art on demand

sienna has a voracious appetite for crafts and art projects. she demands a new project almost daily. lately she has caught me off guard and unprepared more often than not.
yesterday when she started asking for a project and i did not have one in mind, i pulled out this basket of collage papers i have been working on. inspired by this interview at the artful parent and armed with a stack of magazines i had been saving for ages, i have been cutting, clipping, and collecting pretty papers for my basket.

we haven't done collages in a long time. i used to do lots of them myself, but that was ages and ages ago.
i always save thin, sturdy cardboard from the back of pads of paper, calendar inserts, etc. we used these a base for our creations.

though i was initially resistant to the demands of my children's artistic needs during my otherwise *productive* time, i found myself thoroughly enjoying the project. this is usually the case, eh? long after they had left the table and run off to engage in play, i was still working on my piece and having a blast.

when our afternoon outing fell through, i even got adventurous and broke out the glitter i came across during a recent craft organization spree (more on that later).
i must admit, this craft glitter makes me a bit nervous. i once knew a gal who had a little red dot on the white of her eye where she had had a piece of glitter removed by laser. we all know how this stuff travels and how virtually impossible it is not to get it on one's face, so i try to be cautious and wash up when we are finished. i must have ingrained my nervousness in my unsuspecting daughter because she was complaining of having something in her eye as soon as i broke out the jar of glitter. she had me wash my hands and check her sweet little eye for sparkles four times before we were finished.

i have been without fairy dust (cosmetic glitter that is very, very fine) for far too long now. i think perhaps we will go and find some and use this in our craft projects too.here are her finished works:
closeup of one of her pieces:jasper's works:he mostly just enjoyed finding the animals and pretty scenes and commenting on them all. he did draw a cage around his monkey which i initially felt sad about. he told me the cage was to keep the monkey safe from the people.

and mine:speaking of the artful parent, she did a great post on papers that she likes to keep around for her child's art activities. in another post, she also talked about how she plans and prepares for the activities she will offer her child. i know i have oodles of projects bookmarked, mostly from your lovely blogs, so i feel really silly when i can't come up with anything on the spot. i intend to get more organized and be ready for her the next time! i feel blessed to have a child that entertains and challenges my creative side.

how about you? what do you pull out when your child asks for a craft and you haven't planned anything? do you collage? what are your favorite materials?