Lots Of Sunflowers

I have been drawing a lot of Sunflowers!!!  I started out with a simple sunflower sketch, then I moved on to making 10 copies of the same sketch, and coloring them in using a different material for each. 
I used colored pencils, watercolors, markers, ink, acrylic paint, regular pencil, computer graphics, oil pastels, regular pastels, crayons, and more. 
Here are just a few:

 

On my website I put step by step directions to how to draw the sunflower sketch, followed by all the colored versions, and then step by step for how to paint them in acrylic paint.  For the last bit there is a small step by step for the colored pencil drawing there as well.  Please take a look at it all here:

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/How-To-Draw-Sunflowers.html

Happy Holidays

I am still having a great time drawing snowmen.  These two are really cute.  Take a guess as to what they are doing?

Snowman Painting: Let It Snow

Inspired by the first snow of the season, I have been drawing and painting snowmen.  Lots of them.  They are easy to draw and it is fun to get them to do funny things. 

Here is a quick and easy way to draw a snowman.  I wanted a "Let It Snow" painting with it.  It is fun to do and looks very pretty. 

I used Folk Art Acrylic Paint, a flat medium paintbrush and a small pointy one.  I also had a 9x12 inch stretched canvas that had an old sketch on it.  I washed the sketch off using water and a kitchen towel, let it dry and then used for these two adorable snowmen.  

To see step by step directions with photos for every step, please look on my website here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Snowman-Acrylic-Painting.htm

Art Games

I tried this game yesterday with kids: In a bin I had all kinds of different words written down on pieces of paper (folded so that they couldn't see the words right away). I like a good mix of animals and household objects. The kids would p...ull out two pieces of paper and draw a combination of the words they got. They had a few minutes to sketch it out. After they did about 10 combinations each, they got to pick their favorite one and draw it out on a different paper, and color it in. It was a lot of fun! My favorites were definately the Book Chicken, the Elephant Trees, and the Cat Spaceships. There was also Alien Ice Cream, Balloon Pony, and many more. The kids had a blast doing it.

We also played the broken telephone with art. One kid would come up with a rather detailed idea for a picture, like a Big Blue Shark Playing a Loud Flute Under Water, and whisper it to the next kid, and the next and the next, etc. At the end everyone had a different idea. It is a broken telephone after all. :)

For the first game and more cool art games see the article below by Becca Swanson:

http://voices.yahoo.com/10-art-games-play-classroom-7177042.html

I have been busy

Past few months I have been very busy building my site: www.happyfamilyart.com 
There are so many new projects on there, and yet more to come. 
Here are a few of the most recent ones:

Learn how to draw this wonderful Landscape in Colored Pencil:

 

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Landscape-In-Colored-Pencil.html

 

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Or you could make a few notebooks as stocking stuffers:

 

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Handmade-Notebook.html

 

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Or you could check out my awesome list of kids books that includes our favorites through the kids ages:

 

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Great-Books-For-Children.html

 

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You could also read the Tips For Nurturing Creative Kids that I wrote over here:

 

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Tips-For-Creative-Kids.html

 

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There is also a few new art works, and mosaics:

 

 

I hope you enjoy it all!!!

Statue Of Liberty

This is our second trip to the Statue Of Liberty as a family.  After being there once only a few years ago, I don't know if we would have made this second trip so soon.  However, this time my aunt was visiting from Odessa, Ukraine.  We decided to go there and enjoy it together. 

We went on a weekday in October, and were not disappointed.  The weather was glorious, and since we took the ferry from the NJ side, it wasn't crowded at all.  The island hasn't changed much, and neither has the statue.  We took a nice leisurely walk around the island and shopped for some snacks and then souvenirs, and then caught the ferry back home.  None of us felt like climbing even a few steps up, so we were happy with just the walk.  I do have to say that the snacks and drinks have becove quite a bit improved.  Unfortunately, the Ellis Island was closed due to the government shut down this October.  We will just have to go and visit it next time.

Of course the views of NYC can't be beat from the ferry and from the island.  I do think that the ferry ride was the most exciting thing that day for kids and adults alike.  The statue, well, it is a statue. 

More about NJ Beaches

This year was the first year that we joined some friends on the Sandy Hook Beach every Wednesday night.  Every night there is a concert there at 5 pm and until sundown.  I do consider us to be very lucky to be able to do that every week.  It is beautiful.  We stay off to the side, a bit away from the concert crowd.  The kids get to play with their friends and enjoy some fresh ocean air.  We watch the sunset, and a few times even the moon rise, and make more friends along the way.  (Good friends make everything more fun!!!) It is like a small vacation.  Now that the weather is getting colder I cannot wait to start going to the beach often again.

Here are some pictures for me to drool over while winter goes by.

Sunflower Maze

We had an A-Maze-Ing time at the Sussex County Sunflower Maze in Augusta NJ.  They are open only for a short little while in the late summer and fall.  I can not tell you how happy I was that we made it!  It is so beautiful that there aren't enough words to describe it.  The kids enjoyed it as well.  I loved all the beautiful flowers and the photographs that I took and can paint later!  When my kids get older I am going there with a canvas and some paints and painting on the spot!!!  It was one of the best trips that we took this year. 

The maze itself isn't very difficult, and is more of a pleasant walk through a sunflower field.  The admission price isn't too bad, and I felt was worth it.  The bakery that they have on the premises has many options that are healthy for adults and for kids.  My boys enjoyed a nice grilled cheese with bacon and a fruit smoothie.  Followed by a beautiful walk.

Everyone was happy on the way home.  We are definitely coming back.

Here is their website: http://www.sussexcountysunflowermaze.com/  Where you can look up when they are open for the next go round. 

Here are some of the beautiful photos from that day:

 

Below is a building we drove by, I think it was an elderly care facility, that I thought was especially pretty.  Worth to be stopped by and photographed. 

 

In fact, from this angle it reminded of a Van Gogh Painting (just a note, the image of the painting is from ttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh).  Really though, look at them side by side. 

 

 

Between the sunflowers and this building it was a Van Gogh kind of day. :)

The Adventures of Petunia

After much hard work, collaborative efforts with the author and a lot of time, I am proud to say that 'The Adventures of Petunia' are finally printed and ready for sale. Written by Judy England-McCarthy and illustrated by me, Mariya Kovalyov, it is a wonderful story about one cute, brave, determined pink pig.
Below are a few pictures from the book, in a non specific order, so as not to give any spoilers and, ofcourse, no text.

 

If you would like to see more of them, please visit my website here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Petunia-Illustrations.html

Land Of Make Believe and Pirate's Cove.

This summer one of the trips my kids and husband really wanted to do is to the Land Of Make Believe and Pirate's Cove.  It is a water park and rides rolled into one package.  Both aren't enormously large, and can easily be explored by youngsters in one day without being exhausted or missing out. It is such a nice place to visit on a hot summer day.  We enjoyed everything with the water: the pool, the lazy river, every single slide about ten times each.  It was a glorious summer day.  After all the water activities we got dressed and went on a few rides.  They are geared more toward younger crowd, so my six year old enjoyed those tremendously. 

The park is on a pricy side, for four people it's about a $100.00 to get in.  Also, keep in mind that no outside food is allowed, and that on the pool side, you can't really carry anything and have to wear swimming suits.  We come light.  Just wearing shorts and swimsuits, not carrying anything but plastic bottles of water and camera.  The lunch stays in the car and we eat it later in the parking lot. 
It is a great place to visit with kids in the summertime.  We are definately going back there again!

They have a great website with prices, hours, directions and much more: http://lomb.com/

Green Meadows Farm

This spring we went to Green Meadows Farm with my kids.  They love animals, so a place where you could touch, feed and play with all kinds of animals was right up their alley.  With Green Meadows you have to know the time they are open, as it is only a short while in the spring/ beginning of summer and another short while in the fall.  Also, if you decide to go, beleive it or not, weekends are better then weekdays.  On the weekdays it gets pretty crazy with school trips.  We went on a Sunday, and it was not too bad.  Here is their website for all the info: http://www.greenmeadowsfarmnj.com/

My boys got to pet little duckies, bunnies, puppies, kittens, piggies, goats and so much more.  My older one braved up and milked a cow, my hubby and younger one chickened out.  We met an amazingly big horse, some cranky alpacas, donkeys, an angry turkey.  They got to feed some adorable goats, one of which kept escaping and running away and made all the kids laugh. 

Overall it was a wonderful day for them, at the end of which they were tired and happy.  What else can you ask for?

Here are a few pictures, as always:

 

Valentin Kovalyov's Mosaics

Today I spent a few hours working on photos of Valentin Kovalyov's (my father-in-law) mosaics.  He works on them all the time.  In fact, this year he made so many of them that I think I will have to make a new page on our website for just the ones for 2013. 
He made a few sets of seven Chakras as well.  They look absolutely beautiful!  Take a look below:

 

To see many more of his amazing works, please visit our website: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Mosaics-by-Valentin-Kovalyov.html

Empire State Building

I have lived around NYC for more then half my life now, and I am embarrassed to say that I have never been to the top of the Empire State Bulding.  On our son's birthday we decided to make it up there. 
We parked our car in Weehawken NJ, and took the ferry accross.  There we walked quite a bit up 34th street to Empire State building.  The kids did great, hardly complained about all the walking on a hot day in the city.  They enjoyed the walk in the city, it is very different from our usual habitat in NJ, and I think it is rather important to be able to navigate the city you live right next to.

 

When we got to the Empire State we got our tickets, for both the observation deck and the skyride.  I have to say that even though I thought it would be silly, we all enjoyed the skyride very much.  The kids were tired and fussy by the time we got in, but the skyride made them laugh, and they came out much happier then they went in.

The wait wasn't too bad at all.  It helps a lot that we were there on a weekday in the morning.  After the skyride we went up to the observation deck.  We only went to the 86th floor, which was enough.  Of course the view was stunning.  We hung out on the deck for a while and took some photos.  Despite it being a weekday, it was still pretty crowded.

 

After we came down we went to get a few souvenirs of course. Then the kids were pretty hungry and we went to the beer brewery right below the Empire State to get lunch.

 

It was an expensive day, but once in a lifetime definately worth it!

 



Tissue Paper Collage

After I made the piñata for my son's birthday I had a lot of tissue paper left over. It is all colorful and pretty, and my hands were just itching to do something with it. Tissue paper collage was the first thing that came to mind. I love all the colors, and how tissue paper is transparent. I also absolutely love Eric Carle's illustrations, you can find them on his website here: http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html I think they are great! While I am not used to working with tissue paper, and this is a first for me, I wanted to give it a try.

Actually, I made two of them, but I liked the second one better.  The first one was more of a learning experience.  I put both of them on the website, just in case.

 

To see the step by step instructions please visit my website here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Tissue-Paper-Collage.html

The Wedding Gift

The kids and I went to a wedding a few weeks back.  A friend's daughter was getting married.  For a gift I drew and framed their portret.  It is 11x14 inches, colored pencils.



Cherry Blossom Watercolor Painting Instructions.

I just finished writing up easy to follow step by step instructions on how to paint these beautiful watercolor cherry blossom paintings.  The first one is easier and quicker to do.  The second one requires more time and effort.  Both come out really well though! I hope you enjoy them.

 

To see the instructions please go to my website here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Cherry-Blossom-Painting-Lesson.html

Beach Themed Candleholders.

Every time I am at the beach with my kids, I always pick up pretty shells and pieces of sea glass. Frankly, I don't know why, I never have any specific purpose for them in mind, it has just become a habit for me. At the end of summer, my purse pockets are filled with little rocks, seashells and pieces of sea glass.

After the super storm Sandy knocked our power out for eight long days, I found myself in a desperate need for candleholders. Not usually one to use candles for fun, I didn't have any around the house. We made do with jars and lids at the time, but now I found myself on the kick to make candleholders. The ones with the seashells turned out to be one of my favorites.

They are all easy to make and produce a beautiful result. 

 

 

To see the instruction, please visit my website here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Seashell-Candleholders.html

Rafting on Delaware Water Gap

A new note on this trip:
This summer (2013) we made it rafting again.  Same place, except this time we had three kids with us.  We took the 4 mile trip and it was very manageable with younger kiddies.  Also we rented a tube to tie to our raft, which made it so much more fun!!! You do need to make sure that the water is safe for a tube.  We called in a week before, and were told that the waters are too cold and choppy to use a tube due to some rains, so we had to wait a bit to go.  The following week we called and were good to go.  The tube definitely made it more fun for the older kids, and the braver younger kids.  I also managed to accidentally drown my old camera in the river, so no pictures from this trip.  It was a ton of fun. 

Oh, and on the same note, we went to the restaurant that we enjoyed the year before that was just down the road from the rafting place.  The ownership changed, and so did the food.  Not as good as I remember.
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A few times a year in the summer time we like to get a cooler full of sandwiches and drinks, throw on our swimming suits and go rafting.  There are many good places along the Delaware Water Gap to rent a raft from.  There is one in French Town that actually serves lunch.  There are many up north, around Sparta.  They all have different deals, depending on what you are looking for.  Some are great for large groups, some have restrictions on kid ages (usually 4 years old is as young as you can take a child on a raft safely).  We go with just the kids and us, so the place where a kid is free with a paid adult is the kind of place for us.

We usually use this one :
http://www.indianheadcanoes.com/

Up to four kids under 12 go free with two paying adults, which really works for us. This time we took the 7 mile trip, the river on that stretch was way too calm. The 9 mile trip takes just as much time, which means more rapids, more fun. With two smallish kids the 4 mile trip would've been enough.  We stopped on the bank to enjoy our lunch, splash and swim.  My older son enjoyed swimming alongside the raft during the calmer water.  We met a few cool fishermen that educated us about Shad.  Overall, the kids and us were really tired at the end, but it was a fun experience!

 

 

Rachel's Awesome Sewing

Sewing with kids is an awesome way to spend time together. While my boys aren't into it, their cousin, Rachel, absolutely loves it! With a bit of help and encouragement she has already made a bunch of pillowcases, two dresses for herself and a whole lot of clothing for her bear. Check it all out below: