Gifts for Those Who Love Shape

Continuing in the vein of gift-giving, I'm working on a series of posts for The Missing Alphabet blog that reccommends gifts for kids who have proclivities and strengths in a particular sensory alphabet element (line, color, shape, movement, rhythm, space, texture, light, sound). You may be interested in that post about creative gifts if you have a child, grandchild or other child in your life whose creative imagination you'd like to spark. But maybe you would just like to honor your own inner artist child who loves shape!

So, I adapted that blog, expanded and edited it here for the grown-up lover of shape. You may recognize yourself or a friend, and find something here that makes for an imaginative gift -- or maybe you just need to gift it to yourself! We all need to do a little encouraging of creative playtime in our lives!

Stencils and stamps

Any shape lover will have a ball with different kinds of stamps and stencils. Find a set of simple geometric shapes, perfect for fabric or mixed media uses from Discount School Supply: set of 14 geometric Easy-Grip Shape Stampers. Though made for kids, these are really ideal for fabric stamp work, and the alphabet stamps at the same company are great, too. 

You can also buy giant ink stamp pads from the same source and use them with thin fabric inks or paints. Discount School Supply also carries a wide variety of stencils, best to use with rollers or foam brushes. Some basic shapes are in this kit. 

Origami paper and how-to books

SHAPE lovers might be interested in origami and other paper folding crafts. This is probably one of those activities you should “test out” before investing in books or materials. Your public library (and the web) has plenty of origami resources.  Here are some websites to check out: http://www.origami-instructions.com, http://www.origami-fun.com

And if it’s a go, you can find beautiful origami papers, at this site (and others)  http://www.origamicorner.com

A shape collage kit

Fill a plastic shoebox with shapely stickers, glue sticks, double-sided tape, paper die-cut shapes, hole punches that make different shapes, a good pair of craft scissors and colored origami paper (fun because of its two-sided color). Give this kit along with a pad of bristol board or card stock, some sturdy paper that holds up to collage fun and games. Die cut shapes are available at local dollar stores often, or you can find them online, too. 

Great shape collectibles

If the shape lover you know likes to look at shapes, consider a collectible such as a beautiful ceramic piece, a woven vessel, Mexican folk art masks, antique bottles or jars, or any wonderful shap-ey object of beauty. 

I've mentioned some of these apps before, but all of them are good for shape sensitive minds.

Tablet and Smart Phone apps for the SHAPE Lover:

If you have a digital tablet (or smart phone for some of these), there are some great art apps out there with lots of shape fun to be had. Some of our favorites:

Stencils from 7Twenty7  at http://www.7twenty7.com/apps/stencils

Draw Free from David Porter Apps for Ipad, also available for Android. This free app (has ads in a small banner) strikes a great compromise between features and ease of use. 

Hope Poster makes a strongly shape oriented graphic poster design of any photo in your photo file with just a few clicks and swipes. , also available for Android. Poster is a similar app at

Digital Tangram Puzzles can be found with these and other apps: Tangram Mania (non-traditional tangram-style puzzles with different shapes), https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tangram-mania-free/id514992796?mt=8 and New LetsTans Premium, a traditional puzzle set (free version is available, but lower ratings) is at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/new-letstans-10-in-1/id548830132?mt=8

PS: I've linked up with Nina Marie Sayre's Friday gang of creative posters/bloggers with this post. Check out the site here. 

10 Great Gifts for Artists

Speaking as one, here's what I think any artist would love to get as a gift this holiday season (from big ticket to stocking stuffers). 

1. A handwritten letter that specifically and deliberately tells me what you like, enjoy, appreciate and find interesting about my work. We so often feel like our work is out there in a vacuum. We would love to know what you like about it, what it makes you feel like. I know these things are hard to put into words, but putting them into the words you can really would make us happy!

2. Scratch materials -- what do you see in my studio that gets used over and over? Maybe (for any textile artist, any way) a terrific new set of scissors, even a coupon for scissor sharpening or a sewing machine cleaning would be very appreciated gifts. Quality watercolor pads are expensive and always welcome for the water media painter. A gallon of gel medium or tar gel might make the heart of any mixed media artist happy. If all else fails, a gift certificate from one of the online art stores or fabric stores could be just the ticket. Check out Jerry's Artorama, Dick Blick, Dharma Trading Company, or Pro-Chem.

3. If the artist on your lists likes blank books, just some really functional ones like the black bound ones from any art or book store will do. Different sizes are fun to have.

 4. At the top end of the gift bestowing standard, (if your artist doesn't already have one) a new iPad tablet. Whooo Hoooo! Or if your artist already has one, how about an iTunes gift card for those apps that just need testing out. Another idea would be an iPad workshop for said iPad-owning artist -- there are some online ones, and (modestly, I say) I am teaching one here at El Cielo March 1-3.

5. Speaking of workshops, another welcome gift might be a gift certificate for travel or lodging to be used at a workshop or conference, or a workshop or conference fee paid in advance. The Surface Design Association conference will be held in San Antonio in June, a great gift to give any fiber, mixed media or textile artist on your list. For an event less directly art related, but inspirational for any artist, see if there is a TEDX event scheduled in your community and offer your artist the means to attend (there might be a fee, parking, babysitting, whatever it takes).

6. At the other end of the supply spectrum from a supply something used everyday, how about giving a luxury, unusual, international or unusual material that you think your artist could use in her or his work. Some treats that I've seen online lately:

Shizen papers -- handmade papers from Asia and elsewhere -- (lots of arts stores online carry these)

7. Something inspiring. For example, an art book of one of your artist's favorite artist. A big beautiful picture/photo book of something your artist includes in his or her work (fruit, flowers, landscapes, shells). A book about creativity, such as my own THE MISSING ALPHABET (yes, for parents, but it's a great book for those of us looking for artist dates for our inner artist kid)  Inspired, How creative people think, work and find inspiration, or The Art of Looking Sideways:

8. Travel. Travel is inspiring to most, if not all, artists. Maybe its just an overnight to a nearby city with an art exhibit worth seeing, or a weekend to a nearby spot of natural beauty -- or an extravagant gift of India or Italy. Be sure to package the gift with an appropriate postcards, set of travel tools (book, watercolor or sketch tools, guidebook or tickets!). 

9. A gift certificate for your artist to make a hard-cover book of his or her art  using iPhoto, Blurb or Lulu, or another of the online publish-on-demand sources. You can specify hard cover or soft, size, type of paper (choose the upgrade for better art reproduction).

10. With caution I suggest, A studio clean-up partnership-- just make a little coupon offering your services for a weekend clean-a-thon, and throw in some new storage containers, plastic boxes, filing ideas or other support for an organized workspace. You'll know whether your artist would welcome or reject such a gift -- some of us like our messy ways, others would love some help putting things into order (even if chaos was just around the next corner!) For additional inspiration, add a subscription to Studios, the Interweave Press publication that showcases wonderful artist studios of all kinds, sizes and shapes.

Do you have idea? Post them in the comments section and we'll see how many of us get the gift we really want this holiday season!