A New Twist on Crayon Art!

So, yesterday, as I sat in the kitchen staring at a blank canvas and a handful of crayons in limited colors, I tried to think of how I would embellish my next piece of art. I went thru several ideas in my head and when I searched them on google, I found the idea of incorporating a picture into the crayon art, often giving the crayons the look of dripping water! Here is what I came up with!!
It was very fun, and I'm looking forwar to making more! My next one might be a dolphin with the crayons going up to look like splashing water! :)
Happy crafting!

Our hike through Garrapata State Park

So, I haven't posted in a while, but I'm still getting used to this whole blogging thing and what I would like to share, not to mention, I've been busy with my final semester at CSUMB. But last wednesday, Nick and I had some spare time, and decided to spend it hiking the hills of Garrapata State Park. Now, I'm not really one to "seek extreme adventure", and call me a weenie if you wish, but that hike was everything BUT easy. It started off beautiful...green plants surrounding a small rushing creek, winding through tall redwoods, which provided shade and a great calming scent. Sounds fun right?! Well, after about 2 miles of 72 degree beauty, we reached the "ascent". Let's put it this way...I would take 10 steps or so, and need to stop for a break. I am not in great shape, but definitely not in bad shape, so this just goes to show how steep this hike really became. I was well warned of the steepness, so, as I expected, it was a little tough.

Then, we came over the summit, and boy, was it worth climbing for...(see below).
In exchange for the redwoods and the creek, we got a beautiful ocean view on one side, and a gorgeous mountain terrain on the other.On the way down, we faced the ocean, which after a 4 mile hike, was pretty rewarding if you ask me! All in all, it was a great day. Tough hike, but well worth it in the end. I loved loved loved the redwoods and the creek in the beginning, and the ocean view was, well....stunning. I can't wait to go back, and I must say, us west-coast natives sure do take advantage of the ocean being in our backyard!! This hike through Big Sur is less than 30 minutes from home. Amazing. 

Pinterest!!!

Recently, I've gotten the bug to want to start a blog, which is why I am here =] But along with the new blog, I've been seeing and hearing a lot about the website Pinterest.com, where you simply 'Pin' your interests to an online pin board for others to see! Sounded like a great idea, so about a week ago, I sent in my request for an invite, and this morning, woke up to an email saying I've been added!! Yipppeee!! I couldn't get out of bed fast enough, as I have been thinking of ideas to pin since I asked for an invite. So, what are you waiting for?? Go on....take a peek!!! It's still young and developing...I'm sure I will catch on to all the little tweaks shortly! Enjoy! =]

http://pinterest.com/aprilmbough

Crayon Art!

So, as I was exploring Instagram, I came across a photo of melted crayons on a canvas, in the pattern of the full spectrum of a rainbow. It looked beautiful, simple, and original, so the next day, I went to Walmart and purchased crayons, a hot glue gun, and a canvas and got to work. As expected, it was one of the easiest and coolest projects I've ever done!! Here is what I did:

First, I  used a hot glue gun and glued the crayons in the colors I chose, and the pattern I decided to use, to the top of the canvas. 

Once, the glue dried (which was almost immediately), I began blowdrying them in a downward motion toward the bottom of the canvas, and they melted within about 10-15 minutes!!!! They tend to splatter a little, so if you don't feel like scraping wax off of the surrounding area, make sure you put a towel/blanket behind the canvas!

Here is the final product!!!  For the splatters on the bottom, I simply held the crayons in one hand, melted the tips, and "flicked" the melted wax onto the bottom of the canvas.
After showing friends and family how simple it is, I can honestly say almost everyone has tried it!!! It's so simple and fun and unique, and a great project for any age!!!!! It has definitely become a good conversation piece for our living room as well!!!

A few other ideas for crayon art include:

*Using a black canvas with neon or white crayons

*Taping the crayons across the top instead of gluing them, so you can take them off after (looks very cool!)

*Gluing or taping the crayons in a pattern (i.e. wavy line, jagged, etc...)

*Using tape to create a blank space (so when you pull the tape off at the end, the wax did not touch that spot)

I'm sure there are hundreds of other ideas out there for this project =] good luck and thanks for reading!