I had a great question from a Dabble Art Mum last Monday.

“How do you get water paint off skin? Soap doesn’t seem to work.”

I usually wear my paint stained hands with pride, like some kind of metal of honour, not minding if others think it looks grubby, so I didn’t have an answer off the top of my head.  But, unlike my groovy little Dabblers, I don’t have to go school and present myself in a neat manner, so I got to thinking and tried out a bi-carb soda paste.

I mixed 2 tablespoons of bi-card soda and 1 tablespoon of water in a bowl to form a runny paste. I scrubbed my hands with the paste then added a few squirts of soap and scrubbed a little more before rinsing my hands off in water.

It didn’t magically remove ALL of the pigment (and it was the darker pigments that were harder to lift. The paste worked really well on lighter colours) but it did a pretty good job, better than just soap and water. Ordinarily, the colour comes off reasonably quickly (within 24 hours) with just soap and water, but the bi-carb paste can speed things up a little.

If anyone else has any cool (and safe) suggestions, we’d love to hear about them.

Story stones were the focus of this weeks workshops and were super easy to make. They are rather popular at the moment, among children (and adults!) of all ages because they are colourful, interactive and really fun to use. Originally, they were created for use as story starters and plot/character stimulus, however there are many, many other ways to use them and there is no right or wrong way, so you are only limited by your imagination.

To use them as actual story stones, all you need to do is have the story teller select a few stones at random and lay them out in any order they like. Then, starting with the first stone, the story teller begins to weave their magic as they improvise a story right there on the spot. Think of the wonderful, unexpected twists and turns that will take place as a wildly imaginative story unfolds! I can guarantee smiles for miles! (And probably a few giggles too!)

We used acrylic paint and creek stones to make ours, however the surface was quite shiny, therefore making it a little tricky here and there to get the paint to adhere. Once they were dry, I sprayed them all with a clear gloss enamel to help keep the paint in place and to preserve the painted images.

This is a really cool, simple little project that artists of all ages and abilities can take on confidently. If you do decide to make your own, can I recommend that  you:

• a) Use rough creek stones
• b) Use fine paint brushes and don’t overload the brush with too much paint at once. Since the surface you are painting on is so small, fine paint brushes are best to use and will allow you to add fine details.
• c) If you end up using darker stones like we did, it’s a good idea to paint in a background first, allow it to dry and then paint your image over the top. We found that without a background, some of our images were getting lost in the natural darkness of the stone.

Here are a couple of links to explore if you wish.

Story Stones

Story Stone Ideas and Uses

Have fun!

Renée xx

I’d like to thank all my fantastic, dedicated students who make Dabble Art a really special place and also their parents and caregivers for their continued and always positive support. I just love you all – Thanks a million! xx