crafty
Father’s Day Proud Papa Gallery of Greatness
Some of the best things about being a child are the boundless energy, unbridled imagination and a future filled with endless possibilities. The best thing about a child’s art is that it contains elements of all these things… and that every work is a masterpiece.
In honor of Father’s Day, I asked my dad friends to submit their kids’ artwork. Whether it was something recent, something old, or commissioned specifically for this collection, the only requirement was that the papas be proud of it. What I received was an avalanche of awesomeness. Drawings. paintings and sculpture bursting with energy, imagination and endless possibilities. And lots and lots of color. If you know me and my design work, you won’t be surprised if I “borrow” a color palette or two for future projects.
Curating this collection was no small feat, and after considering several options, I chose to group them by subject matter. This creates a nice mix of age, gender and medium in each batch. I realize there are a lot of pieces here, and that most of you probably get bored at art galleries (I know I do)… but please look through the entire gallery. This is spectacular work with some very hilarious, touching — and even rage-filled — back stories.
So welcome to the inaugural* FATHER’S DAY PROUD PAPA GALLERY OF GREATNESS (brought to you by Starbucks). Enjoy the exhibit, and please touch the artwork — it’s even more awesome zoomed in!
Artwork credits key:
Title of work
medium
Artist name, age
Father of artist (links to their website/blog)
Artist’s (or artist’s dad’s) description
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HANDS + FEET
Hola Hand
pencil, crayon on paper
JJ, 3.5
Brent Almond
While he clearly got some help writing “Hola,” the hand trace and vibrant, Latino colors are all him. Definitely going to nick this palette for my next logo project…
Creative Father’s Day Gifts for the Creative (and not-so-creative) Dad
Still at a loss about what to get Dear Old Dad for Father’s Day? Yes it’s the thought that counts, but Dad can recognize a cliched gift when he sees one — especially if he’s the creative or handy type. So forget the grill, take back the tie, hide the hammock… here are three great books to get your favorite father’s creative juices flowing. Or at the very least something to read on the can.
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FOR THE CRAFTY DAD more here >>
DJ Cheetos in Da House
It’s been a while since I’ve gotten full-on, down-and-dirty, non-work-related crafty. But when I heard about this contest being held by Life of Dad, wherein you had to create art from Cheetos, my interest was peaked. When I found out the winner received an all-expenses paid trip to Dad 2.0 Summit (the King of all Dad Blogging conferences) I got my CHEESE ON.
A dad what-now conference? You see, I had a lot of fun the first year or so of Designer Daddy. Alas, then my energy/interest/well of ideas started to dry up. Serendipitously, I got hooked up with a group of Dad Bloggers on Facebook, and energy/interest/ideas were renewed and energized. Yes, it’s sometimes a time-waster (What on the internet isn’t? Except for this site, natch.) and obviously a sounding board for blogging ideas. Yet the group has also been an online drum circle, bar crawl and bitch session rolled into one.
All that to say, it would be awesome to attend Dad 2.0 Summit next year, to meet some of these men in person and get even more psyched about writing, networking, parenting, and all-around man-bonding. Plus Cheetos!
Here’s my Cheetos Mix-Ups offering…
Click to amplify
My creative process: I thought about “Mix-Ups” and that led to “mixing it up” which led to drinking a cocktail, which then led to an old school, party time DJ MIX TABLE! And yes, those are crushed Cheetos (the puffy variety) as the “background.”
more here >>
That Can Do Spirit
Being a parent of a toddler is hard work — no one who’s ever seen, heard or smelled a toddler would argue with that. But it doesn’t have to be as difficult as we modern parents tend to make it. Respite can come from an unexpected place…the toddlers themselves.
Looking to lessen my own stress and find some solutions, I recently completed a Parenting Preschoolers class, taught by the fine folks at PEP. In this class (and the many others offered), instructors champion a philosophy that expands how most of us view a child’s role in everyday life. And it doesn’t include a remote or an iPad.
Nowhere is this more apparent than PEP’s CAN DO KIDS FAIR. This annual event (for children 3-10) showcases PEP’s ideas on parenting, putting them into live, kid-operated action. This year’s Fair took place just a couple of weeks after I completed my class, so it was a great opportunity to practice all these new Daddy skills… and hopefully spend a Saturday afternoon getting JJ good and tired.
I’ll admit it was overwhelming at first. Held in a nearby church’s education building, every room on every floor was packed with parents, kids, instructors and volunteers busily trying or explaining a different activity.
We headed to the first of three floors, and not surprisingly I led us to the painting station. I was a little shocked to find it wasn’t full of easels and finger paints. I was even more shocked to watch my three year-old not only roller paint, but also drill a hole in drywall and then spackle over it. Yes, I used the words “3 year-old” and “drill a hole” in the same sentence. It was pretty amazing — and a little frightening — but he was flanked by a PEP volunteer and Papa, and was being given simple, clear instructions. And he was, of course, loving it.
Drill, baby, drill!
Silly Hat Day: A Story in Pictures
On a cold, rainy day not too long ago, I had a brain fart of forethought, gathered all the hats from all over the house, and declared it henceforth be known as (cue trumpets)… Silly Hat Day!
In all honesty, I needed a break from playing superheroes (or coloring them, or watching them on TV). And it actually turned out to be more of a Silly Two-and-a-half Hours, but it was nonetheless a fun diversion during an otherwise dreary day.
Let the silliness commence!
I wonder if we've got enough silly to fill all these hats?
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Silly Hat Day starts out a little on the grumpy side.
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The 12 Days of Christmas Past: Day 1
Last December I undertook the gargantuan (some would say unwise) task of doing 1 post a day — complete with an original doodle/graphic — as an online Advent calendar of sorts. While it was fun and enlightening for me (and I assume a few readers, too) it took up a WHOLE lotta time. And time ain’t something in abundance come December.
So this year I’m going recycled/retro and sharing some of the cards I’ve designed in Christmases past. While that may not seem very “Daddy”-related, the fact that I’m scaling back on holiday blogging is due entirely to my very celebratory three year-old, and all that he entails. Yeah, I’m really tired a lot.
I’m not necessarily going to do 12 — or go in chronological order — but today’s Days of Christmas Past (DoXP) post is my first ever original Holiday card of the modern era (post-college). The year was 1999 so it was not just pre-Designer Daddy, but pre-Design Nut. However I think you can see the seeds of design nutty days to come.
Click to biggefy
Another interesting (only to me, probably) fact: this illustration/collage was printed out on my own little Epson and adhered by my (and Papa’s) hands to the cards, which had also been cut and folded by me. I was young, poor and crafty… and this was the LAST year of such nonsense. That’s why God made professional printers.
Jingle Bells, Batman Smells
In an attempt to discourage JJ from yanking ornaments off our tree, I gave him a Christmas tree of his very own. I pulled out my collection of superhero ornaments and together we put them on this nifty little tree. I even set it up outside his room on a piece of white foam paper — it looks like snow and keeps the table from getting scratched. How smart and crafty of me!
I went in the kitchen to fix dinner, leaving him to undecorate/redecorate to his heart’s content. A few minutes later I heard a telltale “Uh-oh”...
…and went to check and this (below) had happened. I realized I should have told him that these weren’t like his other superheroes, and that the arms and legs didn’t move. So I did, put poor Iron Man with the other toys in the “to be fixed” pile, and went back to making dinner.
Schoolhouse Rock
I’ve had this post in my “draft” queue forever… JJ’s had a renewed interest in spelling which reminded me of this early (and hilarious) attempt to understand how it all works.
Schoolhouse Rock from Brent Almond on Vimeo.
May the Fourth Be With You
Even the Lord of the Sith wants clean teeth (say that 5 times fast)
Okay, I was just gonna post this photo and be done with it, but then I started poking around to see if I could post a link of where to buy JJ’s awesome Darth Vader tee (which, by the way, I unknowingly dressed him in this morning — on the unofficial Star Wars holiday). Couldn’t find it anywhere, so I searched the Googles and came upon this…
…and this…
…and this.
I spooked the dog with my multiple “OH MY GOD”s at how adorable these are. Painfully cute stuff. Visit Mi Cielo’s Etsy shop and check out the full line of tees and infant bodysuits (some of which come with matching rattles).
In addition to several more Star Wars designs, there’s a gaggle of other pop culture icons to make you giggle: Optimus Prime, Thor, Mr. T, Ron Burgundy(!), and Totoro to name a few (yes she also has bunnies and pirates and Elmo for you less-adventurous types). Of course I’m begging her for an Aquaman. Each is custom made in Hawaii, so they ain’t cheap. But seriously, can you put a price on something this delightful?
(PS: Several come in adult sizes, too!)
Eggceptionally crafty
I had originally planned to make a more traditional Easter bunny for JJ using a real, blown-out egg. I’ve done these in the past, and while not as fancy as Martha’s, still turned out pretty nice. Yet on further thought, I decided putting a hollowed out eggshell in the hands of a 2 year old would just be a craft disaster waiting to happen.
But then I saw some over-sized plastic eggs, thought of JJ’s obsession with love of superheroes, and a new idea was hatched. I had intended to make something from all six eggs in the set I bought, but alas only finished one. Still, I’m proud to present… Aquabunny Egg!
Aquabunny chats tubside with the other plastic creatures of the deep.
I was really happy with how it turned out, but upon even further thought, decided to wait and give it to JJ next year, as it’s still pretty delicate for his grabby hands. Plus it looks awfully cool on the shelf with the rest of my Aquaman stuff. Or maybe I’ll mass produce them and sell them on Etsy… any takers?
Aquabunny keeps watch from his perch atop the soap dish.
And in case you’re curious…
Materials: plastic egg (I paired a green bottom with an orange top), foam sheets cut out to create the ears, feet and “A” symbol, pompoms for the nose and tail, googly eyes (for the eyes, duh), and dental floss for the whiskers. After trying Elmer’s and Krazy, found hot glue to be the most effective in holding all these disparate textures together.
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