The week we studied Vincent Van Gogh, we knew there was only one card to make: A Finger Painted Starry Night.  These cards are perfect for any young artist.  By following these simple steps and letting them get as messy as they want (and you can handle), your child will create a very polished, professional greeting card.

 

Materials:
Card Stock & Envelope
Star Stickers
Finger Paint

 

The first step to this card is all about stickers! And you can’t go wrong!  Have your little one stick as many or as few stickers as they would like.  Don’t forget to decorate the envelope as well.

 

Next – let the finger painting begin.  We chose colors in Van Gogh’s original Starry Night: blues, greens, yellows, and purples.  The trick to this card is to cover the whole thing with paint.  

Now let it dry.  Once the paint is dry (or for an even easier removal, wait until just before it’s completely dry), remove all the star stickers. This will reveal the white card stock, giving you a perfect starry night!

~ Love Jac

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Jackson Pollock is one of our favorite artists to teach to children.  Who doesn’t like to splatter paint all over the place?  However, you can’t always let the kids loose with a bottle of paint.  The technique we used for this week’s card is your answer to Pollock fun, without all the mess.

Materials
Card Stock & Envelope
Black Sharpie
Scotch Tape
Disposable Aluminum Roasting Pan
A Piece of Aluminum Foil approximately 6 inches x 12 inches
Paint

 

Since we discovered Jackson Pollock’s real first name was Paul, we thought it would be fun to turn these Pollock-inspired cards into personalized cards featuring each child’s initial.  Simply draw the first letter of your child’s name in a block letter on the front of the card. 

 

Next, fold a piece of scotch tape into a circle in order to temporarily attach both the card and envelope to the aluminum pan.  This helps keep everything in place while you are working.

 

Next, crumple your aluminum foil into a ball.  For best results, give the ball points (so it’s shaped more like a jack than a marble). 

 

Now the fun begins! Dip the ball in one color of paint.  It’s best to start with the lightest color.  Then put the foil ball into your pan and roll it around. It will scatter paint as it makes contact with the card.  Repeat this method with as many different colors as your would like.  We chose to use 3 primary colors, which makes the overlapping of the paint even more beautiful.

 

Sofia was an expert foil roller!

 

Gabby also picked up the skill right away!

Finally, wait for your card to dry and voila!  The result is a fun, happy card anyone would want to receive in the mail.

 

~ Love Jac

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Owen, Sofia, & Jasmine getting creative!

A couple weeks back, when the weather was constantly gloomy, we decided to take some action in our Brooklyn Arts & Crafts class.  Our artist for the week was Georgia O’Keefe and our projects were nature inspired.  We thought this would be a good opportunity to mail some sun-shining vibes in the world.  Since we really wanted these cards to stand out, we decided to make pop-up cards.  Because the children in our class are between the ages of 2 and 4, we did a lot of the prep beforehand.

Materials:
Card Stock & Envelope
Construction Paper
Scissors
Cut out clouds from construction paper
Cut out sun from construction paper
Spring themed stickers – flowers, butterflies, etc
Tissue Paper Squares
Printed out sayings “BYE-BYE CLOUDS…” and “SPRING HAS SPRUNG”
Glue

 

For the full step-by-step instructions on how to make the shell for a pop-up card, be sure to check out our previous blog post.  Once you have that completed and the different elements gathered, all that is left to do is let your little one's imagination go wild.  

Let your child glue “BYE-BYE CLOUDS…” and as many clouds as they would like on the front of the card.  

Ella mastering the glue stick.

Inside they can glue “SPRING HAS SPRUNG” and decorate it with pretty stickers.  They can also create small 3-D flowers by scrunching up tissue paper squares and gluing them onto the pop-up flap.

Hazel was in full concentration mode. When an artist is at work there is no time to say "cheese".

Each child’s card was unique and your child’s will be too. The end result will most definitely be colorful and fun.  Now some people might say it was just coincidence, but ever since our class mailed out these cards it has been a lot warmer in Brooklyn.  Just sayin’.

If you haven't checked out Hank & Jojo's new back deck yet, it's a must! Think the kids could spend the whole day there!

~ Love Jac

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Here at Love Jac, if there’s one thing we believe in more than anything else it’s that you can absolutely make a difference in a person’s day by sending them a card with a handwritten note.  When we first heard about the charity organization, Girls Love Mail (GLM), we were immediately interested in learning more.  After speaking with Gina Mulligan, we knew the people involved in GLM were our kind of people.

GLM collects handwritten letters from you and delivers them to women battling breast cancer.  Gina started this charity after living through her own experience with breast cancer.  Early in her fight, she received a letter from a survivor (a friend of a friend) who was diagnosed at the same age as she was, 28.  The letter was long and detailed very personal experiences she went through.  It was open and heartfelt.  This letter empowered Gina.  She was both thankful and honored that this woman shared her experience.  

After Gina won her battle with breast cancer, she knew she wanted to give back.  When she reflected on her own experience, it was that letter that truly stuck out – and that’s how GLM was born.  Gina now collects letters from people around the world who also want to help women win their fight against breast cancer.

The mental and emotional battle of any struggle is just as important as the physical.  By delivering these heartfelt notes, Gina is helping to strengthen a woman’s courage, getting them through one more day.

The feedback Gina has received so far is nothing but encouraging.  One recipient, Lori Murphy, said, "The letter brought peace to a time of fear. It was so kind and thoughtful to hear from someone who has gone through this before me." 

On her website Gina encourages people get together and have a letter writing party.  KJ Newman, a local GLM letter writer, has hosted two letter writing parties.  The ladies got together over snacks and cocktails and wrote over 100 letters for the organization. 

Gina reads every letter before it goes out and finds that the most rewarding part of running GLM.  She said “I'm touched by the wonderful heart-felt words and that we get letters from all ages. Some of the children's letters are the best. With all the negativity in the world, I feel blessed to read the letters and see the best of humankind.”

To this day she keeps the letter she received, along with several other meaningful notes, in a pink wicker basket in her office so she can re-read them.  If you are like us, you also have a special place for your treasured letters and notes.  You know the power each one holds and how it has impacted your life.

We admire Gina for having an idea and making a difference.  Her compassion and dedication are what makes GLM so successful.  We hope her story inspires you to pick up a pen today and write someone a letter.  Whether it be a friend, relative, or complete stranger  - your thoughts and feelings might just make their day a little happier.

To write a letter for Girls Love Mail, simply mail your letter to…

Girls Love Mail
2330 E. Bidwell Street, Suite 200
Folsom, California 95630

If you aren’t sure what to write, visit GLM’s website for topic ideas and suggestions.  We are all in this world together.  Being there for one another is really what it's about.

 

~ Love Jac

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In this week’s Brooklyn Arts & Crafts we studied Salvador Dali.  Inspired by the use of elephants in his artwork, we had a lot of fun with this happy and beautiful animal.  Also in line with Dali’s imagery there was lots of silliness going on in class.  We continued the laughter with a quirky card.

Elephant + Shoes = I love you.

Materials:
Card Stock & Envelope
Printed Images
Scissors
Glue Stick
Postage Stamp 

Many of you may already know that if you say “Elephant Shoes” it looks like you're saying “I love you”! The children found this very amusing.  To make the card, simply print out illustrations of an elephant and shoes.  Both can easily be found on the internet.   We also printed out a plus sign, equal sign, and the words “I love you”.  Once you cut out the images, have your child glue them on the front of your card stock.   Allow them to be as creative as they would like.

 

Hazel had some fun and put the shoes on the elephant!

This card couldn’t be more simple.  We hope this gives you an excuse to have a laugh with your little one!

~ Love Jac

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This week in Brooklyn Arts & Crafts we studied Henri Matisse.  Aside from the fun inspiration to do The Hokey Pokey and a great board book by Susan Goldman Rubin, Matisse gave us the chance to focus on shapes!  Our students love identifying shapes and colors at their age!!  For this week’s card, we continued the fun from our main project’s potato stamping activity.  Potatoes are the perfect size for our students’ little hands to manipulate.  The children loved executing this card!  Since both Passover and Easter are quickly approaching we cut egg shapes and triangles into the potatoes.  Here’s our step-by-step how to.

Materials:
Potatoes, cut in half and carved
Card Stock & Envelope
Paint
Paintbrush

 

Before the kids get involved, cut a potato in half widthwise.  With the tip of your knife carve out your desired shape into the inner part of the potato.  Make your cut about one centimeter deep.  Next, take your knife and cut into the side of the potato, roughly one centimeter down.  Move your knife until it meets the cut you made in the top.  Once the two cuts meet that part of your potato should pop out.  When making shapes that require an interior cut, use the tip of a vegetable peeler for a more precise cut.  You can go as basic or as intricate as your imagination (and skill level) will allow you.  For our class project we made circles, squares, triangles, stars, and hearts. For the card we created eggs with zigzags, dots, and stripes.

Now the fun begins! Have your child choose his or her favorite color paint and squirt some on a paper plate.  You don’t need a lot of paint for this to work.  It actually makes a better stamp if you dab off some paint before pressing the potato to the card stock.  Then let your child stamp the design.  For this card we used 3 different paint colors and 3 different potato stamps.  To finish off the card, we simply painted a quick border around the edge using the same colors.

  

 

Sofia in action stamping her card!!

Here Sofia shows off her Easter card! We love the colors she chose and and the placement of her eggs!

When making our Passover card, we used a potato with a triangle cut into it.  It is important to cut out the center of the triangle. To do this we cut into the potato with a knife and used the vegetable peeler to scoop it out.  When making a Star of David, simply stamp one triangle with the point up then rotate the triangle so your next stamp has the point facing down.  Don’t forget to add more paint between impressions.  This could be rather tricky for a two-year-old, so we would advise helping them position their hand before pressing down.

 

Leo showing off his Star of David Passover Card!!

We know you can't really see the card in this picture, but we couldn't resist posting it anyway.  Oh, Leo and those dimples!!

Just as we did last week, don’t forget to draw a box around where the postage stamp should be placed on the envelopes.  Our students knew exactly what to do with their postage stamp as soon as we gave it to them!! It’s also fun to ask your child who they want to mail their card to.  They can really surprise you!

We hope this inspires you to have a potato craft afternoon soon!! Depending on the age of your youngster, it might be a good idea to let them create some freeform art in addition to the card.  Our students loved the whole process: holding the potatoes, dipping them in paint, and stamping them all over their construction paper!! We hope your child has as much fun!! 

Georgia showing off her art work from class!!

 

 

~ Love Jac

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As some of you may know, we’ve been teaching an Arts & Crafts class here in Brooklyn since the beginning of 2013.  Aside from learning about a famous artist and doing a child-friendly project, the children create a handmade card at the end of each class.  Our second session just began this Wednesday.  Since the children and their parents loved making the cards so much we decided to share the “how-to’s” of all our cards this session with you. 

This week we made a shamrock card using paint swatches in honor of St. Patrick’s Day!

Materials:

Paint Swatches in Shades of Green
Card Stock & Envelope
Scissors
Glue Stick
Green Crayon
Stickers (optional, but always fun)

This card couldn’t be easier.  Start by drawing a dashed line around the border of the card with a green crayon.  Then simply cut 3 hearts and a stem out of the paint swatches.  Glue them down to form a shamrock as shown.  Voila!...You have a fun, modern card that is sure to put a smile on someone’s face.

  

 

A tip to cutting the perfect heart: Normally, to make a symmetric heart we would fold a piece of paper in half and then cut a teardrop shape.  Since the paint swatches are thicker, we didn’t want to see that fold once the heart was unfolded.  This time we used a word document to make a heart shape that was roughly 2 inches by 2 inches and printed on regular printer paper. We then cut that out and used it as a stencil/template to trace it onto the back of the paint swatch.  This way all of our hearts were the same size.  It’s also fun to position the heart so the name of the shade of green is shown!

In class, we are teaching the students how much fun making and mailing cards can be.  To help them understand, we drew an outline around where the stamp goes.  This makes it a lot easier for them to stick it in the correct spot.

 

After teaching one semester of Brooklyn Arts & Crafts (and having a two-year-old myself), I’ve learned stickers are always fun!! For this card we bought cute shamrock stickers for the kids to use to decorate the envelope. 

One of my favorite parts about this card is that the paint swatches have an appeal all on their own.  Even if your shamrock doesn’t get glued down exactly like the example or the border isn’t so much a border, it is still beautiful.  Here are two examples of cards Georgia made herself.

Luckily, the USPS doesn't care if the stamp is upside-down!!

Hope this inspires you to make your own card this St. Patrick’s Day!!  Have a great holiday!!

~ Love Jac

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