I wanted to share this great family art project. Not only is it a fun craft to do with all ages but it is eco-friendly too. Basically, it is creating a block print from your child’s artwork by recycling Styrofoam.

Materials

Paper
Pencils crayons
Styrofoam containers
Utility knife or pair of scissors
Acrylic or tempera paint
Roller or paintbrush
Cardstock paper
Small stack of Newspaper

First, save your Styrofoam containers. Now in a perfect world we would not have access to Styrofoam and we would all be able to get packaging made from corn or other such green choices. You want something flat and thick like meat and produce packaging. Cut the Styrofoam into blocks. I was able to get a block shape close to 4×6 from my meat package. Then assemble your paper and drawing materials. For example, let your child draw a picture or help them by hand over hand drawing an image. Note: If you are going to try adding text then you have to reverse the lettering so it will read when you stamp it. Keep in mind that the drawing has to fix on the block. If you want to save the original work of art make a photocopy of it and use the copy to transfer the image to the Styrofoam. All I did was hold it on the Styrofoam and use a pencil to retrace over the image Fiona and I drew. An older child might be able to do this step. You might poke through the drawing and you will have to go over the drawing a couple of times to get all the lines to show up on the Styrofoam. Or, if you and your child are feeling free spirited you can just draw on the Styrofoam. I advise that the adult do the next step. Use a pen or pencil to scratch the image into the Styrofoam. Keep in mind those lines are the areas that will be left white (or the background color) when you stamp the image with paint. You might have to ink the block up with paint to see how well your image is showing up. Then, when you have it the way you want roll or paint the block and stamp it on heavy weight paper. I put newspaper under my cardstock to get a better print.

I had a lot of fun doing this art project with my daughter. Fiona got a little bit of fine motor therapy and art in one. I like the fact that I’m using everyday items and old school techniques to create timeless work of art with my child. I liked our image so much that I got it in my head to make Christmas Cards. So after stamping, handwriting and addressing thirty Christmas cards everyone got a little bit of our Family’s Holiday Magic. I also tried glittering a few of the stamped images. What a pretty mess that is. For those of you who get the sparkle cards and continue to fine glitter in their house into the New Year… Your welcome!

This Halloween this eco fairy has raised some old T—shirts form the grave and turned them into Trick or Treat bags for your little ghouls and goblins. I trekked through the aisle of forgotten clothes and rescued tees from Halloweens past. These T—shirts once cloaked a ghost or vampire on their Hallow’s eve journey to wander the streets and bang on the doors of scared townsfolk. Now they have been turn into sacks for Tricks and Treats. Skulls, pumpkins, black cats and rock star bone men are ready to hoard your loot this Halloween. Come creep over to my Etsy store and snatch up a Halloween Tee-Bag before they disappear before your eyes in the fog and mist of Internet sales.

And while you are entranced by my Tee- Bags why not check out more of my Witchy Crafts. I’ve dug up some Halloween Paint Swatch Cards and Beaded Bracelets. Want to send someone a little note or write a spell and wish them well? These sets of 3 cards will give you the right amount of Halloween flare without a trip down the card aisle. My cards are one of a kind creations made on 100% recycled card stock and decorated with decorative paper scraps and flowers punched from paint swatches found in haunted home stores. Wishing you could get away with wearing a full blown Halloween Costume to work? Well show the office that even working girls can get into the spirit without a costume. My beaded bracelets hold enough Halloween magic to cast a spell of beauty. Just enough black and orange to say Happy Halloween without the fake vampire teeth, bad wigs, or devil horns.

Miss Fi’s Kingdom has Tricks and Treats for all!

That’s right we have our winner for Miss Fi’s Earth Day Contest. We had seven entries that shared all the great ways they’re helping save the planet. It seems like we all get the message about reduce, reuse, recycle! Many of us are using reusable bags when we go shopping and have made the switch from regular light bulbs to CFLs. This community of eco-fairies is off to a great start. I hope that you all continue to look at your day to day lives and make steady progress towards being as “green” as possible.

Shalyn’s name was chosen out of the bowl from six other entries by Miss Fi herself. She had just come home from Fairy Preschool and was ready for her nap. But she hung in there to choose a winner and pose for the camera.

Thanks to all of you who posted three ways you are an eco-fairy. This contest is now CLOSED. The drawing for the recycled Tee-Bag will be held on May 1st after Miss Fi gets home from school. She will pull the winner’s name out of a bowl and I will contact the winner via email. I will also post their name on this blog.

Here at Miss Fi’s Kingdom I want to encourage everyone to wave his or her Eco- Fairy Freak Flag high. So in honor of Earth Day 2009 I’m holding a contest. One lucky winner will get a Stitch of Grace recycled T-Shirt, Tee-Bag!

All you have to do is share at least three ways you’re an Eco-Fairy. Write them in the comment section of the Miss Fi’s Kingdom Blog (sorry, emailing me doesn’t count ☺). Do you recycle, compost, shop at thrift stores, use compact florescent light bulbs, or buy organic? You can also let us know how you plan to be even greener in the near future. Do you have plans to get rid of your grass? Are you going to start to buy greener products? Going solar anybody? The point is I want you to share how you’re making a difference big or small.

Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a drawing for the Tee-Bag. Only one entry per person, please. The contest will end April 30, 2009. Miss Fi will select the winner by pulling a name out of a hat on May 1, 2009. I will notify the winner by email and post the results on Miss Fi’s Kingdom Blog. Big or small all our collective efforts will make a difference.

Using reusable bags for shopping is one of the best ways to help the environment. Harmful chemicals and energy are used to produce both paper and plastic bags. 
Recycling and reusing plastic and paper bags does a lot to help keep them out of the landfills and the environment but it doesn’t end the demand for these antiquated forms of transporting goods. Energy, water, and fuel are used to collect, recycle and transport the bags. Reusing plastic bags is a great idea, but realistically you would have to use them eleven times before you would absorb the environmental impact. Reusable bags like these recycled tee shirt bags are the most responsible ways to shop and carry items. Bags made from old tees aren’t a new idea, but it’s a great idea that should be embraced by us all. My personal twist is finding the unusual ones, like old Monty Python and Mad TV tee shirts. I’ve been scouring thrift stores and yard sales for unusual tees. I’ve even enlisted the help of friends and family, asking them to save their favorite pop culture shirts. I’m also exploring the sizes of the bags: Large shirts for groceries and laundry, medium shirts for shopping and school, children’s sized tees make great lunch sacks and gift bags. I’m also collecting old Halloween shirts to make trick-or-treat bags. I hope that you will find a Tee Bag that makes a statement about your personality and your commitment to the environment. And whether or not you buy one of my creations I hope that you will consider using reusable fabric bags and maybe even make some of your own. My Tee Bags and other eco-Fairy products are at my Etsy shop MissFiKingdom. I will be posting the Tee Bags throughout the week.

If you want some more information about the production and use of paper and plastic bags visit http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php?id=4

One of the things I always try to do when I’m out in nature is clean up trash and clear debris. To my absolute surprise there wasn’t any trash down by the spring. But there was a lot of fallen branches and leaves choking the path of the water. We had a lot of snow fall in the canyon this year, so many of the trees just couldn’t handle all the extra winter weight. While pulling the Alder branches out of the spring, all of the pollen bursted into the air in large yellow clouds. It made me think of how artist back in the day used pollens as pigments for paint and fiber dye. I pictured the people who made their artist signature back in caves. They would put their hand on the wall and splatter the pigment over their hand and onto the wall. This left the stencil of their participation in the pictorial history painted 0n the cave walls. Of coarse I had to get funky and creative while I was energizing myself down at the spring… So I gathered the pollen and found the perfect rock to slap a high five. “I was here”

While Miss Fi and I frolicked by the sacred spring I set the White Winged Gourd Fairy out to fly and wake up the forest from its long winter nap.



Do you want this gourd fairy to fly into your life? Then you have to catch her at www.MissFiKingdom.etsy.com

It is a spring time ritual to go the bottom of Sheep Canyon. There is a very special spring quietly bubbling through the forest. I decided that my fairy friends would like to come with me.

Last year I wrote some romantic and silly (and might I suggest a little Tantric?) prose for Valentine’s Day. This year I’ve been busy turning them into cards, shadow boxes, photo holders and tins. And even though I’m posting these items on Etsy in hopes that they sell for Valentine’s Day I hope that you will find these tokens of affection appropriate for many other occasions, like weddings, anniversaries, or for just because.

My heart was my guide, creating images that would turn the poems into more than just words on a page. Put these unique gifts in your Etsy shopping cart and let love fill your heart. Let Love Rule!

To show how happy I am that we are starting 2009, Miss Fi’s Kingdom is now shipping Internationally. This is a big step for me because I know that it will be a challenge to get my products around the world. I’ve noticed that I have a lot of interest in my etsy shop coming from international sellers and buyers. I myself am drawn to a lot of international artist on etsy as well. So in order to get more customers I’m offering shipping EVERYWHERE.

Now, I know that this news won’t affect many of my blog readers (I don’t know how many people around the world are actually reading… If there are any of you out there, THANKS) so I’ve changed the price of shipping on all of my products. A discount on shipping is given when you buy more than one item from my etsy shop. So come and check out my new shipping costs at Miss Fi’s Kingdom.

Thanks and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR