOME FROM THE PICNIC.-Drawn by Jessie Curtis.
This seems to be the order of characters in the illustration above: Simple Simon, Contrary Mary, Tommy Tucker, Little Bo-peep, Tommy Green or Johnny Stout, Humpty Dumpty, Nimble Dick holding Goldilocks, Little Boy Blue, Tom, the Piper’s son, Jack and Jill, and Mother Goose carrying Baby Bunting
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe
Friday, May 8th, 2009
I’ve loved the image of the old woman living in the shoe since I was a child. (So much so, that it inspired the Mama Lisa logo!) Of course, the rhyme itself leaves something to be desired…
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she didn’t know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread;
She whipped them all soundly, and put them to bed.I’ll just keep the first line in my mind with the wonderful image of living in a giant shoe… Like the interesting one above. It’s from a drawing by P. Vinton Brown.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
Nursery Rhyme Illustrations
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009I’ve just started adding illustrations from The Only True Mother Goose Melodies to my nursery rhyme site, Mama Lisa’s House of Nursery Rhymes. This book was published and copyrighted in Boston in 1833 by Munroe & Francis.
All the rhymes from the book are already part of the site. So it’s nice to add these classic illustrations. They look like they were done as block prints. Here you can see their version of Baa Baa Black Sheep…
Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes, marry have I, three bags full,
One for my master, and one for my dame,
And one for the little boy that lives in the lane.I’ll try to pick out some of my favorites and post them here as I go through the illustrations.
Hope you enjoy them!
Mama Lisa
Let’s All Be More Creative!
Monday, May 4th, 2009Here’s a video by Val in Argentina showing a simple exercise in creativity. Great for kids… and adults too!
Why not try it out? Relax and have some fun!
Mama Lisa
Jump Roping Rabbit
Friday, March 27th, 2009
Having a little fun!
Portrait of Shakespeare – It might be him… yet it just might not…
Monday, March 9th, 2009A lot of mystery still surrounds the life of William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616). No one can really say for certain… but this is now believed by some scholars to be the only portrait painted of Shakespeare that he actually sat for during his lifetime. It’s thought to have been painted in 1610, when he was 46 years old.
What some scholars find interesting about it is that if it is Shakespeare, he appears to be more affluent than previously thought.
Not all scholars are convinced that it is actually Shakespeare though.
You can see other “portraits” of Shakespeare online at the BBC – most thought to have been done posthumously.
You can read more about why this portrait is thought to be authentic and about its history at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and other points of view about it at Times Online – Is this the real Shakespeare at last?
How to Draw a Pig – for Kids – with Poetic Instructions
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
Let Us Know about Gifts Given for Special Occasions in Your Culture!
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009I’ve been asked… “about gift customs around the world like the one of the temari balls in Japan. Which gifts do people around the world traditionally give for special events such as marriages, births, etc.?”
FYI Temari balls are fancy balls with colorful, intricate patterns on them. They originally come from China, but are also found in Japan. They were traditionally made out of silk, often from old kimonos. Now they’re made with embroidery covering the balls.
They’re thought to bring good luck to whoever owns them. They’re given for births, birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions. They’re also given by parents to kids on New Years Day.
Mama Lisa
I asked Ayako in Japan about the Temari balls. Here’s what she wrote:
“Hi Lisa,
Temari balls are beautiful. Their embroidery is fancy. We don’t play with them now. We just enjoy looking at them.
By the way, one of the traditional gifts is “Otoshidama”. It is special money given to children from their parents or relatives on New Year. It may sound dry to give money, but it is traditional heart-warming gift.
On Valentine’s day, women give chocolates to the men whom they love in Japan. It is called “true heart chocolate”. Sometimes working women give chocolates to their male coworkers. It is called “obligation chocolate”. Recently, it’s also common to give chocolate to one’s friend. That’s called “friendly chocolate”.
Usually men give gifts to the women in return on the 14th of March.
Ayako
Please join the discussion and let us know about any special gifts given for special events in your culture by commenting below…
Japanese Woman Does Western Style Flower Arrangements with Beautiful Results!
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
Ayako Egawa of Japan has studied the art of Ikebana – the art of Japanese flower arranging. Recently, she’s taken up western style arrangements. Take a look at the results!
This arrangement has a lovely diagonal motion to it.
Ayako shared the theory behind the arrangement below.
“The flowers are Reeves’ meadowsweet (the white ones), sweet pea, roses and gold dust dracaena. The theme is the Japanese style “Nageire”.
The idea behind “Nageire” is to arrange the flow of each branch of Reeves’ meadowsweet well. It’s difficult to arrange them well because there’s no hook or sponge in the vase to hold them. So we cut the edge of the branch of Reeves’ meadowsweet in half and cross a twig into it. Then we can hold them in place in the vase.
This arrangement has an early spring flavor.”
Thanks for sharing these lovely photos of your arrangements with us Ayako!
-Lisa
A Food Sculpture à la Miro
Saturday, December 20th, 2008This week is a lesson in how creative food can look! Below is a photo of an edible version of Miro’s sculpture “Dona i ocell” (Lady and Bird) that’s in Barcelona, Spain. Monique in France saw this food sculpture at a holiday party. The second photo is of the actual sculpture in Barcelona.
Check out the Cupcake Tree photo I posted the other day.
Many thanks to Monique of Mama Lisa’s World en français for sharing this photo with us.
-Mama Lisa
Designers’ Sketches for Michelle Obama for the Inauguration
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008WWD Fashion asked designers to send in sketches for clothing designs for Michelle Obama and her daughters to wear on Inauguration Day on January 20th – when Obama officially becomes President. Check out the results at WWD.com.
The sketch above was done by Isaac Mizrahi for Michelle, Sasha and Malia.
My daughter and I enjoyed watching the slide show together and picking out the dresses we liked best!
Halloween in Japan and Japanese Yokai Monsters
Friday, October 31st, 2008The Washington Post had an article today about monsters and Halloween in Japan.
Japanese people do dress up in costumes and celebrate the holiday with Halloween parties. Though they don’t go out trick-or-treating like the Americans do.
Japan’s scary monsters are called yōkai. Yōkai has come to mean demon, spirit, ghost or monster in Japanese. Yōkai are found in Japanese folklore.
The oni are one of the best known yōkai. Oni are demons which are often depicted as fighting the samurai heroes. (Interestingly, they’re also an important part of the Japanese holiday called Setsubun. It celebrates Springtime on February 3rd. The tradition is to chase out the demon oni from your house. People chase away men disguised in demon masks, by throwing roasted soybeans at them.)
Another popular yōkai is the kappa. The kappa resembles a turtle and likes to challenge humans to sumo fights! But if you’re smart, you can outwit him, and get out of the dual.
Check out The Obakemono Project online to learn more about the different yōkai monsters.
Happy Halloween!
Mama Lisa
*****
Image info:1st image – Ōkubi by Toriyama Sekein c. 1779 (Ōkubi are Giant Heads of Men or Women that appear in the sky when a disaster is about to happen)
2nd image – Oni from the Cleveland Museum of Art
3rd image – Kappa by Toriyama Sekein in the 18th century (with a bit of editing by Mama Lisa).
Making a Book with Kids
Saturday, July 5th, 2008Guest blogger Monique Palomares works with me on Mama Lisa’s World en français and Mamá Lisa’s World en español. Monique was also a 1st grade teacher for many years. Now she helps other classes on special projects and accompanies them on trips from time to time.
Background: Some classes in France take their students on a trip for a few days during the school year. The excursion will normally focus on a specific theme. This year, Monique accompanied a class on a trip to a book making facility. The week revolved around teaching the children how to make their own books. Here’s what Monique wrote about the process…
PRINTING A BOOK – Step 1 Making the Paper
Hand-made paper: this type is made with cotton cloth. The cotton is ground with water until reaching a thin consistency. You can see some dry sheets in the photo below…
Cotton pulp in the frame: The frame drains most of the water out, then you turn it over onto a piece of material (flax cloth) and alternate paper and cloth.
We made about a dozen of pieces of paper before we put them under the press to take all the water out and then hanged them to dry like laundry.
Step 2 Marbling the Paper – A Decoration for the Front and Back Cover of the Book
Pour some water, a spoonful of milk, and three or four drops of three different marbling inks. Allow to spread, then gently blow to make them swirl. Take a thin stick and gently draw lines on the surface: from the center to the rim, or from the rim to the center, or a grid pattern. Softly lay a sheet of paper on the surface of the water and gently pat it so that the ink gets fixed on it. Remove the sheet of paper holding it by the edge (not the corners!), lay on a flat surface and gently blot the water. Hang to dry.
Step 3 Decorating the Inside of the Book – : Make a simple drawing and place a piece of thin cardboard (shoe-box type) below it. Then go over the drawing firmly. Go over it again on the cardboard so that it’s kind of carved into the cardboard.
Step 4 Printing the Pictures: You need printing ink and an ink roller and an old cloth to protect your actual clothes since printing ink can’t be removed.
To print, you have to lay a protective paper below your work (like a page of a magazine) so that the ink won’t get on the lower part of the press. Then you put down the inked pattern (inked part up). Next you put down the paper to print, then another piece of protective paper (another page of a magazine), then a piece of thin cardboard (shoe-box like), then you roll the printing roll back and forth.
The printed page…
Another way to make a template for printing an image: After “carving” the drawing, fill it in with glue until the “ditch” becomes a “hill” and allow to dry.
Here is the result:
Another way to print: Carving linoleum…
…Inking it…
…Raw print…
…And after adding some paint…
Step 5 Printing the Words:
The stories had been written at school. Each child had a printed paper with a map of the set of compartments to know where the letters were for printing the words.
Printing…
A printed page…
The younger kids made a stenciled cover…
Covers hanging to dry…
Step 6 Binding the Book:
Holes are drilled all the way through the book for the binding…
The books were binded by “Japanese binding”: it’s done by sewing…
Two of the Books:
Time to read my brand-new self-made book!
Many thanks to Monique Palomares for sharing this with us!
-Mama Lisa
________
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