Kids Bee Happy Sand Art - Review

I have to admit it, I have crafty kids, I don't know if this is entirely my doing or not but any opportunity to A) make a mess or B) create something wonderful and they are there!

When I was given the opportunity to review some of the Kids Bee Happy Sand Art I was over the moon! The girls have been trying new things, the Moshi Monster Hamma Beads where a roaring success and I crossed my fingers this would be too.

Being slightly neurotic with OCD about mess, yeah I know I have a cat, dog and 3 kids and its always a mess but hey i dream of an immaculate home! I was a little worried about hoovering up sand from every nook and cranny of my tiny kitchen but i have to admit there was barely a mess at all much to the girls disappointment . 

Being able to peel off small sections as you go gives even the youngest of children the skill not to randomly sprinkle sand on every surface in view and makes for a very lovely and precise finish. Even Emma who has some special needs found the kits easy peasy and having such a beautiful finished picture really made her day.

My girls LOVED making these and their little smiling faces prove just that..

 Emma age 7 with her finished Snowman picture.

Zoe aged 4 with her wild Alien picture.

With the wide range of coloured sand provided you can really make some special and unique pictures as you can see from Zoe's finished picture. The larger sticky areas once peeled off really allowed for her to go with her imagination and create this multicoloured landscape.

They loved the little plastic wallets that you can slip your finished art work into to keep them in tip top condition. They grace the playroom walls and its regularly a point of conversation, especially " Muuummm when can we do these again?" That alone says it all about these wonderful kits.

If you would like to try them yourself you can find a massive range here at http://sandartcrafts.co.uk

My girls give them a massive thumbs up and thats OK with me!

L x

Adam The Doddles Man and his trusty pooch Rover

I've always been fascinated by drawing forms, they aren't just an artists tool but are art all by themselves, Adam The Doodles Man and his very lovely dog Rover are no exception! I couldn't wait to free them from their very modest packaging and if I'm honest, have a little play with them!

They soon found their pride of place upon my fire place, they have already welcomed in two birthdays and the beginning of Christmas and never look out of place.
I will often catch the girls playing and chatting with them and we have a lesson planned in the new year for our community group on Famous Artists so these will be coming along for a drawing workshop with some very lovely children.

Adam the Doodles Man is the perfect companion to help you with your figure drawing. Made of stainless steel wire connected at the joints with aluminium rivets, his fully adjustable joints and limbs will hold any pose for as long as you need. He never rusts, never rests, never eats and never sleeps, so will always be on hand whenever you need him!

The Doodles range also includes Rover the Doodles Dog, together the pair make an ideal gift for any budding artist!

If men and dogs aren't really your drawing thing then fear not, Homerama have robins and reindeers in their online store, who doesn't want little moveable, metal animals dotted all over their house whether they are artists or not?!

After browsing the web I also found some snowmen, SNOWMEN!!!
These have to be the coolest gift for artists, lovers of finer things and general weirdos like myself!

I can't wait to build a collection of my own, and i plan to create some gorgeous line drawn images for gifts next year, Thanks Adam The Doodle's Man for inspiring me to create something new!

Fund raise with Mr Tumble for Children in Need

BBC SOMETHING SPECIAL MAGAZINE NEED KIDS’ HELP TO CREATE A 10 METRE MR TUMBLE AND RAISE £2,500 FOR BBC CHILDREN IN NEED

Thousands of children encouraged to fundraise together by building a giant piece of art of their favourite TV character, Mr Tumble

BBC Something Special magazine, an inclusive title created to be accessible for children with learning disabilities, has launched an inclusive art event called the Big Tumble Art Project to raise £2,500 for ‘BBC Children in Need’. The national campaign asks readers, pupils of mainstream schools and schools for children with varying levels of disabilities to decorate stars and spots in the magazine using an art technique of their choice. The magazine will then pledge £1 to ‘BBC Children in Need’ for each one they receive by the deadline of 30^th October.*

The pieces will be collected together to build a giant, 10 metre high collage of Mr Tumble from 11 November 2013 by pupils at Jack Tizard School in London, a school for pupils aged 2-19 years with a range of severe learning difficulties.  Art consultant Emma Middleton from The Foundling Museum advised the BBC Something Special magazine team on the types of art techniques to use and how to make the project inclusive. They also helped plan an art session with Jack Tizard School creating Mr Tumble’s giant bowtie, which is available to view on BBC Something Special magazine’s Facebook page.

The spots and stars are available in issue 33, on sale now and Issue 34, on sale from 16 October until 12 November 2013. Schools can choose from a range of art techniques, making the activity suitable for a wide range of abilities with techniques including stamping, printing, glittering, scrunching, sponging and finger painting. A special worksheet is also available on BBC Something Special magazine’s Facebook page.

Sara Oldham, Editor of BBC Something Special magazine said “We urge kids to get creative with us and contribute to this fantastic collaborative art project which allows children to work together andraise money for a great cause- I can’t wait to see the finished result!”

Emma Middleton, Curator of Projects at the Foundling Museum said: “It’s a fantastic project for children to be involved in. Not only will they discover a new art technique, use a variety of listening, communication and coordination skills and learn about shape and colour - they will also be part of an empowering experience that will make a lot of people feel very proud.”

Sarah Monteith, Director of Marketing and Fundraising at BBC Children in Need said: “It’s great to have the support of BBC Something Special magazine to encourage children across the UK to join together to fundraise for BBC Children in Need.”

*capped at £2500

LetterBox Collage Review

The wonderful people over at Letterbox, sent the girls this amazing Collage Kit for them to review, its here on their website.
Now to be honest, i think i had more fun than they did!
The cute little box had all the goodies, lovingly wrapped up inside ready to use.

As you can see they where a little eager to get started!
This is what the website says about this cute little kit.

Create your first collage with this cute kit

A box full of crafty bits and pieces for first collages ?four envelopes contain all the pieces you need to make and decorate each cute animal character template and there are easy to follow picture guides and a glue stick. Age 4 to 8

Our youngest is 2 and she had a whale of a time with this! She struggled a little getting the larger pieces to stay stuck with the glue stick but apart from that all three girls from 2 through 7 thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this, including me and I'm 28!!

There is wonderful, clear instructions to follow with lovely images for none readers to follow. Which by the way was really helpful for my 4 year old, having additional needs she felt confident following the images without my help, if only all toys, games and art kits would follow suit id be a VERY happy mother.

It took us about an hr to complete an animal each. We didn't rush and i dragged it out for a long as possible, but there are 4 cards inside so easily an afternoons crafting if you are clever and make them take time with each step etc.

They where very pleased with their finished creations and the younger two did take all the pieces off before the glue dried and replaced them a few times which gave them another hours worth of enjoyment.

These kits are available from Letterbox for just £12. They include everything that you need to make the four animals included in the box, including glue and straw etc.
The quality is outstanding and this would make a beautiful gift for a birthday party as well as a rainy day at home.
I urge you to get one, i even kept the box it came in for art supplies now their finished pictures are adorning my fridge!
Fun was had all round and as a mother i was really impressed with the quality. Most kits we have had in the past have been cheap materials and end up ripped and tatty and thrown in the bin within minutes. With these they look great even if they haven't been stuck in the correct places and seeing them up on the fridge the girls really felt proud of the time they had spent on them.
This defiantly something i would personally go out of my way to buy and i would happily give and receive as a gift.
A huge thanks to Letterbox for letting us have lots of fun with this wonderful kit.

The Little Illustrator

Whilst browsing From the Wilde the other day i came across the most awesome tshirt by The Little Illustrator...

This is the print the tshirt is designed from and i have to say I LOVE IT! its an American Apparel tshirt so its gorgeously soft and fits perfectly! And the quality of the print is amazing for a hand printed tshirt, i have shop bought ones worse quality than this! i do however NEED a whole set!!!

The Little Illustrator also has an Etsy store where she sells only her gorgeous prints and at amazing prices! here is a small selection of my faves..

I hope you agree that this is something a bit unique as well as cool and funky.. if you to want to shop with The Little Illustrator head over to etsy  NOW or head over to From the Wilde to see all the cute tees!!!

L xx