Awesome Art Kits & Supplies

I’ve written about how much I love Todd Oldham and his Kid Made Modern book before (click here for previous projects), so it’s no surprise that I was delighted to see his line of Kid Made Modern art supplies and reference material at Target.  In fact, I loaded up on printed tape, paper, paint, and multi-colored colored pencils when the collection hit the stores last month.  Then I took a look at the line again this week and I found even more great stuff like the Charlie Harper-inspired paint-by-number kit, a softcover book called All About Embroidery, and more tape in a variety of solid colors this time. Most of it was even on sale (until 6/23/12 at my local store).  The embroidery book was not on sale, but even at their regular prices these materials are well worth their cost.

Todd Oldham is obviously inspired by modernism, just as his book title and product collection name suggest.  Even his embroidery projects remind me of embroidery from some beloved old books I have from the mid-twentieth century.  See how that owl is not just outlined with backstitching (I don’t see any backstitching actually), but filled in with some very interesting stitches?  I love that about Todd Oldham, but I also appreciate that these items are for girls and boys.  So many of the craft materials for kids you find today are marketed to girls with an extreme use of pink and purple.  That owl is stitched on a camouflage fabric, and a boy is pictured working on it on the cover of All About Embroidery.  There’s something about that that seems refreshing or maybe it’s just modern and not just for boys, but for girls too.

We gave the paint-by-number kit as a birthday gift this week, and we kept one for ourselves.  I must say I’m pretty wild about the colored tapes.  Colored tape is so useful and can be very expensive, particularly if it is acid-free and that’s about the only kind you can readily find (at art supply stores and Japanese stationers).  I’ve had difficulty finding even the awful smelling plastic kind at the hardware store lately.  Do be aware that this tape doesn’t say anything about it’s acid content if that is important to you.