Block Printing

This was one of my favorites from the art class I took. You can continue to use the stamp even after you have made a ton of copies. I think this project is pretty simple so hopefully you find it easy.

Materials:

• Any chosen image (the simpler the better though)
• A slab of rubber for the stamp part
• Tools to cut the rubber
• Ink for the prints
• Paper to print on
• Brushes

Steps:

1. Draw your image on paper
   
2. Transfer that image onto the block
3. Carve the image into the block
   
4. Thinly and evenly coat the block with ink
5. Press onto paper
6. Keep trying until you get a perfect print, or experiment with different ink colors and paper
   

   Like I said, I enjoyed this project a lot.. so much that I made over 30 prints. I have a large stack of bad results from either applying too much or too little ink. Once I learned the right amount, I got some nice-looking prints. I plan to frame some and put them up in my room soon. Don't get discouraged if the prints don't turn out nice at first, it takes a lot of practice to get the ink amount right. Good luck with this project!

Black and White Drawing

    This drawing was a project I did in my art class. I had some difficulties with this piece because I couldn't decide on what I wanted to draw and doing the eyes was challenging. This project takes a long time because it is more detailed than the other things I have done.

Materials:

• Black paper
• Any image you choose
• White chalk
• Black charcoal/chalk 
• Patience (each strand of fur needs to be drawn separately)

Steps

1. Choose your image
2. Lightly draw an outline
3. Begin the detailed drawing
4. Shade or highlight 

   As you can see, my drawing ended up sort of smudgy, so be careful with the materials. I was pretty proud of this drawing when I first made it, but now I see all of these little imperfections. Maybe I just shouldn't look at it? But anyway, I hope your B&W drawing turns out well!

Make Your Own Book

  This project is from my art class last year as well. I loved doing this project because it allows you to be really creative and unique. You can make it into a journal or just a decoration for your room like I did.

Materials needed:

• Cardboard (for the cover)
• Thicker paper (for the pages)
• Any decorative supplies you want 
• Paint 
• String to bind the book

Steps:

1. Measure and cut the cardboard however big you want your book to be
2. Design the pages you want to put inside the book. Here are examples of what mine look like:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Line the cardboard and pages up and then punch holes into them so you can make the binding
4. Use string, yarn, or some other material to bind the book together. If you make the string longer, it can double as the binding and a book mark

You could also make your own paper to put in the book. I chose to make my own paper because it was a requirement for the class, but you can do whatever you want. 

Negative Space Drawing

  I took an art class at my school last year and I am using some of the projects from that class in my blog. This negative space drawing was really fun and interesting.

Here is what you need:

• An image from a magazine
• Paper
• Carbon paper (to copy image from magazine to paper)
• Pencil

Steps:

1. Pick whatever image you want from a magazine or print one out
2. Tape the carbon paper on top of the regular paper
3. Draw over the outer lines of the drawing
4. Shade in the image on the normal paper

Make sure you don't draw the inner lines because if you do it won't really be negative. This is how my drawing turned out. You can choose a more difficult or easier picture to draw. Make the shading sort of taper off to get the negative effect. I hope you enjoy this artsy project!

Paint Chip Calendar

 I usually don't use calendars, but after finding this idea, I decided to make one. I found this project at: https://whimseybox.com/projects/diy-paint-chip-calendar-white-board
I thought it would be interesting and easy to do, but it turned out to be more difficult. Here is how I made my dry-erase paint chip calendar:
   Items needed:

•    42 paint chips of whatever colors you want
• A picture frame (40x50 cm)
• X-acto knife
• Ruler
• Glue

Steps:

1. Cut all paint chips to be 4.6cm x 4.6 cm
2. Arrange paint chips in rows of 7 on the white sheet of paper that fits your frame. (I used the back of the sheet that comes with the frame) I started the first and last rows about 7 cm from the top and bottom of the paper. Each paint chip had .5 cm in between but you can space them however you want.
3. Glue onto the paper. (I used a hot glue gun)
4. Place the paper back in the frame and then you have a reusable calendar

My results:

   Mine didn't turn out as good as the example that I made mine from. My spacing was a little off and I accidentally glued one of the chips crooked, but I still liked my results. My calendar is now hung up on the wall in my room and it helps me to be more organized. I hope you find this project useful too!