Our crazy viral post.

Last month something amazing happened.  I wrote a post on my website about the Free and Almost Free Places to Visit in New Jersey and the Surrounding States.  The post went viral.  It exploded!  There were so many wonderful comments and suggestions for places.  It definitely kept me busy for a good few weeks.  I am grateful for all the wonderful responses, and apologize if I couldn't get to answer all of them!  Here is the link to the post: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Free-Places-For-Family-Fun-NJ.html  I hope you like it!

What we have been up to in April, 2014



I realize that I probably should update this blog more often!  At this point in my life I just can't squeeze the extra time.  However, to see all the new things on our website you could just go to www.happyfamilyart.com  In the meantime, I am going to commit to doing a monthly update. 
Here is the update for April, 2014!!!
Let's see what we did.

We visited the Morris Museum in NJ: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Our-Visit-To-Morris-Museum-NJ.html

We also went to IPlay America for some fun in an arcade and indoor rides.  It was great.  Read more about it here: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Our-Visit-To-IPlayAmerica.html

 

We made quite a few great crafts.  Like these recycled portfolios: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Recycled-Art-Portfolios.html

And these lovely flower hairbands made from recycled t-shirts: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Recycled-Tshirt-Headband.html
 



 

Of course there is an art project there as well, Watercolor Water Lilies: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Painting-Water-Lilies.html

 

 

I also added a few new sections.  One of them is all about art history for kids.  These are new, so there are only a few things there.  So far we have an art lesson on Georges Seurat: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Georges-Seurat-Art-Lesson.html
 

Another is on Louis Comfort Tiffany: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Tiffany-Stained-Glass-Art-Lesson.html

 

I also added a section on Photography.  I dubbed it a 1000 Photos Project.  I am hoping to improve my photo taking skills as I climb to a 1000 Photos.  Here is a link for that section, I do hope you like it: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/1000-Photos-Project.html

 

I think that is about it for the month of April! I hope you enjoyed it, and stop by again!  Also, I love comments, and don't be shy about using the contact me page with any questions!  Thank you, and see you at the end of this May!



Our Trip To Environment Education Center in Lord Stirling, NJ

We love the Nature Center in the Watchung Reservation, so when a friend invited us to go for a hike in another Nature Center, the Environmental Education Center in Lord Stirling NJ, I jumped right on. You can find the link to the Nature Center here: http://www.somersetcountyparks.org/parksFacilities/eec/EEC.html

Read more about our trip here: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Our-Visit-To-Nature-Center-Lord-Stirling-NJ.html

Here is a few photos:

Finger Painting

Who doesn't love finger painting.  It is messy, fun, and so relaxing.  Some of the kids in art class asked for finger painting, and I made a lesson plan around it.  Here it is:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Fun-Finger-Painting-Art-Lesson.html

 

Styrofoam Art Prints

Recently I have been coming across different sites with folks doing prints using recycled Styrofoam containers. I saw a few of them, but the one that stuck out was the red cat print that I saw on Pinterest.   I have been looking at stamp kits for kids, but felt they were too pricy, this came into my view right on time. What a neat idea it is! I jumped right on it. Before trying it out with the group of kids I do art classes with, I decided to try it together with my kids. Here are the awesome results we got!

 

Take a look at how we made them here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Printing-With-Styrofoam.html

Magic Wands

 

Everyone needs a little magic.  I made these out of paint swatches and wooden skewers.  If you would like to see how, click here: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Magic-Wands-Craft.html

Fun Mural Art Lesson

We made this great under the sea mural in art class.  Read more here: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Fun-Mural-Painting.html

Awesome Sparkly Felt Crowns

It was cold around here last few weeks. REALLY COLD!!! So cold, in fact, that we had to stay inside for quite a few days. Since we were home I took out some crafts for me to play with. Crafts that were too girly for my boys to even look at. Lots of sparkles, sequins and other shiny things. I decided that I NEED to make a felt crown. You know, so that I could wear it around the house whilst doing dishes and such. Wait, but I didn't only make one crown, I went ahead and made FIVE! See what happens when I stay home for too long: I start playing with scissors and glue, and sequins. 

To see how I made them look here: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Felt-Crown-Craft.html

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