Kelly Thompson doodling photos and illustrations

Kelly Thompson, another emerging young talent, mix of photographer and illustrator born in Wellington, New Zealand. She graduated with a Bachelor of Design at Massey University Wellington and majored in Photography. What is unique about her is the variety in illustration styles and the way she mix them together. Visit her website at www.kellythompson.co.nz

"I've always been a bit of a doodler, I used to do it when I was young for fun. Even though I did a Photographic degree I was always thinking to myself "should I have done illustration instead?", so I guess drawing came first." - Kelly Thompson

POP-UP Books... Surprise!!!

The three-dimensional paper engineering of the movable books is commonly called pop-up, but is actually more acurate to call them covers pop-ups, transformations, tunnels, volvelles (rotating parts), tunnel or peepshow (see through), flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs and pull-downs. Originally the early movable books were for adults, not children. It is believed that the first use of movable mechanics appeared in a manuscript for an astrological book in 1306. You may learn more about the history of pop-up books at http://www.library.unt.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/popup2/default.htm and http://www.movablebooksociety.org/ and watch the video bellow.

Learn the basics of pup-up with the ABC3D book and an interesting take on pop-up fashion by Visionaire Magazine.

Discover the limited edition of the Neiman Marcus Pop-up book at http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/templates/F0.jhtml?itemId=cat15220750&parentId=cat8900735&masterId=cat000000 An original video of Lisa Hannigan for her song Lille at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaFs_uEfqhM&feature=related  and for Star Wars fans "A pop-up guide to the galaxy" by Matthew Reinhart bellow.

Watch a great promotion by Levis, The Levis Pop-up Closet case and other creative ideas bellow.

Nurture your little ones with art, Bento Boxes

Bento Box 弁当 is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine (a simple lunch box). Traditionally, bento boxes were wrapped with a square piece of fabric called furoshiki that was knotted and used as a carrying bag; it also doubles as a placemat. Learn the art of wrapping furoshiki with the video bellow.

For the kids there is also the Japanese version of the Happy Meal. They are like little works of art, very detailed indeed and maybe too time consuming for a not stay at home mom... but could definitely order one to go. So let the kids finally play with the food!!

See more at http://cupcakes.today.com/2009/03/23/hello-kitty-bentos/


See more at http://ideabutter.com/creative-bento-box/

See more at http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2009/05/08/17-amazing-bento-food-art-creations/

There is a great blog written by Sahn, a mom that started doing bentos for her kids not only as a cultural tradition but also as a healthy and fun alternative. Visit her blog at http://happylittlebento.blogspot.com/ and flirck photo stream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/35552506@N08/

Read an special by the NY Times about the new wave of "bento-moms" at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/dining/09bento.html?_r=1 and an interesting slideshow of their bento creations at http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/09/08/dining/20090909-bento-slideshow_index.html

There is no need to overdo to get your children to appreciate healthy food. I believe that colorful healthy choices served in a practical but fun manner is a great way to encourage kids to eat more natural food. There is a very good and affordable book about nutrition for kids, specially for moms that run out of ideas in what to put in those lunch boxes! It is called "Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children" by Ann Cooper. I wish I had one of these a couple of years ago...