IF - Energy

Maria-8-pencil

Elissa-6-colored pencil

Jessa-5-colored pencil

Thanks for looking and God Bless!

Illustration Friday-Maria-Underwater

My daughter drew this picture during her homeschool art class, and then just happened to check Illustration Friday and see that the word was Underwater. She was excited that it worked so perfectly, and I was excited because she hasn't wanted to post anything on here for a while, even though she never stopped drawing. I always try to encourage her to keep drawing because that's how you get better, but I'm not going to force her to post. I do that as she desires. 

Scuba Diving is Fun

Maria-8-Pen & Marker

"I have this type of pet theory that all kids draw,

 artists just keep drawing."

- Nathanael Lark

God Bless You,

Maria

1Timothy 4:12 NIV

"Don’t let anyone look down on you 

because you are young, but set an 

example for the believers in speech, 

in conduct, in love, in faith 

and in purity."

Hair Barrettes

Walked in on my oldest two daughters making hair barrettes in their room. Mom had given them some barrettes and they were drawing pictures, cutting them out and gluing them onto the barrette. I love it when they get creative!

Keep your head up and keep smiling!

Luke 12:6-7 ESV

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And 

not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, 

even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; 

you are of more value than many sparrows."

To Do List

Apparently, my "To Do List" got a little longer the other day. My oldest girls, Maria and Elissa, decided that there was something I needed to do for them. Elissa drew the cat and Maria wrote the message. It's not going to happen, but it's cute nonetheless.

Here's to you and your pets! Biblically, if they asked for a fish, 

then they would have been good to go. This isn't a fish. This here is 

a fish eater and we have two fish that are enjoying themselves.

May all of your noncat dreams come true.

Blessings!

Matthew 7:9-11

"Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, 

will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your 

children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give 

good things to those who ask him!"

Back in Business

It's been quite a while since the last upload of pics on here. My kids haven't taken a break, but my means of internet availability were limited since someone at my work decided to do something that made us all loss the internet, and internet time is few and far between with 5 kids running around. That reminds me that I need to update the picture for the blog soon since our newest edition, Judah, came around in September.

Elissa-5-Marker-Wink

Elissa-5-Marker-Cat

(She wants to send this off to Highlights)

Maria-7-Crayon-Dalmation

(She wants to send this off to Highlights)

Maria-7-Marker-4th of July

Maria-7-Marker-Hello Kitty Party

Maria-7-Marker-Hello Kitty Study

Maria-7-Marker-Parents and Me

Trying to work on my girls getting used to drawing on the Wacom Tablet. Maria takes to it with more courage than I do. Elissa hates it. Jessa and Noah can't really use it now and Judah will just eat the pen and smack the tablet while laughing the whole time.

Thanks for stopping by!

May Jesus Christ Bless You All!!!

Deuteronomy 28:1-3 ESV

"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, 

being careful to do all his commandments that I command 

you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all 

the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall 

come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice 

of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, 

and blessed shall you be in the field."

Birthday Cake - Part 1

My oldest daughter, Maria's birthday was the 13th of May, but we were unable to celebrate it then. We are planning a huge bash this weekend and was happy to see that she designed her own cake for us to make : Check it out:

So far we have the Butterfly made:

And the Rainbow made:

 

Next comes the Unicorn, clouds and the cake itself. Excited about how it will turn out. 

Till next time. God Bless!

Toddler "Braveheart" Costume

Hey Guys,

 

No artwork to post today, but we do have a little modeling/tutorial featuring our oldest son, Noah. He went as William Wallace, who was made famous by Mel Gibson's movie "Braveheart". It's a very easy costume to make and I can't even begin to say how many people said they loved it and that he would have won a costume contest for sure if they had one at the place we went to for Halloween. Enjoy!

 

 What You'll Be Creating:

This is after he wore it for a while 

so some things are coming undone.

 

Notice:

I would really advise you making a mock costume for any idea you have to see if they will wear it before you go head long into it. Kids are picky so be prepared to practice patience when they don't want to wear something they wore 2 days ago.

Inspiration:

To start this off I just want to say that he was going to dress up like a dinosaur until I can home one day to see that his sister's had colored all over his face.

The blue line on his face was the thing that reminded me of Braveheart, and is the reason I decided to see if I could make it happen. I went online first and found a couple of pictures to base his costume off of. I wasn't shooting for perfection, so we went with a mix of 2 different scenes. I just wanted to get some shots of the clothing and makeup that stood out to me. I'm a huge fan of Braveheart so it didn't take me long to find what I needed.

Reference Pics:

The plus side to all this is that I found everything I needed from a trip to Walmart and Goodwill for under $20.00. I think I could have found everything at Goodwill, but some things were at the Walmart that I went to first.

Materials:

1. Little boy/Little girl :)

2. Flannel Adult Pajama pants. 

3. Sword. I found a $2.00 sword at Walmart in the costume section. Toy section was a no go.

4. Wig. I couldn't find a good wig and my son wouldn't keep it on, so I bought a cheap brown shirt cut it up to the collar, and slipped it over his hair line. He wore it and didn't complain about having it on. Another method is buying a stocking hat and somehow fastening yarn to it. There is a ton of yarn hair tutorials online so find the one that works best for you. Unfortunately, some kids won't wear a hat. It still looks cool without the hair. 

 

5. One thick Adult belt for around the shoulders, and one thin Child's or Woman's belt for around the waist.

 

6. Safety Pins to keep the pajamas in place if you want to use them afterwards. I wear them at night :)

 

7. Brown shirt or sweatshirt. It's colder now and we found a nice warm long sleeved shirt for him. 

 

8. Blue Marker.

 

Remember, this is how I made it. Feel free to change things up. We didn't use a gauntlet cause I knew he wouldn't keep it on, but you could make one with a painted paper towel roll that's cut up to fit and then taped back together. I also wanted to use little gold circle stickers for his shirt to match the cover in the left picture.

 

Putting it All Together:

This is all coming from what you're child will allow you to do. We put the pajama kilt on a day or two before so he could get comfortable with it. He took my practice belt off when I put it on so I bought softer belts for the costume. Noah was in a happy mood so it was easy to set it all up.

1. If you don't have a wig, then cut one of the brown shirts into strips up to the collar. Don't cut the collar! Put cut up shirt aside till last step.

2. Put on nice brown shirt. Easy.

 

3. Pajama Kilt: I wish I had pictures to walk you through this, but in all honesty it's really easy. I would recommend some warm black or flesh colored pants underneath in case it's cold outside.Other than that, you just drape one pant leg over a shoulder so that the end of it goes to their butt. Hold the back in place as you wrap the waistline of the pajamas around your child's waist (pajama waist will be sideways/horizontal as you wrap it), going over the back part you are holding and then the other pant leg around again. You can wrap the pant legs underneath everything like you do with a towel and safety pin everything in place. You'll catch on quickly when yo do it and it should hold fast by the second try. 

4. Fasten the thick belt around the opposite shoulder that the kilt is on. You may have to make your own hole. Cut remaining belt off so it doesn't flap around.

5. Fasten the thin belt around waist to help support pajama kilt.

6. Follow the reference picture to color face with the blue marker.

7. Put on wig or cut up shirt or yarn hat or whatever. 

 

8. Hand them a sword and teach him how to scream "FREEDOM!!!!!!!!"

Some extra's are boots that match the movie, the gauntlet, a braid for the hair, 5 o'clock shadow, etc. We used the only black shoes we had and the kilt covered them nicely.

There you go :)

You can also have a ton of fun playing with this idea. You could do it all in different shades of pink and make a little girls "Pink Braveheart". I think it would be really cool to see a 2-year-old girl running around in a pink kilt, dark pink shirt, white belts and a bright pink face.

That's it for this post. Have fun and God Bless,

Daddy

Ephesians 6: 11-12 NIV

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your 

stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not 

against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the 

authorities, against the powers of this dark world and 

against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Illustration Friday-Maria-Scattered

Hello World! I was going through my kids old drawings that I have meant to scan and put on here and I found this cute/quick sketch Maria did of a bunch of squirrels running around a tree. I went onto Illustration Friday and saw that the word was "Scattered" and thought that this would work really well.

Scattered Squirrels

Maria-6-Pen

 

"But you just said they're mine."

God Bless You,

Maria

Jeremiah 31:10 ESV

“Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and 

declare it inthe coastlands far away; say, 

‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and 

will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’"

Illustration Friday-Maria-Hibernate

It's funny how art happens. I tell my daughter the word for this week and she kind of shrugs it off. Then out of nowhere she hands me a drawing that I don't think lives up to her potential. I scan it, and open it in Photoshop to darken it a bit so it stands out, and I think it looks amazing now because it now has a textured look in the background (I'm known to like rough pencil sketches more than finished projects). It's weird how you can change your mind about something when you look at it in a different light.

Hibernate

Maria-6-Colored Pencil

I really like how she signed her name inside of that rock. Fun!

May God Bless You,

Dad

Psalm 4:8

"I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;

For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety."

Illustration Friday-Elissa-Imperfect

Welcome Back!!! Elissa decided to sharpen her colored pencils and jump in on this one. I'm really happy with her idea, and I'm totally in love with the colors :) Check it out!!!

Elissa-4-Colored Pencil

Imperfect

It's a flower without any petal going up the middle. On your left you will find some 

of the most colorful butterflies ever, and on your right, for some reason, polka dots?!?!

I still love the colors :)

God Bless You All So Much!!!

Love, Elissa

Romans 10: 9-10 ESV

"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord 

and believe inyour heart that God raised him from the dead, you 

will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified,

and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."

Illustration Friday-Maria-Imperfect

Welcome back!!! Maria threw down for this one :) As I've said before, she loves dogs, so she based her drawing around one again.

Maria-6-Colored Pencil

Imperfect

It's a three-legged dog, but check out that smile :)

He knows he's not like the rest of his friends, and while that may

not make him perfect, he doesn't really seem to let it get to him.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless You!!!

Maria

Romans 10: 9-10

"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord 

and believe inyour heart that God raised him from the dead, you 

will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified,

and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."

Illustration Friday-Maria-Gesture

Maria-6-Digital

Gesture

 

Welcome to our Art Blog. Maria was really happy with her drawing for Illustration Friday's word, gesture. She loves dogs and was happy to incorporate one into her piece. She named him Digger, and Digger is gesturing to the bird that he will bite it if it comes any closer. Check out them teeth!!!

Here is a picture of her with her huge stuffed dog. She uses her as a pillow.

God Bless You All,

Love Maria :)

Proverbs 12:10 NIV

 

"A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, 

but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel."

Illustration Friday-Maria-Stay

Maria-6-Digital

Stay

This was a bit of a stickler for Maria to come up with an idea for this weeks word. She knew what it meant, but her mind just couldn't put a visual to it. I usually don't like to help them come up with an idea so they can learn to draw from their own creativity, but she was stumped. I finally gave in and reminded her of how she had to stay in a room for most of the day when we went together on a Missions Trip to Bad Berneck, Germany for 3 weeks ago to help with some construction. She wasn't allowed in the construction area so she had to keep herself busy with drawing, and coloring, and taking pictures.

 

 She was well rewarded for her patience :)

 And it really wasn't that uncomfortable of a room ;)

 All and all, we had a blast helping a local church with renovations (www.eurochrist.com), Maria got to learn patience, watch a lot of cartoons, visit some really cool places, and enjoy a 10 day Daddy/Daughter date.

Score!!!

God Bless You,

Maria

Psalm 37:9

"For the evildoers shall be cut off,
   but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land."

Absolute Laziness!!!

My children have been lazy for the past couple of weeks and haven't been churning out anything. With that being said, I do have a ton of older pictures to upload, but I have been to lazy to scan them and post them as well. We have achieved absolute laziness!!!

We haven't really had much time to encourage them to draw anything new with the other tasks life brings our way (babysitting for friends, birthday parties, math, reading, etc.). We have been spending a lot of time recently getting ready for Maria and I's mission trip to Germany. I hope she takes the time to be inspired while we are there. Until then, I would like to continue to post here with something and all I have on my computer at work is a piece I did a while ago that includes Maria when she was 2 (her modeling is artistic, right?) Anyways...

Maria-6-Model

"Princess Butterfly and 

the Traveling Turtle"

Wanted to make it look like it was found in the bottom of a circus trunk 

(whatever that means). Needs more destruction in my opinion. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out her cuteness!!!

God Bless

Mark 16:15

"And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."

Happy Resurrection Day!!!

Here's a little Drawing Maria did her first time experimenting with Adobe Illustrator. She's used Photoshop for a while now and seemed to take to it pretty well.

Easter Bunny

Maria-5-Digital

She's going to get around to coloring it soon, but we are too busy having a fun time on this beautiful Resurrection Day. Christ is Risen Indeed!!!

1 Corinthians 15:20 NIV

 "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, 

the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep."

Maria - Trip to the Pet Store

For a fun, free zoo like experience, take your little ones to the Pet Store. We did, and Maria drew a picture to prove it :)

The Pet Store

Maria-5-Pen

She's feeding the fish!

God Bless!

Love, Maria

Mark 1:17 NIV

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Illustration Friday - Elissa - Cultivate

I really didn't think my older girls were going to do anything for this weeks Illustration Friday, and then I came home to be pleasantly surprised. I love it when my girls pour over a drawing all by themselves and give me something that they are proud of. Elissa really mad me happy because she told me the day before, "I can't draw broccoli," and I told her, "That's because you've never drawn it before." I then began to explain how you look at it in order to draw it, and if you mess up, you have learned something along the way that you can put to the next drawing you do. You keep drawing and drawing until it looks the way you want. She did!!!

Cultivate

Elissa-4-Colored Pencl

 

I really like that her blond hair is pulled up in this picture. The design on the shirt alsotells me that she's paying attention to detail. She's holding a green tomato and her broccoli. Like I told her, draw it until you are happy!

Here's a link to her sister's picture for Illustration Friday

God Bless You, 

Elissa

Gen 2:8 KJV

"And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; 

and there he put the man whom he had formed."

Illustration Friday - Maria - Cultivate

I really didn't think my older girls were going to do anything for this weeks Illustration Friday, and then I came home to be pleasantly surprised. I love it when my girls pour over a drawing all by themselves and give me something that they are proud of.

Cultivate

Maria-5-Colored Pencil

Here's a link to her sister's drawing. 

Again, I couldn't be prouder of both of them this week and really pray that everyone learns the lesson I learned a while ago. Some times you have to stand back to make room for their imagination!

God Bless You,

Maria

Gen 2:8 KJV

"And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; 

and there he put the man whom he had formed."

Maria - A Bird and A Kitty

Sometimes I'm going to dedicate posts to one of my kids. Maria is the spotlight for today. She is the reason I even started an art blog (it was just for her and then turned into one for all of them). She produces the most work and will probably take up a good deal of space here because of it. She is the oldest, and has the most patience in completing her pictures, so that's another reason you'll see a lot of her work on here. Without further ado:

I See A Bird

Maria-5-Colored Pencil

My guess is that she saw a bird one day and decided to memorialize it. 

Poor Sun. She sees that thing everyday and didn't say anything about it :)

Kitty

Maria-5-Colored Pencil

This the one of the first pictures she ever did that really showed her 

talent. I told her we could take the kitty and turn it into a movie one day.

Has that happened? No, terrible dad that I am, but I did do this:

It's not what I promised but it's something I did to help make the process of

animating her work a little easier. I'm going to get her to draw all the parts needed

and then help her animate it one day with Photoshop. I'm really looking forward to this.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings!

Psalm 103:13 ESV

"As a father shows compassion to his children, 

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him."

Illustration Friday - Maria - Stir

Maria was in a hurry to do this one. We went through all the things that stir could mean and she liked her mom's idea of a little girl beginning to stir out of bed. I was hoping she would do stir crazy, but alas, It was not to be. Here it is.

Beginning to Stir

Maria-5-Colored Pencil

 

She's stretching so that's why her neck is long. Daddy thinks she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Mommy thinks Daddy should say nicer things but Daddy thinks that's pretty nice ;)

God Bless You!

Ephesians 5:14 God's Word Translation

"Because light makes everything easy to see. That's why it says: 

"Wake up, sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.""