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Description: All materials for projects are included; clear and colored glass. Dichroic glass is not included in these projects but available to purchase. Please bring safety glasses or sun glasses with a light tint.The goal of the class is to introduce you to the magic of glassblowing.

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Laughing Latte - Puddle Reflection Photography: How to capture the best reflection!

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Laughing Latte - Puddle Reflection Photography: How to capture the best reflection!

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I have always loved reflection shots! When I announced that I was pregnant with Betty, I shared one of my favorite reflections ever! And then one of my favorite family photos is a reflection of my whole family at the beach! They are magical shots. But then again, the beach can make anything magical. The midwest is a little different. I think reflections here get totally overlooked. In the midwest, reflections mean puddles, puddles mean rain, and rain means a gross day. But then you capture something like a natural puddle reflection shot, and it turns even the yuckiest day into a picture perfect scene! So today I wanted to share with you Tawnya! She is a photographer who sees the beauty in the simple, everyday moments and she takes the best puddle reflection photography of her daughter! Plus, she always give the most useful advice in the Mama-tographer Facebook Group! (If you haven't joined, and you like taking photos of your kids, you should!) I have her here today to share her tips on how to capture the best reflection shots!
Capturing a reflection is actually a lot easier than you think, I've even been able to produce some pretty great reflection shots on my iPhone 6. There are three steps I want to point out when trying to achieve this look!

1. Think about the time of day.

When the sun is low in the sky the lighting is perfect for reflections. You can achieve a good shot midday too but the reflective surfaces tend to look more glass-like when the sun isn't as harsh.

2. Close your aperture a bit.

I usually start around f/5 and go from there, that way you can get the subject and the reflection in focus, if you want to blur one of them out then by all means close your aperture.

3. Experiment with different angles.

Before you even bring out the camera just look at the reflection with your naked eye. Get down really low and slowly move up, you will be able to see where the "sweet spot" where the reflection looks very clear. This is the angle you will want to shoot at and it will differ depending on the time of day. Sometimes I even have to get down and lay on the wet pavement to get the right shot, anything for the perfect photo, right?!

Bonus: Finally if you're trying to get your kids' reflections make it fun or there's no way they're going to cooperate.

I always tell my daughter to look for worms in the puddle. Sometimes they're there, sometimes they're not, but it always works.
Aren't her shots just perfection! Make sure to check out more of her tips on her blog! So I've been trying for weeks to get out and practice my own puddle reflection photography using her tips. Finally, it rained last week and we had puddles galore! Here's what I found!
1. Rain takes away from the glass-like look.

We got caught in the rain and the rain drops took away from that glassy look Tawnya achieves so well.

2. Angles mean more than just how high or low you are in relation to the puddle.

If you can, walk in circle around the puddle too. We went for a walk. On the way out, I captured great reflections. On the way back, my reflections looked more like shadows.

3. Don't overexpose.

I usually like to over-expose my photos just a bit, but I was careful not to with reflection shots or the reflection gets washed away with the overexposed light!

Bonus: My daughter could care less about worms lol... but she loved jumping in puddles and had the best time!

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Puddle Reflection Photography: How to capture the best reflection!

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I have always loved reflection shots! When I announced that I was pregnant with Betty, I shared one of my favorite reflections ever! And then one of my favorite family photos is a reflection of my whole family at the beach! They are magical shots. But then again, the beach can make anything magical.

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Artful Adventures » The Artful Kids Blog for the Young at Art » Paint with Bubbles – 3 Ways

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Artful Adventures » The Artful Kids Blog for the Young at Art » Paint with Bubbles – 3 Ways

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Paint with Bubbles - 3 Ways

Bubble painting is a classic children's art activity, and it's easy to see why - it's easy, cheap, kids love it, and the results are pretty good too, but bubbles are also amazingly versatile, we've tried 3 different techniques now, and each one has distinctively different results.

Bubble Painting #1

The first technique is the one most people will be familiar with. Here, you mix your paint (in this case tempera) with a little water, and a squirt of washing-up liquid, stir it up and then blow into it with a straw to create lots and lots of bubbles. You then gently place the paper over the bubbles to take a print from them, remove, and allow to dry.

This is the basic technique, but you can vary it. For example, you can use a large tray of bubbles to cover the whole sheet. Alternativelyyou can use several small pots of different coloured bubbles, as in the example below, and print them one at a time on the same page, (or cluster them together and do them all at once) to create multi-colour bubble circles. Another variation is to try layering one colour print with another using bubbles of a different colour.

Bubble Painting #2

The next technique is equally popular with children, but is potentially messier. It's a great project for outdoors on a sunny day, but we did this indoors, and so I used a cardboard box to 'contain' the mess.

This time we used watercolour inks mixed with a squirt of bubble solution (we've acquired lots of pots of this from numerous different party bags). The bubbles were then blown through a 'window' in the cardboard box, onto a sheet of paper below. The ink I used can stain, and the thought of inky bubbles floating and popping around the house did not appeal! However the box limited the damage quite successfully.

We used watercolour paper to blow our bubbles onto, as I found this retained the image of the bubbles better when the paper got quite wet, instead of pooling and running. I like the combination of bubbles here with splatters and dribbles, and it was a really easy activity which the boys loved doing.

Bubble Painting #3

The 3rd technique we've tried involves painting with 'foam'. Once again, this is a messy activity - possibly the messiest of the lot. This time you mix the tempera paint, as in the first technique, with a little water and a squirt of washing-up liquid. It's important with all of these techniques to make sure you don't dilute the paint too much if you want to get a strong print. I used old ice-cream tubs for the paint, and mixed up several different colours.

A sponge is used to apply the paint. I used a clean sponge for each colour, and squeezed it a few times in the paint first to get plenty of foam. The coloured foam is then applied to a sheet of toughened glass or perspex (or even an old tray) in whatever design you like, and then the paper placed over the top to take a print.

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When you remove the paper pull it back and forth (up and down) a little as you do it - this enhances the veining effect that you achieve, which looks very organic, rather like trees.

I have to say that I carried on with this activity for a whole morning, long after the boys had moved on to other things! With this technique particularly I love the combination of the bubbles and the veining, and the finished papers are so evocative that I feel sure we will be using them as the basis of further artwork. It's rather like seeing pictures in the fire. I look at these and see underground caves, mysterious fantasy architecture, enchanted forests, and undersea scenes....

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Bubble painting is a classic children's art activity, and it's easy to see why - it's easy, cheap, kids love it, and the results are pretty good too, but bubbles are also amazingly versatile, we've tried 3 different techniques now, and each one has distinctively different results.

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How to Get Started Woodburning | The Art of Manliness

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How to Get Started Woodburning | The Art of Manliness

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Pyrography - derived from the Greek pur (fire) and graphos (writing) - has been around since fire itself. While there isn't hard evidence, it's quite likely that cavemen etched the walls of their caves with fire sticks. While today it's primarily done on wood with a heated pen, it's been done (and continues to be done) on leather, clay, and even gourds.

Historically, it was used to decorate and brand various tools and musical instruments. Kitchenware or folk guitars were marked with a little bit of art both to convey the owner's personality, and to distinguish their stuff from other people's. It wasn't really until the late Victorian era that the art form was taken up in earnest, and done on blank "canvasses" of wood and other materials rather than being a decorative embellishment.

In the early 20th century, soldering pens were developed, from which today's woodburning tools were derived. This is a fun project for men, and even kids (under adult supervision, of course). Luckily, the start up costs are cheap, and it's an easy hobby to learn. If you enjoy it, woodburning can be the source of DIY gifts for the family for years to come!

Supplies

Woodburning pen. Quick note about the pen: I started out with this one: Walnut Hollow Value Pen. The heat is simply on/off, and it comes with 4 tips. After I lost a couple of the tips, I upgraded to this model: Walnut Hollow Versa Tool. It has variable heat control, which I like, as well as a case for the various tips. It's double the price, but still only $20! This is about as cheap and low-end as it gets, but has worked just fine for me for 6+ months. If you get really into pyrography, you can get pens that go into the hundreds of dollars.

Carbon paper

Tape

Sandpaper

Wet paper towel

Design or artwork to woodburn

Get Familiar With the Tool

A woodburning pen is a very simple tool. It's a pen-like device with a metal end through which heat is transferred to a removable tip. All but the cheapest models are variable temperature tools. With any kit, you'll get 4-7 different tips for various methods of burning: straight lines, rounded lines, shading, etc. You'll also get a metal safety stand for the pen so it's never just sitting on a table or workbench.

The first thing you need to do, before working on any project, is to simply get familiar with the tool. Get a piece of scrap wood, plug in the woodburning tool and let it heat up for about 5 minutes, and test out "drawing" on the wood with the various tips just like you would with a pencil. It's that simple. (Be sure to let the tool cool down for 5 minutes before changing out tips; it'll then have to be heated up again for a few minutes.) The key is to go slow and steady. If you're jerky, it'll show. If you go too fast, the wood won't really burn like you want it to. Just like the tortoise, slow and steady wins the race.

A few other pointers to keep in mind:

I like to keep a wet paper towel on hand to wipe off the end of the tip every once in a while as residue from the wood builds up.

If you're getting a lot of smoke, the pen is too hot. Try turning down the heat for a smoother, smokeless burn.

Be mindful of safety. The tip gets extremely hot - several hundred degrees F, at minimum, in fact. So when the tool is plugged in, always be mindful of where the hot metal end is. Be sure it isn't touching anything and always have it resting on the metal stand when not in use. When changing tips, use pliers wrapped in electrical tape, as the tips stay hot for a long time.

Choose a Design

For my first project, I chose the above design of a quaint cabin in the mountains. The options are limitless for what you can burn onto a piece of a wood. So far, I've worked with basic, black and white designs, but as I get better, I'm sure I'll get into more advanced shading techniques and whatnot.

To find designs and patterns to work with, just google anything you're interested in with "black and white illustration" added to the end: "mountains black and white illustration," "wildlife black and white illustration," "Minnesota Vikings black and white illustration." You'll more than likely get some great results to choose from.

After you've picked a design, you want to figure out the size you want to use as well. For this above design, I sized it to fit a piece of wood I already had. The other few I've done I just made the size of an 8.5×11″ sheet of paper, since that's what I can easily print here at home.

Find and Prep the Wood

You can really use any wood for your pyrography project. Soft woods will burn at lower temps, while harder woods will take a very hot pen. The piece in the picture is pine - very easy to work with. To prep your wood, if it's a "raw" piece like this, you'll want to sand it very well, and also decide which way you want the grain. It's much easier to burn with the grain than against it. With my cabin project, it had more horizontal lines than vertical, so I kept the grain horizontal.

You can also use pre-fab wood projects like boxes or pre-cut shapes that you can find at any hobby store. You'll see later in the article how I used those. Anything pre-fab you buy at a hobby store will be very easy to work with, and you won't have to worry about grain as much.

Affix Your Design to the Wood

Trace Your Design

Burn the Outline

Finish Shading and Complete the Project

Get Burning!
Beginners, what questions do you have? Veteran pyrographers, what tips can you share?

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How to Get Started Woodburning | The Art of Manliness

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Pyrography - derived from the Greek pur (fire) and graphos (writing) - has been around since fire itself. While there isn't hard evidence, it's quite likely that cavemen etched the walls of their caves with fire sticks. While today it's primarily done on wood with a heated pen, it's been done (and continues to be done) on leather, clay, and even gourds.

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Learn how to carve ice like a pro – Cottage Life

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Learn how to carve ice like a pro – Cottage Life

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When it comes to ice sculpting, nothing is off-limits for Toronto-based company Ice Boy. Its extensive and elaborate portfolio features everything from a rearing, eight-foot horse, to two birds on entwined branches-the latter of which took over 60 hours to create.

However, there's no doubt about it-ice carving isn't for amateurs. Or, as Kevin Slavish, Ice Boy's creative director puts it: "There is no such thing as a 'starter' sculpture. Ice caving is art, not a popsicle stick project."

But if you're still keen to brandish a chainsaw and brave the frost, here's what you can expect to encounter as a beginner ice carver.
Before you become an ice carver, you'll need to become a skilled carver
Since carving skills transfer easily from one medium to the other, Slavish says it's best to practice on other materials before moving to the cold, hard stuff. That's how Ice Boy's resident master carver Fred Marquina learned his trade. Marquina trained in the Philippines, first working with wood before perfecting his skills using foam, chocolate, fruit, and, eventually, ice.

Food might not sound as exciting as ice, but as anyone who has been to Toronto's Royal Agricultural Winter Fair can attest, sculpted butter, whether it's of an iconic dead racoon or Rob Ford's face, is just as much of a crowd-pleaser.
Apprentice with a master to hone composition, scale, proportion, and balance techniques
"Volunteer to work beside a skilled ice carver before you invest thousands of dollars in tools," advises Slavish, adding that carvers who are interested in braving ice can contact Ice Boy for their first trip to the freezer.
Get ready to invest
Ice carving isn't a cheap hobby. While frozen water is relatively easy to come by, other specialized tools of the trade include chain saws, aluminum plates, chisels, and sanding discs. To save a few bucks, Slavish recommends that beginners start out with new wood chisels, rather than the pricier ice carving chisels.
Get ready for some heavy lifting
Keeping your tools sharp is only one aspect of ice carving-you'll need to keep your body toned as well. One of Salvish's top pieces of advice for amateur carvers (other than wearing warm clothes, of course) is to work out. "A block of ice measuring 10 inches high, 20 inches wide, and 40 inches long weighs 300 pounds," he points out.
And always remember-ice melts
Avoiding common mistakes is easy, just as long as your remember that ice is affected by changes in temperature. If you're carving outside of a freezer, make sure to temper your ice before your carve. This ensures that it won't fracture from the sudden temperature change while it's being carved or on display.

Finally, when you're plotting out your design, think about what your sculpture will look like after it's been outside of the freezer for a few hours. "Design and carve to allow for melting," says Slavish.

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When it comes to ice sculpting, nothing is off-limits for Toronto-based company Ice Boy. Its extensive and elaborate portfolio features everything from a rearing, eight-foot horse, to two birds on entwined branches-the latter of which took over 60 hours to create. However, there's no doubt about it-ice carving isn't for amateurs.

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Easy Ice Sculpture - for Kids of All Ages: 5 Steps (with Pictures)

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Easy Ice Sculpture - for Kids of All Ages: 5 Steps (with Pictures)

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Introduction: Easy Ice Sculpture - for Kids of All Ages

This is an easy and fun activity for the whole family, especially when the temperatures get's really cold. You may find your children will be spending more time outside arranging, rearranging, and adding on to their ice sculpture.

Caution: Please keep an eye on young children and limit their time outside when it is very cold. Children sometimes do not realize that they may be in danger of frostbite or hypothermia.

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Step 1:

First, get an assortment of balloons ranging from traditional balloons to balloon sculpting (snake) balloons.

Next, put a couple grains of sand into each balloon. The sand will act as a freezing nuclei for the water. Without it, some of the water in the balloons may not freeze. To learn more about this effect, look up "superchilled", "super cold", or "super freezing".

Step 2:

Set balloons outside when it is cold.

Be creative. For example, take the balloon sculpting (long snake balloons) and fashion them around objects (for example, orange safety cones).

Step 3:

When the balloons are frozen, peel off the balloons from the ice. Due to trapped air bubbles, many of the balloons will produce some very unique patterns.

Step 4:

An alternative is to add some food coloring to the ice. In this case, food coloring was added in water pitchers. The food coloring freezes last and tends to concentrate in the middle of the ice. To color the outside of the ice, place a few drops of food coloring to the outside of an already frozen structure.

Step 5:

Arrange pieces in some order. In this case, an ice castle. For an added effect, place Christmas lights underneath them and turn them on at night. People passing by will be amazed of your ice sculpture.

We have a be nice policy.
Please be positive and constructive.

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Easy Ice Sculpture - for Kids of All Ages

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This is an easy and fun activity for the whole family, especially when the temperatures get's really cold. You may find your children will be spending more time outside arranging, rearranging, and adding on to their ice sculpture. Caution: Please keep an eye on young children and limit their time outside when it is very cold.