5 Dot Art

As I mentioned in my post about our Photo Scavenger Hunt, we recently spent a week in Bear Valley. Much of that time was at beautiful Lake Alpine.  

 

I knew ahead of time that I would have several hours to myself while the rest of the family went fishing. A perfect opportunity to do something artistic! Creativity is a daily part of my life, even on vacation. I learned a long time ago that I don't enjoy vacations all that much if I don't have an opportunity to make, draw or create something. I start getting anxious about heading home so that I can get back into the craft room. So now I always travel with at least basic art supplies.

As soon as the family headed off in search of the ideal fishing spot, I started some 5 Dot Art. I first learned about 5 Dot Art back in 1995. One of my students, Sue, explained it to me during a Rainy Day Recess. She used crayons, because that's what we had, but it works with color pencils, markers, paint or just about any other medium. You start by using one color to make 5 dots anywhere on the page. The finished project is more interesting if you don't line them up or space them evenly.  Use a different color to make a band of color around each dot. Repeat that step twice with two different colors. 

 

Once you've used four colors (in my case: purple, red, green, blue), repeat. Soon, you're going to end up with the circles intersecting one another like this: 

 

Keep going. The circles will meet and eventually you'll fill in the whole page.    

 

When Trevor came back from fishing, he took one look at my finished 5 Dot Art, dropped everything and started his own.

 

He only worked for a few minutes before I pried him away for lunch. Here he is working on it again the following evening.

 

And here is Trevor's finished work:

5 Dot Art is simple enough for a young child, yet still fun for adults. It doesn't require concentration, so it's perfect to do in a crowded classroom during Rainy Day Recess. It only requires a few supplies (paper and 4 colors), so it's great for an airplane or the waiting room in a doctor's office. It's a great way to introduce students to new media, such as watercolor pencils or oil pastels. And it's great sitting lakeside on vacation! Thank you to Sue teaching me a fun project that I'm still doing 17 years later!

Being Creative on Vacation: Photo Scavenger Hunt

We just got back from a weeklong vacation to Bear Valley, CA.  My inlaws own a cabin there.  It's less than 5 minutes from beautiful Lake Alpine.

As my longtime readers know, I am a huge fan of scavenger hunts.  I've made scavenger hunts for Disneyland, for camping, and for numerous other occasions.  I created a new scavenger hunt specifically for this trip.  Trevor had just finished a 3-week online Photography Summer Camp, so I thought it would be fun to do a photo scavenger hunt at Lake Alpine.  (Not to mention, a great way to reinforce the skills he'd learned.)

I started by typing up a list of items I knew we'd be able to find at Alpine.  I kept the list fairly generic, but left room for interpretation and creativity.  I backed the list with patterned paper, added a sticker, and backed the whole thing with cardstock.  Here's how it looked:   

 

I wanted to be able to use these cards again for future trips, so I covered them with clear contact paper.  Then I added grommets and yarn.

 

When it was time for our scavenger hunt, I passed out the lists to the family.  I asked each person to photograph their list before we started.  Later, when it was time for judging, this would make it really easy to find the start of the scavenger hunt photos on the photo card. Here's Trevor's list:

Everyone set out to take their photographs.  Here's a spider web that Trevor found.

And Trevor's picture of moss.

 

Steve found a different type of moss.

Aunt Teri photographed this unusual rock.

Steve took this picture of "something alive."  

Aunt Teri took this creative picture of her own shadow.

I loved watching how each person photographed the letters in their name.  Grandpa Dave and Gradma Pat photographed license plates in the parking lot to spell their names.  Trevor used pinecones, rocks and sticks to spell his name along the trail.

 

Steve took five different pictures and put them together into a collage.

 

We had such a fun time with our Photo Scavenger Hunt!

Toilet Paper Roll Owls

Ready for more toilet paper roll crafts?!  How about owls?

I made the parents and Trevor made the babies.

I got the idea from A Bird and a Bean.  Materials: toilet paper rolls (whole for adult owls and cut in half for baby owls), acrylic paint, googly eyes, cardstock, scissors and glue.  

 

Begin by folding down half of the top of the toilet paper roll.  Then fold down the other half to form the owl's head.  Next, paint your owls. 

 

While those are drying, cut wings and beaks from cardstock.  

 

Glue the eyes, beak and wings in place and your owls are done.  Trevor immediately named our owls and used them for a puppet show.  

Looking for other toilet paper crafts?  Here are some of the ones we've made in the past:

Upcycled Gift Card Holders

Fall Napkin Rings

Penguins

Bunny Napkin Rings 

Cardstock vs. Patterned Paper

It's a common question on scrapbook message boards: "If you HAD to pick one, would you scrap only with patterned paper or only with cardstock?"  For years, there was no question in my mind- cardstock for sure.  It wasn't uncommon for me to make layouts entirely from cardstock.  Cardstock is so versatile and goes with everything.  Plus, of course, there's the argument that you can stamp/paint/mist cardstock to make your own patterns, but you can't erase patterns from patterned paper to make cardstock.

Now when I see that question, I'm not so sure.  Could I really give up patterned paper in favor of cardstock?  I don't think so.  While it's true that you can dress up cardstock in many ways, it doesn't come close to the variety of patterned paper available.  Patterned paper makes it possible to convey mood and theme in a way that is far more challenging with only cardstock.

When I pulled out this year's egg dyeing photos, I reached for a piece of oh-so-trendy chevron patterned paper. Then I got another piece of patterned paper, and another and another and another. When I finished, I had a bright and happy, richly-patterned, cardstock-free layout.

 

Could I give up cardstock and scrap only with patterned paper? No, I couldn't. No way. Fortunately, I don't actually have to choose between cardstock and patterned paper. I'll continue to use and love them both.

More Scrapjazz Articles

I've been writing articles for Scrapjazz.com for 7 months now.  It's a great job.  I love dreaming up projects and writing about them. And I especially love getting paid for it!

The hardest thing about the job is dealing with the lead time.  Each month, I'm assigned several articles and given about a month to write them.  These articles then go through editing and are published 2-3 months later.  Many of the articles are seasonal.  Which means that I made these in early February:

The article, Throwing a Luau Party, was published at the end of May.

Here's another example. The first week of February, I was assigned an article about making your own camping embellishments. I love camping, but it's a summer activity for us. It was strange to work on all sorts of camping projects in the morning, then help Trevor make Valentines in the afternoon.

 

 

 

Here's the article: Make Your Own Camping Embellishments.

My next articles due to be published are about space-themed cards and a product review, neither of which were seasonal, thank goodness!